Smart watches any good for hypo alert!

[jaywak]

I have seen several adverts recently for fit watches and in the adverts they are saying they give you a reading of your heart rate , blood pressure and some say oxygen levels as well , As when our blood sugar level drop our heart rate apparently rises could these be of some use to us who are not to sure if our blood sugar is dropping to hypo levels ? and if they were fitted with an alarm wow ! On googling these watches I also read about non invasive blood testing watches with one company saying they may have one in production by the end of 2021 , Now that would be brilliant for the likes of me anyway, as I can say that in 46 years of type 1 the only real problem I have had are hypos and then the only real problem has been the nocturnal ones .

 

[jackois]

I use the Dexcom G6 paired to a Samsung mobile phone and a Huawei smartwatch.

The sensor alarms to both, alerting for both low and high levels. The watch has the G6 graph and levels on the face, very handy if driving a distance or walking. Of course, the technology isn't cheap with the watch at around £100 and the Dexcom system on subscription at £180 a month, which not everyone can afford.

As for the non-invasive testing watch, I was diagnosed in 2014 I think, and it, along with contact lenses that would read glucose, were 'just a year away' then... you can draw your own conclusions on that

 

[WasntMe]

The Samsung Galaxy 4 or Active 3 is purported to have an IR sensor type measuring device for BG. Likewise the next Apple offering (7 I think). Neither released yet but might be before June for the Samsung. Even if it’s only 75% as accurate as a cgm type unit, I’m in like Flynn.

Honestly I’ve never had a smart watch before let alone even a watch (ok small exaggeration, not recently anyway) believing them to be tech gadgets that only geeks need...

 

[jaywak]

We can only hope the technology speeds up then because there will be such a market out there for them , I did see a short video on the device where it shoots a laser through the skin which can then measure the amount of glucose in the blood , I'me still not sure if the tech at the moment were it measures your heart rate would be good for detecting a low blood sugar and for me it would need an alarm as my problem is nocturnal hypos .

 

[searley]

The issue with using heart rate for anything is it changes so much during the day... And every one is very different

I'm always very high heart rate often over 100bpm at rest

Where as my best mate is normally about 60 at rest

So current tech no good to us... But hopeful for future generations

However the rumours at the moment are just that... Even Samsung has only just had BP and ecg approved in many countries and it's been in their watches for over 2 years so I wouldn't hold your breath eithet

 

[EllieM]

As for the non-invasive testing watch, I was diagnosed in 2014 I think, and it, along with contact lenses that would read glucose, were 'just a year away' then... you can draw your own conclusions on that

OH, you mean like the cure for diabetes in ten years that I was promised 50 years ago?

 

[EllieM]

Honestly I’ve never had a smart watch before let alone even a watch (ok small exaggeration, not recently anyway) believing them to be tech gadgets that only geeks need...

I recently bought a fitbit versa to pair with my dexcom samsung s10E combination, because I wanted to see my bgs at night without having to fumble around to find for my phone, then enter the passcode to activate it and/or press the key to allow it to turn on in the dark. It's also very handy at other times of the day, because I can just look at my wrist without having to mess with my phone. I've actually disabled most of the smartwatch features (no thanks alexa, smartpay, spotify etc etc, and I don't want a "free" trial of fitbit premium), but I do occasionally use the stopwatch, steps and heartrate features. But the dexcom has made a massive difference to my control and the watch makes it much easier to keep track of my levels, particularly when exercising. I lose hypo awareness if I have too many and though i still get them the dexcom warns me in advance and gives me back up, specially at night.

Dexcom claim that their next iteration (G7) will work direct with an apple watch rather than via the phone. I might consider switching over to apple when/if this happens, as it's pretty annoying to lose the signal on my watch when my phone is out of internet range, and I'd love to not need to be close to my phone to make my dexcom work.

 

[jaywak]

OH, you mean like the cure for diabetes in ten years that I was promised 50 years ago?

Yes I had that 46 yrs ago !

 

[jaywak]

Slightly different I know but about 20 -25 years ago I bought a cold sweat alert watch which I think cost me over £200 to wake me at night if I went hypo , It must have woken me about 4 times most nights and ended up in the bedside cabinet were it still is , I hope the technology improves in the future !

 

[MrsA2]

Slightly different I know but about 20 -25 years ago I bought a cold sweat alert watch which I think cost me over £200 to wake me at night if I went hypo , It must have woken about 4 times most nights and ended up in the bedside cabinet were it still is , I hope the technology improves in the future !

I'm trying out the latest libre2, and still think tech has along way to go!

 

[jaywak]

I'm trying out the latest libre2, and still think tech has along way to go!

Are you not happy with the Libre then ? A Dr at my surgery said that I would not get funding from the NHS and in her opinion they were not that reliable with the sensors often falling off ! I've heard on this forum some good stories but with the costs they have got to be 100% reliable .

 

[MrsA2]

Are you not happy with the Libre then ? A Dr at my surgery said that I would not get funding from the NHS and in her opinion they were not that reliable with the sensors often falling off ! I've heard on this forum some good stories but with the costs they have got to be 100% reliable .

I'm a bit too early in to say really. It has stuck on so far, coped with showers etc but I'd like to be able to drill down into data more.
I'm only t2 so its just an extra for me, but can see it would be invaluable to t1s. I'm just on the free trial for 2 weeks and secretly hoping I don't like it enough to self fund permanently.