Looking forward to once-a-day or no calibration for Dexcom

Today,when I was nagged for a number of hours to calibrate, I finally gave in and did it. As often is the case, it was already accurate. 149 vs 149. I’m now becoming more and more unwilling to do fingersticks (not that they hurt–just that it is time wasting and awkward/impractical at times). Funny, coming from me, the guy who tested more than 15 times every day for over 2 decades. Sometimes more than 22-25 x a day. Now I feel peeved when I have to test as few as 3-5 times. I’ve got my average down to about 9 and still dropping.

So now I look forward to a Dexcom system of the future that requires no calibrations!

3 Likes

I just ignore the alerts to calibrate much of the time, since they seem unnecessary for me as well. I probably average about 1 calibration a day or less (and that’s usually all I test, except for days when I’m changing the sensor or something weird is going on).

I get annoyed by the nag screen and I’d also like to see even more long-term accuracy from the Dexcom. It does sometimes drift off after a long time between calibrations, and I’m not referring to the first day which is when many folks complain about drifting.

Yeah, agreed, I look forward to it not bugging me all the time! I wish I could somehow dismiss it for longer/adjust those settings with the current set up… Maybe you can on xDrip.

I hope Dexcom will never delete the calibration option from their devices, because when I tried Freestyle Libre I really missed it since there was no other way to bring the numbers back on track.

1 Like

I would be shocked for Dexcom to retain an option to calibrate once the G6 is released as “no calibration”. IMHO that would defeat the argument that calibrations are not required.

Dexcom has already publicly committed to having a “no calibration” G6 available prior to the end of 2018. They have never given any suggestion of retaining an option to calibrate.

1 Like

I can’t agree with your sentiment, Dmitry2. Do you remember when we had to input a CODE into our bg meters? What a pain. We have been set free from that irritation. I see no reason to continue with tech that needs to be periodically calibrated IF they can make a sensor that is guaranteed to stay accurate (I’m sure the G6 will be guaranteed for accuracy–can you image the uproar if they aren’t accurate and can’t be calibrated by the user?).

1 Like

I am using Xdrip and only calibrate when I feel like it (usually in the mornings when I have been FLAT for a while.)
I sometimes don’t calibrate for a day or three :wink:

3 Likes

Understood, but you do know that what I’m referring to is the time when the tech is good enough to not need a calibration. The G5 still needs to be kicked back into line from time to time.

1 Like

I was diagnosed just 5 years ago and the proud phrase “no coding required” on every strip box is a mystery to me. :slight_smile: If they can make such a sensor, sure, let it be. In reality companies tend to bring underdeveloped products on the market and improve them while already in the production. We have glucose meters now that are very accurate, but the clause about 10-20% error is still in place. May be it was viable in the past, but not now. The same could happen with a sensor without calibration - it would be told that 10-20% error is ok. There is quite a number of people here who didn’t like the accuracy of Libre and I haven’t noticed Abbott has any problem with it. They will improve quietly over the years, but this will be done out of my pocket and on behalf of my health. I can live with monetary loss, but my health is a very sensitive issue to let somebody to take advantage of. So, my wish to Dexcom: go with a new sensor, but leave a rudimentary feature of calibration to be used at user’s discretion.

2 Likes

Yup, understood. But for me, when I was running both dexcom and xdrip side by side. If I calibrated both at the same time, xdrip would be further off.
I then started to only calibrate the dexcom consistently, and only did the xdrip if it was pretty far off. Suddenly xdrip became even more accurate for me.

4 Likes

Highly recommend xDrip, it’s 1000x better than the actual Dexcom app and I switched back from the Libre when I discovered it. It doesn’t upload your data to any servers unless you want it to, so no one (i.e. Medicare) will know you’re using your phone. It doesn’t shut the transmitter off after 90 or so days which makes the system more cost-effective. You can link it with a Pebble watch which is the best thing ever and the ultimate reason I switched back!

2 Likes

I barley ever calibrate my Dex. I have seen no loss in accuracy. I go for DAYS w/o calibrating it. I just record the number on paper.

Does a Pebble-to-Dexcom connection have to go through a phone?

It does unfortunately. All of them do except the Sony Smartwatch 3. It works really well though and nothing beats the battery life!

i see them from $220 to $485. I know zip about these watches. the only one I’ve used is a Gear 2 (love it–has a 2 mp camera, and IR blaster to control electronics such as TV’s)

There are different versions of them. The Pebble has sadly been discontinued but I’ve seen the original version of it for under $100 online. I think you can get the Gear to work with xDrip too!

I use the Samsung Gear 3 with XDRIP+ on my Note 8 phone.
Makes checking my BG super easy.
It doesn’t have a good watch face to show both BG and the actual TIME. I just use the push notification that updates every few minutes to see the current BG. If I want more info, I tap the notification and it opens a xdrip like watch face. I keep trying to run it AS the watchface, I just cannot get it to display the BG number, graph and TIME of day.

My Gear is the Gear 2 (the second-ever model) and it runs on Tizen. Don’t the newer ones run Android Wear, which can use far more apps?

that’s a bummer. would be nice to see time and bg with a flick of the wrist. I like how my Gear 2 comes alive by just twisting my wrist.