How often do you wear you glucose sensor? Continuously?

Just wondering how many wear their glucose sensor 24/7 and what does your A1C run? Do you find your able to keep your A1C lower wearing your sensor all the time? And finally, what are your pros/cons in your daily life wearing your sensor all the time? Just curious…

I wear my Dexcom 24/7. A1C is 5.9, down from 8.4 in Feb. before I had the CGM. I sleep better - dex is under my pillow so when I would normally get my occasional nighttime lows, sometimes in the 30s, I can avert them. Being able to see how I’m trending is important to me. The data it provides is priceless.

I wear my MM pump/ sensors all the time too. I am addicted to the stream of data, just the kind of product you’d want to sell! I also like to exercise pretty regularly and find that it is much easier to do so with a CGM/ pump combo. I think the main cons are sticking things into my abdomen all the time and the cost. I’ve pushed my A1C to 5.0, from 5.8 prior to the pump, better to my eye although the doc is suggesting I back off on the heater a little bit and run higher.

I also had studied martial arts for a few years where we explored “incremental improvement” in the context of the “art of living”, which are probably not strangers to anyone here? That wasn’t too long ago. I had to move away from the school and our new lifestyle didn’t exactly support it but it helped me want to get a pump and, after I swiched to running as my main exercise, it made sense to try a CGM. After reading all of the kvetching on message boards and about how much the MM sucked compared to the Dex (which I haven’t used…), I have been very pleased w/ the MM.

I wear mine 24/7, sorta addicted to the data stream like AR is. However, my concern is more highs than lows – I used to run up in the 200’s and never know it, because I really don’t feel highs until they get to more like in the 300’s, whereas I feel lows as soon as I get below 70. So the crazy chimps in the Flatliner’s Club convinced me that I should be trying to stay under 120 (although 140 is more like it), and one thing the CGM does is alert me if I’m starting to go high, and I can do something about it before it reaches 250 or so. Except during my severe depression last year, when my A1c was 10.7 and I went into a coma and almost died, my A1c’s have always been in the 6’s, but the last one was 6.0, and since my goal was to get into the 5’s, it’s as close as never you mind. Maybe next time, I’ll get into the 5’s, and you can bet that the CGM will have been a great help! :slight_smile:

Crazy chimps huh? wOOt!

I try to stay between 80-120. Right now I have a beautiful flatline on my dexcom… at 170 LOL. Steroids. Don’t know what I’d do without it right now. I’ve tested at least 12x today, wiithout the dexcom it would have been more. It really is a great early warning system, and super way to see trends.

I’ve worn my Freestyle Navigator CGMS continuously for nearly three years. My last A1c was 7.0, but that’s the highest it has been in that time. Before that, never saw below 7.0!

I just yanked mine. It was 1) extremely painful location, too close to hipbone or something, and I had a long run today, which seemed to bug it more. It was fine while I was running, the zone/ endorphins/ bats obliterated it but, as soon as I stopped I was like “yeeowch” and 2) now its doing the “BELOW 40” thing for like 2 hours. The last time it did this was also day six of a sensor (I know longer than you are supposed to…but they used to work more reliably out at that range…) and the 40/40/40 had gone on for so long I ignored it and ran a shade too low.

I wear mine all.of the time. Pros…constant data, i know when to react before i feel any issues. Con…have data all of the time, so sometimes overloaded and worry about a high not coming down. Have to restrain myself from rage blushing. Also alarms that are false are annoying.

I started using the Dex 7+ in September of '09. At the time my A1c was 7.3% and I had been struggling for two years or so to bring it down from 8.5%. I wear my CGM 24/7. Since I started in '09 I have not gone without it for more than several hours.

Since starting on the Dex my A1c has dropped into the 6% range with a low of 6.0% in September '10. My last A1c was 6.3%.

Where a CGM really shines is when it wakes me up with my blood sugar trending down and crossing the 80mg/dL threshold. That allows me to prevent a night-time low that invariably rebounds to 200+ for hours the next morning.

In my 27 years as a T1 diabetic I place the CGM as a significant therapy breakthrough equivalent to home glucose monitoring, the insulin pump, and the faster acting insulin analogs.

Even though it lags realtime BG by 15 minutes or so, it’s a great trend indicator. I’m fortunate to have good health insurance coverage so I wouldn’t live without one. I’m looking forward to the next generation that promises better accuracy.

One con that I can report is making insulin or food decisions based on the Dex alone. Due to that lag in actual BG I’ve made the mistake of overeating for a low and overcorrecting a high. I always fingerstick for those decisions now.

I always wear mine…except for right now…it broke on Thursday!!! I guess sometimes the hardware just fails. I wont have another until Monday or Tuesday and at first, I was having a lot of anxiety without it!! I am OK right now, but for instance I had pasta tonight and feel lost without my Dexcom. I usually will bolus some and then when I see my Dexcom start to rise, take the rest, since it digests really slow. I miss it :frowning: I also don’t feel as comfortable sleeping. I would say driving and sleeping are my biggest worries, and the CGM helps make those times less scary. I check my BG before driving and sometimes while driving and stopping at a stop light at this point right now because I don’t know where my sugars are trending. I know my CGM helps me keep my numbers more normal for times like that because I go to sleep a little higher without it. My A1C is about 5.9 and has been the past couple times.

I am nutso testing right now. I’m sure the rx will end up running out several weeks early. :frowning:

At least rage blushing is better than rage bolusing!!! I’ve done that a couple of times, sometimes with success and sometimes not! LOL!!

I believe your concern is quite valid, and was one reason why I was hesitant to get a CGMS. But now that I have one, I always do a fingerstick before making a large decision (such as bolusing for a high or panicking because of a low). There have been times the CGMS has been way off. The best use, though, for me is trending: if my blood sugar shows up higher than I’d like but is trending down, that’s a good thing for me to know. I won’t rage bolus.

Plus, the CGMS gives information that otherwise might be missed. I thought my I:C ratios were good until I got the CGMS: sure, my blood sugar was were good 3-4 hours after the meal, but I missed the extremely high spike in between.

Nevertheless, the CGMS can be quite the hassle.

Cannot imagine life without my CGM after having it so I def wear it 24/7. I cannot comment yet on the better A1C as I have only had it for a few months and my blood sugars have been running sky high from pregnancy hormones. LOVE LOVE LOVE my Dexcom tho!

I hope you’re talking to your dietitian and endo about the sky-high BGs. For a healthy baby, you really need to get them down ASAP! Wishing for the best for you!

We love our son dex too. With teenager hormones, spontaneous summer activities and occasion fast food we are so better off with it. We put it where he’s comfortable with it and he wears it 24/7. We get as much out of the each sensor as we can, not because of cost (thank you insurance) but less poking and if its working-dont mess with it. Haven’t had an A1C done yet, actually he’s due but couldn’t get in til August, expect to see him in the 5s. This summer he’s been cruising 60 - 120, flatlining a lot but having to watch for lows when he gest active. Had only a few terrible days where BSs didn’t want to come down. Fast food was to blame. Our con; wearing the receiver which is kind of bulky, he’s pump is the Omnipod so its the only thing on his belt. About not wearing in; I would be in complete anxiety and have him test like crazy. :slight_smile:

I wear my MM CGM 24/7 and it has helped me tremendously. The biggest pro may be that it alerts me to overnight hypos and it has lowered my A1C from 6.5 to 5.6! The CGM is a great tool and if it is used correctly can be a big game changer. The live data (with a 15 minute lag) allows me to make much better decisions and accurately aim for a lower target BG.

The cons are an extra cost (my insurance covers 70-80% of it). The larger guage needle to introduce a new CGM sensor is no fun. And the biggest con is the extra time that you must put into yet another diabetes thing (its not that much time but its annoying). Extra time from inserting, calibrating, checking, verifying accuracy, double checking. Another con is the learning curve. It took me at leat 4 weeks to figure out how to best use the data my CGM was providing me.

I’m a little different- I wear mine every couple of weeks.
I get distracted-I wish I could let it record and then gather the info, but I’m not at that point yet, as I watch it all the time.

If it suggests by BG is good (which may or may not be totally accurate)-I find that I want to stick food in my mouth. I find that my blood sugar runs higher when I have the thing on–but I know it’s me, because I eat.

I’ve had one for about 1 and a half years. Wear it most of the time. About the only time I don’t wear it is when you have to change sensors and charge the transmitter battery. A1C is around 8 (needs improving but that is about as good as it’s going to get) Got one because I’ve had trouble not recognizing when the blood sugar is getting low and that is not good. Not perfect by any stretch as varies between CGM and meter quite a bit at times. Had meter say 4(canadian system) and CGM 13 and vice-versa. Aside from the fact it’s rather expensive-47.50/sensor, I suppose it helps. .

I did have an A1C of 5.9 once, but mostly it runs mid 6’s, which is what it ran before the Dex. However, it gives me great peace of mind with the high and low alerts, and gives me warning before driving so I have time to return to normal. Since starting on the DexCom a year ago January I have had very few severe nighttime hypos, but they have been replaced by beeping that wakes me and hubby up, which is more than a fair trade off.