Why have diabetes devices gotten so...annoying?

Type 1 & LADA
1

Is it just me? Or have devices like pumps and CGMs gotten increasingly annoying over the years?

My Dexcom G4 used to alarm if I was high, low, rising, falling, or if I was out of range. All of those could be set to vibrate or turned off so that the device would rarely or never alarm. The only truly annoying alarm was when I was hovering at the high/low limit and it would alarm multiple times every ten or so minutes as the dot skipped above and below the line.

My Dexcom G5 alarms for all of those things, plus it also seems to alarm when it needs a calibration and a bunch of other random times I can’t figure out. And they still haven’t fixed the hovering at high/low issue. And, even though it’s on a phone and it can detect when you’ve picked it up and what apps you’ve used, it will still alarm for a high even if you’ve just checked it five minutes earlier. (I can understand the G4 receiver doing that, but why the phone, when it could so easily be prevented?) Sometimes it seems to alarm just for the fun of alarming, and I’m not sure what it wants. I haven’t found a way to truly silence all these alarms. Some get through even when everything is turned off and my phone is set to do not disturb. And it keeps popping up with a reminder that the app is still being developed and tested (??). And, overall, it’s just far more irritating to me than the receiver ever was. Maybe the G5 receiver is less irritating?

Then I started thinking about pumps, and how the newer pumps all require that you hit a different button each time to unlock the screen. Why? My older pumps had an option to lock the keypad/screen, but it was an option. I understand why a touchscreen pump like the t:slim needs it, so it doesn’t accidentally get unlocked in your pocket. But why do pumps and devices that still use a keypad need this now when older pumps didn’t?

Is it just me? Maybe I’m just in an annoyed mood because I woke up twice last night (once for a low my Dexcom totally missed and my eyes were so irritated, and again just because my eyes were still so irritated) and then slept through my alarm this morning, and my Dexcom showed HIGH when I was only 11.2 mmol/L and then alarmed a bunch of times unnecessarily.

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Totally agree. Do you have an Android phone? When I used Dexcom I used xDrip with my Samsung and basically shut almost all of the alarms off. The transmitter battery will keep working up to 6 months too, and you don’t have to stop/re-start the sensor every 7 days!

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I don’t know why new devices are like this. Silly regulations? Fear of lawsuits?

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I agree @Jen

Dex’s “System Check” bothers me. It seems like it is louder than a low alert and there is no rhyme nor reason for when it sounds. Some of the worst times are when I’m sleeping and the other is when I am in a place (Chuch or meeting or a movie theater or …) where alarms can be startling to anyone! A system check alarm seems wrong, espeically when it is followed by “Passed”. Now, if it failed, I could see a reason for an alarm, but I should be able to set the tone and if it should just vibrate rather than audibly alarm. If someone knows how to deactivate this alarm (G5), please share :slight_smile:

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That’s what I did, too! Now I’m using the Dexcom app on iPhone (for Loop), and yes, those Dexcom alerts are alarming and annoying. What do people do when they are in a meeting? I guess there is no way to turn them off on the Dexcom app?

Btw, I still use my Android phone and xDrip+ but now the xDrip+ datasource is Nightscout Follower. I just use xDrip+ as a really nice app w/ a great UI to review my BGs :grinning: Wish we could integrate it with OmniLoop or AndroidAPS. I did try using Loop w/ Dexcom Share servers, but I think relying on Internet access to get BGs is not as reliable as a Bluetooth connection.

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