Ha. Anyone who was here when I first joined may remember I spent a long time trying to get Dexcom covered by insurance, and I finally settled with the Freestyle Libre when that didn’t work. Well. After 5ish years of that, my insurance suddenly decided this year not to cover the Libre anymore and instead said…Dexcom is their formulary choice. After a brief moment when they said they wouldn’t cover that for me, either, because it “wasn’t needed,” despite doctor’s prior auth - the pharmacy just told me my Dexcom sensors and transmitter are ready (waiting on receiver). I don’t understand insurance, but ANYWAYS.
There’s so much information on here I’m trying to dig through for tips, etc. I’m used to pre-soaking my Libre sensors for ~24hrs and saw that can be helpful for Dex sensors as well; I do tend to have some issues with skin reactions, so looking at threads on that….
My main questions are about apps and the receiver - I’m fairly dumb when it comes to new (to me) technology, and that’s making me nervous about the switch. Do I have to use the receiver? I just used my phone app for the Libre; the receiver’s gathering dust in a bin under my bed. Since pharmacy doesn’t have the receiver for me yet, I’m wondering if I can get started without it - I’ve been without any monitoring (aside from finger pokes) since January. Recommended app if I have an iPhone SE? Any other tips or threads you can point me to?
Mine is in the “D” drawer, unused. I was using my phone and then I got a Tandem pump which uses the receiver Bluetooth channel. There are only 2 - phone and device, with device being either receiver or pump, not both.
Hi! I place a sensor on my arm (or stomach, wherever it’s going to be used), but don’t put the transmitter in and don’t “start” it, for 12 to 24 hours prior to the sensor that is in use expiring. That way I give the new sensor (mainly the filament sitting in my interstitial fluid) time to get used to being there. For many of us, if we don’t do that, we get bad numbers from new sensors for the first day or so. For me, it means false lows and sensor errors. I hope that makes sense?
Is there a reason you insert just the sensor but not transmitter in the soaking period? Or is that just because you have a sensor pre-soaking while you’re still running the transmitter in the final day of your last sensor?
Thanks for the input, all - I’ve downloaded the app and inserted the sensor, so I’ll see how things go tomorrow when I start it all up!
I have another sensor active while I’m soaking the new sensor. I have heard of people putting a “dummy” transmitter in (where the batteries have run out), I guess to cover up/prevent any damage to the inner workings of the sensor, but I’ve never had an issue leaving it open to the elements. You don’t want to risk the sensor thinking that it is supposed to be working before you actually start/activate it, though.
I started using the Dexcom G6 about 2 weeks ago. It’s been good. I use my iphone and not the receiver. One thing that is taking me a while to get used to is having to use Clarity (another app) for the data. I didn’t realize until the other day that when I turn my phone sideways, I can see my glucose readings for longer time frames and also that tapping on the green box in the upper right corner will open Clarity.
Thanks for that! I hadn’t even noticed the green button to open Clarity yet.
So far so good - I started the sensor after ~18 hours of soaking, and it read high until sometime in the middle of the night, which was annoying to deal with yesterday; since I haven’t had a monitor for 3 months, I kept thinking maybe I’d been missing highs or needed a basal adjustment, but no, it was just the sensor - phew! Today it seems more on track with my meter (and more on track with where I want to be, BG wise).
The iPhone app is pretty intuitive, you don’t need the receiver…. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble figuring it out. All you need is the standard dexcom g6 app…… don’t get caught up in all the other noise. I also got a bluejay gts watch and I have no idea how I ever lived without it. If you have any skin reactions to the adhesive I can forward you a little tutorial I made for my cde if you pm me your email. The adhesive can be horrible for some people…. I just got back from a week long trip in which I forgot my barrier dressings, the ones I found at the drugstore were smaller than the adhesive patch… this is the result after just 4 days
Different people have different views on this but i’d strongly recommend not calibrating it with your meter at all, or if you must, only do it once after it’s been on for 24 hours and your bg is steady
Ouch!! No itching or redness I can see so far, so I’m hopeful maybe I won’t react. But I’ll check in with you if I end up reacting.
I did see Eric’s comment on another thread that you should use the code or calibrate, not both, so I’ll try to stick to that. So far today it’s been spot on with my meter, so I haven’t yet been tempted to mess with it, plus I’m used to not calibrating since I was using the Libre before this.
I’ve used the G6 for a couple of years now, and for all that time (until recently) I’ve used the sensor code. But, I’ve found that I get much better results now using “No code.” The sensor is more consistent with my meter and starts up right away with no funny business! (I don’t use the pre-soak.) I just make sure to calibrate it once a day with my Contour Next EZ meter.
There is no advantage to using the receiver, especially if you are accustomed to carrying your phone around. Dexcom supplies the receiver mainly to qualify the product as durable medical equipment (you don’t throw it away like the sensors). DME, especially when on Medicare, is covered more fully and consistently than pharmacy.
I don’t understand insurance, but ANYWAYS.
Since pharmacy doesn’t have the receiver for me yet, I’m wondering if I can get started without it - I’ve been without any monitoring (aside from finger pokes) since January. Recommended app if I have an iPhone SE? Any other tips or threads you can point me to?
But I’ll check in with you if I end up reacting.
(I don’t use the pre-soak.) I just make sure to calibrate it once a day with my Contour Next EZ meter.