Dex Share is out

So I was just up treating a low (my daughter gave herself a correction while I was at school and even though I came home before she went low it does remind me of the dangers of combining lows with her newfound independence) and I was wondering if anyone had created an app that would let my iphone pick up signals directly from the dex transmitter. I opened the app store to look and as expected found no such app.

I did find that the Dex Share app is out and there are two versions. One is Dexcom Follow and the other is Dexcom Share. Not really sure what the difference is. Does anyone know?

I figured if the apps are out that the cradle must be out too. I opened my Dexcom Guide app and after they irritatingly made me create an account I learned that the Dex cradle is indeed available, and does cost about three hundred dollars as expected.

Six Until Me has a review. The review does not compare Share to Night Scout. The review merely says that after using it for six days it works well. Someone in their comments section said a USB charger can be used to make it more portable. But honestly, imo, even with a battery its not very portable. I would still use it at home at night most of the time anyway and the ease of setting it up is a big plus for me (about three minutes according to Six Until Me - why is it called that?)

So I invite people to comment on the new release of Dex Share especially in light of changes that have taken place since it was originally conceived as an idea. I mean it was exciting to hear about a year ago but now the technology is really slightly outdated and there is the Night Scout to compare it to.

I am not really sure how important portability is though since when my daughter is awake she just takes care of herself.

p.s. I also see that dex has new software update. What is it and what does it do? How would you load it onto your receiver?

 

Direct integration without a receiver to your iphone will not be until later this year. Yes the cradle is out but in a few weeks there will be a new receiver that will bluetoothe to an iPhone without the cradle.

The Share application posts the data to the cloud service.

The Follow application reads data from the service and has all sorts of alarms.

 

Wow. directly from receiver to bluetooth, now that is exciting.

 

We like the Share. It's simple to use. My daughter can make her phone both Share and Follow for additional attempts to wake up. We will be thrilled to get the new receiver soon. We've been told that those of us who already paid for the Share cradle will be the first to get the new receivers, but the approval came through so quickly that Dexcom doesn't even have the product yet. They expect it the first week of March.

If I were placing a new order, I'd wait a couple of weeks to order so that Share is already included in the order rather than hassling with getting an upgrade.

 

And save $100 bucks! We will still have her use the cradle to charge though, it's easy and might as well use it.

 

Considering we're on our 7th (?) receiver in 2.5 years, we're glad we'll still have the docking cradle and older receivers as back-ups! Especially as she's going more and more places away and wanting fewer adults involved in her diabetes and Share allows for that.

 

If you bought your Dex receiver recently you can get a Share Direct receiver for free after March 2. If You bought it last year you have to pay a $199 upgrade fee. If you bought a Share cradle you get an upgraded Share Direct receiver on March 2 for free. If you're due for a new receiver they will also start shipping Share Direct enabled receivers covered by your insurance March 2. There really isn't a whole lot of sense in buying the cradle for $300 two weeks before they release the Share Direct receiver.

The software upgrade is the algorithm they are using with the artificial pancreas trials. Its more accurate especially during lows. And specifically improves the lag time after a low. You can download it on the Dexcom website if you have an adult version of the Dexcom receiver. The pediatric version has not been approved by the FDA yet.

http://dexcom.com/faq/how-do-i-update-software-dexcom-cgm-system

 

We've been using the Dex share for several months now. We got it right when it came out. We like it, but only use it at night when Hana is sleeping or if my husnand and I go out and she's home alone. But it's not really practical since it has to be plugged in. So really all it does for now is saves me from having to get out if bed to see why the CGM is alarming. I do plan on getting the Bluetooth receiver when it comes out.

 

View attachment 5713 we have been using Nightscout since July of last year, we have never considered Share because of the bulkiness to be portable. And well the cost, we are not an iphone family and having 2 kiddos with T1D under 'phone age", we started with Nightscout. It has been a journey for sure, it was many hours of 'computer stuff' back in July, now you can follow a YouTube video and get set up in less than a few hours on Nightscout.

Nightscout developers hope to ( and believe they will) have a Nightscout app that grabs the Dexcom signal when the Share receiver comes out, so hoping for a wireless connection to an uploader phone.

As I sit here this is both of my girls numbers. View attachment 5713 , trying to figure out the youngest new insulin needs for bedtime.

 

their Nightscout "rig" is in a standard Walmart cell phone wristlet, my oldest carries her mostly around during the school day and I see her numbers, youngest keeps hers in her backpack, so I only see numbers when she is within range. to put things in perspective, I have a very small hand, that of a childs with a ring finger size of 4.

 

The 505 upgrade only works for the adult version, if you have a ped unit it will not upgrade. we have both styles, but would definitely request "off label" RX for adult version
.

 

A silly question - how would do you know if you have the pediatric or adult Dex?? I have no clue which Hana has. Is there something on it that differentiates?

 

We are still using the "adult" receiver we originally received but were sent the pediatric version when I ordered one at the end of last year. Here's the differences: http://www.dexcom.com/faq/what-are-...tinum-cgm-system-and-newly-approved-dexcom-g4

 

Thanks. I think Hana must have the adult then. I don't see the additional screen or warning on startup.

 

So at our clinic appointment today I asked if we could get a prescription for the adult unit and we were told that they would be happy to request it but that insurance will probably deny it. Does anyone know how to get insurance to pay for it?

If it matters: my daughters receiver is out of warranty so she is eligible for a new receiver while my son is not eligible until August.

 

Spoke with Dex today. They think that there will be no problems getting insurance to cover the adult version of the Dexshare for my daughter and they are processing the order. For my son whose Dex receiver is not out of warranty they are not taking pre-orders and I have to wait until I get the email indicating that the Dexshare is officially out. The upgrade will cost two hundred and since it is not going through insurance there is no worry about it not being covered. They do need to contact the endo so that the prescriptions authorizes the adult version.

When we first got the Dex CGM I learned relatively soon that it was a game changer and it has greatly improved our ability to care for my daughter. IMO the improved algorithm on the adult version and the bluetooth capability are a next great step forward.

 

We have both an adult and pediatric receiver. I upgraded the adult one, and we weren't impressed. Our pediatric one gave us better numbers. We're waiting for a new sensor to be ready, so I started both to do another comparison. Maybe our first run was just wonky.

We're looking forward to the arrival of the new Share receiver. We already love using Share, so it have it easily portable will be awesome!

 

We have both adult and pediatric versions. We did a comparison, and our pediatric one was more accurate. I just started up both with a new sensor to try again and see what we think, if the prior trial was a wonky run.

We're looking forward to the Share receiver next week!

 

So I was just reading an article about the difference between the pediatric version and the adult version - officially the adult algorithm is more accurate. the article was saying that the new algorithm will not be compatible with the new T-slim pump. Which worried me because not only did I just order the new dexshare receiver with the adult algorithm (just in time too because I just noticed the door covering the charging port is missing) but we have the T-slim sitting on the dining room table as it just arrived today.

It took a little digging but I think that what I was reading is that T-slim will have a new pump called the Tandem T-slim G4 which will communicate directly with the Dexcom sensor eliminating the need for a receiver altogether. The T-slim G4 will use the pediatric algorithm but if you have a receiver with the better algorithm it won't be incompatible you just won't use it or will have two devices. This will also make it easier to wait for the Dexcom Gen 5 sensors. I wonder how all these devices will work together?

Dexcom has been great about doing upgrades for free or for a reasonable cost. I wonder if those who have Dexcom and T-slims will get an upgrade to the Tandem T-slim G4?

 

From what I understand, and I may be completely wrong, the tSlim is already preloaded with the Dexcom software. They're just waiting for FDA approval.