I just started loop yesterday, after having T1D for 58.5 years. It really is a quality of life thing. Only having to dose for meals and staying level the rest of the time, especially during the night, is totally it for me. I’m happy with this system. When I learn it more, I’m sure it will be even better.
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I told my endo at my last apt that I was going to try OpenAPS and he was excited to see it working on me. I didn’t figure that out but got Loop working, as it is easier to get started with. I’m betting he will be excited to see this system when I go in early Dec.
My sentiment as well. My excitement grows with each passing hour on Loop. I find myself checking out the iPhone display just for the joy of watching success! I look forward to reading more comments about your experience.
So far, I’m having trouble grasping the concept of carb absorption. Is it the same concept of how you would use an extended bolus b4 loop?
My understanding is that carbs absorb into our bodies as the small intestine processes the food we eat. The rate of carb absorption is similar to the insulin on board concept. Once the food is eaten it ramps up to a certain terminal rate of absorption and processes at that rate until the meal carb load is finished. The term “carbs on board” or COB is often used in reference to this.
Of course these are ideal concepts and reality often varies but the basic concept can be used to dose insulin.
In a way, yes. I used extended boluses for meals that took longer to metabolize due to my carb limited diet and the amount of protein and fat in the meal. I understand that carbs on board also includes the effect of “carb equivalents” in protein and fat.
Here is a talk by the Loop main developer Nate Racklyeft at the recent #DDATA16. Nate gave a summary of the process behind the Loop development, and his views of what it takes to create amazing diabetes apps. Lets hope D-tech companies are listening.
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Thanks for posting this, Dragan. I found this link yesterday and was watching it on my iPhone. When I switched over to look at the Loop briefly, it dumped that video and I could not google it successfully. When I saw Nate’s name, I immediately thought of “loud Nate” embedded in the software.
I watched this live as it was transmitted by the Nightscout Foundation from the Summit. I thought the last point was especially fabulous - look at the people you’re developing the app for. How many people with diabetes have vision impairments and how many pumps, meters and apps talk or have features to make them accessible? Very few!
Wait, @Dave26, what? That seems like it would be a game-changer for lows…
Are you saying that I can query my son’s BG on Dexcom between the two five
minute intervals and it has a different number from either of those? There
are so many times when you want to know if your BG is coming up and you
have to wait 15 minutes instead of, say, 12, or 20 minutes instead of 15.
How do you query it? Is this code that is embedded in NS?
You can query G5 transmitter whenever you like, but that does not mean that it will return a new updated value each time. As far as I know, G5, just like G4, uses a 5 min averaging window for the sensed sensor current, so BG values are updated at 5 min intervals (I am pretty sure about this, but not 100%, I might be wrong).
[quote=“Tia_G, post:49, topic:57501, full:true”]
Wait, @Dave26, what? That seems like it would be a game-changer for lows…
Are you saying that I can query my son’s BG on Dexcom between the two five
minute intervals and it has a different number from either of those?
[/quote]Yuppers. xdrip+ seems to grab a reading every 4 minutes or so.
The code’s in xdrip+. The 5-minute sampling period is a legacy artifact from the Seven and G4 days. It was a power-saving strategy. The G4 transmitter is unidirectional, waking up on its own every 5 minutes and transmitting a reading.
The G5 is a full bidirectional BLE device, and can be queried at will. The protocol for getting a reading involves sending a command to the G5 transmitter, then receiving the data.
Hmm, so you are saying no and @Dave26 is saying yes. I guess there’s an easy way to test it out: Query every minute or two and then figure out if the result corresponds to the 5-minute time-averaged window or to the actual BG at that time point.
Aaahhh!!! I am SO GLAD that Nate dedicates so much of his presentation to accessibility!!! 
Diabetes apps, pumps, CGMs, devices are NOT accessible to people with visual impairments, and we have been advocating for accessibility for 20+ years an have been virtually ignored by everyone!! If you do not have enough vision to read with magnification, even in 2016 you are flat out of luck if you want to use a pump, CGM, most diabetes apps, or any modern meter. Ridiculous when a totally blind person has been able to use all functions on a touchscreen iPhone or Windows computer (much, much more complex devices as far as user interface is concerned) totally independently for more than half a decade. I want to use Loop even more now just because it would provide a fully accessible pump and CGM experience as well as an AP system.
I’m so glad you viewed the video, Jen. When I watched it earlier, you were the first person I thought about. Nice to see things moving in an accessible direction.
Yeah! I am so happy to hear another person getting great results from an AP device! I have been following the iLet group out in Boston and I have said before, I could learn a second language with this kind of device due to the fact that all that gray matter will not be tied up with all this diabetes stuff. I have seen many reports that look just like yours and it is amazing. I am so thrilled for you and can’t wait for us all to have the possibility of using one. Yes, research does work and this is that bridge that they talk about until a true cure happens!
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I’ve been on Loop since Sep 3rd. My nights are perfect, but I still have unstable daily curves. The biggest achievement though has been that I rarely go above 190, because the system stops the spiking sugar well in advance, usually already in the 160-range and brings it down.
I saw that your target range is quite low and narrow, so I may try with that as well.
PS. The support from the AP-community as a whole (Loop, RileyLink, OpenAPS) has been incredibly great, making it possible for even me as a complete n00b to get the needed hardware but also to build apps, which would have been impossible otherwise. The creator of Loop got a job at Apple and their Health division recently and I just hope that they will let him run his own game there.
Your results, @Terry4, are absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for sharing so we can all learn from your experience. Like @Helmut, I’m on the OmniPod and really look forward to its release of an APS. Hwr, as you point out, it may not be user configurable, making it useless for tight control. Your experience makes me think it would be useful to use the Loop at last for overnight and just turn the pod basal off. I have a really hard time keeping BGs under 140 after eating though so it would be useful in the day, too!
I am so encouraged by @Terry4’s results that I will try to make OmniPod Dash work for me. I will fudge the BG numbers. This should allow me to run in my target range.
Is there any way of getting this to work with the Omnipod pump?
Unfortunately, no.