I am seriously tired of my minimed CGM, it is only accurate 20% of the time. I hear that dexcom is very reliable. Is it? I like the minimed because I only have to carry one devise so if I switch it better be extreamly good because it will force me to carry two devices (the thoughts of I hate). What do you think?
Keep in mind several issues with accuracy. Take a real laboratory glucose of 100 in this example. A finger stick can show +/- 20% which means 80 to 120 mg/dL. Since finger sticks are used to "calibrate" a CGM and it is within +/- 20% also you have a very WIDE statistical window. I wear both an Animas Ping Pump and a Dexcom 7+. BTW, I do a finger stick every time i dose insulin for safety. Bottom Line, if a finger stick and my Dex read the same, it IS rare, but they are usually within +/- 20% of each other. Remember, with the USA FDA, the CGM is a tool to watch trends.
My daughter has only been on the Dex CGM for about two months and she absolutely loves it. It has exceeded our expectations in term of reliability to date. As an example, I checked her CGM at 4 this morning and it registered 70. I thought for certain this was a false reading because she usually spikes at 4. After being awakened she check her blood and we were both surprised to see a BG reading of 65. When she got up this morning, the CGM read 160 and her tested reading was 152.
The times that we see the most discrepancy is when there is a rapid shift in blood sugars but in reality we have not seen that many times that there was a major discrepancy. We have no experience with the minimed so I can't off any comparisons. I certainly understand the reluctance of having another thing to carry around but according to my daughter it is worth it from her perspective
I totally agree with Jay. I was a MM CGM user and it did work well for me. But I was due for a new transmitter, and I was tired of the huge needles, and no hope in site for the new ENlite smaller sensors. I went a week with about 3 sensor changes and faillures due to bleeding after inssertion. I was convinced by my CDE to give the Dex a try about 1 month ago and it has been working very well for me as well. Not 100% accurate, but usually very close. I find the worse correlation is within the 24-36 hrs after a new sensor insertion - as was with the MM as well - time is needed for the sensor to "settle." You should never bolus off the CGM - it does not replace finger sticks - but it a great tool.
As for carrying the separate device - it was hard the first couple of weeks to remember it when going upstairs, etc - but I usually wear a hoodie and I keep it in the pocket when I am at home.
Hands down the insertion goes to the Dex over the MM. After the first insertion, I am convinced I will not go back to MM's sensor until the new smaller one is released.
Thanks for your input Jay, I know all of those statictics but 80% of the time I wear my minimed it says my bg is 320 and when I test it is really 130 or it alarms for hours saying my bg is 50 but I test and I am around 105. That is just obnoxious!
I'm currently using a Medtronic, and have the same accuracy issues. Since last Aug. I have had 5 lows in the 50's which the CGM NEVER picked up, and 2 of them were surprises because I wasn't feeling low, but needed to check BG for a meal, or for a calibration, and here comes a 50 staring me in the face. But I also get lots of false lows and false highs too. So I'm investigating getting a Dex -- it all depends on the insurance company (ugh!) I don't mind the 2 devices, because the pump goes in my pocket, and the Dex would go horizontally on my waistband. But then I don't mind if anyone sees my devices, because the unfortunate reality is that I have diabetes, and if they ask, I tell them. I dunno -- time will tell, and I WILL tell you guys about it if I get the Dex! :-)
Not to be cynic in the crowd; if you are hoping for better performance, your expectations may prove frustrating.
My take on Dexcom 7+ is that:
a) it is slow tracking fast changes. My caveman machine will follow better and faster. So periodically on fast changes one will see big differences on the caveman machine and the dexcom. In fact the filtering delays of cgms and the interstitial tissue conspire to average out the readings.
b) best results are when body bg moving slowly and changing slowly;then results of Dexcom are pretty good and for me within +/- 10 points of what caveman machine reads.
good luck.
c)expectations play havoc with ones happiness with cgms.