Dexcom CGM - 1 Week Later
So yesterday the DexCom sent me a few warnings telling me I'd need to change the sensor soon. Hmm... I thought. I have more than a day to go. I guess that's nice to get a 24 hour warning??
Turns out I forgot that I was off work last Friday so I was on my 7th day. After three more warnings, the sensor turned itself off at 11 last night.
There's plenty of Internet chatter about restarting Dex sensors and getting 12-13 days out of them, but I opted not to for the following reasons:
1) It was 11pm. If I did a restart then, I'd need to calibrate at 1am.
2) I'm running a 5k race tomorrow and one of the main reasons I'm doing CGM is to monitor myself better doing races. Using a sensor for a race beyond the FDA recommendations didn't sound bright.
3) Insurance is paying 100% for sensors, and it's not like they're going to cut me a check for spending their money better.
Taking off the sensor at bedtime was interesting. First off, not having something else on my belly was nice. There's definitely a bit of a pin cushion mentality when you're using CGM and a pump. At the same time, I found myself a bit bothered: Huh, I won't know my blood sugar overnight. Gee--- what if I get low or what if I get high? In other words, I was worried about something that, until a week ago, I couldn't do anything about.
But my smooth belly and I fell asleep about thirty seconds later and that was that for the worrying. And I woke up with a blood sugar of 107 so apparently I can still do this without CGM.
Now, I'm calibrating my second sensor, and happy about the fact I'll be micromanaging my diabetes in another hour or so.
During the first week on the sensor, I had 3-4 times when I lost coverage, for about 2 hours each time. Sure enough, in the Dexcom book, they tell you that on average you'll use a signal about 3 times per sensor. All of which means that everything's working fine, though I gotta tell you: if I stop losing a signal during a long run or - worse - a long race - I'll be ticked.
I also placed an order for a Spibelt yesterday. I've got other belts for running, but diabetics seem to be rather fanatic about their affection for the Spibelt and given that my long runs require: an insulin pump, CGM, BlackBerry storm and gels, I need something to carry my crap. Ideally, I would've gotten one with the orange trim (they donate $1 to the Triabetics), but I opted for the 2 pocket version, which appears to have no trim color. Oh well, I'll manage.
I mentioned the race tomorrow: it's a repeat of last year's Solanco Alumni XC race. Even though I was 1 of only 2 guys from my era last year, Facebook has helped me round up a few more old guys and even a girl or two, so tomorrow should be even more fun. Looking forward to it.
Turns out I forgot that I was off work last Friday so I was on my 7th day. After three more warnings, the sensor turned itself off at 11 last night.
There's plenty of Internet chatter about restarting Dex sensors and getting 12-13 days out of them, but I opted not to for the following reasons:
1) It was 11pm. If I did a restart then, I'd need to calibrate at 1am.
2) I'm running a 5k race tomorrow and one of the main reasons I'm doing CGM is to monitor myself better doing races. Using a sensor for a race beyond the FDA recommendations didn't sound bright.
3) Insurance is paying 100% for sensors, and it's not like they're going to cut me a check for spending their money better.
Taking off the sensor at bedtime was interesting. First off, not having something else on my belly was nice. There's definitely a bit of a pin cushion mentality when you're using CGM and a pump. At the same time, I found myself a bit bothered: Huh, I won't know my blood sugar overnight. Gee--- what if I get low or what if I get high? In other words, I was worried about something that, until a week ago, I couldn't do anything about.
But my smooth belly and I fell asleep about thirty seconds later and that was that for the worrying. And I woke up with a blood sugar of 107 so apparently I can still do this without CGM.
Now, I'm calibrating my second sensor, and happy about the fact I'll be micromanaging my diabetes in another hour or so.
During the first week on the sensor, I had 3-4 times when I lost coverage, for about 2 hours each time. Sure enough, in the Dexcom book, they tell you that on average you'll use a signal about 3 times per sensor. All of which means that everything's working fine, though I gotta tell you: if I stop losing a signal during a long run or - worse - a long race - I'll be ticked.
I also placed an order for a Spibelt yesterday. I've got other belts for running, but diabetics seem to be rather fanatic about their affection for the Spibelt and given that my long runs require: an insulin pump, CGM, BlackBerry storm and gels, I need something to carry my crap. Ideally, I would've gotten one with the orange trim (they donate $1 to the Triabetics), but I opted for the 2 pocket version, which appears to have no trim color. Oh well, I'll manage.
I mentioned the race tomorrow: it's a repeat of last year's Solanco Alumni XC race. Even though I was 1 of only 2 guys from my era last year, Facebook has helped me round up a few more old guys and even a girl or two, so tomorrow should be even more fun. Looking forward to it.
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