Thank you.
Dave
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty - power is ever stealing from the many to the few. - Wendell Phillips
I was diagnosed with Steroid Induced Diabetes and was started on insulin right away. I didn’t “develop” hypoglycemia unawareness overtime, it was right away. I would be at 43-40 before I suddenly felt slightly off or the top back of my head hurt. Perhaps I’m not the norm in this, since I have read this theory about unawareness before, but that’s how it was for me. That’s why it wasn’t too long before they got me on the Dexcom. I also have MS, and don’t know if that ever plays a part in my not being aware of hypoglycemia symptoms, even from the get go.
Now being able to see readings on the Dexcom, this also is true for me even if my blood sugar drops at a fast rate rather than slowly over an extended period of hours.
I too find it worrisome when Dexcom reads me at a higher level and I do a finger stick and find I’m already 54 or below. Just this morning I wonder if that 90 minutes of readings at “75-74” was actually at 55-54, as when I woke and did finger stick I was at 54. But if I change my alarm settings then I awoken, as is my husband, many more times a night from levels in the seventies which is where I actually want to be. So I don’t know what the answer is, except I wish the Dexcom could be more accurate.
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My husband just got the iPhone 13 pro, before realizing it’s not listed as Dexcom compatible. He didn’t know to check. However, it’s been a week and so far his Dexcom Follow app is working. I hope it continues, as I count on him to wake me at night when I sleep through alarms.
This may be a dumb question but, What happens when DexcomG7 comes out? Do we get notified and upgraded?
So does this mean you have to use a receiver now as your new phone does not support the Dexcom software?
Good tip! I didn’t know that. Thanks!
When you do finger stick, keep in mind that dexcom sensor is measuring interstitial tissue, which usually lags fingerstick readings.
Do you recall trend arrow on dexcom? It was likely trending down and would have been closer within 10-20 minutes.
If dexcom line is flat, the meter bg reading is usually closer to sensor reading, except during initial hours.
Good idea. I didn’t realize I could just use the receiver only at nighttime. When I first got the thing I had both the phone and receiver going and the readings didn’t match between the two, which drove me nuts. I mean sometimes there was a huge difference. The receiver was “off” by more than the phone was, so I just decided to go with my phone. But I have had a few occasions where a low alert didn’t go off when it should, and two times we hadn’t gone to bed yet so I know it wasn’t that we just slept through it. I guess I’ll have to pull my receiver back out and see about using it at night time. Thanks for the idea!
I have not had any issues when an upgrade occurs with Apple; it still allows Dexcom to work just fine. When Dexcom 7 comes out, generally Apple catches up quickly, so you will only get notified on your phone. They are pretty good in keeping service running, so I am not worried about it at this time.
The brains of the G6 system are in the transmitter not the receiving devices. Your phone and receiver may not update the current number at exactly the same time but they will be within 5 minutes of each other if they are both in range. If the numbers are far apart, it means that one device hasn’t updated for a long time because it was out of range.
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When I was on pork insulin I had super keen hypo awareness. Much less on Humulin and Humalog. However since I tightened up my sugars in the past year and a half, I can feel lows pretty significantly. It’s hard to compare to when I was on animal insulin because I’m a lot older now, that was 30 years ago.
I don’t use a pump.
May 22, 2022
I wear my receiver and my iPhone 11XR in a runners belt.
Both have my sensor and transmitter serial numbers in them.
I’m a Newbie. My next step from the Diabetes Clinic is an InPen Smartpen,
so I can more easily calculate IOB and mealtime shots. Can’t get an Omnipod 5
yet as I am diagnosed a type 2, even though I am totally insulin-dependent.
My C-Peptide is 0.21. I became insulin-dependent immediately after
Pancreatic Cancer surgery on October 6, 2021 (Distal Pancreatectomy, Spleen
removal, partial Omentum removal). It’s all still a huge and overwhelming learning
experience for me. I am grateful for this website and your responses as the Diabetes
Clinic isn’t all that helpful in helping me get a grasp on all this.
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They’re also not helpful at getting you a proper diagnosis, either. You are NOT Type 2, not even if maybe you were before your pancreatectomy. There’s an entirely different diagnosis code for medically-induced diabetes. Technically, you’re a “pancreatic cancer-induced insulin dependent diabetic”. Quite the mouthful, right? Medically-induced diabetes is categorized by the condition which caused it, followed by the treatment method. If you’re just seeing a general practitioner, they may not even know this… because it’s definitely NOT general medicine. It’s quite rare. I would suggest you ask for a referral to an endocrinologist, if you haven’t already got one. They should be better suited to getting you set up with the proper diagnosis code.
Getting your diagnosis code sorted would remove the Type 2 barrier, if you want the Omnipod or other insulin pump , that is. Medically induced diabetes is a bit of a black-hole in the insurance world, as each case is different. You’re more likely to be clumped in with the Type 1s, since you’re insulin dependent, when your claims are reviewed.
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I was a type 2 on Metformin before. Endocrinologist at Diabetes Clinic says I’m still considered type 2 even though I’m now medically-induced insulin-dependent. I asked him to change it, but he said he can’t because I didn’t become
diabetic from an autoimmune disorder. I became diabetic from insulin resistance. Nurse Practitioner said my C-Protein level is 0.21, and you need to be 0.1 or less to be considered type 1. I was told that they are following current medical protocols for diabetic diagnosis, as well as for Medicare Advantage Plan, and that they could lose their licenses if they did not follow the medical protocols. So I guess I’m going to be in Limbo for awhile. In the meantime, I’m just trying to figure it all out on my own, so I can live some more. God-willing, I’ll keep on going, with help from diabetes books and websites. I thank God for each one of you who are so willing to help to enlighten us Newbies.
Okay, at least they seem aware. I would be asking for a second opinion from a different group, though. Medicare doesn’t dictate how diagnoses are done, and the Type 1 diagnosis criteria is irrelevant. It’s like they’re stuck on choosing between Type 1 or Type 2, when the sugary removing part of your pancreas changed the status quo altogether.
Did you mean C-peptide? This indicates if your pancreas is still making insulin. Medicare uses this as pump criteria.
Yes C-Peptide. Sorry. Rookie error for terminology.
I suggest you contact medicare specialist for your plan, not the practitioner, to confirm criteria/ eligibility for you.