There seems to be so many specific forums on the Medtronic 530g with enlite so I am having trouble finding first hand accounts of the new system. I have now had the 530g for over 2months now and here is my deal (T1 17yrs no previous pump experience):
Because I have no prior pump experience this post is mostly cons. The sensor… Diablo(the devil) as I like to call it. My sensor experience has been broken down into “that one week when it worked accurately” and “for a few days it was great”. B/c over calibrating hurts the accuracy I have been out of luck when the accuracy is so terrible off. This often can last all day and the sensor alarms become this whinny child I have to take with me to class, bed, etc. (ya know b/c I have hope it will fix itself) I have had to turn it off. (by inaccurate I mean anywhere from bg:114 SG:40 to Bg:150 SG: 230 w/double rise arrows and the mild but still mind racing BG:120 SG:156)
Trust. Trust has almost made me pass out in public with my daughter and also spill ketones. On weeks when the accuracy has been dead on I begin to Trust Diablo. Even though I may be feeling symptomatic of a low but my sensor has says differently I try to ignore my symptoms and say it’s all in my head. On multiple occasions the alarms have woken me up all night even if I silence it it will vibrate multiple times a night letting me know “hey remember you put me on silence” also (weak signal,low predict,suspend b/c I’m apparently 60>)of course b/c it cried wolf So many times I have actually ignored a few real night lows b/c I’m thinking diablo is just being diablo. Anyways I was looking forward to cutting back on finger pricks when I got the system, but I still do my BG avg 8x a day b/c I can’t trust the accuracy of SG. If another person excitedly says to me “It’s like an artificial pancreas!” I might get into my first brawl. (Yes I have had a long day)
I have called the Medtronic hotline and I got a lecture about not
calibrating too many times and not calibrating when your BG has up or down arrows. I even put in a new sensor with a rep on the line. They have sent me 2new sensor inserts and I was supposed to send them my inaccurate sensor site I took off my body, but the package they said would “be there on Monday” has yet to make it to my house almost a month later.
Now to be fair I am newly pregnant so my insulin needs are ever changing (it can be hard to calibrate on times when my bg is flat b/c I usually need another snack by time this happens. Though many if not most of these problems with the sensor happened pre pregnancy and pre insulin changes.
Pump is great. I hope that I am THE ONLY ONE with these sensor issues and you 530g users read this thinking “girl get it together mine is awesome!”
I, too, am having similar difficulties that you describe and I AM NOT PREGNANT! Some days the sensor readings are accurate and other days they are way off. I, too, have been in constant contact with Medtronic and each time, the rep tells me something different. Fortunately, the rep has sent me two sensors for every one that has failed. This has saved me because my insurance company is not sympathetic to my getting more than my fair share. Some tips that might help (although you may have already tried some of them). If at all possible, try to wear the sensor in a place where it will not be covered with tight clothing, like tights, for example. This may be difficult since you are PG and your size keeps changing. Also, try to keep them away from belt lines. Again, this is difficult because belt lines change for women a lot more than for men. Men must have developed the things. Try to calibrate four times a day. I do them before breakfast, before lunch, befoe dinner and before bedtime--IF I don't have arrows going up or down. Again--hard for Type I's. Insert the sensor before you go to bed, but DO NOT start the sensor readings in your pump until the next morning. The sensor will have plenty of time to settle into the tissues and get nice and comfy. Sometimes, I just turn the D____ thing off when it is alarming because it is nerve wracking and causes me a lot of distress. I don't turn it off when I am sleeping, however. I am married, but my husband sometimes has to get up due to sleep problems. If hubby is next to me, I might turn it off, if it won't shut up due to calibration problems. Hubby wakes up if I am having low blood sugars and get hot, etc. On the days when the Enlite works, it is GREAT, but unfortunately, the accuracy seems to be hit or miss for me. Good luck to you. Keep trying because it is really important to have the right numbers when you are PG. I had two babies in the days before glucose meters and it was really hard. In spite of that, I had two healthy babes and they are now ornery adults who try to tell me what to do.
On the days that mine works (which are VERY RARE, don't think otherwise) are when I only calibrate 3 times a day (morning when I wake up, lunch, and right before bed) and when I'm level...meaning I haven't eaten in a while. Not practical.
I am also NO PREGNANT...just wanted to get that out there. That being said, I'm not sure how that would affect it. They told my friend that they wouldn't give her one because it's not approved for pregnant women.
I'm kind of at the point where I think it's trash. Very disappointed, though not surprised as the first MM one I tried years ago was horribly bad.
Similar problem: my pump is way off it wakes me up at night with in inaccurate highs and lows if I don’t get proper rest it complicates everything … I have
thought about living life without a CGM I certainly will be calmer…
I've posted a few times on here about how awful the new sensors are. Up until 2 weeks ago that is. I started inserting the sensor into my right thigh (instead of my stomach) and now it's accurate as all can be for me. Even through the night. Right now I'm calibrating it maybe 3-4 times a day. Before the thigh, I had a 70% failure rate of the sensors when it was inserted into my stomach. I was frustrated to hell with Medtronic and the hours wasted on the phone with them. To give them credit, they always sent out a replacement sensor (and twice they sent out 2 replacement sensors for my trouble).
That’s awesome news! I wil try that. Also, keep me posted if you try out any other non-stomach areas. If you don’t mind me asking do you have a good amount of “meat” in your thigh? I have little fat in my legs so the idea of putting it there makes me nervous for pain reasons.
I am so sorry that you can relate to my post! I will try putting in the sensor before bed like you suggest. Since I made this post I have had my sensor out for a week and my life has since simplified. My day hasn’t been run by the sensor issues. I want it to work out for so many reasons so I won’t give up till I try a different insertion sight. I’m thinking arm, back, and leg. It’s so nice that your husband is such a strong support especially for the most ominous time of the day for many T1’s.
The front of my thigh is fairly meatless but I do have some. Most of my weight is in the belly section. I was as nervous as a cat in a rocking chair factory the first time but it was painless. That's one of the things I like about the new sensors. The current sensor I have in me right now has been in for 12 days and counting now. My previous one I changed after 7 days because of the lost sensor message but I think my transmitter discharged after 7 days. This one gave me the same issue after 7 days but I detached it, recharged it, and put it back in with no problems.
I'm going to post an update here. I tried out inserting the sensor toward the back of my middle thigh. I left the sensor in overnight to "soak in" before turning it on. No sir. I believe I kept it in for 2-3 days before shutting it off because it kept waking me up at night and both nights I suspended my basal "in my sleep" (the noise has become so routine I guess my body says "hey girl keep sleeping I got this"). Fail. Anyways the sensor has been turned off for most of March now and I don't miss it a bit. I do miss the hope that the sensor was going to be a great addition to my T1 diabetes management.
* I've called the medtronic hotline the 2 times I've had a spare moment this month and both times I was on hold for 40+ minutes before I just had to hang up...YUP fun fun stuff
PLEASE keep posting on here updates on all things 530g with enlite for me!
I am also a new pumper, but not at all new to CGM, and started using the 530G in December. I have had good accuracy with the all of the sensors at least if I don't restart them. I've probably had best results in my arms.
I am not loving the CGM part, but have really been frustrated with pumping- they've replaced my pump body three times in as many months.
Sorry to hear KellBell :/ knock on wood but I've been averaging about 2-3 weeks per sensor. One thing I noticed is I'd get the lost sensor error after restarting it after the 6 days. I'd disconnect it, recharge it, then plug it back in and it'd be back to normal. But I'm still doing the thigh thing. I gave up on my stomach.
I am updating my experience with the Enlite CGM over the past four weeks. As a result of other users' suggestion, I placed the CGM in my uppper thighs rather than the gut area, and I am receiving better accuracy. The sensor still fails, at times, and requires frequent finger sticks to ensure that the sensor results are close to my glucometer readings. It can be maddening. Sometimes when I become overly frustrated, I just turn off the sensor for a while and "take a breather." The challenge for me, and the one that demands that I use a CGM, is I have almost no hypoglycemic awareness and the consequences can be annoying and dangerous, as you all know. I, also, hate depending upon others for my care. I believe, however, that the only way to change something is to keep moving ahead and hope for the best.
SO I have a 530g, though I'm not using it yet and I won't be using the sensors until May (I start the actual pump April 21st) but does the thigh location work if you keep your pump on a belt or do you have to put it somewhere else for the cgm to work with it? This might be stupid but I'm curious where you put your pump when you put the sensor in your thigh?
I haven't done my thigh w/ a sensor, although I've done it with the infusion sets. I think you'd put your pump in the pocket next to the leg the sensor is in? That would be pretty close. I have the 523 too, rather than the 530 so I'm not sure if there's a range difference or not. I would hope it would be more but you never know...
I, really rather frustratingly have found that the original sofsensors ( I had a tonne to use up before trying the enlites) worked far far better on the new 530G pump than the new enlites do.
I love everything about the enlite insertion device, but the results for me so far have been appalling. Very low life spans with reported rate changes that simply cannot be right. I'm talking jumps of 80 points in 5 minutes. In short the whole genius of the CGM has been dented, as I simply don't trust it as much.
I want to basically go back to buying the sofsensors, and I wonder if anyone has any experience with purchasing them while registered as a 530G owner? I'm just about to attempt it, and I'm fearing the worst.
Frankly, I'm feeling a little hoodwinked into upgrading.
The 6 day lifespan on the pump worked PERFECTLY with the sofsensor. I'm on sensor number 5 with the Enlites, and they seem to TRULY begin to fade at day 5, and so in theory while they may make it to day 6, they're doing on on their hands and knees at a crawl, wheras the sofsensors were burning strong, and often I could get 12 days use out of them (sometimes considerably more).
Very dissapointed.
The enlite I have inserted currently has been my first to make it past day 7. It is however being twitchy and erratic. I'm so used to running these things into the ground that I'm sticking with it for reasons of pure obstinance, but in effect I have another sensor just barely scrape over the 6 day mark while functioning. :( In effect and at this rate, these are going to be infinitely more expensive to keep using.
I have a 9 day one in right now. It read a little bit low yesterday but I had a pretty gonzo workout in the AM so maybe it was fried a bit. This AM, day 9, it was about 28 points low, reading 61 while I was 89 BG...) and I said "ok, I'm so done with this...unless it calibrates up" but it calibrated up.
On day 7, I first calibrated it, then unplugged it to charge it and used "find lost sensor" when I plugged it back in and it seemed to work ok. I had the same initial "this doesn't work as well as the old ones..." reaction but with time and practice, I think I've swung around to preferring the Enlites.
I have a paradigm and sensor, so I am not yet familiar with the 530G. I do, however, know it took me awhile to really get a handle on the sensor. It can be friend or foe. You can encourage the friendship side with some good technique. Also, changing the alert from a sound to vibrate was a wonderful change for me, as alerts are more private and everyone in the meeting doesn't turn and stare.
Normally, I calibrate before each meal and at bedtime. I test my blood glucose 7/8 times per day, but only calibrate those 4 times. I never input a calibration if:
-The finger stick reading is below 70 or above 170. -There is a large difference between the blood reading and the sensor. This will cause a CAL ERROR, which usually means I need to replace the sensor.
Those simple rules have really helped me maintain the sensor's accuracy.
One more thing--it took my a long time to get to a point where I am comfortable with the sensor and actually trust it. Now, I am lost without it. It has helped me maintain great A1Cs without a lot of lows.
I have used both. The Sof-Sensor was difficult to insert and had spotty accuracy but I could get it to last 8-10days.b I have the 530g new pump and Enlite sensors. The Enlite is very easy to insert, very accurate for the first 4 days if you calibrate it at the right time( when bgs are stable, no more than in 24 hours) but dies before the 6th. I am watching to see if our dear Acidrock can pull off an extension of the time. I have not and do not use sensors 24-7 because of such inconsistencies. I use them when setting new basals or on weeks I have a differing schedules. I find that testing 8-10 x a day works almost( but not quite as well) as the MM CGM-pump combos, but ONLY when they are on point. Both sensors were Too irritatingly fickle for me. I hear the DEXCOM is the best. May go to it unless MM comes up with a sensor that is both durable AND accurate.
Are you getting weak signals or lost sensors when your sensors die? Might want to try recharging your transmitter and then reconnecting it using the find lost sensor option. The longest I've gotten out of an enlite sensor was 19 days (with 2 recharges during the 19 days). The only reason I had to change it is I accidentally ripped it out when toweling off after a shower.
