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Thinking of CGM

ImageUploadedByDCUK Forum1393762128.073343.jpgwell a couple of days in and I'm pleased

I have the confidence to allow my level to go lower, knowing that I will be alerted should they go too low

I have a feeling my next hba1c will be much better :-)


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Oh that is beautiful….mine is now 4.4 to 11 which I manage to stay within with varying degrees of success, a few more lows than highs….I just thought I had it all sorted and now my night time is going up but I can see what's going on and have so much more confidence on what I need to do.

I had a look at my averages for the last couple of months in the software and then popped them into the convertor calculator to work out roughly what my next HBA1c will be here is the link http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-units-converter.html you have to put in different HBA1c values til you get the average mmol blood sugar you have :) Mine should definitely be lower.
 
I use sidiary which can import readings from most devices, this then can print quite a few different results... But the hba1c suggestion it gives is almost spot on every time... Infact this last time with the DSN I showed her what I thought it would be 8.3 she went on the computer a got my result of 8.3

I have found that my levels have been much more stable since I've been on a new insulin Degludec, I was on Humulin I before which was only lasting about 12 hours.

However I had rice tonight and after about 3 hours when my Humalog wore off I've started to rise to about 8 but still not a bad reading for me, with Humulin I would have been at 15+


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Is Degludec the new one that can last up to 72 hours…or something like that. I have 2 long acting injections as my sugar level would just rise in the evenings and so my tea time bolus was about twice of any other time in the day! It's funny but getting used the cgm I can now look at the spikes and also the dips and have a fair idea about whether it is my basal insulin causing me the problems or my bolus…and also that relationship between your basal and bolus…so I have had to increase my night time insulin because I was rising over the night and not staying level, and this meant that in the morning my bolus for breakfast has dropped quite a bit because that will be the point that my 2 long acting injections overlap the most as I inject morning and night, but then the morning basal is right, because if I reduce that then I have a 3/4pm steady rise! It is so much easier seeing it in pictures and graphs for me, I would take so much longer reacting to patterns on single finger prick tests. I am hoping for a cracking HBA1c next time I go and it will be a cracking HBA1c without loads of hypos too - which is the best bit of it!

I am hoping to go on the pump, so I won't ask about degludec as there is no point trying to persuade them for a different insulin if I have the pump and then I can hopefully work everything else out on that. I reckon the CGM will be invaluable when I start out with the pump - it will certainly help me to trust it quicker!
 
Yes degludec is the 72hr one and now I have the dose of it just right, and I'm doing really well on it




kkkk said:
Is Degludec the new one that can last up to 72 hours…or something like that. I have 2 long acting injections as my sugar level would just rise in the evenings and so my tea time bolus was about twice of any other time in the day! It's funny but getting used the cgm I can now look at the spikes and also the dips and have a fair idea about whether it is my basal insulin causing me the problems or my bolus…and also that relationship between your basal and bolus…so I have had to increase my night time insulin because I was rising over the night and not staying level, and this meant that in the morning my bolus for breakfast has dropped quite a bit because that will be the point that my 2 long acting injections overlap the most as I inject morning and night, but then the morning basal is right, because if I reduce that then I have a 3/4pm steady rise! It is so much easier seeing it in pictures and graphs for me, I would take so much longer reacting to patterns on single finger prick tests. I am hoping for a cracking HBA1c next time I go and it will be a cracking HBA1c without loads of hypos too - which is the best bit of it!

I am hoping to go on the pump, so I won't ask about degludec as there is no point trying to persuade them for a different insulin if I have the pump and then I can hopefully work everything else out on that. I reckon the CGM will be invaluable when I start out with the pump - it will certainly help me to trust it quicker!
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Removed mine today, not happy with it

Highly inaccurate

Will be returning it for a refund


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Hi Searley!

Am I reading that right - you're not happy with the whole CGM and are returning it? Could you give a bit of detail about your experience and issues with it please?

Thanks

Smidge
 
The first day is erratic whilst the sensor 'beds in' then it's ok for a few days then it starts to be a little erratic again

If I can not get 7 days good readings from it then it's not worth £68 a sensor

I was very careful during calibration clean hands, and only doing it whilst levels were steady

Got woke up 2 nights in a row with low alerts in the 3's did a finger test to find I was in the 6's

The final straw yesterday when looking at it thinking ooh I've had a steady day the dexcom saying I was 6.9 did a finger test to find I was 10.7

I can understand some difference but not such a big difference. I certainly no longer trust the results making the meter of no value to me

So yes I want my money back, which is sad as I'd waited so long to get one and had high hopes :-(


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Searley
I too am sorry to read yr msg. Am wondering if the location on the body is causing the problem. Is the sensor inserted where you do yr injections? Have you tried another area, or do you only have the starter pack?

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That's a shame Searley (if you want to try a different CGM then there are some good offers on the medtronic one around now, and the sensors are meant to be more accurate - I know that some people found that they really didn't get on with the medtronic sensors and they didn't read accurately, but for some they did, so maybe if dexcom isn't working for you they might help - not looked into costs etc. for them at all). The only time I have the larger inaccuracies - so 2mmol or so is maybe the 1st 24 hours (but that normally gets tight quite quickly) or after I have had the sensor in for more than a week - ironically the other night I did a finger prick and it said I was 4.8, looked at dex which said I was 8. something….re did the fingerprick test and got 8 point something - so something went wrong with my meter test and if it wasn't for the dex I would have gone with that! I'd have a chat with the company you got it from and explain the problems you've had and see what they can suggest too.
 
Searley,
Sorry to hear you've had such a negative experience.
Perhaps I've been lucky, my second sensor has lasted 15 days so far, the first 23 days.
Both on my abdomen by the way.
Have you learned anything about your overnight levels?
At least you can get most of your money back..
 
Just like to say that it's taken a great deal of trial and error for me - there are SO MANY things that affect your numbers...

Am in my 6th month. And still getting surprises and learning lessons. It's a physical and emotional roller coaster requiring a strong character to stick with it. Keep assessing the pros and cons. I've had thoughts of giving up, then realised that when it works well and I'm able to see what's happening and (importantly) why, it's a life saver.


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Yes I learnt what my night levels are like, infact for me very little dip in the night as I'm on degludec

I've learnt also how long my Humalog is effecting me, so it's not been a total waste

But overall I'm disappointed with the dexcom


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searley said:
I use sidiary which can import readings from most devices, this then can print quite a few different results... But the hba1c suggestion it gives is almost spot on every time... Infact this last time with the DSN I showed her what I thought it would be 8.3 she went on the computer a got my result of 8.3

I have found that my levels have been much more stable since I've been on a new insulin Degludec, I was on Humulin I before which was only lasting about 12 hours.

However I had rice tonight and after about 3 hours when my Humalog wore off I've started to rise to about 8 but still not a bad reading for me, with Humulin I would have been at 15+


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Hi Searley,

I have a dexcom G4 and have downloaded Sdiary. But which reading do i import and n what format, to get the A1C

Thanks
 
I am on my third Dexcom G4 sensor. I have today, restarted it to begin its sixth week. I have learned a lot that I would not have picked up from finger pricks alone. The first sensor lasted 18 days and the second sensor 34 days.
 
Sensor prolonging tips please….I get the 1st week fine, don't need extra adhesive, but then normally around day 10 I will have some bits with ??? - I had a 2 hour patch last night and then another 2 hour patch today. I am thinking it is because of movement of the sensor (but open to any other ideas) - I had it all taped with tegaderm which was great til I saw a red rash developing under it…and had to carefully un peel it and found a beautiful red rectangle!!!! I have some skin tac wipes - do you wipe the skin or wipe the sticky on the sensor before you put it in, and then people have said if you wipe the skin be careful about leaving a hole for the sensor needle to go through???? So don't want to wreck a £50 sensor before I've even started…any tips. At the moment I am back to micropore and my meter is back (it is still accurate even when it comes back after a 2hour absence!!). I know that one side of the plaster is pretty much completely free - happened when taking off the tegaderm (which was just before the 2 sets of ???- so I am assuming that it was probably the removal of that which didn't help!)….tips please :)
 
kkkk said:
Sensor prolonging tips please….I get the 1st week fine, don't need extra adhesive, but then normally around day 10 I will have some bits with ??? - I had a 2 hour patch last night and then another 2 hour patch today. I am thinking it is because of movement of the sensor (but open to any other ideas) - I had it all taped with tegaderm which was great til I saw a red rash developing under it…and had to carefully un peel it and found a beautiful red rectangle!!!! I have some skin tac wipes - do you wipe the skin or wipe the sticky on the sensor before you put it in, and then people have said if you wipe the skin be careful about leaving a hole for the sensor needle to go through???? So don't want to wreck a £50 sensor before I've even started…any tips. At the moment I am back to micropore and my meter is back (it is still accurate even when it comes back after a 2hour absence!!). I know that one side of the plaster is pretty much completely free - happened when taking off the tegaderm (which was just before the 2 sets of ???- so I am assuming that it was probably the removal of that which didn't help!)….tips please :)
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Over the past few months I've been paying attention to what has been said about cgm on other forums.

Alternative stuff to use looks like IV3000 Smith & Nephew, Hypafix, Mefix, Flexifix and Opsite. Seems as though Hypafix is easier to use as the backing is in two halves.
 
I think Skin tac needs to be used on the skin but I've read that some people forget where they've applied the Skin tac. Might pay to use a tem plate of the G4 sensor and use something to draw around it that will wash off
 
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