I have a few questions. The more I read about the CGM’s I wonder if I will be disiplaned enough to get the most out of it. The other piece I’m worried about is if it’s not accurite will I get fed up with it. and lastly I’m very skinny for a guy ( aprox a 140lb weakling ) what problems will I have with this situation. With infusion sites I mainly use my abdomen below my belt line, or I’ll use my legs ( not much to pinch above the belt line. With my work I am both not very active, touring my market, or I may jump in and work activly which causes me to go low quickly. If I go with the MM will I wish I went with one of the other CGM’s but I do like the fact that the MM has a total package the should all work together but… on some post that I have read states that many are disapointed with their MM. Any advice besides take a prozac???
Here’s what happened to me. Even before I got my mm cgm I had read all the other blogs saying the mm cgm was terrible: painful and inaccurate. I went ahead and got the mm cgm because it was the “easiest” and made the most sense. I have the mm pump, integration with the mm cgm would be a cakewalk, right? WRONG. So far, not so good. I HATE the mm cgm…I wish I had trusted all the people who said it was terrible. Now I have this stupid cgm that is too painful and inaccurate! I’m planning to do some trials of the other brands because I am very disappointed with the mm one. That being said, I love my mm pump… don’t know why they can’t get the cgm right.
Here’s my bottom line advice: see if you can TRIAL multiple brands. I WISH I had done this before committing to the mm cgm. Maybe, after comparing different devices you’ll for sure know which one you want. I’m not sure how trialing works, but enough people on this site have trialed multiple brands, it must be a common enough process.
GOOD LUCK!
One thing to consider is that my current insurance company, Blue Shield of California, only covers the MM CGM when you also get the MM pump. No others are covered, so the MM would be free for me and the others are expensive. I am currently deciding between Dexcom and Navigator, but I will have to pay completely out of pocket until they get negotiations figured out with my insurance company.
Prozac is your friend…
LOL
See if you can work a 30-day demo with your insurance and Medtronic. That should give you a sense if it will work for you. I think Dexcom has a program like that, so you may be able to push Medtronic to offer one to you. Some people seem to get good results on one particular brand, or maybe any brand, or maybe none at all. Unfortunately, you have to figure out what category you fall into
I use my thighs for the sensors on mine. There is less discomfort and less bleeding there for me.
…I went to an advanced MM training session last week ; Olympic Rower Chris ( who besides rowing , cycles across the country , does marathons etc. etc ) talked about the system , which he has been using for some time and is not complaining , because it works for him ; I have no complaints, realizing it is another tool for helping me in attaining results …so why is it , that MM , who I think would want the Best for their customers would not want to listen to you , the unhappy customer ? Am I off in my thinking ?
Have the posters discussed their positve/negative observations with MM ?
I am a MM /CGMS user .
I’ve mentioned it on a couple of conversations with tech support, just tired now of being told what I am doing wrong
hear, hear!
Take a deep breath instead of the prozac.
I use a Dexcom, but I don’t use it all the time. I can’t comment specifically on the MM CGM but you might as well as yourself why you need a CGM at all. I often wonder, because it doesn’t actually DO anything.
What it does is provide information. So if you need more information in order to make better decisions the CGM could be a good investment. For me, I use it only when I’m starting to feel out of control or when I’m preparing for an endo visit and need some data we can talk about - especially night time data.
The comfort of the MM CGM I can’t speak to, but as for ‘accuracy’ - it’s a different concept in CGM world. Don’t look at accuracy as hitting the same number as your BG meter - that will rarely happen. Accuracy in CGM world is measured by whether the device is showing you the correct trends. It should show you if your BG is going up or down, how fast, or whether it’s staying level. It doesn’t matter all that much if the CGM says you’ve gone from 160 to 190 as along as it’s true that your BG has gone up 30 points. The BG meter will tell you what the actual number is.
So, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah . . . as others have suggested, if you can get one for a trial period, by all means try it out. Just because you’re approved for it doesn’t mean you have to get it.
Good luck,
Terry
P.S. I’m thin, too. I insert my pump on one side of my abdomen or my flank and put the CGM transmitter on the other side. I rarely notice it’s there unless I’ve place it too close to my belt line.
I told MM (in detail) why I would not be continuing with their CGM. The response I got was the typical scripted answers.
It seems pretty clear to me that they don’t really care. If they did, they’d belong to sites like these and read what actual customers have to say (like Rob from Roche does).
I had a MM GCM for over a year and switched to a Dexcom CGM about 6 mths ago. I had many problems with the MM. It was very hard for me to callibrate because my sugars fluctuate greatly. To callibrate it you need to relatively stable sugar levels for a few hours. If not callebrated well numbers are very inaccurate. Even when accurate, I was always about 20-40 pts off and about 40 min behind. Example: I was driving and got a low alarm beep at 80 when I checked it with a meter it was 37. Another problem was I had lots of pain with the sensor, difficultly getting it in properly, bleeding and scarring. It has to be taped down. The worst problem I had was poor customer service. I love my Dexcom. It is often reading within 1-10 points of my meter. I have no pain or problems with the insurtion. With the directional arrows I always know which way my sugar is headed and how fast. Some of the disadvantages: the software is not as advanced as minimed (although its getting better) my doctors are less familiar with it and therefore are more willing to suggest MM. It is much more simpler than MM but it tells you what you need to know and thats it. Four sensors are supposed to last a month. (I finally got my insurance to approve more) I can get about 4-5 days and then if it starts to get loose I put iv3000 tape and can easily get several more days. If you have a MM pump, having a Dex means you will have two devices to wear. But in my opinion wearing only one is not as important as having accurate reading. I have a SPI belt that I keep my dexcom in and then put my pump on the same belt so not really a problem for me. A trial would be good so you can see for yourself. I think that Dexcom has a 30day trial. Hope this helps.
(note: My insurance does not directly cover supplies from Dexcom but I can get them covered through Edgepark supply company.)
I’m in Canada and the MM is the only available cgm. My 9 year old daughter has been using it now for about 6 months. In that time there was once that it was way off and we couldn’t calibrate to fix it. cgm said sugar was 2.9 mmol/L but meter said 17.0. Other than that it is sometimes very, very close and often off by a bit. I find that chosing a good time to calibrate (when sugars are fairly stable) makes alot of difference in insuring that it is accurate. We calibrate upon waking before breakfast, before lunch, before supper and before going to bed. I wouldn’t calibrate more than that though and even 3 times a day is good.
Don’t think that it will solve all of your problems and there is a delay in the readings since it is mesuring using interstitial fluid instead of blood. Here are our impressions so far http://thetype1game.blogspot.com/2009/11/6-month-report-card.html
good luck
M
Maybe, maybe this is why it works for me ??..I still fingerpoke around 9 x a day ; I do not accept the CGMS as a tool to replace my fingerpoking for the reasons Mike states ; I use my Contour link to calibrate , when my pumps says I should calibrate and use another Bayer Contour to poke the other times … I use about 21 u daily , 190 grams of carbs , am very insulin sensitive ( have always been for the past 27 years ) …about 137 pounds , 5 feet 7 inches . My Specialist questioned my number of finger pokes while at the MM advanced training session , I explained …at my base of 5.5 ( x 18 ) my pump will tell me to deliver the amount …am I at 4.9 ( x18 ), I deliver less or if I don’t , I will have a LOW . And she nodded her head in agreement . The thing to remember…real time finger poke is about 30 min. ahead of interstitional fluid GCMS …would be nice , if it were the other way around ?
Live in Canada ( not next door to Mike 
)
I’m on Minimed and it works just fine with me, and I know many people who like it. Maybe we just aren’t as vocal? Obviously they would have gone out of business if it didn’t work for anyone.
I calibrate only 3 times a day (before breakfast, around 4pm, and before bed) and for the most part, think it’s completely accurate. I’ve actually had several sensors that were within 10 points. If it does get “off track” it’s usually only for that one reading and it’s back up later.
I do not find the Minimed sensor to be painful at all. Sometimes it hurts to put it in, but it goes away quickly. I have only had 1 sensor fall off me in the year I’ve worn it.
There are a few technical things I don’t like - no predictive alarms (only threshold alarms) and the fact you can’t use the meter that communicates with the pump. I’m sure those things will be cleared up and for the most part, I have loved it because I no longer have the extreme highs that I used to have.
I have been a pumper for 12 years. I am tech savvy. I have a Medtronic Guardian but it sits in a drawer because I find it extremely difficult to use and wildly inaccurate. It’s so hard to get a good site that actually works. When I raised concerns with my Medtronic trainer, when I ran into her at a TCOYD conference, she promised to call to try to help. She never called. Dexcom users seem to have much better results. I wish I had gone with Dexcom.
Hi Melitta ( please note my smile on my face as I type ) …I am a gal , who is not tech savvy : self taught on the computer and with help from associates and friends I get there ( but I am darn persistant , relentless and fearless ask my Hubby ) and living with diabetes for 27 years ) and I have no problem using the MM sensor …please see my response above…bottom line : I hope our poster Gordon Keys makes up his mind , what is/ what is not right for him .
I’ve had the Dexcom and I wasn’t happy with it. Although it was accurate for the most part, it was clunky, and it would constantly ask for a calibration. When I called the Dexcom to complain, they quickly sent me more sensors for free. I found that the Dexcom representatives were easy to reach and helpful, but it was annoying to carry another bulky weight and to constantly have to give updates, and have it shut down on me sometimes.
I wanted to try minimed but it has been insane to reach them. I had no trouble in getting my pump and recieving help. But for the past couple months, my endrocrinologist and I had tried to reach the minimed representative with no help. Then finally today I met with one, and she was an hour late to our appointment and although she showed me the cgm…she said I had to call my doctor to see if I was approved, so what was the point?
I’m still debating, Dexcom was easier to work with…I still have it, was going to try the mm cgm because I paid full price for dexcom and I can get insurrance support for the mm cgm. Goodluck Gordon, I’ll let you know if I decide soon!
Thank you all for the advice, and information. Monday morning I will be visiting my endo and the rep for Medtronic’s. I will bring up all of the concerns wth them, although I expect all I’m going to get is the hard sell. I will ask too trial their CGM, but it’s the end of the year and I will need to act before Jan or the old deductable on my Insurance will reset. Twice I have worn the MM CGM for four days each time. unless there is a difference I had no pain. as far as being accurate I could only take their word for that. I would love to know though if my BGs were trending up or down, as I have been on a roller coaster for a long tine.
Again Thank you for your replys
Gordo
Hi Gordon …I am a bit confused : as far as being accurate I could only take their word for that…your quote …did you not do any finger pokes to compare/equate the MM CGMS numbers ??..regardless : All the Best on Mon morning …are you willing to share ?
I dont think you will have a problem with sites or keeping up with using the cgm you will have to test alot I do eight times a day I am not active at all but if you do activity you just have to figure how much to reduce basil to a temp setting rate or suspend it
Yes I did… often But I did not know what the CGM I was reading, They gave me I guess a Blood machine that I used instead of mine own. I assume that that meter stored the informaton from the CGM or, the transmitter I was wareing stored the info from the meter. either way I only know what the finger sticks were. Monday they are supposed to go over the results of the four days on it. The other time was four, or five years ago.and my night sugars were all over the place. I don’t remember how it worked. Now maybe the confusion is that I’m on the MM 715 pump which is not able to link with a CGM If I do decide to go with this I will be upgrading to the 722 which reads that info in real time.