I love my dexcom. but it's $389.50 a month in New Zealand (about GBP 200). I am truly lucky to be able to afford it and am always aware that at any time allergy issues may make me go back to blood testing (50 tests a week).
I've twinned mine to a fitbit versa 2 watch (glance watch face is free with an optional paypal donation to developer) so I can see my levels on my wrist. The glance watchface tends to lag slightly behind the phonre app, so you'll want to haul your phone out if you go low. My alarms go off at 4.4 and 11 on the phone (the low is 3 very loud beeps which definitely wake you at night, the high can be muted to a vibrate), 4 and 10 vibrate on the watch. The alarm levels can be altered, but I haven't bothered.
When seriously hypo (doesn't happen often because I can usually stave it off) I get my glucometer out, because the transmitter only sends a reading every 5 minutes and if I'm heading down to the low 3s I test more often to ensure that my levels are heading back up. Seems to be less of a lag than with the libre 1. The watch is prone to losing the signal because it depends on the dexcom follower app (ie your phone sends its readings up to the cloud, who then send it back down to the phone/watch combo, so there's more opportunity to lose the signal, specially if you're out of phone signal range. If you happen to have a watch with the OS wear operating system on it you could download glance and give it a go though.
I find it pretty accurate, though new sensors sometimes under read at night, so I try to insert them in the morning. There is a calibrate option if your dexcom is out compared to your glucometer but I've hardly ever needed to use it.
Dexcom customer service are incredibly helpful.
Inserting the sensor is very easy but adding the reusable transmitter to the sensor can be a bit fiddly (make sure to press it down firmly) , and I actually find removing the transmitter from a used sensor the most difficult. (The transmitter lasts 3 months so you have to take it off your old sensor and put it on your new one. That makes it not very cost effective to use dexcom only some of the time, as once you've activated your transmitter it'll wear out in 3 months.
Allergies. Since I started applying cavillon to my skin before applying the sensor to my abdomen I haven't had any issues, though my arms got irritated when I tried rotating the sensor there. Dexcom freely admit that some people have allergy issues and make helpful suggestions, unlike Abbott who have their heads firmly stuck in the sand of denial on that subject.
I love my dexcom.
I expect they've had to do the free trial to rival the Libre 2 free trial so hope it will run for a little longer!
