DiaTribe’s Adam Brown posted yesterday (12-28-18) an information-packed two-year review of his experience with the do-it-yourself (DIY) automated insulin dosing system, Loop.
This observation really caught my attention.
Overall, my time-in-range (70-140 mg/dl) has increased by an impressive 1.9 hours per day while on Loop – far more than I would have guessed. On average, my daily time-in-range was 73% over 16 months of manual care vs. 81% over the past 24 months on Loop. That may not seem like a large difference, but it’s actually massive: two hours per day equates to an extra one month per year in the range of 70-140 mg/dl.
He also reports on the sleep benefits Loop has given him. He’s more confident about going to sleep with a less than optimal glucose scenario and letting Loop adjust as needed. Algorithmic control of overnight BGs is one of the features prominently mentioned by users of these early automated systems. This is consistent with my experience.
I share much with Adam Brown’s diabetes management style. I’ve also used Loop for two years, use a carb limited way of eating, employ intermittent fasting, and use an array of technology to make my life easier, not more complicated.
I know these early DIY systems are not for everybody. Securing a compatible older pump represents a tough hurdle to jump while other people are not comfortable relying on aging technology. His column is a great comprehensive review. If you want to read details of what it’s like to live with the diabetes technology of tomorrow, check out Adam Brown’s review on diaTribe.
That is great. I was looking at that when people mentioned it here and it seemed pretty confusing to me. I also would not want to rely on my phone to control my insulin dosage since phones are not reliable, at least mine is not anyway LOL.
My cde said that dex G6 with new tandem will turn off and then start insulin again when you are low, as soon as bg starts to go up it starts insulin again which is pretty good.
Reading about the performance of Tandem’s X2 pump combined the Basal IQ shut off when a low is predicted intrigues me. When the automated correction bolus doses come into play with the Control IQ next year, the system will be improved. If I wasn’t on Loop, I’d be getting myself set-up with Tandem.
What I find interesting about the Basal IQ system is that it does restore basal insulin as soon as an uptick in BG is detected. This thoughtful feature will help minimize rebound highs.
Yes I like that a lot as well and that is the reason why I will feel safer trying it for lows when I get G6. I have had 3 incidents where I was going into DKA so I do not want my basal insulin shut off the if my blood sugar is not really low etc., Dex is often wrong for me.
I still do not want the pump to start doing corrections though. I think she said you can tell it not to do that. I prefer to do that myself. Although I guess if I’m going very high when I’m asleep and it corrected that could help.
Problem is when I’m going really high and I’m going into DKA I’m going to be doing an injection and changing out the whole cartridge and inset etc. most likely. I guess for a normal high maybe it could be OK but due to the way my blood sugar swings around I prefer to do my own corrections.
Yeah I’m aware of that but I will not be using it for corrections, just for lows. My new pump just arrived about 10 minutes ago but I do not have a G6 yet so I will not be able to try any of this until I switch to that.
I’m on Medicare so I don’t know when I’ll be switched to the G6. However, the only reason I’d want to switch would be to take advantage of the expected cool features of the t:slim.
I heard they are going to start giving it to Medicare patients in the spring so it will not be that long. My plan is to wait until they force me to switch to it because I have a lot of G5 sensors and I’m not going to throw them away. So I guess I will probably wait until the spring as well. I’m assuming that is when they’re going to start this change.
Same here (G5 stock). I may end up replacing the batteries in my old xmitters if it’s not to difficult. The actual battery changing I think I can manage, but I THINK that in order to use the expired xmitters I have to also do so sort reprogramming of sorts. IIRC, it requires a Mac. I’ve got one in the house but I’m primarily a PC guy so the idea has no appeal.
I think there are instructions on one of the FB groups and I can’t recall if the “reprogramming” is required to use the Dexcom app(or receiver) or to use either Dexcom or xDrip. If I could get away with only changing the battery and make it work with xDrip that would be ok with me. I like to keep things simple!
I don’t think instructions on the Facebook group is going to be enough for me. But who knows. I couldn’t imagine myself opening this thing up and that would be the end of it I would never figure out how to do anything or get it back together etc.
My takeaway from the instructions is that (I’m inferring here) if we use xDrip we don’t have to go thru the reset procedure–only if we want to use Dexcom apps or receiver.
As we all know, each diabetic is unique, and the quote above proves that. You cannot wait until you can marry the two systems, and I personally would not ever want to do that. Why? Well, I have the G6 system, and I find it less than reliable. Most of the time, the G6 (which measures glucose differently than a glucose meter) is 20 -30 points higher than the meter. Occasionally, though, it is the same amount lower. Case in pint: I got a “low” reading of 65 a couple of days ago, and when I tested with my OmniPod PDM, I got a reading of 90! While I would correct for 65, I certainly would not correct for 90. I did not correct at that time, and an hour later I was at 129. I like that the CGM shows me trends, but I would NEVER trust it – in my case – to use as a base from which I would dose my insulin.
Yeah it’s hard to decide what to do but I will definitely try it and see how it works for me if I don’t want to use it I can just shut it off on the pump so it’s not a big deal.
’ing my Animas lasts until then …