Hi I am starting the Dex on Tuesday any tips and hints or advice would be nice
I have used the G4 for a couple months, and I love it. I can't wait to run another A1C in a month or so. Sure has helped me tons. It is not hard to use. It was intimidating at first but it will all fall into place. Good Luck.
I have been doing the diabetes thing for over 50 years, and the Dexcom G4 has helped me as much as the insulin pump.
I hope this thread helps:
My daughter has been using the dexcom for 7months now. It the best thing that happened to our family. No more worries. I’m a mom, I will always worry. I can get more sleep and when it beeps I get up and check her. That is the only time. I use to get up 4 times out of the night to check her. She is only 11 but she loves it! Good luck!
1) Be careful with the receiver; it's delicate and if dropped, is more likely than a cell phone to be damaged. And don't get it wet -- water voids the warranty.
2) Consider getting a "skin" or case -- go to Talleygear.com for some examples.
3) You can use the sensors for longer than the one week period. Your Dex will time out, and you'll need to re-do the 2 hour startup period on the receiver, but don't need to touch the sensor when re-activating the Dex.
4) Be sure to show your spouse/signif other/colleague at work/child's school nurse how to read the displays.
5) Dexcom customer service is awesome. Hope you don't need them, but if you do, don't hesitate to call them.
6) Keep the slide-door closed -- just in case there's water nearby that would somehow splash into the receiver.
7) Lots of advice here about how to prolong the transmitter/sensor unit's ability to stay stuck to the skin.... maybe someone will chime in with a review of the various methods.
Try not to chase the graph. A lot of people will get anxious about their CGM telling them their blood glucose is going up or down and will attempt to fix the situation without really waiting for insulin or food "on board" to take effect. Then you end up on a horrible BG roller coaster ride.
For the first week or two, all I did was watch. Once I started to get used to how different things impacts my BG (i.e., certain foods, activities, etc), I started to tweak what I was doing. So now I know what I should bolus for well ahead of time, and what I might want an extended bolus for, or when to start worrying that I'll need a correction bolus.
So, just relax and spend some time getting used to the information before deciding what to do about it.