Karen ,
I love it . knowing how my bsgs are really helps me emotionally . Im working on the morning lows I have around 10-11 am most work days . So playing with my basal rate to see if i can get that fixed . I went to a cookout yesterday and we ate later than I expected , I watched my bsg go to 80 then i just had a few grapes and could see it was not dropping any more . That was great …normaly I would of had a whole handful of grapes and then been high by the time we ate .
Tracy,
That is soooooo me with the handful of grapes versus a few, and to see when enough is enough would help me soooo much, but really want it for exercise, well any movement in my case.
Thanks for the encouragement, and I am so glad you are liking it so well.
I started yesterday. It now seems to be working. I had a crazy sugar day yesterday. Both my meter and senor were very close at the start. I then made a power drink. Cherries, soymilk and whey 1:30pm. Total carbs 32. I missed counted and bolus for 42. 2 hours later I was 140 on the senor and 250 on the meter. ( this was at 4pm and my senor was hooked up at 11am) I waited 1/2 hour more and I was 225 so I bolus for that. At 6:30pm I reduced my basal rate to 50% because I wanted to run sugars were 90. I couldn’t run for another hour but my sugars were now 55. I drank a grape drink with 54 carbs. Waited another hour and my sugars were 80. I drank another grape drink. I finally got to 90 and I . suspended the pump and ran 3 1/2 miles. I couldn’t explain why I got so low. I did the 3 hour rule to correct.
The senor is working well during the night. I tested this morning and my sugars were 100 and the senor was 102
I played golf today. My senor was great. I am so happy to have. I ran 3 miles yesterday and also it was helpful to have the senor. I hope all you get it.
I have been using DexCom CGM since January 2007, and recently upgraded to the DexCom Seven. I am exstatic about it. I have never before been able to keep such tight control of my T1(which I have had for 63 years).The software package for the Seven is very good, and I can now monitor not only my glucose level, but, importantly, also my Standard Deviation. I am due for my next A1C test in two weeks, and although I have had some bumps inn the road, I expect that I will be doing quite well.
-Olaf
I am blogging about my experience with the Dexcom 7 over on my blog at
My life with diabetes
I am also in the middle of doing a comparison between the Minimed Guardian RT and the Dexcom 7 to see which one is more accurate and faster to respond for me.
So far I am happy with the performance of the dexcom 7 in showing trends.
i used my first box of sensors and have been since Aug 15th trying to get a refill . Im really getting ticked . I call minimed they say its my ins co, and my ins co sys its minimed . any how My case manager told me today it would be taken care of today and they should be shipping them out today … but no word from minimed again so I wait another day …sigh … seems I am at there mercy but I will definatly remember this when it comes time to buy a new pump and transmitter again .
I just requested a MiniMed CGMS for my daughter through my insurance company. My Endo sent a Letter of Medical Necessity, and almost immediately I got a “Denied” letter from them, indicating that they do not cover “experimental procedures” and they have no information/study on this device being anything but just that…
I sent an appeal letter (that someone else used and let me have a copy) which contains references to the studies, etc.
I will let you know what happens now.
It looks to me that insurance has an Automatic denial process, then you are assumed to have to petition. May be this process screens out all the less-convinced-I-need-this device patients…
Hello,
I have had the CGM for about a week now. I am very happy with it. I have the minimed CGM along with the 522 pump. I have noticed a slight difference in the blood sugars compared to my meter, but they are very close. This has already made my bike racing a lot easier for me along with my eveyday life. I do find that it is a lot to learn, but once you get that all down I find it very helpfull.
Now that I have CGMS my A1c has dropped from a 9 to 6.8. How do you like them apples insurance companies!!!
I used a Dexcom 7 for a few weeks courtesy of my endo, and finally got my MiniMed sensors/transmitter yesterday. For the most part I like the MiniMed system a whole lot more - the only things that I dislike so far are the huge needles (WAY more painful than the Dexcom, and I bled so much I almost had to toss the sensor!) and the fact that the sensors seem to be on perpetual backorder.
However, there are already a few things that I LOVE about this system compared to the Dexcom (so far, at least):
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The ability to set “snooze” times for high/low alarms - i.e. you can set it to alert you after a certain amount of time if you are still high/low. With the Dex I often ended up setting alarm clocks for the middle of the night to make sure a correction was actually working.
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It also allows for more flexibility when customizing the alarm thresholds, which is great because the values often differ or lag behind actual BG readings, and it drove me nuts that the Dexcom wouldn’t allow me to set a low alarm for anything over 80 or high for anything under 180 - now I can see when I’m on the way up - or down - and correct for it before it becomes a problem.
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It will alarm to tell you if it can’t see the sensor! This is especially nice when I’m sleeping and relying on it to tell me if I get low. While the Dex was designed to not be intrusive, I didn’t really find that helpful, just annoying. I can’t tell you how many times it was sitting 2 feet away from me, and I’d wake it up to find an hour of no data and a “Y” where my BG value should be. Pissed me right off.
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The receiver (aka Pump) is attached to me - so I can’t walk off and leave it. I was constantly getting data gaps with the Dexcom because I’d leave the room and forget to take it with me. Not to mention, it really sucked having to carry ANOTHER piece of equipment around!
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No need to carry a cord to calibrate it. And, I was pleasantly surprised to find you can manually enter BG values from a different meter to do a calibration.
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You can scroll through the history of glucose values, in addition to having the graph. Nice to have the 24-hour graph also!
I was very interested in beginning the CGM pump system, but was not due for a pump until April 2008. I have not been able to get my A1C down very much since starting on my first pump in April 2004. On my most recent visit to my Endo, I discussed how I am super anxious for April 2004 to roll around and that I hoped insurance companies would really come around by then and cover this thing. She mentioned that I was a perfect candidate for the CGM pump and that perhaps writing a letter of medical necessity could help jump start the approval process. She suggested that the letter might make me eligible for early approval. Well, to my surprise it worked! And super fast. Within less than 2 weeks the new CGM pump was at my doorstep. I have yet to start it as I need to meet with a MiniMed rep to receive my sensor/transmitter training, but I am very anxious to start. Although many insurance companies are still apprehensive about coverage, I urge everyone to bring this point up at your next Endo/CDE appointment. You just never know. I think the insurance companies are slowly realizing the effectiveness of the CGM system and how, ultimately, it saves money due to the potential decrease in diabetic complications which results when A1Cs go down. I am very hopeful that the CGM system will bring down my A1c and cannot wait to experience it.
Here is my first post.
I have been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years. I consider myself lucky that I was dx at age 19 and not 4 or 5. I hate the disease, but have learned to live with it. I am a Christian who would not still be alive if it was not for my faith. I have been using the pump for ten years and the CGMS for one year.
My insurance now covers my sensors and will cover the next minilink.
What I discovered in trying to get my insurance to cover the CGMS is that you have a better chance at getting the CGMS covered if you do not go directly to the pump supplier or CGMS supplier (example Medtronics) but go thru your insurance companies PPO (or whatever they call it) and order. I didn’t realize that until about two weeks ago when Medtronics called to let me know that my insurance company would only cover 70% of the cost of my pump and supplies and would not cover the CGMS because they are not a contracted supplier but a direct supplier. So I called my insurance company and was told the VGA Homelink was the only contracted supplier they use and that if I switched to them they would cover 90% of both the pump and the CGMS. So I switched and behold I had my sensors on my doorstep in two weeks. (Would have been sooner, however they were on backorder).
You still have to have a letter of necessity from an Endo (is better) or an internal medicine doctor but either should work and a prescription from them.
The insurance companies don’t automatically tell you that unless you ask directly. Don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you. So if you haven’t ask yet, try and see what happens they can only continue to say no.
jenni
I’m back to working on my last appeal. I exhausted from school and sure have medical necessity!! I need a cgms to help me! Testing, exercising, eating, sleeping, working etc are one whole set of healthy living - but testing every few hours doesn’t measure my stress-levels. I appreciate the CGMS claims help file that I think Karen left - back this summer.
My husband and I are talking more about our future family - but I need to get my A1C’s down now, not then. In fact, it has lowered - but it’s still not under 6.5 (or even 7).
I’m putting off pages and pages of reading, plus exciting statistics homework to write up the appeal letter. I would really appreciate any effective tips or suggestions on getting insurance approval. I’m with Regence BCBS. I think they just reviewed the CGM last month - it seems there is a code now (…for up to 72 hours.) I don’t have enough thinking-space to figure it all out right now, but I must try somehow or other…
I have had a very good experience with the Freestyle Navigator.
Usually, it is within about 5 points of what my onetouch meter reads, very rarely more than 10 points different.
I have used it for about 3 weeks.
-Lloyd
Hello Guys,
I am new to this website, but I am glad that this forum exists. I have been on the insulin pump for 8 years, and received special approval from the Veteran’s administration (completely paid for) to utilize CGMS. I know this is a great thing but I am scared. I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic for 10 years, adn the healthiest that I’ve ever been was when I was pregnant with my now 4 year old daughter (A1C was 6.6 during pregnancy), now I’m at a staggering 8.3%. I know that it would be a beneficial thing to me since I am now unaware of my lows. One morning I zipped my daughter to school and I completely forgot her lunch. When I got back home my BS was 58. What scares me is the fact that I can function with a 35 and I feel completely fine. For those of you on CGMS, how has it improved your lives. What are the pros and cons to the system. I’m suppose to be receiving mine in September. I will be using the guardian along with my minimed pump and glucose machine. In a few months I’ll be "wired for sound"
Thanks,
Tee
The CGM is a tool, it’s not a magic bullet. It’s not going to keep your BG under control, but it will help motivate and teach YOU to keep your BG under control. Whenever I use it, my BG levels out. Whenever I’m having uncontrolled swings, I put it on to help get back under control.
The biggest caution I have for new CGM users is to avoid the trap of “chasing” your meter readings by calibrating frequently in an effort to get the CGM numbers to match the meter. It’s frustrating and expensive, because you’ll find yourself testing more often than without the CGM and the numbers won’t catch up.
With the CGM the number is just a number. It’s meaningless unless seen in the context of the numbers before it, in short, for revealing trends. e.g. My BG is higher than I’d like, but it’s going down. So, I won’t bolus now, but I’ll take a walk instead and check again in 15 minutes.
It’s great for revealing the affect of a bolus and the affect of particular meals. Again, not by looking at the absolute number at a point in time, but by looking at the line that’s trending up, or down, or staying nice and level.
Good luck with your CGM, TQ. Get that A1C down! (My last was 7.2 - aaargh!)
Terry
I just started on the Paradigm CGMS on Tues. So far it seems accurate when my blood sugars are in a normal range, but the higher my blood sugar is on the meter, the farther off they are on the CGMS. It has alerted me to potential lows at night. I have the threshold set to alert me at 90 for a low and 150 for a high. I did that so that I can correct before it gets to low as I don’t always feel my lows as well anymore. I only calibrate when it says it needs a calibration.
My internist has ordered a CGM to loan to patients. Not sure what the “loan” will cost or how long a patient will be allowed to have it, but I’m really excited to try it.
I agree with most of what you said.
My Navigator reads much closer to my one touch meter than your description, usually within 5 points, which makes it even more useful.
Averages and standard deviation match up well with what I get via my one touch, also. So, readings from it are meaningful both for their context and their absolute value.
-Lloyd