What is your timeframe for moving to G6?
We have 4 boxes of G5 Sensors left. So probably 20-30 weeks. I may make my lab rat go through them a little faster than normal.
I imagine there is a problem switching back and forth between G5 and G6 on the Tandem, right? No turning back?
Thatâs too bad, because it would be cool to keep your stash of G5âs and try it. And then use the G5âs on occasion.
You could always sell them off and take the dive if you donât want to wait.
According to Tandem Customer Support, the application of the update will disable the ability of the G5 to connect. Also, the end user does not have the ability to roll back the update. So, yes - exactly as you stated.
Not that I have any reason to distrust customer support but⌠lol
I am going to apply the update anyway and verify that the G5 no longer will connect.
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G5 and G6 transmitters are also different, right?
The entire G6 system is revised. There is zero compatibility with any of the various components between the G5 and the G6.
[So - yes. lol]
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Couple of questions for you.
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It appears that you can shut off the alarm for Basal IQ. That would be awesome, i.e. donât need another alarm system other than the CGM. I am hoping that my son responds quickly to the shutting off of his basal and that we can set the CGM to need enough time for his bg to recover. i.e. reduce the number of night alarms even though we will get more aggressive with his therapy.
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This whole system is dependent on the pump receiving his CGM signal. Have you used the pump for G5 receiving? If so, how was the drop out?
We did the upgrade, but never used it since the phone feeds his Iwatch, and we still use the receiver because the drop out is not a problem most of the time.
I donât know a whole lot about this system, so this is just an outsiderâs opinion.
But my understanding is that the shutoff occurs at 70. So if you set the CGM alarm as lower than 70, you would only hear 1 alarm - the Basal IQ alarm.
And as an outside viewer on this whole thing, it seems that being notified of basal being turned off would be extremely important.
If your basal is turned off and then itâs meal time an hour or two later, that can spell trouble. That previous period of zero basal will impact a meal without a doubt. I would definitely want to know about it.
I guess another way of saying it - isnât basal shutoff more important alarm than the CGM low alarm?
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I hear you, but I am not really excited about Basal IQ during the day, what I really want is to get super aggressive at night. The reason for this is his hormones that hit 3/5 nights, I want to dial his night basal up so it can deal with his hormones and then not worry about the nights when the hormones donât hit. Because the night thing is most important for us, I want to be able to control the alarms.
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Thatâs how I would be on it. I would never use it during the day, only at night.
So is that your plan, to only use it at night?
If that is the case, then your idea of only having the CGM alarm makes perfect sense to me. I think we are on the same page with it. I think thatâs exactly how I would implement it.
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That is exactly our plan. Just use it at night. If we can cover his night time highs, we should be able to lower his A1c by a full point (my estimation) without much risk.
This is assuming the pump doesnât have a lot of sensor drop out at night. (fingers crossed)
My son surfs during the day, interacting with his blood sugar 10-12 times a day (via his iwatch) and does a great job of setting himself up for whatever activity is planned that day. So not really looking to take away his ability to micromanage during the day.
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Yeah. Not so happy with that. Obvious weak link in the system. Rumor is that Tandem and/or Dexcom recognized this as a problem and slightly increased the BLE power for one or the other of the systems (X2 or G6). Time will tell.
The Tandem does have this contingency planned for. I canât find it in the manual now. I wanted to quote it so I donât get it wrong. But from memory, if the X2 looses connection with the G6 after the Basal-IQ has suspended insulin delivery then after 15 or 20 minutes of being disconnected, the Basal-IQ will resume insulin delivery. I think. Aggravated that I couldnât find the exact quote in the manual.
Same.
The shutoff can be much higher. Two conditions. One condition is 70 (or lower) ânowâ. The other condition more likely to occur is predicted below 80 within 30 minutes. So you could be at 140 but prediction has below 80 in 30 minutes so basal shuts off.
During day - yes. During night - I think that is a common complaint of the Medtronic folk being woken up with alerts for something they have no need to do anything about. It would be nice to have a schedule timer with the alerts to have the alerts audible during daytime hours and silent for sleeping hours. However (I am sure) based on the Medtronic customer response and how (apparently) difficult it is to use and understand, Tandem went to great lengths to make this as absolutely simple as possible.
This will make it work for the vast majority of the Tandem population. But for somebody like Eric, there just will not be enough controls and options to be able to fine tune it. This would drive you crazy.
With the Tandem is just a couple taps to turn the Basal-IQ on or off. Trivial. Within 15 minutes, the Basal-IQ has the data it needs to potentially be suspending insulin.
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Tandem is currently recruiting for the Control-IQ trial. If anybody who uses the X2 is interested.
Being run out of the University of Virginia
Trial runs for six months
Estimated completion is April 2019
Upon the completion of the trial, it is expected that Tandem will use these results for their FDA submission for the Control-IQ update.
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Apparently there is an education component of getting the Basal-IQ working on your pump. Has anyone gone through this training? How extensive was it, who was required to deliver it?
@Chris - yes. this is actually an FDA requirement. This is an online learning module. I think it is expected to take about 45 minutes to complete. At the end, my understanding is one must take (and pass) a quiz.
To start the process, go to:
https://portal.tandemdiabetes.com/
Which then gives this nice disclaimer:
Basal-IQ⢠Pump Software Update
To access this pump software update, a prescription for the Basal-IQ feature (from your healthcare provider) and completion of online Basal-IQ training modules (by the end user or caregiver) are required. These steps can be completed using this t:connect Portal. If you encounter any problems throughout the process, please give us a call at (877) 801-6901.
Dexcom G6 Required to use Basal-IQ Technology
In order to use the Basal-IQ feature on your pump, you will need to have a Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. If you are still using a Dexcom G5 Mobile CGM, you may update your pump software, but you will not be able to use the Basal-IQ feature until you upgrade to Dexcom G6. Additionally, if you update your pump software, you will no longer have the ability to see Dexcom G5 Mobile CGM values on your pump screen. If viewing CGM on your pump screen is important to you, we recommend waiting to update your pump software until you have the Dexcom G6 CGM.
EDIT: After submitting into, the portal responds with:
Weâll take it from here!
We are requesting a new prescription from your healthcare provider for this pump software update. This process may take several days depending on your healthcare providerâs availablity.
We will notify you by email when we have received the updated prescription and provide you with instructions for your online training on the new features.
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This doesnât seem to be what folks would want in this situation:
It it has already suspended insulin delivery, you will not be able to start a new bolus until after it has resumed. So in the above example, Thomasâ son would not be able to bolus 0.75 units until after his BG is back up. We typically do this anyway, but it sounded like some of you would like to be able to do that bolus while delivery is suspended?
I hadnât thought about this at all. If my daughter is using her phone/watch with the Dexcom, can she still have the Dex data go to the Tandem pump and Basal IQ, or does it have to be one or the other?
In the first example, you definitely want to be able to bolus, like for instance if you are planning on eating or just ate something you want to be able to bolus for it, otherwise you would just rebound high without any insulin.
In the second example, when my son treats a low, he needs to be able to deliver a bolus pretty quickly after, because he is so carb sensitive. For example, my son can go from 50-200 on 15 carbs. So when he treats a low, he watches his CGM, and if it double arrows up, he hits it with insulin.
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Right, and so it seems like you would be unhappy with how this will be set up but you said âgreat newsâ so I was confused!
We will just turn it off during the day, I am really excited to use it at night, so we can get super aggressive and on those rare nights when he doesnât have the hormones hit, the system will just shut off his insulin. We will likely shut this off in the morning, and turn it on before bed.
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