Dexcom G6

[Alexsalter47]

Right. There's a lot to say.

I've come here just to ask a lot and see other views form type 1.

I've been on MDI and 6-9tests a day . I powerlift. And I work a hard manual job 50+ hours a week

Over the years I've had good and bad bloods. Mainly due to how lazy I may be feeling.

Recently I've stopped my old eating habits and restarted my Powerlifting. So now low controlled carbs and 200grams protein per day. Put on 8kg so far. All is well and as expected. With much better bloods. I train very hard three times a week. As I used to do it at county level for years. I'm 28

But now if I have a few choc biscuits on a day I don't work. Boom. A spike like nothing before.

I'm on the NHS and I cba with them. Im getting fed up. I'm earning a good bit and I want a cgm. I have good control or at least I know my body and know how to produce great control. But I work a ton and I cba with all the NHS appointments and jumping through loops to end up with a cgm that's not that great for free.

I want the dexcom G6 . Self funded. So it looks like it ll.cost 100-159£ a month. Which I mean? Not that bad. I take home pre tax 25k a year. In the end of the day I can just buy the one month trial and see.

It's gotta be done. I think it ll help produce better control. Because at this rate I just gotta ban the 5 chocolate biscuits and cup or coffee on a Sunday morning and just sitting on pc for hours. No matter if I inject even double. Still gonna spike to 18.0 it seems and I'm fed up. Just gonna have to ban them and integrate a proper protein/fruit type breakfast and then watch the dexcom show the difference or whatever

What do you guys think? I have great hba1cs never been to see my endo like once in ten years for the reasons above. I could go but I know what's gonna be said one way or another. So either way I'm gonna probably buy the dexcom anyway. I know the rules with the NHS and I know they don't supply everyone with them unless certain boxes are hit and I doubt I hit them so I cba to waste time on that route.

Dexcom G6 seems good. Any views?

 

[Alexsalter47]

Thanks. I inject Nova rapid and levimer. Mdi 6-7 a day. Same for blood tests minimum. 48units levimer and novarapid like 4-6units per sizable meal . I run reasonable amount of insulin and snack to always make up the overspill on bananas or whatever. Work wells. So when I have a very punishing training day of 1.5 hours. The proceeding 24 hours my blood naturally falls harder.

I have no issue with the NHS but is the time worth it is what I'm saying. I know how to get good bloods. I could do a lot better but I know how and do so. So is it worth me seeing a team , and scheduling that around working 60 hour weeks all the time and so on. Just to be told your getting the basic pump and cgm . Which may hold problems and not be that great?

In the end. I've been type one for 16 years now. I will move to pump and I know I ll need to use NHS for that. But cgm move first. I see a lot of USA people running cgm+pump that work together? Looks pretty good.

But like I said. I can't see the NHS supplying dexcom G6 , so it seems like I'm going to have to take things into my own hands or put up with whatever they would supple or carry on with the treatment I do which I feel is getting a bit dated and such now.

 

[Scott-C]

Hi, @Alexsalter47 , I've not used G6 but most of the reports I've seen about it from users are very positive. I'll tag @Juicyj , if memory serves, I think she might be self-funding it?

It seems to be more common in America, because of the medical insurance position there, so a trawl through the fudiabetes and tudiabetes forums might be time well spent, I've seen it discussed a lot there by users.

A sensor "officially" lasts, can't remember 7, 10 days? but the sensor can be "unoffically" used for a lot longer, it's not uncommon for people to get a few weeks out of it, and if you run it to the android app xDrip+ the expensive transmitter part can be run for a lot longer too.

The chances of you getting it prescribed are low - lots of nhs hoops.

But you say you're testing 8/9 times a day? If you can prove via meter records you're testing more than 8 times a day, you fit the RMOC guidelines to be prescribed Freestyle Libre. It is sometimes regarded as a second best to dexcom, but a lot of users here have bought a small transmitter for about 160 quid from www.miaomiao.cool and then run the 5 min output to xDrip+. It turns libre into full on cgm which is just as accurate for mdi purposes as g6 is (although g6 enthusiasts may disagree!).

https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip/releases


Whichever option you go for, do it. I've been T1 for 30 years, the last 3 have been on cgm (currently libre/miaomiao/xDrip+) and I've learned more about managing my T1 in those 3 years than I did in the whole of the 27 years before it.

People casually throw around phrases like, "life changing" and "game changing", but cgm really is - being able to see and steer bg levels makes a huge difference. Fewer hypos/hypers, lower a1c, smoother lines, easier to check whether basal is right, easier to see how pre-bolus timing affects things, how few dextrotabs are needed to nudge up a decline, how many units are needed to nudge back down etc. etc. and your phone ringing when it all goes wrong at 3am!

 

[Alexsalter47]

You are so right. Thank you.

I appreciate your comment and the previous replies. You provided a perfect reply.

I will commit to the one month trial of the G6 and run the gear for as long as I can , I personally want the sensors to last 15 not 10. But we ll see, I've heard of some further better stretches. I'm not interested in abiding by their laws.

Converting from mdis is the bigger problem for me. One I'm slowly going to try and work on.

When you say freestyle libra ? Is that a flash cgm? And by sending that 160£ you can then make it like the G6? I think I'm with you.

I'm getting bloods done mid August so I ll get hba1c then been a few years since I last checked.

I'm hoping the G6 fits well on my stomach. I have like 2% fat on my arms, just a ton of veins showing. I don't know how good the G6 sensor thing is but I can't see it holding up to all the stuff I put my arms through without screwing readings

It's only 159£ then after I guess I book in to see the diabetes nurse.

Thanks

 

[Scott-C]

When you say freestyle libra ? Is that a flash cgm? And by sending that 160£ you can then make it like the G6? I think I'm with you.

Yes, it's flash glucose monitoring, it gets stuck on your arm, belly, chest, wherever, then you put the reader or an nfc phone up next to it and it uses nfc, near field communication to read it. So it's not pushing the readings continuously to the phone or reader as nfc only works over a few centimetres, but as soon as it came out the #wearenotwaiting folks came up with a few home made gizmos which went on top to bluetooth readings to a phone, and then the commercial transmitters, first blucon, then miaomiao, came out for those of us who aren't good at soldering and coding.

https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/li...MIyefTiaLG4wIVhLHtCh0vagsXEAAYASAAEgIBEPD_BwE

So, yeah, you'd have the freestyle libre on yr arm/belly, the miaomiao is attached to it, reads it every 5 mins, bluetooths the reading to xDrip+ on your phone. It's offically only authorised for use on the arm, the flexible sensor filament is only 4mm long, so lack of fat on the arms shouldn't phase it too much, but plenty of folks have worn it in a wide variety of places, chest, belly, thigh without problems.

I'm lucky enough to live in NHS Lothian in Scotland, which has a really liberal libre prescription policy, any T1 who wants it gets it, so I get it free and the one off £160 cost of the miaomiao, and free open source xDrip+ works well for me.

If you're in England, there was a really messy postcode lottery on libre prescription - some ccgs were liberal with it, most weren't, so the RMOC stepped in, set some national rules, one of which was if you are testing more than 8 times a day for good clinical reasons, they must prescribe, no ifs, no buts. But some areas are still being reluctant, didn't like being told what to do.

In which case, Partha Kar, the NHS England T1 clinical lead, says he wants to know about this so he can have a "quiet word" with them:

https://mobile.twitter.com/parthaskar?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

[Alexsalter47]

Thank you. I just needed a bit of knowledge and support

Ive also found out a good bit about the G6 and how their mobile app doesnt work on many androids including my phone, but ive found a source that members have made that enables the app to work on all androids which is cool.

I live west sussex. I don't know if thats a good post code area. Being RH13 . The hospital would be Horsham hospital. I will keep in mind what you said and book an appointment with their local diabetes nurse. I presume I need to see her and not my GP .

Thanks. I will keep hold of this thread in case any major issues appear

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @Alexsalter47 My trust didn’t offer me the libre so I decided to self fund the G6, my primary motivation was to reduce the amount of hypos I was having and be alerted at night if I was going low, I can quite honestly say self funding was the best decision I have made with my t1 control as my HbA1c is the lowest it’s ever been, I am alerted when my levels drop below 5 which is essential for keeping my driving licence, I have used my tum but as I have cannulas sited there I prefer the arms, Dexcom have only verified this area for placing them from their testing however my arms have been successful. The adhesive does wear thin though so I keep a stash of tegaderm and medical tape handy to strap them on, you can also extend the life of them fairly easily and with accuracy too as you can calibrate but Dexcom recommend against this. The software Clarity is also highly useful as a guide to monitoring and controlling BG levels as will pick up on patterns and make recommendations- overall it’s a great piece of kit and I wouldn’t use anything else now, you have to pay into the subscription which is a contract for a minor 12 months at £159.

 

[Alexsalter47]

That's great thank you. I don't know what my hospital will do. But I will ask. I ll ask my gp when I go for my blood form too.

I am leaning to drive at the moment. I didn't know much about keeping blood above 5 to keep license. Any chance you could elaborate on this?

I saw th clarity app and that works on my phone. But their main G6 app doesn't until I found the member existed .apk of the ap though. Which I think I ll use. I can't remember if xdrip+ would work with the G6 , do you use their app? Or a different one?

Ive had it so long where I just test to see where I'm at, it can be hard work sometimes. I look forward to having a new experience . It's so weird the feeling. Its a weird excitement

I heard the G6 tells you roughly which direction the bloods going too? I think they offer a starter pack for 159 for one month too

 

[Scott-C]

I heard the G6 tells you roughly which direction the bloods going too?

You get a reading every 5 mins on a graph, so you can look at the way the graph is trending, and then make a judgment call on whether to just leave it alone, or step in and nudge it down with 1 or 2u, or nudge up with a dextrotab.

Cgm is a very powerful tool in managing T1, but it's not plug-and-play, sticking any sort of cgm on won't suddenly level bg out overnight, you need to learn how to use it, if you've got a kindle handy, there's a couple of books which explain it:

Sugar Surfing, Stephen Ponder

Beyond Fingersticks.., William Lee Dubois

When I started with cgm, my bg was all over the place, and I got a bit narked off about why is this not working, but I spent time learning how to read the traces, and slowly but surely I started knocking out 90 to 100% in range like the pic below. This takes time - you'll see a lot of things on cgm which you don't like, but then you'll start figuring out ways to sort them.