Medtronic 770/780

In the end you want it to work well and give the most accurate numbers as possible. Maybe it’s “for me” but I highly doubt it. The G6 output is more reliable and it is not annoying with calibrations like the Guardian.

I got around the same accuracy with the Guardian as I am seeing with the G6. Medtronic CGM tended to run a little low for me while Dexcom G6 tends to run a tad high. I was rarely annoyed by needing to do calibrations. That’s just how I happen to feel.

So maybe 99 out of 100 agree with you. Fine. It’s still not 100%. Just sayin.

Great point. For me, I don’t find them comparable. I used the Medtronic sensor for 10 years and always found that there were so many failed calibrations, lost signals, completely inaccurate readings, etc, that it was often not worth wearing. It got me through 3 pregnancies, but I was still finger sticking up to 20 times a day. With dexcom, for the first time in 30 years, I am not manually checking sugars, so in that regard, for me, it has been life changing.

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It’s been exactly 100 years since the discovery of insulin. We are all grateful because otherwise we would be dead. The progress in diabetes care has been tremendous but in the end I’d rather not have this disease or have to manage it. Been doing it now for 30 years. I’m now 48 and I’m not looking forward to the crappy complications which will most likely eventually happen. The less I have to do, the more normal my blood glucose the better. And the more normal NOW the better. Great tools are now available but they could be better now and in the immediate future if Medtronic would allow DexCom to communicate to their pumps.

I don’t want to change or wait 4 years

The Medtronic sensors were just ok. You have to calibrate them at least twice a day.
I’m real happy with dexcom.

It’s in process, with Tidepool.

Not really. It’s a promissory statement which means nothing. If Medtronic wanted to do it they would do it immediately. Although tidal pool is a “nice” idea it still requires the companies involved to release proprietary information and to participate. That’s not complicated. From what I’ve read here, if I understand correctly, currently Medtronic is not participating. If they wanted to they would. Medtronic market cap $163B. Dexcom $33B. Think about that. BILLIONS Dexcom makes ONE product and they are worth $33B? Medtronic makes so many things (cardiovascular grafts, stents, pacemakers, heart valves, catheters etc) of which it’s Diabetes division is probably worth less than Dexcom. Medtronic wants a piece of that sensor action and they will keep trying until they have something to displace Dexcom even if it’s only for a small percentage of market share. That appears to be the decision. Why else insist with the Guardian? Other company options buy out Dexcom (very expensive, 33B for ONE product?) or somehow tie the sales of Dexcom to Medtronic pumps. Buy Dexcom get 10% off the price of your Medtronic pump. Medtronic would then sell tubings etc for a long time. Anyways some-kind of synergistic deal where both companies benefit. This is what they should do now. A negotiation that benefits both companies and all of us NOW. But I think both companies see themselves as adversaries and will continue working in parallel. I hope I’m wrong.

This. I know Medtronic is the kingpin in the industry still, but they’re losing footing fast. They lost a lot of business to Tandem after the 670G debacle. I had to laugh when one of the complaints in a 780 Facebook group called it “lipstick on a pig”. I don’t know if the revisions they made will be enough to maintain favor. They gained some patient base being the first with an automated system, but they’re quickly losing that, too. Omnipod 5 and Ilet are both hitting the market this year, and I know of at least 3 other pumps in development. All of which will draw market share away from Medtronic. Also, so many Medtronic users are choosing to forego the automode they don’t like anyway to use the Dexcom sensors instead, so more revenue moving away there…

I highly suspect that Medtronic is going to follow the route of Johnson & Johnson, when they decided Animas just wasn’t a profitable enough division. I think they’ll choose to sell off their current customer base to Lily (since they’re just getting into the pump market, they’ll profit the most from the deal and are financially advantaged enough to pay a premium for the privilege), or possibly Tandem (since they’ve already done some wheeling and dealing when they came to that crazy patent-sharing agreement).

Yeah I didn’t think about that business angle but it makes a lot of sense for Medtronic. Today at my work during a TAVI procedure there was a problem with the sizing/deployment of the first valve so they had to use a second slightly larger valve. Each Medtronic valve system costs something like 32K. And that patient had a previous valve in place that embolized ie moved. That’s 3 valves in that one patient. 96K. That’s good business. Each pacemaker costs about 6K and about 2% of the population will need a pacemaker at some point. DM1 incidence is 15 to 20/100000 which is 0.2% of the population. That’s 10 fold. Why be in the diabetes business? What I don’t know is how much any company would pay for insulin pump technology. Pumps and their technology are low entry. So many companies have that technology and could make a pump if they wanted to. Fresenius, Braun, B-D, Baxter, Q-Core, Micrel etc. Modifying pumps to be smaller to deliver insulin is probably not a big deal. And since Medtronic has proved the concept safely, unknowns several years ago like, Tandem, Omnipod, Ilet etc have easily entered the market. Anyways, I still like the Medtronic pumps a lot and I think they still make the best pumps but the reality is it’s all about reliable CGM. When it comes to the business of the diabetes division, Medtronic would do well to poop or get off the pot.

The guardian 3 is about on par with dexcom. I was a dexcom user for years and just recently went with the 770. I am very pleased with this system. The sensors are accurate and I don’t use their overtape. I use opsite quick flex. I just cut a piece to cover the whole area where the sensor is. Very simple ans easy.:blush::+1::two_hearts:

Glad you’re having a good experience with the Guardian sensors.

You still have to calibrate twice a day tho right?

That’s correct, but I calibrate 3x day. First thing in the morning, before supper and at bedtime. I find that picking my finger a few times a day is a small price to pay for better control and ease of burden of managing type1.

Yes I think it’s fine however I almost never calibrate my dex. Maybe 4 times in 10 days. Sometimes I don’t calibrate at all

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I accepted finger sticks as life for 30 years, 10 years of which where with a medtronic cgm. Switching to dexcom and literally going for weeks without a single finger stick has been the most life altering advancement so far, outside of carb counting over having a specific meal plan.

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Picking my finger a few times a day really doesn’t bother me. It is a good way to check for accuracy. I don’t pick before meals. I use the cgm #. I have less decisions to make with my diabetes and more management with the devices.

I am using the 770 and guardian 3 sensors. I love this system. The sensors are accurate most of the time. The autobasal takes away alot of the treatment decisions with diabetes. I was skeptical switching to the 770 and guardian sensors but I was pleasantly surprised. This pump can also be updated with new software via bluetooth. They finally got it right!!:+1::blush::revolving_hearts:

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I would agree when the upgrade to the 780 is available. More powerful thank than tandem and Dexcom with lower targets. The algorithm is also from Israel called dreamed. The only issue is it is not available in the US yet! Very disappointed again with Medtronic releasing the 770 on the capabilities of the 780 that is not here yet.

I made that post early while I was in automode. It was still cool outside and when it warmed up I started with the lows. I am going to try automode only during the day and see how it goes through the night in manual mode.