Hello, It's been a while since I have been on and I have a question I am hoping someone can help me with. My daughter was diagnosed at the age of 6, she is now 13. Her blood sugars are unstable and she has hypo unawareness- she still can't tell many times when her blood sugar is low. Most times, she can't detect a low until her bg is in the 40's or 50's. We are doing adjustments to her insulin pump basil and bolus amounts, with her endocrinologists advice. She is still having lows throughout the night and is fearful that she will go too low in her sleep. I check her every 3 hours throughout the night and more if she is low, so I have assured her that she will be ok, but she still has her doubts. I have read about several different warning devices ranging from the Continuous Glucose Monitor to the Sentry watch. Has anyone had any real experience with any of these devices? Do they work? I am not looking for something to take the place of monitoring my daughter throughout the night, I'm hoping to find something that will give her added reassurance and help her feel more safe. Thank you for your time!
Just some info which may be of help. Hoping someone else will chime in. We don't have a CGMS. http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/continuous.htm Some people also have a Diabetes Alert Dog to detect hypos. But they're very expensive.
I have a CGMS (Dexcom- and used to have Guardian). It is helpful and it would be even more helpful if I was the kind of person who wakes up from not so loud alarms. The MySentry is for use with a CGM, btw.
My daughter uses a CGM 24/7 and we love it because it does add a level of security. It does help catch lows and highs. It is also a great tool is setting basal rates. The Mysentry is just a receiver that allows the alarms on the cgm to be heard in another room. With that being said, no system is perfect. It has helped reduce night time checks certainly but has not replaced them. But it does give us great peace of mind when she is at school and outside of the home that there is another layer of protection there. And it does give my daughter a great deal of security. It also allows her to focus on friends, school, and other things knowing that her CGM "Ruby" is there to watch out on the diabetes end. All in all, both she and I cannot imagine going without it.
My son has a CGM, Dexcom. LOVE IT. It does not replace regular testing, you cannot treat based upon it and it alone does not wake him when alarming, but there are ways to set it up so it does. We can connect his CGM to a bed shaker, loud alarm, and lights flashing. He's not currently set up to do that but can if needed. It is imperfect and I don't want to paint it to be otherwise. MySentry is an offshoot of the CGM and works with the CGM, it's not something different, just a louder alarm that resides away from the base unit so it can alert parents. For me CGM true value is trending, being able to see which direction things are headed. On calm nights it does help us both sleep as I can easily go in there and glance at CGM and see trends and not wake him up.
thank you for all the replys. I called her endo and we are seeing if her insurance will cover the CGM, I am hoping they will. She is getting the new minimed pump in a couple of weeks, so hoping to have an answer by then. Thanks again
More insurance companies are covering CGMs, but if yours doesn't perhaps your endo can write a letter explaining the danger of your dd's hypo unawareness plus the necessity for greater bg control during puberty for optimal health. good luck!
