Hey everybody, i was hoping to get some insight about the Dexcom. I am planning on getting one soon and I have never used anything like it. I dont use a pump or any other CGMs, just plain old pens. If any of you have a Dexcom I would love to hear your experiences with it and some advice as well....thanks!
I use the Microsoft of the pump word - Medtronic. I have a pump and a CGMS; they both work well. I could tell you about that if you're interested. What are you getting exactly?
i am getting the Dexcom
I have a Dexcom that I am not currently using, but I loved it when I was! It isn’t something that you can stop testing with because readings can be off, but they are supposed to be within 20%. If you have a bad sensor, they will replace it. I was very aggressive with alarm setting and had my low set at 70 and high at 120 – I wore out alarms in two of them! The negative for me was that I could never hear the alarms at night.
There is a Dexcom group here so I suggest joining if you haven’t yet and read back thru some of the tips.
You are supposed to calibrate twice a day but can do more or skip. Quality is better than quantity and one of the things I learned in the Dexcom group was to make sure you BS is stable for 15 or 20 minutes before doing a calibration. Dexcom will take the calibration if you aren’t but you can get better readings if you are so it is better to wait it out.
If you are dehydrated, that can throw off readings so try to make sure you are drinking enough if you tend to run dry.
You probably know that you can’t use Tylenol with it and there are a bunch of things that have Acetaminophen in than just Tylenol, especially cold meds. That will really send the sensor off on a wild tangent! You can turn the Dex off without disturbing the sensor and turn it back on without having to wait 2 hours so if you need to take that stuff, it is better to turn the Dex off.
Good luck!
I'm too interested in Dexcom, but waiting for them to work directly with Omnipods. I love the idea of the Dexcom's, but adding the ability for the Dexcom to help by seemlessly controling the pods too just seem like a real plus. I have a Diabetic friend who is on a different pump that does use the Dexcom directly to control the pump. She's had some issues from time to time, so I'm not 100% certain it will be all perfect and all, but anything to help out I'm willing to try. Good luck with your Dexcom use!
Hi CaityJ: I have a Dexcom, and I love it! I also use an Animas Ping pump. The Dexcom has really made my diabetes management easier, but it did take time to adjust to it. At first, I had information overload--too much data! But I did adjust to that, and have really seen how the Dex has improved my life. I have better control--fewer highs, fewer lows, but only because I have made tweaks and changes based on the results that I see. For example, I have adopted a lower carb approach after seeing the double arrows up too many times after eating. I also tend to bolus at least 15 minutes before a meal. Be sure to ask questions here on TuD--I really benefited by asking specific questions in the Dexcom group, and was very appreciative of the collective wisdom here.
LOVE IT! It gives me more confidence and really teaches me about my body and the BG trends.
Join the Dexcom group.
Where is the Dexcom Group? sorry to be so uninformed.
Most of the content from the Dexcom and CGM Users Groups was moved here
Let me know if I can help you find anything.