CGMs should be used to PLAN for situations, not react to them. The values will always be 10-12 minutes old because it’s reading from fluid in the skin and not directly from the blood. It’s also important to insert and calibrate during a period of relative stability. THis is really important, because much can happen in a short period of time. Your first reading (12 minutes old) could be way off from the current situation – and thus throw you off. It’s also hard for the device to lock onto an accurate number if your BG’s are all over the place during the calibration period.

I also recommend wearing the device for a week or 2 of moderate activity to observe how food and exercise affect your BG. Once you become accustomed to it, you’ll be amazed at how well you can anticipate (not react to) almost any situation. My BG had been fantastic for 2 months now. Good luck y’all!

I am a *newbie* to CGMS, just started with the DexCom STS two weeks ago. I am off of the DexCom now, as I accidentally went swimming when my 8 year-old convinced me to jump into the frigid waters of the pool on the last day it was open, this Labor Day. I’m *hoping* to get another one soon.

I’ve started recording my experiences with it on my personal blog at http://www.mydiabetescgms.blogspot.com/

I figure, hey, if I’m doing all of this meticulous logging to see if CGMS is for me, why not write it down, someone may actually *read* it, share their experiences, and provide some tips, too.

I have 3 goals in mind, and then I will call my DexCom trial a success:

1. Lower my HBA1C by a full percentage point.

2. Reduce my hypos significantly, from the several per week to one or two per week.

3. Help me to adjust my pump basal rates more easily.

I do not expect the current state of the art in CGMS to replace finger sticks. I’m under no illusion that they have to be as accurate as fingerstick tests; I’m just considering this another tool in the bag, hoping that the trending information and alerts provided by the DexCom will help me reach the 3 goals I’ve stated above, without *too* many annoyances, like false alerts at 3 am. I’m interested in seeing where we all go with our A1C’s in 3 months.

- Gary, a member of the ‘upstairs’ gang http://www.mydiabetescgms.blogspot.com/

Regarding sites, I’ve settled on the very lower belly, inside my undies. Anyone familiar with female anatomy and fashion should know that hips are out for a bulging sensor, and I’ve got no love handles to speak of Maybe the upper back B-cheek might be worth a try?

For many people, if you put your Pump Infusers in your belly, you WON’T get good Dexcom Sensor performance there. I say that you should FORGET what the manual says (“as long as you’re at least 1 inch away from VISIBLE old scars, at least 3 inches from your current Infuser”). Rather, you should be at least 2 inches away from ANYWHERE you’ve put an Infusion Set during the last year.

The two places I recommend are: Love Handles– straight down from the armpit, and above the belt, NOT too high and close to the lowest rib. I know there’s not a lot of area there on shorter women, only room for about 4 “sites” on each side, but since I get 18-19 good days from every Sensor, I don’t have to go near an old location for about 5 months.

And Upper Butt Cheeks: Well above what you sit on, but be sure to be well below the “thin, bony” parts where there’s ligaments into your hip joint.

I started out on the belly, and after 2 weeks of frustration I was gonna send it back– then I tried my “love handles”, it’s been incredible.

BTW, I have my low/high alarms at 90 at 170… since there’s a delay when you’re falling or rising quickly, I don’t like the thought of waiting until Dex says 70: for me, bG would likely be 55 or less at that point. And going up, even with Dexc set at 170, my REAL bG is often approaching 200 when I get an “unexpected” buzzer. I prefer to keep the alarms tighter.

My results are so good that I’ve basically given up on finger-stick tests, and hardly ever do a “confirmation check” when the Dexcom makes a buzz. It’s ALWAYS been a correct indicator, except for once when I got it wet.