Do you stop doing BS checks when on CGM?

[kpoehls]

We don't have the first clue about CGM, and are wondering if it replaces doing regular bs checks?

[Nancy in VA]

I don't think it replaces REGULAR checks - its replaces a lot of the extra checks.

We always still check before a meal. We don't check at 2 or 3 hours after, but we do check if the CGMS beeps high or low. So, some days we could really just check before meals, but another day it could be all day and half the night. so, our checking pattern is just different

[hawkeyegirl]

No. You have to do a minimum number of checks to calibrate the CGM. Most people still do a check if they are doing a correction. Many people still check before meals, but not between meals unless the CGM alarms.

If I had to guess, I'd say we do 4-5 fewer checks a day on average. But the point of CGM isn't really checking less, it's checking smarter.

[Mouchakkaa]

We use to do 10-12 checks a day before cgms. While she is with me we only do the calibration checks (2 x a day) and if we decide to do a correction because of a high. A lot of times we only do the 2 checks a day. The nurse at school does not feel comfortable with this. We told her to do what she wants while at school. She usually checks at snack time, lunch time and before bus and then she uses the cgms for gym (before and after) and recess ( before and after). I am fine with this. You have to trust the cgms before you can do this, although.

[LantusFiend]

I dropped from about 10 per day to about 3 per day while wearing the Guardian, which requires 2 per day to stay operational. After I stopped wearing the Guardian, it took a long time to get back in the habit of checking checking checking.

[saxmaniac]

We never do only 2 checks a day. You're supposed to only use fingersticks to make medical decisions (dosing insulin or carbs). Three meals would be 3 fingerstick but we never get that low. The CGM is wrong a lot.

[Darryl]

We do 3 checks a day (wakeup, before dinner, after bedtime), and rely on the CGM inbetween for BG readings.
We've been doing this every day for more than 3 years, without incident.

The only time we don't trust the CGM readings without a BG check are:

- If the CGM sensor is very new (within the first 4 hours), or very old (end of 7th day).
- When correcting for a BG over 200, which is infrequent because we use the CGM and correct when BG rises over 100.
- If the last calibration BG check differed greatly from the CGM reading*
- If she has symptoms of a low despite the CGM showing normal**

* - Most of the time, we repeat the test and find that the CGM is right and the BG meter was wrong

** - Very rare

Ideally, every CGM reading would be confirmed with a BG check, but keep in mind that BG checks are inherently innacurate unless BG is stable. We look at the CGM trend (rate of rise or fall) as much as we look at the actual number in deciding if or how to correct BG.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by Darryl

Ideally, every BG check would be confirmed with a BG check, but keep in mind that BG checks are inherently innacurate unless BG is stable.

I think you mean every CGM check would be confirmed with a BG check. Additionally, I don't agree with the statement that BG checks are inherently inaccurate. Yes, meters have a variance to them, but I think BG checks are for the most part pretty close to what is really going on. However, one BG check will not tell you if the BG is going up or down, maybe that is what you were getting at. But simply doing another check in 15 minutes will.

[Kayeecee]

We use the DexCom 7 and still do the pre-meal tests and any time the cgm is showing high or low. So I would say that the biggest difference that the cgm made in our life was to give us some peace of mind for overnights. It's our practice to go into her room and check the cgm and not wake her up and do a blood test unless, again, it's showing high or low. For whatever reason, the Dex has been very unreliable this summer. I think it's mostly due to a lot of swimming, so a lot of time away from the Dex.

[joy orz]

We check before every meal, and overnight.

For us the CGM just let us relax abit. Ava was very young when diagnosed, is hypo unaware and little ones tend to have some wild swings. So for the first six months, the CGM allowed me to breath.

Now after about 6-7 months, we were able to really figure out pre-dosing SO much better and vastly reduce meal spikes.

It's also a great tool for figuring out overnight basal rates.

And as an amazing added bonus, so many of our friends are willing to watch Ava since she has the cgm. YAY