[Diabetes-Talk] Dexcom

[TALey at ups.com]

Erica, 

A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is a system that monitors your blood sugar every minute then transmits the reading to your smartphone or other receiver every five minutes. We on this list have found the Dexcom G5 Mobile system to be the most accessible, but others are available on the market. 

Good question about pumps. Some pumps have a CGM built into them now. Some Medtronic pumps have the Medtronic CGM built-in, and even use the CGM data to suspend your basal delivery. Other pumps integrate the Dexcom G4 system, like the Animas Vibe. But you don't have to have a pump to use a CGM. 

The Dexcom G5 Mobile continuous glucose monitor system (CGM) is worn for up to 7 days at a time. It is completely waterproof and is intended to be kept on when showering, swimming, etc. 

The system has no cords or tubes. It does not need to be recharged. 

A CGM sensor is first inserted just under the skin where it is held in place with adhesive. The adhesive and sensor come all together as one piece so there is no separate taping that is done, although it can take a while to get the hang of how the sensor is inserted and getting the adhesive in place without wrinkling. The part of the sensor that goes under the skin and stays there for up to seven days is nearly as thin as a strand of hair and very flexible. Very comfortable. 

The sensor and adhesive tape take up a space on your skin about the size of three quarters (the coins), placed end to end. 

Then there is a transmitter piece that snaps onto the top of the sensor. The transmitter is like a rectangular metal electronic device that is not even as large as the sensor and adhesive, but it does stick up above the skin about half an inch. 

The transmitter collects the blood glucose information from the sensor under the skin every minute and sends it wirelessly via Bluetooth to a smart phone like an iPhone every five minutes. 

Every seven days, you need to remove the old sensor, keep the transmitter piece, put on a new sensor, and snap the transmitter back on the new sensor. 

Using the smartphone app, you can always see what your current estimated blood glucose is, and also the trend, e.g. it is rising or falling. 

The app in the smartphone also lets you customize when it alerts you if you are going too high or too low. For example, it can alert you when you drop below 80 mg/dl, for example, and when you go above 200, for example. 

Hope this helps,

Tom Ley


-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-Talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Erica via Diabetes-Talk
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 8:59 AM
To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Erica <elcosta17 at comcast.net>
Subject: [Diabetes-Talk] dexcom

Hello all on list, Erica here can you explain to me what this dexcom is and where and how do you use one? I am working on bringing down my a1c. and maybe this can help please tell me more about it. Is it a pump? Or something else. Thanks again to all. Erica. I am on insulin pens. Talk soon Erica