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Talking CGM

P

Platinum

Well-Known Member
Hi.

I currently self-fund my Dexcom G4. Due to diabetic problems my sight is failing and I would like a talking CGM. I can get my phone to speak what is on the screen but would need to use the G5 transmitter to do this which (According to reviews) seems to be a bit unreliable with signal being lost plus a lot more expensive in transmitters.

It seems to me that a G4 with the share option would solve the problem, but the G4 with share is only available in the US and has a mg/dl readout.

Does anyone know how to get a G4 with share and a readout in mmol/l? Or, at least a G4 with share?

I don’t think I can see well enough to make an xdrip solution.

Any other thoughts on how to get a speaking CGM would really be appreciated.
 
@Platinum Amazon Echo can speak your CGM reading, through nightscout. You need to set up your cgm to work with nightscout, then follow a guide to make an app (its step by step) and then if all is correct, you can ask Alexa. There are loads of guides, and at first it can be a bit overwhelming, but once set up you just leave it be.

You can download a Alexa substitute on a PC/ Mac called Reverb which will give you Alexa without an echo.

https://www.reddit.com/r/amazonecho/comments/5kk9hb/alexa_custom_skill_nightscout_type_1/?

I posted this in reddit when I first set up Nightscout with echo to help other users.

EDIT, depending on your eyesight, you may have to ask a friend/ fam to help set it up and there are a lot of strings and characters that have to be 100 percent correct.
 
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Platinum said:
I can get my phone to speak what is on the screen but would need to use the G5 transmitter to do this which (According to reviews) seems to be a bit unreliable with signal being lost plus a lot more expensive in transmitters.
Click to expand...

I've never had a signal loss issue that was caused by my G5.

99.9% of the issues you read about are related to either user error or the phone hardware (iphone).

If you can afford the G5 transmitter cost, I'd strongly suggest that route.
 
The latest software version on the G5 is much more reliable than earlier versions have been, and I've seen around about 99% connection rate, so if you want something that is easily set-up and used, I'd go with the G5.

Otherwise you are into a much more involved set-up, which may be more of an issue with poor eyesight.
 
Thanks for all the advice and comments. It seems the G5 communication unreliability was exaggerated which is good news. I also didn’t know that the Amazon Echo could speak my blood sugar via Nightscout. Better news for me is that there is an XDrip kit out there – thanks for the link DunePlodder!

I think the way forward for me is to try the xDrip kit and see how it goes. If I can’t get on with it then I will try a G5 transmitter.
 
DunePlodder said:
I use the xDrip+ Android app which connects with my G4 sensor via a DIY xDrip box. I understand that this might be difficult to make but you can buy an xDrip kit which needs only a small amount of soldering - perhaps a friend or a local TV repair shop would do this for you?
https://xdripkit.co.uk/

xDrip+ has an option to read out bg readings as they happen, which I find very useful.
https://github.com/jamorham/xDrip-plus
Click to expand...

Hi. I have now got an Android phone & have xDrip working with it - It's really accurate and the larger screen is much easier to read.

However, I can't find the setting to enable it to read out BG readings and would appreciate some guidance.
Thanks.
 
On the xDrip+ home screen press the top right menu (3 vertical dots) & tick "Speak Readings".

It is excellent software, I agree. I record all my insulin doses & carbohydrate intake on it. The history & statistics options are very useful.
 
Thanks for the reply.
I got mine to speak but found it does so every five minutes – This would drive me mad going 24H a day.
What a shame – Maybe a future version of xDrip will have a ‘speak on demand button’, plus even the trend?
Imagine, say, press & hold the home button and it says “6.7 rising”. How good would that be?
 
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