Hi all, so today was the first day we started using a Dexcom, which is very exciting for us! We put it in this morning and we did our initial two calibrations and then using advice I gleaned here I have done a few more calibrations throughout the day.
So it’s been in for 12 hours and my daughter went high… we’re at the cottage and she ate some smores and didn’t bolus when I wasn’t here, so didn’t get insulin till she was already 17 (306)… grrr. She went to bed and of course I was watching the Dex because it’s new and fun but it still said that her bg was still HIGH after an hour. This worried me so I did another finger poke and her bg was actually 10.2. (183). By then the Dex said her bg was coming down too so I entered her finger poke bg as another calibration.
Was this the right thing to do? Does anyone else find the Dex super slow at coming down from high numbers? Is this because we are still in the first 24 hours?
It’s natural to want to tell your CGM when it’s off, but I generally resist unless I know my bg has been stable for a while. As many others have said here, that’s really the only time to enter a value, even if your cgm’s timer has decided you have to enter a value. If your bg (or your child’s ) is rising or falling, rely on strips for the short term if you need more data and then enter a value on the cgm when things are more level.
We all get frustrated when the cgm is way off – lots of discussion about that here as I think you’ve discovered. Still, for many of us it is really a great tool and source of information, especially for following the trends, but there is also a bit of an art to it. Just like with strips, it’s not infallible or always perfectly accurate. You’ll get calibrated relatively quickly I think.
I do, definitely. Also super-slow to come up from lows. I do not rely on it for the 15-minute post-low test. If I fingerstick, I’ll find I’m back in my range, while the Dexcom says I’m still low, or even lower. Same with highs.
I also find I have to resist the temptation to over-calibrate during the first couple of days, even when the numbers differ by 20% or more. Give the universe time and, magically, all the numbers will align. Fingers crossed.
I tend to calibrate a little more frequently than the 2x/day the first 12-24 hours after inserting a new sensor. In my experience, is speeds up the process of getting it into alignment. After that, I try and stick closer to the twice/day limit. That said, I have encountered a few sensors that just won’t get into the right range - In those cases, I’ve called Dexcom and they’ve usually replaced the sensors (and I changed them out early).
At the extremes, all sensors are generally less than accurate. This goes for temperature, chemical and electrical. Dexcom is no exception., Toss in that blood sugar will run at least 10 minutes and usually 15 minutes behind blood sugar it is a bit of a crap shoot at the extremes.
As for calibration, all of these sensors will be more accurate on the second day than the first.
I hope you find the dexcom as important to diabetes care as I have always found my dexcom and as good as I am finding the relaunched medtronic.
) is rising or falling, rely on strips for the short term if you need more data and then enter a value on the cgm when things are more level.