So … do you disable the alarms on your CGMS at night because spouse complains about the noise?
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I don’t know if you’ve read my recent post about SO, but basically, no. If I try to get out of bed in the morning while high, I won’t get out of bed. If I go low at night, I won’t wakeup until I’m scary low. Being high or low all night pretty much sucks the next day, I’ll feel horrible and tired for most, if not all, of the day. I also insist on keeping the TV on. It soothes me and distracts me if I wake up really low. Waking up low at 3am with a BG of 40, in total darkness and silence is the scariest, loneliest thing i’ve ever encountered.
I’m T2, not T1, but even if my spouse were to complain of the noise, I wouldn’t turn the alarms off. Those alarms are keeping us alive. Before my Dexcom I was waking up several times a month with my BG at 45, and quite frankly it sucked. It meant there was no way I was getting back to sleep - I woke up from a horrible low-BG induced nightmare, sweating, scrambling for glucose tablets. Then I’d have to dose, check, dose again, check again, after which I may still need a shower from having been dripping in sweat. By then at least 30-45 minutes had gone by and I was too wide awake to go back to sleep. The beeping of a CGM has got to be less disruptive to someone else than all that.
If someone’s complaining about the beeps from a CGM, I can’t highly recommend enough Mack’s Pillow Soft Silicone Ear Plugs.
Short answer - NO!
Slightly longer answer: It depends. I frequently disable the LOW alert because my CGM regularly reads 5 - 20 points lower than my fingersticks, so the low alarm will go off @ 60 even though my BG can be in the high 70s.
If your CGM is always lower than meter, it’s not calibrating correctly. Dexcom or Medtronic? Call customer support. The point of alarms is to notify. Yes, it annoys people, but less than a corpse would annoy them.
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I am new the CGMS world, I have a Dexcom system; which I’m still feeling it out. I am also kind of tech savvy, and have both a IPhone & Iwatch. The trick I found helpful for both my partner and I is to place my Iwatch on vibrate and wear it to sleep, so if I am having a low/High my Iwatch will still alert me. This of course would only work if your a light sleeper. I found this to be helpful at work too because I am very private and do not want others to know my personal business. I hope this helped. ~Kingfromdabx
My wife’s cousin went into a diabetic coma and died. No way is she letting me turn the alarms off, even if I wanted to, which I don’t. Those alarms could save my life.
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I would think your SO would want to know if you are low and step in if you aren’t waking up…
Not just a corpse, but having to get up and give someone a glucose shot or call an ambulance is a pretty big sleep disturbance!
@KCsHubby_Dave My mom’s best friend’s husband got into a car accident due to low blood sugar. He passed away due to complications of the accident. A CGM may have saved his life.
These alarms can be lifesaving, and even just annoyance saving. If I get so low I need help, I’m going to wake up SO. At least with the alarms I’m able to treat myself and he can go back to sleep.
NO - NEVER - but then, I’m widowed and single. Only way that I would silence the alarms is if spouse was a dependable alarm and would wake me to treat lows (or highs). IMO, if spouse is selfish enough not to care for your health - is not a worthy partner in life.
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Nope! I live alone, but even if I didn’t, having overnight alarms is a big reason I pay for the Dexcom.
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That’s never been an issue for me.
This would actually only work if you have an Apple Watch. 
The issue came up because my wife was going through a rough patch with her fibromyalgia where she had a tough time falling asleep and staying asleep. The CGM would buzz and wake her (but now me). I would only wake up if the CGMS made that loud obnoxious noise for a low. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep but we actually got into an argument in the middle of the night about the Dexcom. That argument flared up again recently.
I basically stated, “the CGM is doing exactly what I need it to do”. Alert someone that I may be in danger. Just in case, I am too far gone to wake up.
I don’t turn them off due to the fact I need them to stay alive. I do put the case under my pillow so I hear it more so than my husband. Once in awhile the repeat alarms get annoying but I have since change the length of time to recover from lows and highs so it doesn’t alarm as often.
Sometimes, sad to say, separate beds are necessary for everyone’s health and sanity in a situation like this. I also deal with fibromyalgia, and can understand your wife’s irritation with the Dexcom. The silicone earplugs I recommended may help, but honestly they may not. Fibromyalgia has made me such a light sleeper that a gnat fart could wake me up some nights. It also means that I do a lot of tossing and turning, which isn’t fair to my husband - who can literally sleep through just about anything noise wise. I’ve read various statistics, but about 25% of couples sleep in different bedrooms for various reasons from snoring to health issues like fibromyalgia. It does mean extra work to maintain intimacy, but it could mean better sleep for both of you if you have the room for it.
I use the vibrate alarm on my Dex G4, and wear it on my waist at night, or put it in my pillow case. My wife sleeps soundly and is not bothered by the little vibration noise.
If you’re willing to jump through some hoops, the folks atThe Nightscout Project have managed to get Dexcom to work with Android Phones, and a couple of non-Apple based watches. Right now they only have instructions for the G4, but they’ve recently begun open-beta testing with the G5 w/Share within the past few weeks.
Alas, we have no extra bedrooms.