Guardian sensor alarm help

[Irl1]

Hi
I’m relatively new to the guardian sensor and just wondered do others struggle with constant alarms? I’m really keen to keep my glucose on target but overnight I had hourly alarms that my glucose was rising rapidly when it has just varied between 5.6mmol and 6.3mmol/l throughout - so a relatively flat curve! I had changed the setting to three arrows up to try and reduce this alarm.
Wondering out of interest what others set their alarms to? Just alarm before high - how long begore high and do they using the glucose rising alarm?

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @Irl1 and welcome to the forum

I don’t use the guardian sensor but the Dexcom G6 which alerts to rapidly rising levels and has a high/low BG alert, it took some getting used to, particularly at night as my sleep was being disrupted on a regular basis, ok it’s good to adjust insulin it’s hard when it’s at the detriment of your sleep. I tried switching it on/off, raised my alert level and now have it turned off, oddly enough I wake when high/low but I think in regards to your settings it is down to what works for you.

 

[Helen46]

I have the Guardian Sensor 3 and was continually being "alarmed"...changed the settings. I have "alert on high": currently 11 because I sometimes run into trouble with pump suspending on 5.4 a couple of hours before waking. Then if I have breakfast (40g CHO) + correction it can occasionally get to 11 but then falls well back into range before 3 hours. I do not have the Rise Alert turned on. I find I get into more difficulty if I delay breakfast until I have adjusted for the 2-3 hours suspended. I also have alarm on "going low" and " Low 4.0". This very rarely happens as the pump suspends on 5.4. Sometimes I get frustrated because it suspends...I have some quick acting glucose (usually 10g, sometimes 20g)) but it takes the sensor 30 mins or so to catch up and by the time that happens and I do a blood check...I almost have to do a correction to bring it back down. I find the Sensor 3 to be more problematic than I did the sensor 2. Mostly go the day with only the calibrate in 1 hour alarm!

 

[Helen46]

I have the Guardian Sensor 3 and was continually being "alarmed"...changed the settings. I have "alert on high": currently 11 because I sometimes run into trouble with pump suspending on 5.4 a couple of hours before waking. Then if I have breakfast (40g CHO) + correction it can occasionally get to 11 but then falls well back into range before 3 hours. I do not have the Rise Alert turned on. I find I get into more difficulty if I delay breakfast until I have adjusted for the 2-3 hours suspended. I also have alarm on "going low" and " Low 4.0". This very rarely happens as the pump suspends on 5.4. Sometimes I get frustrated because it suspends...I have some quick acting glucose (usually 10g, sometimes 20g)) but it takes the sensor 30 mins or so to catch up and by the time that happens and I do a blood check...I almost have to do a correction to bring it back down. I find the Sensor 3 to be more problematic than I did the sensor 2. Mostly go the day with only the calibrate in 1 hour alarm!

Me again. Felt a tad guilty and have now played with my settings and have reduced the "alert on high" from 11 to 10 as I realised I had not had an alarm on high for a while. So the holiday is over and although I reset it two days ago I have not had a "high" alarm so will leave it where it is now. All the best. Helen

 

[MeiChanski]

Hello, are you on manual mode or auto mode?
In Manual mode, my high is set at 12mmol and my low is set at 4.5mmol. In auto mode, it beeps at me if I’m above 10.0mmol and beeps at me around 5.0mmol to give me time to intervene. However it doesn’t beep at me hourly as you described it. I calibrate it 2-3 times a day when it requests it.

 

[Helen46]

Hello, are you on manual mode or auto mode?
In Manual mode, my high is set at 12mmol and my low is set at 4.5mmol. In auto mode, it beeps at me if I’m above 10.0mmol and beeps at me around 5.0mmol to give me time to intervene. However it doesn’t beep at me hourly as you described it. I calibrate it 2-3 times a day when it requests it.

Auto mode. Our settings are about the same I reduced my high setting from 11 to ten and have not had any real increase in alarms. I have my BG target set at 5.5-6.5 as I found much lower and I got into strife if I needed to drive. My pump beeps one hour before I need to calibrate unless I have already calibrated. I usually calibrate before breakfast and again before evening meal (but sometimes that is 12 hours and I have to be reminded) and I calibrate again before I go to bed. I think the settings have to relate to individual life style. Before Covid 19 I took my grandchildren/child to school a couple of mornings a week so had to be over 5 between 6:45am when I left home and 8:30am when I drove them to school. In seven years have only once taken them to school later because I had to wait until I was 5 before we could leave. Got to school just before the bell so no dramas but the kids thought it was a hoot and for awhile after kept hoping for a day when they had to stay home because the BG was <5. My endo is happy for me to make setting changes and this is my 4th pump.