continuous blood glucose monitoring

Hi

As Dylan is using a cgm to find out what his control is really like, you may be able to get him onto an insulin pump such as the Veo which will work with the mini link and suspend insulin being delivered if he goes hypo. That I think is the best way to get the devices funded.

Kegstore used the cgm with his pump and also Nick W has got another cgm from Dexcom which he mentioned in a thread on the Product section of the forum.

hi,
does anyone get to keep these permenantly? I wanted to get one for my son as his levels of exercise vary greatly. (he performs a lot and there can be a lot of dancing involved then the next rehearsal you send him in high and no dance). I offered to pay for it if I could get the consumables from the nhs but then found out they cost around £70 a week to run so the answer was no.



steph

Some people in the USA have insurance that covers the expense of a CGM. I am very lucky to be one of those people. My insurance would not cover my CGM unless an endocrinologist recommended my having one. I had to send my records for the preceding six months showing all my daily testing. I test 12 times per day and they could see that I had been experiencing a roller coaster type of control with highs and lows. My overall average and A1C were very good, but the highs and lows can lead to diabetes complications over an extended period of time. They approved and I have been using my Dexcom for 6 months. There are many diabetics in the US who need to have a CGM, but they do not have insurance that will cover it. There is no hope for them getting one. Some of them cannot even afford test strips and insulin. Sometimes I think socialized medicine is the best program for the masses.

I have very few highs and lows now. The CGM is not always dependable for agreeing with your finger stick results. There are some big discrepancies. There is an excellent Dexcom Users Group on a USA site. It has more than 300 members. They taught me things that were not in the Dexcom manual. I have good agreement between my meter and the Dexcom now. If you use the Paradigm sensors from Minimed you could still profit from what I learned in that user's group. All CGM's work very much the same way. Let me know if you want the instructions I learned in that group.

I use the Dexcom CGM. The Dexcom company and manual will tell you you should change the sensor every 7 days. Many Dexcom users stop the sensor after 7 days, but do not remove it from their bodies. Then they tell the Dexcom to start the new sensor, which is actually the old one. The agreement with the fingersticks and meter is actually just as good, or better , during the second week. Some users have gone beyond the second week by renewing the same old sensor again. I begin having poor results after 14 or 15 days so I have been replacing the sensor after 14 days.

I don't think you can do this with the Medtronic Minimed CGM.

I have been using the Medtronics CGM for around 8 months now - on and off. I have tried tried and tried to get funding from my PCT but come against a brick wall despite the support of my consulant. So .... its a self-funding job I am afraid. Cost is £375 for a box of 10 sensors but beware - sensors are not the only consumable as the transmitter device does not last forever either.

The transmitter contains a small rechargeable but not replaceable battery which needs to be looked after carefully in order to get maximum life out of it. Medtronics only guarantee the transmitter for 6 months and although they can last longer, you really need to bring the cost of replacing this into any calculations.

Using CGM, I am far more confident of exercising and going to bed after taking insulin for a late evening meal. I am using a Medtronic Veo pump by the way so all in all I think that I have a very useful regime. However ..... when I am not using CGM, I really do feel lost! You get used to glancing at the reading during the day if only to reassure yourself that all is fine and dandy - and if not, it is a useful prompt to take a finger test reading and make any necessary corrections.

Alan