Dexcom One - What's it like in use?

Hi Marie 2

Thanks for that. Like you I like things to be as accurate as possible. I will try again when I change the sensor the next time. It is not possible to calibrate Dexcom 1 so I am unable to improve the accuracy that way.

I am hoping for great things for Dexcom I found Libre 2 very poor

@h884 That's bad you can't calibrate it. Someone had said yes and another no, so I really didn't know. That's really the thing that makes a Dexcom G6 stand out as better than a Libre, it's the ability to calibrate it into a closer actual reading. The G6 has been way off without any calibrations on me, just like a Libre. While they can be close sometimes, the norm for me on a Libre is 1-1.5 mmol (20-30) points off. When I switched to a Dexcom instead of a Libre my A1c improved 5 points, just because while I tried to make adjustments in dosing knowing I was higher than what my Libre said, it worked better to know what I was actually at. I loved the Libre.... until I had a Dexcom with it's calibration.

I actually wear both a good deal of the time now. The Libre goes into a waterproof pouch and I can scan it underwater while still swimming. I swim in the ocean so this has allowed me to safely stay out there swimming for 2-3 hours. I can keep track of whether I am trending up or down. The Dexom relies on constant communication and won't give me a reading in the water. The Libre has been a real blessing for that. But as soon as I am out of the water the Libre goes into my purse as the Dexcom is much more accurate.

I suppose not having the ability to calibrate the Dexcom One was to compete with the Libre at a cheaper price, but they lost one of the biggest benefits with it then.

I switched from Libre 2 to Dexcom One in September 2022, as I was having lots of Libre sensor failures.

The Dexcom sensors have been brilliant, every sensor since September has lasted the full 10 days and the accuracy is excellent.

You can calibrate the Dexcom One using the Shuggah app for iPhone or xdrip for Android. I've done this a few times, here is how to set it up:


xdrip and Shuggah are the same. Once set it up you need to disable bluetooth for the Dexcom app and once the Shuggah app has got at least two readings you can calibrate. Then disable bluetooth on the Shuggah app and re-enable it on the Dexcom app.

Just an update. I am now on my 4th Dexcom sensor. I have had 2 replaced. One because of very inaccurate readings, the because of “brief sensor issue“ which kept recurring. The message indicated brief sensor issue please wait up to 3 hours. Not what I would call brief. This went on for about 4 hours

The Dexcom rep indicated that Dexcom consider a 20% difference between finger prick and interstitial fluid acceptable !!

I have been using the Shuggah app which I think is improving the accuracy. My only issue here is that I need to keep blue tooth on for Dexcom, if switched off it tells me it cannot get readings. If I switch Bluetooth off for Shuggah then it stops working

There is a setting on Shuggah under bluetooth - read from Dexcom app, which I have switched on. Not sure how well calibration is working doing it this way

Got the Dexcom One today and have a couple of questions for more experienced users on this forum. Firstly I get an annoying alert saying that the app is running, this happens every five minutes or so, I have got signal loss switched off so it isnt that?

Also I want to use the Dexcom One with an android smartwatch, does anyone have a Recommendation for a watch and how to set it up? Thanks in advance.

Baggie79 said:

Got the Dexcom One today and have a couple of questions for more experienced users on this forum. Firstly I get an annoying alert saying that the app is running, this happens every five minutes or so, I have got signal loss switched off so it isnt that?

Also I want to use the Dexcom One with an android smartwatch, does anyone have a Recommendation for a watch and how to set it up? Thanks in advance.

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I am sorry but I cannot help with the alert you are geting. I have not experienced that issue. Perhaps a call to Dexcom might give you some answers.

Re using Dexcom one with an android smart watch, I have an Apple watch and using Shuggah I can see readings on my watch. I was unable to find Dexcom one app on the App Store for my watch. I am sure that when I checked on the Dexcom website before deciding It did say Dexcom one was not compatible with the Apple Watch I have.

Sorry I cannot be of more help. Hope you get some answers

h884 said:

I am sorry but I cannot help with the alert you are geting. I have not experienced that issue. Perhaps a call to Dexcom might give you some answers.

Re using Dexcom one with an android smart watch, I have an Apple watch and using Shuggah I can see readings on my watch. I was unable to find Dexcom one app on the App Store for my watch. I am sure that when I checked on the Dexcom website before deciding It did say Dexcom one was not compatible with the Apple Watch I have.

Sorry I cannot be of more help. Hope you get some answers

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Seriosly thanks for the help. I have managed to get the Dexcom One app working with the Huawei GT2 smartwatch, you just add the Dexcom app to Huawei healh and allow notifications. It sends a notification the the watch telling you that you are going hiigh but also the exact reading at the time of the alert on the watch. I hope this helps as there seems to be some very conflicticg information arouind at the moment.

Thanks will see if that works. Hope Dexcom can help with the alerts

Ruggle said:

I have been using the Dexcom One since it became available in the. has for Type 1 Diabetics. My experience of it is that it’s awful. So far I’ve only had one sensor last the full 10 days. They stop working completely or the sensor cannot connect to your phone so you don’t get any readings. You cannot add any information to results, eg if they’re high because you’re unwell, or what dose of insulin you’ve had. So an overview of your readings isn’t helpful at all. There is no accurate time to correlate with a particular result as it’s all on a graph so it’s a rough idea of what time a higher result was and again a rough idea of what a previous reading actually was. This is a system that scrapes the barrel of Dexcom products, produced cheaply for the NHS.
Abbot have now brought out Libre 3 which I understand is continuous. It lasts 10 days and no fiddling around with sensors and transmitters, hopefully it’s just like the Libre2, but continuous as opposed to flash monitoring. Whether the NHS will fund this for Type 1 diabetics remains to be seen.

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That's disappointing. I'm currently using the Libre and they forced me to move to Libre 2 since they stopped supporting the Libre 1 (even though I just want monitoring, not alarms). I found the Libre 1 to be pretty reliable and once baselined, quite accurate. My experience with Libre 2 has been pretty awful; sensors not starting and accuracy all over the place. I applied one this week and it started reporting 3.5 units high and yesterday I did a finger-prick to check and it was reporting 1 unit too low! It's pretty useless in terms of tracking how I'm doing (I'm T2 so only really use it to help with my control via diet and exercise and I inject long-release inulin as required).

I was hoping that the Dexcom ONE would be a price-competitive alternative. I'm self-funding.

@bearMedicine 3.5 units is obviously quite a bit out, 1 unit either way is very good and many blood glucose monitors can have this differential. 2 units is an accepted difference by Abbott. I find it is pretty bang on most of the time. But if rising or falling quickly, tends to struggle with catching up.

becca59 said:

1 unit either way is very good and many blood glucose monitors can have this differential. 2 units is an accepted difference by Abbott.

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@becca59 I didn't realise that even BG monitor can be out by that much! Would this be the case even for finger prick tests? OK makes me feel a little better about the Libre 2 then it would be great if they could add a calibration feature though!

I have trialled the Dexcom one and straight away my time in range has doubled to nearly 93% which is amazing for me. The problem I have is that my doctors are saying that I cannot have them on prescription due to where I live in the country. I assumed as long as you are type 1 and the Dexcom One works for you then a prescription should be given no matter where in the country you live.

It seems mad, has anyone else had this experience, is it wrong and they just dont want to pay for them?

Hello
I would like to know from people using the dexcome ONE with an android smartwatch, if the smartwatch advice you when in hypoglicaemia (I mean both watch' vibration or watch' sound-alarm).
Please and thanks in advance

Hi iam type 1 started on libre but as people mention the sensor reliability was poor 50% had to be re supplied by abbot so I changed on to dexcom one app functions are less but convenience of cgm oars obvious but! App is useless on my iPhone it keeps stopping no reason given and thru the night it constantly reports lows due to rolling on sensor and then there is the supply transmitter lasts for three sensors but there are stock issues in my area so I spend half my life on phone to pharmacy trying to get next one before current one ends so to summarise readings close to blood when it works app is hopeless with iPhone and supply has issues other than that sensor adhesive is mildly better than libre but not if it gets wet at all .

@Keep on trucking
Yea, the benefits to a regular Dexcom is being able to calibrate it. When you take that away it becomes the same as a Libre.
But both the Libre and the Dexcom work in all sorts of different (not official) spots. I use the Dexcom on the front of my arm, just avoid putting it over the muscle. That way I never sleep on it. But if you ever call one in they will only replace it if it was in an approved spot.

Good to know thx

Just a follow yp from my previous posts on this thread.

The Dexcome One turned out to be a bit of a nightmare, being inaccurate with no way to calibrate. It stuck well, wasn't dreadful as far as connectivity was concerned, but was only useful as a trend device.

I followed up by trying the Dexcom 7, as it's slightly cheaper than the Dexcom 6. I bought three sensors and it worked pretty well. The first sensor failed on day 8 but was replaced by Dexcom and after that, ran, mostly, in line with blood tests to the point where I'm not constantly cross checking. The subscription model for the 7 allows a 3 monthly subscription with no fault cancellation whenever you please... more info, should I have any, will be reported back.