I am waiting for my insurance to approve my replacement. They said four to six weeks. It has been almost five weeks now. I will be calling on Monday to find out the status (it has been a CRAZY month!!!). I would love to get back on it though, I have been testing constantly as I hate not knowing where I am at.
any more words about animas and cgm merger??
myra
nope, they have been tight lipped with me. I am hoping when I meet with the trainer I can get some more dirt 
HI Suzanne,
I had the Minimed CGM when I was pregnant that I paid cash for, and now I have the Dexcom CGM that is covered by insurance. I also have a Minimed pump.
I prefered the Minimed CGM. The thing I don’t like about the Dexcom system is that on the 1, 3, and 9 hour graphs, it doesn’t have an x axis that shows you what time it is. So, if I want to know exactly what time it was overnight that my blood sugar started dropping so I can adjust my basal accordingly, the only way to know immediately is to visually guess how far over on the 9-hour “graph” the point of inflection was. You can see a little more once you download the information, but still not as precisely as with Minimed.
I also had a sore thumb the first few days I used it, because the buttons require an actual “click” push and are too close to the edge of the device. It requires an awkward motion that is hard on your knuckle until you get used to it.
That being said, since the Dexcom system is being integrated with your pump, that may be the way to go. I don’t know how the Minmed system works if you don’t have a Minimed pump. I do like it that Dexcom has a 7-day sensor instead of a 3-day sensor- diabetes mgmt sucks away enough of our time. In general, it has been almost as accurate as the Minimed CGM, and the alarm features are similar. I have had a couple sensors that were just WAY off the mark, but they said (after the fact) that I should calibrate 3 times, a half hour apart, and if that doesn’t solve the problem, call tech support and once they review the data they will probably issue a credit for a defective sensor.
Since I have a pre-auth for the Dexcom system, I’m going to stick with it. I’d hate to ask to switch brands and have someone else at the insurance co, say, “Oh, this never should have been covered in the first place!” However, once I need a new transmitter, or if I was paying out of pocket, I’d rather have the Minimed system.
There’s my two cents.
Kiss kiss
BG
I am getting the Animas ping soon…I cant wait for the CGM feature like MM does. Do you know when they are coming out with it??
No one will tell me when, they just say soon. They did tell me if you have a Ping and a dexcom that they will be offering upgrade packages starting at $399.
Just a note, which has nothing to do with the Blood Glucose Monitoring System. But, if you are only drinking Hi C, you really should be eating something, as well. That is why your blood sugars are not getting back up to a normal level.
Just joined the site and noticed your post. For my son, we’ve had the chance to use various CGMS and the once we’ve found more accurate and simple to use yet is the Freestyle Navigator. He wears a medtronic pump and we would love the integration but the Navigator has given us better results.
sounds like you have a good wife
congrat
I wanted to give everyone an update. Well, my insurance will only pay for the DexCom sensors since I have an Animas pump. They said if I had a MM I could get that CGMS instead. They are making pumpers pick the CGMS that “goes” with their pump. I made the point that DexCom doesn’t “go” with any pump yet but BCBS-GA said they knew it was coming. So I’m going with DexCom since the insurance will cover at 100% versus 70% if I wanted another brand. I just can’t afford anymore copays so DexCom it is. My system came via FedEx late yesterday afternoon and I am set to train in about a week.
Maybe one day I will win the lottery’s big game and not have to choose treatments/products based on what my insurance will pay
Hi suzanne- I know that I have written you before.on this issue. My son has an animas pump too and will be hooked up to dexcom in a week by his endo. I am so interested to keep abreast of how your new system works.
Anymore info on the merger and when animas wuill have the CGM displayed on their actual pump??
Myra
They are getting more tight lipped about it than even a few weeks ago. Maybe the DexCom trainer will let some info slip when we train in a couple of weeks…I will post the info if she does, I am pretty good at buttering people up for info, hahaha!
ooo please let us know how you like the dexcom…i’m researching a few brands/models right now and from what i’ve read on sixuntilme.com, the dexcom’s sensor is more comfortable (making this a VERY big plus for me).
We have used the Minimed for my niece and we have not been able to continue using it due to (1) severe infection at the site (very rare, probably not MM’s fault); (2) HUGE, thick introducer needle causing pain after the EMLA (Lidocaine) wore off; (3) I was confortable only using trend information, helped immensely but readings were sometimes way off; it was usually thirty points HIGHER than her low and could be 100 points off her highs; (4) cannot keep up with swiftly changing blood sugar values (spikes or drops throw it off). Waiting a solid year for MM to reduce the size of that needle (main gripe). Seems we could wait indefinitely. My niece really needs to wear cgms and has not been able to even though she is covered. Rest assured, from reading reviews on the web, choice of Dexcom 7 Plus is a wise one. And Dexcom will refund your money after a month if it does not work for you so you have nothing to lose. We have a call in to her endo and hoping insurance will switch coverage from MM to Dexcom. Just waiting for a script to start the process. It will be a pain carrying around the extra receiver, but I think she could carry it in her purse a lot of the time.
I have had good days and bad days with the minimed. I had better results with the dexcom also the warrently and the price of the device itself is cheaper with the dexcom.
I am in the exact same boat. I have used the MM CGMS for 1.5 years, and I fought very hard to get it, but have found that it is not entirely accurate. When it works, it works great, but I find the times that it works are far fewer than the times it isn’t working accurately. My thoughts are that the MM CGMS system MIGHT work better for individuals who don’t experience a lot of fluxuations. I personally have a lot of fluxuations. I test up to 15 times daily and I carefully watch my carbs. I am also very careful to calibrate according to the rules: calibrate at the correct times, and avoid calibrations while BG is rising or falling rapidly. Despite my best efforts, I have found that the MM CGMS just isn’t worth my efforts. It has become unreliable and I find myself avoiding the alarms/alerts simply because they have proven to be untrustworthy. With that said, I am currently trying to seek coverage for the Dexcom seven plus system. I have heard the accuracy on that is trustworthy, and I am (gulp) willing to add another device to my arsenal in an effort to gain tighter control of my A1C. I am hoping my insurance company agrees. NOTE: a Dexcom rep told me yesterday that the Dexcom/Animas CGMS pump intergration is expected to become available for users in “early 2010”. We all know these leaks can be true and they can be false. Do with it what you like, but I certainly like the sounds of it. I think I will be switching from Minimed to Animas at my next upgrade (November 2011) if I find the Dexcom is as accurate as I have been lead to believe. My 2 cents…
I have both the minimed and the dexcom. I liked the minimed better because of size but I had less problems and more support from the dexcom team
Hi! I’m looking into getting a CGM and leaning towards Dexcom… I’m hoping this will be a painless adventure in getting one - doctor approvals, insurance approvals, training etc. Hoping in the end it will be extremely beneficial.
Good luck with your CGM!!