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Smart watches

C

curvycris58

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi everyone. I'm type 2 taking oral medication. Because I have been struggling lately, I have been back to finger pricks to keep an eye on my levels. Does anyone have any take on certain smart watches I have seen to record your levels. Are they genuine, or are the adverts I have seen, just a scam. I would love to hear anyone's opinions on this subject. Many thanks.
 
My husband bought one - a cheapie and I don't know the brand and it was not accurate against a libra which I was wearing at the time ( I self fund one every so often).

What medication are you on?

I would so love a watch to work. I keep hoping against hope that Apple will come out with one. The Libre is expensive but also only lasts 14 days (or less sometimes). I'm not on any medication but want to make sure I don't get too complacent.
 
I'm on metformin & dapagliflozin 10mg. But when I go back in 3 months if my hb1c hasn't improved I think I have got to go back on glyclazide. I saw an advert on Facebook for the watch and just wondered if they were any good.
 
I believe there is not yet any commercially available non invasive glucose measuring watch that actually works, and the ones that are advertised are scams.
There are a lot of companies working on it, and if one ever really cracks it I'm sure we'll all hear about it.
Many people do get their readings on a watch now though, but not measured by the watch itself, rather via a wireless connection from a CGM in the skin elsewhere on their body.
 
Lets put it this way - Samsung and Apple, with their vast product development budgets, haven't managed to perfect the technology to read blood glucose accurately via a watch yet. Odds are if they haven't, no one else will have either.
 
curvycris58 said:
Whoever does it first will make a killing.
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Yeah, they will. Not just from diabetics either, the whole keto end of low carb is a massive market too, and many in these communities would be interested in a wearable device with this capability that doesn't cost £130+ a month like CGMs do.

From what I've seen when I disappeared down a rabbit hole when looking into a new smartwatch, it's very difficult to detect blood glucose through the skin without a flawless contact that's very close/tight to the skin. Even CGM devices can have some accuracy issues when reading interstitial fluids through skin and they have the tightest contact possible without invasive means. Watches struggle to read blood pressure accurately in my experience and that has a physical effect to sense, so I suspect accurate blood glucose readings on watches may take some time yet unfortunately.
 
Yes I know what you mean. My smart watch is always moving around my wrist and its got 2 extra holes added. So I probably wouldn't get an accurate reading anyway.
 
curvycris58 said:
Yes I know what you mean. My smart watch is always moving around my wrist and its got 2 extra holes added. So I probably wouldn't get an accurate reading anyway.
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Just out of interest when it comes to fingerprick readings, have you tried any different lances at all?
 
I have 2. I'm happy to say that for most of today my readings have come down slightly. I cannot believe that after almost 30yrs being type 2 I rarely took notice of carb readings on packaging, only sugar. But thanks to this site, I do now.
 
Paul_ said:
Even CGM devices can have some accuracy issues when reading interstitial fluids through skin and they have the tightest contact possible without invasive means.
Click to expand...
Just to prevent confusion: CGMs don't read through skin, they are invasive in that a small filament is inserted in the skin with a needle (the needle doesnt stay in). The filament will stay inside the skin to measure glucose in interstitial fluid.
Here's what it looks like in a Freestyle Libre:

 
@Antje77 , Ihope this is an enlarged image?
That filament looks like a large rusty pin!
 
Thanks @Antje77, apologies for any confusion caused, got it wrong there.
 
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