[Diabetes-Talk] G5 question

[TALey at ups.com]

Hi Jamie,
Glad you had success with your upgrade request, and very quickly, it seems. 

At church I make sure I plug my ear buds  into the iPhone, even though I may not have them in my ears, to prevent unexpected alarms and Voice Over announcements disrupting the people around me. The alerts still play but just through the ear buds, not on the iPhone speaker. This also works when sleeping. I think the below 55 alert always plays over the speakers, even if you have your ear buds plugged in, the same way the alarm clock on the iPhone works. But, if you are really 55, you need to be disrupted (smile). That is a serious low, at least for me. 

The alarms options such as sound and vibrate, sound only, etc. on the Dexcom G5 app can be changed any time, as well as the level when the alarm is triggered. , and this is separately controlled for each type of alarm. I think all of us probably have our alarms configured differently, to fit our lifestyles and diabetes health and safety needs. So, you will need to work with the alarm settings over the first few days or weeks to find what works for you. 

One time I chose to set my high blood glucose alert to 220 to avoid so many disruptions from the alarms. That worked to prevent so many alarms, but my A1C was not as healthy when it was next measured. So I lowered it back. I decided it was up to me to behave differently to keep the alarms from going off, as if that wasn't obvious to everyone. Sometimes though we just need a break from having to think like a pancreas! 

Hope this was helpful.

Tom



-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-Talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jamie Gurganus via Diabetes-Talk
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2017 8:53 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jamie Gurganus <jamielgurganus at gmail.com>
Subject: [Diabetes-Talk] G5 question

Hi all!  My insurance has approved an upgrade to the G5, since I really want to be able to input my own blood sugars via the phone app.  However, I am quite concerned about the negative reviews that I am reading about regarding the inability to silence the alarms.  From what I read, it is with the latest update that took away the mute feature for the alarms.  As much as I want to be able to independently manage my Dexcom, is it worth having the alarms going off with no way to silence them at night or in church or meetings.  Thanks for your experiences.  I may consider staying with the G4 unless they change the alarms.  I can't close the app during church or meetings like many do, since I need the Dexcom to notify me of lows that I don't feel anymore.