I personally HIGHLY recommend it!
It doesn’t work for everyone, but for me at least, it works wonders with the Control-IQ update!
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Thanks, I will discuss it with my endo and pharma.
Just got my latest A1c.
I started Control-IQ on Feb 7th, so this isn’t a full 3 months yet, but a full 2 months should be a fair start.
My previous A1c was 5.2, and my current A1c is now down to 5.1.
This might not seem like a big deal, but I have greatly increased my carb intake.
I have been torture testing the Control-IQ. Too be honest, I haven’t been a ‘good diabetic’ since starting Control-IQ. But this update has definitely been a turn for the better!
Now, please understand that I have played with the settings to make Control-IQ do more of what I want it to. I do not have the settings like they should be, but to what works for me.
It did take me a little while to work through the different options to make the system SAFELY work for me. But now that I have, it has been GREAT!!!
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With great reluctance, I’ve given up on Control-IQ. I got my t:slim X2 in November and have tried CIQ four times. Each time, it moves my BG from abysmally low (50’s) to astronomically high (300’s), all by itself. I’ve trued both Humalog and FIASP with it.
I believe there are several factors that are involved in my failed use of the software:
- it will only use 5 hours as a duration. My non-CIQ setting is 3.5 hours. This would automatically give me highs.
- the maximum total daily insulin setting appears to be 99 units (maybe 100 units, I don’t remember, but no real difference). My total daily usage is 170 units. Again, an automatic high BG.
- as my BG goes higher and higher, I chase it with correction boluses. But CIQ continues to add more insulin during the wait time before my corrections take effect, ending up with stacking.
So I gave up. The bottom line is that I now have essentially the same system as with my t:flex - separate pump and CGM. The only advantage I have is that the CGM readings are on the pump. But I always used my iPhone with the t:flex. In retrospect, I would have gone with a no-CGM model of Medtronic pump instead of the X2, primarily because I don’t like the rechargeable battery of Tandem pumps.
Did you set it to run in Sleep mode only?
Did you set your basals more aggressively?
Did you increase your correction factor at all?
If all you changed was your TDD, then yeah, it isn’t going to do what it CAN do.
Create a new testing profile and keep your current profile as your safe one.
Set it to full time sleep mode.
Set your weight to max. 308 I think.
You already have TDD there.
Increase your basal rates, but not to a point where it is unsafe.
After running these changes, start changing your correction factor. When in sleep mode, this is what makes the pump correct better for anything above the 112/120 range.
An example, my correction factor is normally in the 1:10 to 1:20 range.
I currently have it set for 1:8 and am thinking about changing it to 1:7 soon.
You have to pay attention to larger correction boluses, but this really wakes up how the pump can automatically adjust your BG.
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All good suggestions. I’ll try these.
I just got the tslim and easily set it up. I was previously on the Animas and then Medtronic pump. Like you, my overall control was good but I was constantly annoyed by my CGM waking me up after bed for both low and high sugars while I slept. I have been extremely impressed by the Control IQ and it’s ability to take action before I see the problem. I purposely watched what the pump would do when my glucose hit 80 and there was still insulin on board. On two different occasions the pump would decrease or discontinue the basal flow and my glucose wouldn’t go below 78. It is better at correcting lows than highs but just now my post meal glucose hit 160 and before I corrected it, the pump had already given me a bolus. Of course, you still must follow your CGM but my first four nights on Control IQ , I slept uninterrupted through the night.
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I created this post on Feb 21 an infamous day for me.
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Got frostbite on my foot by standing in 3 inches of snow for 30 minutes in 32 degree temperature. After six weeks of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (reason I have not posted much lately) it was determined the foot or leg needs to be amputated. I acknowledge it was probably a result of poor T1D control in my teens and twenties. I am now 68 years old.
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I applied for the Tslim Control IQ which I finally received three days ago after more than three months and was the reason for this original topic.
Both are reasons for me to get my Tslim operating with Dexcom G6 and Xdrip app as soon as possible. I have forgotten a lot over the last 3 months but already have the Tslim operating but not delivering insulin at the moment. With your help I will get up and running in a few days without waiting for training.
Currently, I am running a Medtronic paradigm pump and Dexcom G5 CGM running on Xdrip app on a Pixel 2 android mobile.
I am also running (but only partly) the Tslim Control IQ pump, Dexcom G6 CGM running on Tslim Control IQ rather than a Dexcom receiver or phone.
I am running both so I can compare G5 readings and G6 readings and make some determinations such as which is more accurate (compared to my Contour Next meter), and does the G5 or G6 more quickly respond to and report a rapidly rising or falling BG. Thus far I have determined that the G6 is superior to the G5.
It is also a good time to get used to the TSlim without putting myself in too much trouble.
Here are a few questions to start.
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The Tslim “Bluetooth Setting” indicates I am connected to a mobile but also indicated I am NOT paired to it. Should I be concerned? I am glad I am connected as I am receiving G6 data but also concerned I am not paired to my Mobile and might be constrained in some way.
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I love the features in the Xdrip and would plan on continuing using alerts on the Xdrip and not on Xdrip. Is that what most people do?
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Is there a way I can tie the Tslim to Xdrip so that I can bolus, put in carbs, etc. Xdrip and also not use these features in Tslim.
At the moment I am struggling with what and how to use the Xdrip app features while at the same time benefiting from the Tslim features and technology. They seem to overlap. Any advice or assistance would be very welcome.
So sorry you’ve been having such a hard time lately!
You can turn off and ignore that Bluetooth option for now. They snuck that in with the Control-IQ update, but there is not app currently that can use it. It’s still being beta tested. Ultimately, you should be able to control your pump from it, but at first it will merely show your pump info and then enable mobile uploads to the t:connect says cloud, something those of us who don’t use a Windows or Mac PC currently struggle with. There’s just no reason to drain your battery faster by broadcasting Bluetooth without an app that can utilize the signal. Turning that off will in no way affect the Bluetooth pairing of your transmitter, there’s no toggle button for that particular Bluetooth radio.
I used to have all my alarms kept in Xdrip, but reverted the high and low alarm back to the X2 and removed then from Xdrip. Mostly because despite all my attempts, my Xdrip still disconnects during the night. I think it’s an Android 10 (I’m even stuck in OnePlus’s beta track of it) issue, and not xdrip. Android ten seems to kill all background activity when I’m sleeping, as in, I don’t get any new notifications, not even emails, until the first time I wake the screen in the morning… Then they all the overnight notifications post. Whatever that process is, it seems to kill Xdrip for me, and no settings change (Android system and Xdrip) has worked around that. Since the X2 rarely disconnects, I have to trust that more for alarms than Xdrip.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Your insight has been invaluable since I originally created this post.
Interesting comments on Bluetooth and connections. So do you know how my Dexcom G6 and TSlim currently connect? I thought I got it connected by accident and still don’t know how I did it?
When I have Dexcom G6, Tslim and Xdrip all connected (after my G5 vs G6 accuracy testing), do you know if I will be able to calibrate or give boluses through Xdrip?
No problem. I’ve learned so many tips from people here, and X2 stuff is one of the ways I can pay it forward 
I’m seriously hoping the Xdrip developers can work with that Bluetooth option to enable bolusing from Xdrip in the future, but it’s not currently an option. Just like it isn’t an option yet from the elusive tandem app.
Both Xdrip and the pump will pick up information from the transmitter without you telling them anything. If you stop the session with one device, the transmitter SHOULD tell the other device that the session is stopped. Likewise, for starting a sensor or if an existing session is already transmitting date. Once you entered your transmitter ID into the pump, it started receiving the data from a sensor session that was already working. I’ve found quirks with this, though. Xdrip doesn’t always know I stopped a sensor on my pump. I started having that problem with the 8J transmitter, but I think it’s erratic. Instead of telling it to stop the sensor (I don’t want it to stop my new session!) I force close the app and wait a few minutes, when I open it again and it checks in with the transmitter, it will get the information that a new session is warming up.
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Don’t know yet if I’m going to use my Tslim X2 with Control-IQ ON all day including Sleep Mode for sleeping, Control-IQ OFF during the day but ON Sleep Mode for sleeping, or with Sleep Mode ON for 24 hours. Was gong to start using Control IQ for the first time tonight without Tandem training but still have a critical question that needs to be answered.
I generally use a very lengthy pre-bolus (anywhere from 45-90 minutes). As soon as I put in my meal Bolus, wouldn’t CIQ assume I have a large IOB relative to my current level as my BG would not go up until much later, perhaps 45-90 minutes or more after I eat? If this turns out to be a problem, what could I do to fix it?
If you set a high basal rate, it doesn’t see that as IOB. This is both good and bad.
If you set a high correction rate and it adds insulin, it DOES see this as IOB.
Btw, the Sleep mode set for all day doesn’t really have much for drawbacks. The only thing it doesn’t do is give correction bolus. But it DOES start to correct at a much lower level when in sleep mode, which is why it works so well.
I think I agree with all of that. if I put a meal bolus in and don’t eat for 90 minutes won’t it see the meal bolus as insulin on board that entire 90 minutes?
Yes, it will see that is IOB. As soon as it finishes the bolus it will show the IOB to reflect it.
I am not sure how much it would affect how it changes the basal rate during that time though.
Starting just yesterday, I followed your suggestions, Hammer. Things are working better with Control-IQ. Thank you very much.
However, I have a question: when using CIQ, do you bolus for meals exactly the same as when using the t:slim X2 without CIQ? I’ve done so for three meals and each time my BG has gone into the basement. I’m wondering if I need to make greater usage of extended boluses. I’m using Humalog at the moment.
Rob
You need to increase your correction factor closer to your real one. My real correction factor is 1:46. I tried correction factors as low as 1:35, to be more aggressive, but it made Control-IQ suck at avoiding lows. I currently have mine set at 1:40 during likely post-meal time segments, when I’m not likely to be battling lows, and back to my original 1:46 the rest of the time. Since my basals are a little heavy, I can’t afford to screw with the insulin suspension (which relies heavily on your correction factor to determine when your IOB might drive you low). The aggressive correction factor (a lower number than what is true) is the one thing I disagree with him about.
Anyone here also doing a betstein diet or similar? How are you freaking with the lack of extended bolus without drifting too high waiting for ciq to kick in?
I believe Medtronic calls an extended bolus a “Square wave” bolus.
I am puzzled about the reason you do not want the pump to ‘calculate’ carb coverage for a meal.
Cheers.
You can do extended boluses with Control IQ but unfortunately you are limited to a 2-hour duration for the extension. What you can’t do is temporary basal rates.