So excited to be getting my CGM tomorrow! I had to work with the insurance company for a bit to approve it but now it's on it's way! Yahoo! So excited to how it's going to be revolutionizing my diabetes. I currently check my BG on a good day about 14 times on a bad day (frequent highs or lows) about 20 times. So ready to have a device that will help me so I don't have to stop and stick my finger multiple times a day!
Congratulations. It is exciting. Hopefully you will realize all the benefits it will give you. Remember it is most useful to see how your sugars are trending. Don’t treat based on the CGM readings. If you think things are off, always use your meter. You will learn a lot about your patterns. Good luck and enjoy.
Yep. This device is going to be HUGE for you. :)
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P.S. I dose off the Dex only. I know I am in the minority here, but it works fine for me to do that. YMMV.
I'm as big a booster of Dexcom as anybody (I think the G4 is only slightly less important than, say, insulin for modern diabetes management), but even I would never recommend that as a blanket practice.
Just like your insulin pump insertion site can cause variability in how fast and/or well your insulin acts for those 3/4 days, the same is true for CGMs, including the G4.
Some weeks, a G4 sensor shows itself to be so accurate that, like Mike, I'm perfectly confident doing only the two required calibration fingersticks per day and dosing directly from the G4; but other weeks, a different site will mean that the G4 can't be completely relied upon for full accuracy (although even in bad times, it almost never misses with overall direction/trend).
So for each sensor you insert, you have to wait 1-3 days to see its "personality;" more often than not with the G4, it's going to be damn accurate, but you still need to observe for a couple days to be certain.
I've NEVER had to wait 1-3 days. Ever. Maybe I'm just lucky. Invariably, my numbers from my Dex and my One-Touch are very close (with a few exceptions), but also understand that finger stick meters can also be wacky sometimes. I've been fine dosing off of my G4 and before that with my 7+. It's just not an issue for me. Maybe it's just the nature of my own version of diabetes that I have been dealing with for 32 and a half years.
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Congrats on your new dexcom. you will find that we all have our reason’s for using a CGM, you will find what works for you. I myself still test my sugars before and after i eat. my dexcom for me is excellent if I wake up in the night, if the dexcom says I am low or high I double check with a finger stick. It really helped me for night as I was always high in the mornings, the trends are more even and consistent now and my mornings are good.
enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. lucky you that your insurance will pay, mine won’t so still paying out of pocket.
Congrats, it is very fun and very eye-opening to start on Dexcom. Some people say they would give up their pump before their Dexcom.
My point wasn't that you shouldn't be doing what you're doing. It works for you, so obviously you should be doing it. I just wanted to emphasize that it probably isn't wise to start out like that, that Dexcom itself doesn't recommend relying solely on the CGM, and it won't work for everyone. (We've had the disease for identical amounts of time, btw!)
In all seriousness, if you can get the G4 to have the same high degree of accuracy with every single sensor, then I very badly want to know your secret, because I'm pretty fit and I haven't been able to do that. Most of the time yes, but definitely not all the time.
No offense taken or anything Biomuse. It's all good. Though I do get a fair bit of flack here for ever suggesting that anyone dose off the Dex, so it leads me to be a bit more, rem, emphatic in my responses.
BTW, as you no doubt know, the ONLY site that is FDA approved for your Tx is on your abdomen... Is yours there right now? Mine ain't (outside of my biceps only, on both arms by turns). That's a rule that seems to get broken by most Dex users (I do not think I am exaggerating), with little to no hue and cry from folks saying WHY WOULD YOU POSSIBLY DO THAT? IT'S SO DANGEROUS!!! So, folks pick and choose the rules they follow regarding this device.
Again, I may just be lucky that after the initial two-hour start up time, I enter my two readings and I am off and running, and things usually go pretty well. I've had some times when the numbers were off, but never anything that would make me change doses. I've made some mistakes dosing this way, sure, but that may also be said for dosing off of One-Touch readings. I've taken two finger stick readings in a row, and sometimes they are off by scores of points -- [shrug]. So goes it with all of technology. If I see a reading that says I am high, but I feel low, I will certainly trust how I feel, and run a secondary stick test. But, that happens very rarely. In fact, I think the only time that happened was when I was sick, so all bets are off during those episodes anyways. Cheers.
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I have noticed that the lower your standard deviation the more accurate the Dex is. In other words, the dex does not like wild swings in BG in general. If you are in so-so control then I would Not dose off of the Dex readings alone. However, if you are in very good control with a std dev < 50 and your bolus is usually on the smaller end then dosing off of the Dex (as MM does) can be achieved successfully.
BTW - the Dexcom Studio software will tell you your std deviation.
Congrats. You will love it if you are testing that much. I’m on week 4 and am so happy I have it . I feel much better about controlling my numbers . It has changed my life. There are things to get used to but you will figure out what works for you. The reps are great about telling you what you need to know about the system and the 800 number is very supportive don’t hesitate to reach out to any of them in the first few weeks if you have any questions. Good luck and enjoy the new way of life .
thanks everyone for the advice and support :) I am on my first full day with Dex and so far I'm liking it, I woke up with a climbing trend at 2:00 AM and was able to fix it, but what I'm noticing is that my Dex is on average about 25-30 points off from my finger sticks. So I keep letting Dex know what my actual blood sugars are. Is that normal because it's a new sensor? Just curious. I'm not at the point where I think it's safe to dose or correct off of my Dex, so I'm still checking my BG but that's okay because I really wanted Dex for nights when I'm sleeping and for alerting me if I'm trending up or down fast. Thanks again guys,
Hiker :)
Remember that because it is not checking your actual blood for BG levels (it is checking interstitial fluid), the Dex can be 15-20 minutes behind. So, if you are running flat (not like a tire, just flat levels), the Dex may in fact match up with finger sticks. If, however, you are trending up or down, it may be off because it is in effect 'catching up' with what your finger stick shows. For now, on the first day, try to only enter numbers at calibration times (some folks will tell you different, but I've always found it best to just do it as Dexcom says to do it).
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I find that on some first days with a sensor, if: A) The values are way off from finger stick, AND B) you're level (flat arrow on the Dex), AND C) it's been at least ~1hr since you last entered a fingerstick value into the Dex, then it's good to help it out with extra values.
In general, when the Dex is right, *let it be right* - don't "help" it with extra calibrations, because that doesn't actually help. When it's wrong, prefer that it be wrong "on the level" before you enter a fingerstick value to calibrate.
After the first day, the fewer calibrations you can manage beyond what it asks for, the better. But if it's way off and you're not shooting up or down, then give it some help.