What do you think about CGM's?

Hi Everyone!
I am type 1 and I just received a Dexcom CGM, and before I gleefully unwrap the contents, I was wondering if anyone had any experiences they wouldn’t mind sharing. My insurance covers 80% of the unit as well as the sensors, I don’t mind the upfront cost of the unit, however the monthly cost of the sensors will double my current cost for metering supplies. Also, I am fairly active in water sports and wonder if anyone has had experiences with their CGM and sports? Any info would be greatly appreciated! I really am excited to start w/ my new CGM but would like to know if it is worth the substantial cost.

I don’t have the dexcom, but I have the minimed. My current insurance covers just the transmitter, not the sensors (although I’m hoping this may change as my employer just switched insurance companies). It’s definitely worth it, especially if it helps you spot patterns in your BG that you otherwise may have missed. I only wear mine on an “as needed” basis right now (like when I’m having problems with highs/lows) and my doc uses the info to make adjustments, but if I hopefully get pregnant, I plan on wearing it all the time.

The sensors are very expensive, and oftentimes the cgm can be frustrating if it doesn’t catch the highs/lows fast enough, but for the most part, I am happy to have one.

Can’t answer the water sports question, though. Sorry!

Thank you so much! I think I’m going to go ahead with the CGM!

Brenna,

I started a discussion about swimming with the DexCom, check it out here.

For me the DexCom has been so helpful since I have hypo unawareness. It has also helped me tweak my basals better. DexCom offers a sportier case but it still clips on to you so I don’t think it would work too well, depending on what activity you are doing. I use a Case Logic case if I am exercising and it works pretty well. I don’t think it would work well for contact sports though…

I’ve been on the Dexcom for three weeks and I pretty much love it. I’m a runner and take it with me on most of my runs, so I’ve been sweating and showering a lot with it, too. The sensors lose their stickiness after a few days, but you’ll find plenty of ways to stretch it out.

My insurance is paying 100%. If it were paying 80%, I’d still probably do it. I don’t know that I feel like I have to be on 100% of the time. While it’s nice to be on, it’s also nice to be off a little bit in between sensors (I think). You’ll learn a lot while you’re on which will have a good effect on your control even if/when you’re off.

Congrats!
M

I barely know what I am doing (as we have only had Dexcom on my neice since Monday of this week), but after a one day period where it was off more than it was on, it has been spot on all day and most of last night (trended off and on after she ate dinner last night, I guess she was rising/dropping too quickly). She had a low glycemic meal tonight so I gave 10 grams of free fruit to get her started. Went in to check on Dex again and BS was 50 one and a half hours after eating (seems DN disabled the low alarm, she really does not like the alarms, LOL). So I am learning how each meal drastically differs as far as digestion/insulin action is concerened. So Dex was very accurate even after dinner tonight. I told DN I will lower the low alarm to 70 (because I guess it was alarming when BS was higher), set it to vibrate and beep, told her again if she is vibrating while away from us, it is most definitely a low, and she should go ahead and eat sugar whether she feels she has the time to do a blood sugar check or not. She would not even continue to wear the Minimed sensor, although she is a very good sport, and has a high pain tolerance. MM sensor kept hurting after EMLA wore off. We did use the arm for the Minimed sensor and she did not agree to using the arm for the Dexcom, so maybe that is an unfair comparison. However, I feel the Dexcom is extremely accurate. Bear in mind, if we insert incorrectly, don’t tape it down properly, don’t calibrate correctly, or if the sensor or transmitter has mechanical problems, Dex won’t always be as accurate. But since it didn’t hurt her to insert the sensor and it is comfortable to wear, that is more than half the battle.