So, when I first started the Dexcom in August, the buzzing alone would wake me up if I was low. Now, I'm not hearing it, nor am I hearing the beeping that goes off if you don't "snooze". I only wake up after I go below 55 and it starts beeping constantly. I'm not sure if it just isn't beeping after a certain time (it does during the day, still), or if I'm just turning it off in my sleep.
Any tips? The amount of lows I'm not catching till late is starting to worry me.
Thank you!
What alert profile did you choose? There are five profiles to select, from vibrate through hypo-repeat, ranging from least to most aggressive. I choose the "attentive" profile. It sets alarms and alerts to "loud and highly distinctive melodies."
You can change these settings to adapt to your environment. You may, for instance, use "attentive" overnight and then select the more discreet "soft" profile during the day. I use attentive all the time; I no longer work so I don't normally need to tone down the alarms.
Have you tried placing the Dex receiver in a glass cup by your bedside? It's pretty loud when used this way.
If you feel the Dexcom is alerting you to a disproportionate amount of lows that you previously might not have had, be sure to double check the reading with a finger prick. I find that mine often gives incorrect low readings at night. I was woken up this morning at 5AM with a 55, only to learn I was really at 116 when I double checked it with my meter. If these numbers are valid and you're just not hearing the alert, place the Dexcom on your nightstand as close to your head as possible and select the loudest profile: Attentive or Hypo Repeat.
Here's the Users' Guide pdf, in case you want to refer to it. It's the mg/dl US version.
Try placing Dex in a glass by your bed. It amplifies the vibration and the alarm.
I've set it for both attentive and hypo-repeat, but neither seem to work anymore. I'll try the receiver-in-a-glass trick, and see if it works. Thank you!
I'm definitely low. It's a problem I've been working on as much as possible, though having it fail to wake me up is putting a dent in my progress.
Thanks! I'll have to try it (and hope the cat doesn't knock it off)
Thanks!
The dexcom never woke me up. It seemed to always be 15 minutes behind and 50 points off, which made it completely useless for me. Alarm fatigue, maybe? Put it in a cup and the sound will be amplified. I'm considering a diabetes dog companion for when I live alone.
Many people use the 'receiver in a glass' trick, some even add coins for extra noise.
One suggestion I read on a blog was to use an earthquake app on your phone.
And then he told me about this iPhone application, iSeismometer, that was created to detect earthquakes and alert people at the very first vibration, letting loose with an insanely loud warning alarm. Loud."But if you put the Dexcom receiver on the same table, and the Dex starts to vibrate in response to a low or high, the iSeismometer picks up the vibration. And you won't sleep through that alarm," he said, chuckling.
- See more at: six until me. - Dexcom and Earthquakes.
Now that is a cool tip!
Oooh!!! I'll try that if the glass trick doesn't work. Sounds fun!
i'm having the same issue! what is happening, at least with me, and I'm a very light sleeper, is when my BG's are really high or low, it's effecting my body and I'm not hearing my CGM and I've always had mine on 'attentive'. I now take it out of my case which helps a little but this is a concern for me as well. you're probably not waking up because you're low. i too am now looking into a diabetic dog.
I sleep like the proverbial log. I do not "hear" the Dexcom while I'm asleep, most of the time.
I was all but completely deaf in my right ear, had that corrected surgically a few months ago. Now my hearing in that ear is near "normal" (and dang, the world is really, really loud!).
Still sleep right through that damn alarm. I'm having the other ear done after the new year (not as bad as the right, but with that one fixed, the left now feels deaf, and that's where I was actually hearing for so many years). Maybe that will fix it.
My only saving grace is that hypos seem to pretty reliably mess with my sleep, so I wake up anyway.
I looked at the Dex pdf, as I have many times before. However, I do not see a way to have different alert profiles for different times a day, as someone earlier said. I have never seen a 'time of day' component. It is normal, or whatever you select, for all the time. If someone can point me to instructions in that pdf to allow day/night alert differences I will appreciate it. Ditto on the actual Dex.
There aren't actually different "time" selections. You have to remember to go in and change the profile before bed or when you wake up. I wish they did have it, and a volume button so I could make it go insanely loud, but as of yet, they do not.
Well, I tried the glass trick, and still no wakey-wakey. Now on to the earthquake alarm!
Are you having lows most nights? Is there any pattern? Do they occur about the same time? If there is any pattern then you could set a regular alarm to wake you to do a finger stick and treat as necessary. I don't have any trouble falling back to sleep so this does not bother me. Sometimes just breaking up the pattern is enough stop this from happening.
If you are consistently going low then perhaps you could consider changing your basal insulin doses, either the long-acting insulin or the basal profile on a pump, to interrupt this pattern.
Please post back here if you get the earthquake app. I'd like to know about that. Good luck with fixing this. It's important.
I have the same issue sometimes . I have found if it put it under my pillow just part of it under there so I feel the vibration fist then loudest of the sounds it gets me moving. But some of the issue is when we are low we will do things like turn the meter alert off and not be able to wake up because of the low. I have also put it under my leg at times, I’m not a big mover at night so these two spots have worked well for me . Good luck.
My endo and I are gradually fiddling with the basal at night, but we don't want to do anything too fast. We think we have it figured out, and then I go low at a different time. It's like playing musical chairs. I downloaded the app, and will try it tonight.