Dexcom 7 Continuous Glucose Monitor- A Nurse’s Review

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The Dexcom  7 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) is a standout among its slim competitive field.  As  a nurse, a person with diabetes and a mom to diabetes my appreciation for this medical technology is tremendous.

What is the Dexcom CGM?

It is a Continuous glucose monitor that provides a constant output of serous glucose numbers.  A small catheter is placed under the skin via a handheld self injectable device every 7 days.  The catheter is not providing a blood glucose number and you will need time to learn what that difference means to you.

The Dex does not replace checking your blood sugar.  In fact you must enter your blood glucose into the Dex to calibrate it which we do a number of times throughout the day.

There are three pieces: a sensor, transmitter and receiver.
A new glucose reading is provided every 5 minutes along with trending arrows indicating what way your glucose is heading.  The transmitter wirelessly sends that five minute reading to the receiver.

Why get a Dexcom 7 Continuous Glucose Monitor?

There are numerous reasons to purchase this monitor.  Safety, comfort, improved diabetes control, independence, piece of mind, trending, accuracy and the list goes on and on.

I never thought I would say this after my first less than stellar experience with an original CGM by Medtronic but… I wonder how I managed diabetes so well before without this device.  I am really fond of my Dexcom and would literally be incredibly sad if I had to send it back.

There are two of us in this house with type 1 diabetes so this device makes it doubly as easy to keep track of things.  The hardest thing for me to remember is to look at how well charged our receivers are.  Other than that it is a cinch.

Accuracy

In our house we find the accuracy of our Dex’s to be quite amazing.  Variability usually ranges less than ten points from our blood glucose number.  We find that stepping away from the Dex (greater than 5 feet) for periods of time affects the accuracy when you get back in range, but this too settles in time.  Rumor has it the next version will be up to a 20 foot range.  This means if you leave it on the side of the pool or tennis court you will capture all of that data while you are active.

Expense

These monitors don’t come cheaply without insurance coverage.  Many insurance companies are paying for this item now, as they should be.  Keeping numbers where they belong and decreasing complications and future spending should be incentive enough for insurance companies to pick this up as a paid benefit.

Inquire with Dex and your insurance company and let them know of any other reasons you may qualify.  Hypoglycemia unawareness, related diagnoses, seizures, and other factors may boost coverage for you.

This device is not FDA approved for kids under age 18 but insurance companies will pay for it.

Insertion

Insertion is quite easy once you get the initial demo from your trainer.  There are a few steps involved and you may feel like you are all thumbs at first.  I like that it is a hand insertion device and not an auto-insertion device.  This allows the user to adjust it for comfortability, which is important to kids and adults.  Once in place my daughter and I can’t even tell that we are wearing it.  No itching, pain or irritation which is amazing.  Dexcom is only recommended for use on the abdomen although many users prefer the arm.

Our family uses prescription lidocaine cream (numbing cream) for my daughters site. We use a baby wipe and wipe it off followed by 2 alcohol wipes prior to insertion.  We have seen no indications that this interferes with her CGM readings.  Dexcom doesn’t recommend using this but we have found with a thorough wiping there is no harm done and no pain with insertion.

Safety

Safety is the #1 reason to use the Dexcom 7 Continuous Glucose Monitor.  It is another tool to avoid unnoticed highs or unrecognized lows, even during the night.

Keep in mind when you treat a low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) the food must be eaten, digested, then sent to the blood stream and finally it reaches the serous fluid.  One thing you will notice is that it takes a bit for the low to catch up to a normal blood sugar on the Dex.  The beauty of the low alarm is that the Dex will alarm you when it is happening.  Better yet, your chances of avoiding a low are higher as you will notice you are trending downward and can make adjustments beforehand.

Parenting to diabetes has improved significantly for me with this tool.  I find that I have less worry and my daughter can have more independence.  Putting a child to bed with a 90 blood sugar leaves a question mark in my mind.  If you have a Dex you can see the trending arrows next to that number.  If it is 90 with a straight arrow, we are good to go.  If it is trending down, snack up then bed.  A number says a lot but not as much as a number and a look into the future with an arrow.

Annoyances

This machine does go “beep beep” (even in the night…) and can be wrong.  However, I find that when it does buzz it is a great alert to go check a blood sugar and see what’s going on in my body.

The alarms cannot be shut off, so if that is what you are hoping for this is not the product for you.

I have been getting a lot of alarms lately during the night.  I wake up and my blood sugar is not low, it is 80 but trending downward I imagine.  It does provide good data to make basal rate changes with the trending and 5 minute readings that would otherwise be unavailable to you.

Customer Service

Our trainer was a wealth of knowledge, and incredibly available.  My insurance company was rather difficult to obtain approval from but Dexcom kept after it for me.  My insurance company was also difficult to dial down on an in network supplier of these items.  It did take a bit of effort on my end to push for approval for myself.  My daughter has a different insurance policy which was rather easy to get approval with.

Some insurance companies demand a trial of the Dex prior to approval.  This means wearing it for a week and trust me you won’t want to give it back when the week rolls to an end…

Calling Dex for supplies or to replace sensors has been a frustrating experience for me.  After ten minutes on hold each time and no human interaction it makes for an irritated customer.  They do tell you “we will hold your place in line if you would like to leave a message”.  This is the option to go with, trust me.  Your call will be quickly returned and your issue dealt with- just keep your phone nearby…

They do offer recurrent shipping to avoid making these calls.  Also inquire if your insurance company will distribute 3 boxes of sensors per shipment (3 month supply) or only 1 box (1 month supply).