Dexcom: initial excitement

The days before I am getting the Dexcom (G5) I am extremely excited. I simply cannot wait to try it out. Can it really live up to the hype? Is it really as good as others have told me? How will it be to not check my blood sugars on my pump but on my apple watch?!

Can’t wait to get started!

Friday morning, 09:00 a.m. How happy I am that we made the appointment in the morning because I am bursting with enthusiasm. After all the introduction talks (which feel like forever) Sexy Dexy (aptly named by Bittersweet Diagnosis) is finally installed on my arm. FINALLY! Wohoo!! But now I still have to wait for another 2 hours, *sigh*.

Two hours and two bg checks later sexy dexy is up and running! Yeah for Dexcom! I check my apple watch and…. I CAN SEE MY BG TREND!! So far I have been using Medtronic which for some stupid reason has not caught on yet that people want to see their values on their phone. Although they have the guardian connect in Europe this only works as a standalone cgm. As soon as you want your cgm coupled to your pump you cannot use the connect system anymore. Even worse is that the upload with Medtronic is tedious; not only do you need a computer, and your blood glucose meter to connect your pump to the computer, the website often doesn’t even work.

First of all it’s still Java based. Second of all when you get new updates it takes forever before they incorporate them. I remember when I got a windows 7 laptop it took almost a full year before I could throw my old laptop out of the window because I still needed it to upload my sugars. Two weeks ago I upgraded my macbook to IOS 11. Guess what… I can no longer upload my sugars from my computer anymore. Luckily we have older windows computers at work but it means I cannot upload my sugars whenever I want. Come on Medtronic, keep up!

Oooohh, let me check my apple watch again. Oh how exciting this is. I am in love already. I’m still measuring as I would usually with my Medtronic cgm, before every meal because my enlite simply isn’t accurate enough to bolus without doing a check. But oh my, sexy dexy is soooo sexy! It’s just ALWAYS spot on whenever I measure. Is it possible for me to really only measure every 12 hours?? Medtronic has promised me this but even with cgm I still measure 4-6 times daily. I’m not even 12 hours in and I already don’t ever want to give my Dexcom back!

Read the other post on my experience with Dexcom:
Medtronic vs Dexcom

Medtronic vs Dexcom

My four years are up. It’s that time I get to choose a ‘new’ pump. A difficult choice since I will rely on this piece of technology to keep me alive every day. Currently I still have the Medtronic Veo (530 in USA) and roughly 0.5-0.75 years after I got this ‘new’ pump the 640G came out.

Now the hybrid closed loop 670G is already out in the states but it most likely won’t come to Europe/Austria until the end of 2018. There are rumors the 670 might not reach Europe at all as the next version supposedly is coming soon. However I do feel that if I choose the 640G now I’ll have outdated software soon. I’m also not buying the iphone 5 anymore when the iphone 8 is already out. On top of that I’ve not been happy with the Medtronic sensors in combination with my veo pump. And then to think that these sensors will determine if my insulin will be shut-off for hypo’s or not.

Currently, by the time I have already solved my hypo, my sensor usually gives me an alert. I have a whole lot of doubts and questions and for the first time in my life am really unsure about my next pump choice and feel a little unsatisfied with the choices. In Austria we currently only have the choice between the Medtronic 640G, omnipod, Ypsopump, Accucheck combo und Accucheck insight. All of these pumps have been on the market for quite some years and I just feel I would be majorly settling. I have heard quite some good reviews from my friends in the Netherlands about the Kaleido pump but so far this is only available in the UK and the Netherlands. I was actually really excited about the t:slim but this still hasn’t reached Europe yet although I’ve read online its coming to Scandinavia soon.

Comparison of medtronic vs dexcom CGM and measured value

After always going for Medtronic without a doubt I feel myself at a loss. I am really sick of the Medtronic sensor inaccuracy and have decided to request a Dexcom trial. If I choose a Dexcom the pump market all of a sudden opens up as well, I feel like although there are a lot of options no matter what I chose I will make the wrong one. I would just really like to have something new, fresh and something that works well! For the next 1,5 weeks I will have a Dexcom at my disposal and a friend of mine has been so kind to lend me his 640G now he is using and old Medtronic pump to close-loop. A chance for me to try my options and see what the pros and cons are before I’m stuck with something for the next 4 years.

Read my other dexcom post here:
Dexcom: initial excitement