Having had my Dexcom G4 for a whole 3 weeks I now feel qualified to make a few comments.
It's not perfect, but I am very pleased with it.
It has given me peace of mind. Especially at night, but at all times. In just this length of time I have learned a lot. I have reduced my basal by about 10%. Getting your basal insulin right is very very important. Assuming I'm not low I now inject earlier - 20 to 30 minutes before I eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This definitely reduces the post meal spike, especially after breakfast. I wouldn't have the confidence to do this if I was doing normal testing.
I had no problem inserting the sensor on my abdomen, maybe I was lucky. I did have to shave the area before I began, something I hadn't thought of! I was concerned about sleeping with it but after the first night it hasn't worried me at all. Most of the time the figures are pretty close to my OneTouch Ultra meter. Many within 1 unit but I have seen as much as 3. It's difficult to judge - if levels are rising or falling then the fact that the lag of the Dexcom is around 10 minutes(ish) behind probably accounts for much of it. It has also made me think about the accuracy of the OneTouch meter. As I already knew, consecutive readings even from the same drop of blood can be quite a bit different. I try to calibrate when the graph is nice & level.
I think every type 1 diabetic should have access to one, at minimum for establishing their basal dosage. A week would do this & give an invaluable insight into what happens when you eat, exercise, & sleep.
Anyone caring for a child or adult with diabetes should/must have the option. The range is such that in most houses the carer could have the receiver by their bed giving peace of mind, not to mention more sleep!
Anyone who is pregnant/trying for a baby should surely have one.
The Dexcom receiver works well and is very easy to use. I would like it to do more but I can see that simplicity is very important. The receiver battery seems very good, after the original mains charge I have only charged during my download sessions with the pc.
Some wishes for the receiver:
Ability to scroll back at the same scale (e.g. 3 hour view)
Option to change the vertical scale of the graph - I would probably change it to 16 rather than 22.
Build quality - I'm not too convinced & I've read stories of buttons & the usb cover coming loose. It is only guaranteed for a year & at around £600 for a replacement I think it should be better. Hopefully I'm wrong and it will last for several years. The case provided is OKish but I'd like a better one.
Dexcom Studio
Great fun if you like graphs! Useful too
My PC has Windows Vista so it works for me, but not on Windows 8 or a Mac which isn't too good.
It would be nice to easily add comments to a graph. When the receiver is plugged in it would be good if the software downloaded at intervals giving a "live" graph. Perhaps a little widget or app to show this in the corner of the screen whilst you do other things.
I've now started week 4 with my original sensor. No itching or hint of infection. Have wondered if the results are less good as there seem to be fewer/gentler spikes on the graphs. Before restarting yesterday I intentionally ate a higher carb lunch & delayed injecting until I began eating. The graph went up to about 11 as I would expect.
I used Skintac and the original sensor tape was fine for the first week. Since then I've added numerous strips of hypa tape. May look at some alternatives I've read about. I shower each day & haven't done anything to protect the sensor & transmitter. I've yet to have a bath or go swimming.
So far so very good..