Dexcom g6 ...new user old diabetic

Hello, @Tbjones! And welcome! :hugs:

I’m just a few months into my new life with Dexcom, too. I’m a recovering Medtronic user. :grin:

I also got frequent dropped signals but am learning not all dropped signals are equal. Do you get yours consistently throughout the sensor’s life? For how long do they occur? And are you using the t:slim as well, or are you MDI?

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Welcome to FUD! We would all feel better if we were able to maintain a steady line in a healthy range. Unfortunately, for most people this is achievable, but you will either need to learn some advanced Jedi insulin tricks using the information your CGM provides or use up a lot of blood sugar strips. The other way is to reduce your carbs to a point that lines up with your insulin dosing skills.

Really glad you started posting!

Just as an aside, I am fine with it, but some people may bristle at the use of “brittle”, it is kind of an old description that some people believe was used by doctors to describe folks that could never control their diabetes.

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Thanks Chris! To be honest I do not eat many carbs…no white, only complex. I have a spinal cord injury and suffer great pain. I have noticed this causes my sugar to go up as well as stress. Thanks also for the update on brittle. Sorry if I upset anyone but that is all I have ever heard!
I have really enjoyed reading and connecting with people that can relate. I am learning and that is a positive!!!

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Hi Theresa, welcome to the forum! And congratulations on your 53 years, you are an inspiration!

There are many here already on the G6, who I am sure can help you. We are still on the G5 :frowning: But I still wanted to welcome you!!!

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Hi Nicky…all I am using is the G6. I am not on an insulin pump. I use Toujeo as my long acting insulin.
My sensor loss signals were coming often. One says wait up to 30 minutes and the other says 3 hours. Tech support has helped me a lot and taught me some tricks. Usually the signal returns and if not I call and they have me change sensor. I am really excited because my current sensor has not lost signal and I am almost 3 days in.
Thank you for responding and I have enjoyed reading your post!

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Thank you so much! Very Blessed!!! I don’t really know the difference but I love the G6. Very easy so far and hopefully they work out glitches!

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@Tbjones, you were talking about your spikes. Do you pre-bolus ahead of your meals?

I’ve been called “brittle” for 14 of my 15 years as a diabetic. I can’t help but notice there’s been less mention of it with a better A1c and better control. I believe, in my case, it was easier just to hand me a label my doctors and I use in place of really understanding what was going on, but I’m not sure it’s that simple for everyone. Either I was never brittle in the first place, or I’ve learned such good strategies that there’s just no reason to use the word, but whatever it is, it’s nice to have dropped it.

Not coincidence, by the way, that it was shortly after joining FUD that I heard that last mention.

Or maybe complete coincidence. :grin:

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Welcome @Tbjones, from another 50+ year T1D. I’ve been using Dexcom G4 for many years, but this week, just started G6.

You will learn a lot, just by watching the trends, and see how food, exercise AND many other things impact bg (stress, illness, hormones, emotions, etc.).

I found the Sugar Surfing book to be very helpful. There is also website, same name, with much of same info in book if you want a preview.

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@Tbjones, this may be a good thread to start on how to get a flatter line:

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Welcome @Tbjones!! I also use Dexcom, but am still using the older G5.

I’ve also been told this by Dexcom tech and my sensors also rarely make it longer than 10 days. I do not have the signal drops that you experience though. I always wear my sensor on my abdomen, rotating each one whereever I can find the most fatty tissue.

As several already mentioned (@glitzabetes etc) , Dexcom makes Sugar Surfing a realistic reality for T1s, a huge step forward for BG management!! I have been doing this even before on MDI, before I heard of the term, but w/ a pump (I use Omnipod) it is much easier.

I’m glad to hear your Dexcom is working now w/out the signal loss. Good luck. :sunny:

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I have tried both ways… before and after. I have not figured out which is better yet. I was once told to try after since I am older that my food does not process as fast. When doing this my sugar goes high before insulin kicks in. I will continue to experiment by watching graphs closely.

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I am curious after so much reading if anyone is using Toujeo. I am also interested to know the difference in Novolog vs Humolog.

Hi @Tbjones,

I think its great you are now using Dexcom - I am confident you will get it to work well and help you.

My 3yo daughter uses G6 and we think it is great.

30mins usually means your receiver or phone is too far away.

3 hours means the system has a different problem.
In my experience when this message comes I usually get my daughter to wear her phone on her waist and it recovers quite quickly (maybe 15mins). Occasionally it takes longer. I dont recall it going passed 3 hours.

Getting started it is good to look at your personal Dexcom webpage - it shows some very helpful information without you doing anything. I attached a screenshot showing an example.

Go to https://clarity.dexcom.com and setup or login. If you need help doing this just reply

Ed

image

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Thank you!!!

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We’ve used both humalog and novolog. Ten years with humalog for MDI (manual daily injections). It worked fine! But it didn’t work when EH switched to the pump - he never made it to the third day with humalog in the omnipod. @Eric suggested Novolog and that has been much more successful in the pump.

As far as pharmacological differences I’m not really sure about that.

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As a counterpoint, we have great success with Humalog in a cartridge for 4-6 days. It usually isn’t the insulin that is the problem for us, it is the site, which is why we change sites every 2 days.

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That’s about the only long-acting insulin I haven’t tried. But my understanding is that it is very similar to Lantus (just more concentrated) and I do have a lot of experience with Lantus. I assume you do too since you’ve had diabetes for longer than I have; I’ve used NPH, Lantus, Levemir and now Tresiba.

I will say that I like Tresiba most of all - it is truly a once a day insulin (unlike the rest that all required two injections a day for me) and it has a very stable action compared to the others. Maybe ask to try that if you haven’t yet; I highly recommend it.

Novolog and Humalog are genetically engineered proteins that share all amino acid sequences except for one. In practice, this change seems to make very little difference. When I tried both, I could find no difference between them in either potency or action curve, so I stayed with Humalog since I was already on that.

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Try a new location and use some tape. For a couple of yrs I used them on my stomach and they wouldn’t last or flake out. Changed to back of arm and got even longer life. Biggest improvement was when I started using smith&newman opsite flexifix tape. I started going from maybe 9 days to about 20. Seemed to improve the accuracy. You need a razor blade to cut the hole to fit over the sensor, worth the effort. A roll of that stuff will last you until they find a cure in 5 yrs. If your crunched for time you could also try those precut ones they sell on eBay/amazon.

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Thank you. Will try!