For the diabetics: Anyone use a CGM?

I've been a T1 for almost 24yrs, but only pumping and CGMing for 4yrs.  I wish I would have started much sooner.  I started off with a Minimed Paradigm and CGM.  About 6 months ago I jumped to the Animas Ping and Dexcom 7.  I can say that you made the right choice in CGM, at least based on my experience.  The lag on the Dexcom is only about 5 minutes compared to Minimed's 20 minutes, which may not seem like much.  It's not realtime, but you can make corrections that are way more effective with the shorter lag.  It made a huge difference in my A1c's.  My most recent was 5.9  Yes, CGM works if you use it properly.  :-)  It's helped me ride numerous centuries, train for and complete half/full marathons, as well as sleep through the night without fear of hypoglycemia.  I just wish the Dexcom was waterproof.  :-)

I'd be happy to answer questions for ya.  Just shoot me a PM.

5.9, that's awesome!

I never knew the CGM had such a dramatic lag time. Haven't gone that route yet. My daughter didn't want another thing to change out every three days.

She's asking to go back to MDI now, I think she's tired of wearing the pump. (also 13 so the teenage peer pressure is working overtime now.)

My last A1C was taken near the end of my HIM training and I was a 5.7.  A clear result of training 8-10 hrs a week! I was 6.4 6 months before that.  I'll probably be a bit higher this next time though, although I've been running a bit it hasn't been the same intensity.

Also, I noticed that my sugars tend to go up at night and I wake up high, like in the 140 range.  Baffling.

This thing almost feels like I just took the first step to becoming a robot.  Next thing you know I'll be looking for John Connor.

Thanks for all the replies.  I'll send you some PMs if I have more specific questions. 

The Dexcom 7+ doesn't require a 3 day change.  It has to be reset every seven days, and, if you can keep it on (tape doesn't come off) you can wear at least 14 days.  We average 12.  

The CGM and blood don't often have the same reading, except when the trend is steady.  If you are going up or down you are typically behind the blood.  But, that's what makes it so good.  You can set alerts for going up or down so that you can avoid lows and highs.  You can also make bolus adjustment decisions based on trends.  For instance, if my kid is going double up on CGM we will add a .5 to .75/unit to the bolus and the opposite for going down/double down.  Her A1C is 6.5 now, which is great for a 13 year old.

I don't know much about Type 2 but the dawn phenomenon is quite common.  Also, I will tell you that 140 is not high.  In fact, if you are at 140 in the morning you are clearly doing something right.  If you are on the pump you can adjust your overnight basal rate and increase based on what your CGM says.  Talk to your doctor first, of course.

No insulin for me, being a Type 2.  Best I can do is take one of my pills, or go work out to bring me back down.  My endo tells me that my pancreas will eventually fail though, and I will become a T1 and will need insulin.  I'm trying to delay that day as much as possible.

Plenty of T2s take insulin and often enormous quantities of it as they have become insulin resistant.  I also have never heard of a T2 becoming a T1, but I guess it is possible.  T1 is an auto immune disorder where the body destroys the insulin producing beta cells of a healthy pancreas and onset is usually fairly rapid and most commonly in children, although I know a few late onset T1s.  

The reason I commented that 140 is a low number is because with a kid with T1 it is not uncommon to have days that swing from 70 to 300.  And, a 140 in the morning is a lot less scary than a 50 in the morning, trust me.

Oh, I believe it.  I'm much more worried about going low than I am about going high.  That was the main reason for the CGM, so I can see the lows coming during training so I can take the proper amount of nutrition at the right time.

I used to get the dawn phenomenon big time, but when I amped up my training I've now found that my BG's are lower at night and early morning.  Maybe I'm just weird?  I have had to do quite a bit of tuning to my basal rates and experiment with temp basals to get things sorted out.

This is where CGM really comes in handy cuz you can see how your body reacts at certain hours (after reviewing the reports/history) so you can tweak things.

I'm starting to sound like a Dexcom rep... I swear I'm not!  :-)

I use a Dexcom.  I find it very useful, for training (used it during much of IM training in 2011, and will do so again with IM training this year) as well as daily life.  That said, it's excellent if I wake up at 140 -- I mean, 100 is better, but some days it's 55 and some days it's 255.  Also, my A1c is nowhere near 5.anything, and went up with IM training.  I'm a T1 and on a Medtronic pump -- originally tried the Medtronic cgm and though I know many people who use it successfully, it never worked for me.

Things I have found:  a) I was having problems with the sensors sticking after many days, especially with a few swims in there.  I now use Mastisol to help the sticky part stick longer -- it is NOT recommended that you put it where the sensor wire goes in, but you can put it around that particular point;  b) I wear the Dexcom on a TuneBelt on my arm during runs, which mostly works fine; c) for long rides, I typically have it in its silicone sleeve in my Bento box, and I'll consult it every half hour or so (as well as when it alarms, of course :-).

Type 1 here (20 years now) on a minimed CGM.  Another good tool in the arsenal.....sometimes.  If I have a sensor that is "in sync", it is awesome to have for longer workouts and races.  Problem is that about one out of four sensors just doesn't seem to sync up well in spite of my best efforts to callibrate it properly.  I understand the lag, and know it's more to look for patterns, but I'm talking it flatlines over hours while I'm either spiking or dropping pretty dramatacally with fingersticks. 

I've gotten some great tips from a local pump trainer which have helped, but not completely solved the problem.  Best tip I have received though was in relation to keeping it attached through all the swimming and sweating.  I use the large band aid tough strips over the top of the sensor and transmitter.  The type with the stretchy fabric.  No mastisol, or anything else....just the band aid(s).  Sometimes I use two and criss cross them.  Before I started using the tough strips band aids, I had pretty much given up on it since one swim or sweat fest had everything peeling off. 

The other tip was on when to callibrate given working out and eating.  Trying to find times where my BG was not rising or falling was difficult.  She recommended to insert the sensor and attach the transmitter right before going to bed.  Then, first thing in the morning, "start" the new sensor and do your first callibration.  Do another one late morning (before lunch) and the last one before bed.  Then only first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. 

I will admit I don't download/analyze the data from it like I should, and haven't done formal basal testing in years.  But just observing my cgm graph helps me pick up on patterns at particular times of day and make adjustments.  When it is in sync on a race day or a long run, it is golden.  I was trusting it enough in my last HM that I didn't have to do any fingersticks during the race!

As for the blood sugar levels and variability, I think it is a very different ballbgame based on the type and duration of diabetes, as well as what each of us is willing to tolerate in terms of lows.  My A1C has been in the mid 6's for most of the past several years, hit 5.9 once many moons ago when I first started pumping, and acutally went up to 7.2 in the peak of my training last year as I was erring too much on the high side to avoid the lows.

Thanks H20 Killer!  Glad your daughter likes to swim.  My hat is off to you parents of kids/teens with diabetes.  Very tough job you have, balancing your concern for their diabetes management with letting them explore their boundaries.  It's easier when it's "you". 

In January I participated with a team from InsulINdependence in the Carlsbad Half Marathon.  We raised money for scholarships for young people with diabetes to be part of a junior captains parogram, where they are mentored by a Type1 adult to participate in endurance or outdoor events.  If your daughter (or yours (pvfd304) would be interested in that, you might want to look them up if you haven't already http://www.insulindependence.org/about/  or  http://www.facebook.com/#!/INSULINDEPENDENCEorg   Or, if there is anything I can do to help them along the way, feel free to PM me. 

I'm sorry to hear this.  We have had similar awful morning low issues (911 issues).  We've taken rather draconian measures since my kid won't wake up to the beeping and vibrating of the CGM also.  Maybe that is a T1 issue since they know everyone around them is always on high alert, who knows.  

Oh, and you are right, when the pump fails there is no expense spared to get you a new one the next day.  They don't mess around.  I guess when they cost $7K and supplies are hundreds a month it serves to keep the customers happy.

You know this but what T1s go through makes training for a triathlon seems like a cake walk.  I never complain because for them to get through a single workout takes more planning than every workout I will ever do.  I've seen my daughter finish a race at 50 and 450.  That's ballsy and brave.

Thanks, I'm a outreach mentor with the JDRF and I'm always adding resources to draw from. Thanks for all the help that you do! I just signed up for the newsletter and I'll keep an eye out for events in my area.