Diabetic question for those who are

[Bluetick2100]

I have been an insulin dependent diabetic for 26 years. Three injections plus a day. I hate testing my numbers by finger pricks. So my doc hooked me up with the FreeStyle sensor and the new FreeStyle Plus sensor. My results have been a joke. The first 3/4 days the scanner results have been reasonable, with in 20 to 30 points compared to a finger prick result. After 3/4 days the results are terrible. Usually off by 100-120 points compared to finger prick. My alarm went off on my phone last night and the FreeStyle said my blood sugar was 41. I checked with a finger prick, and it said 158.
Medicaid pays for these. They have got to be the biggest scam going.
Is anyone having any good results with any blood sugar sensor?

 

[BlueRocker777]

I tried the Dexcom G7 and, when it didn't come off my arm completely, it always measured higher than if I did the old-fashioned finger prick.

 

[UKCats_1019]

I use Dexcom G7 and it has a calibration feature I use once maybe twice during the life cycle of the sensor and it seems to work well for me, don’t know if you have the same feature on your monitor.

 

[cricket3]

My son is on the Dexcom G7, we rely on in it pretty heavily because he can't tell when he's low (he's 6) and he's on a closed loop system with his pump.

Things to keep in mind, CGM's can be 15 to 20 minutes slower than blood levels because it measures interstitial fluid, paying attention to the trends is just as important as the number. Calibrate when blood sugar is steady. If it's 100+ off calibrate in increments over 15 to 30 minutes, they don't really know what to do when it's that far off.

His CGM is a literal life saver but it's not perfect, we've had some REALLY bad days with reliability, but the good far outweighs the bad.

 

[Shydog]

I use the G7 and love it, excellent readings that are very close to a finger prick read. I have never done any calibrating, just stick it on and let it go!

 

[Saguaro Cat]

I'm a convert.
Mine nailed my A1C.
Nice reminder to eat better.
Learned some tricks of what to eat when, go take a walk, and best time to take meds

 

[American Dragon]

Learned some tricks of what to eat when, go take a walk, and best time to take meds

Have you been told to eat your proteins before your carbs?

 

[Shydog]

Have you been told to eat your proteins before your carbs?

I don't eat many carbs but I do think some leafy greens before a meal helps keep glucose steady.

 

[Saguaro Cat]

Have you been told to eat your proteins before your carbs?

It was a happy accident for me. Went to a buffet for work function. I was good about eating meats and veggies, no potatoes or rice. But then I caved at the end and had some desserts. Watched my blood sugar stay relatively within reason and much lower than I expected. Further "testing" confirmed a lesson I would not have learned without seeing it on the app. Now I eat a salad before most meals and then meat before the bad stuff. Also, slowly and thoroughly chewing it before moving on.

 

[American Dragon]

It was a happy accident for me. Went to a buffet for work function. I was good about eating meats and veggies, no potatoes or rice. But then I caved at the end and had some desserts. Watched my blood sugar stay relatively within reason and much lower than I expected. Further "testing" confirmed a lesson I would not have learned without seeing it on the app. Now I eat a salad before most meals and then meat before the bad stuff. Also, slowly and thoroughly chewing it before moving on.

Another good idea is to drink a glass of water 20-30 minutes before a meal, even better if you add something like Metamucil to it to add some fiber. It can help you eat less because it takes like 20-30 minutes for the feeling of fullness to kick in. And if you eat something like a salad first thing, since that's always a slow item to eat, by the time you are done with that you probably won't feel like eating much of the other stuff.

Of course this is also just a good, but small, idea as part of a comprehensive weight loss plan and not just diabetes.