Any Type 1 Diabetics Here?

[Chili Palmer]

My wife has been a diabetic since she was 5 years old (she's 60 now), and in the last year her doctor has put her on a new type of insulin that is causing her to have peaks and valleys in her blood sugar, the lows cause an almost inebriated affect on her and sometimes if she doesn't catch it in time it will cause her become unable to respond to me needing to give her a sugary drink to get her blood sugars back up to get her brain functioning agian and then I have to use a glucagon shot to get her to come out of her funk. She never had these issues on her old insulin prescription, but insurance wants her on this insulin because it's cheaper (but illegals get free medical care and junkies get free syringes, don't get me started), so the doctor recommended her getting a monitoring device called a Dexcom 7 that has a monitoring transmitter that attaches to her skin to the underside of her upper arm that has a small wire that penetrates her skin and is able to read her blood sugar levels in real-time and it sends it to a small monitor that's the size of a thin garage door opener. When her blood sugars get too high or too low an alarm goes off so she doesn't get those lows she was getting before. The monitor's battery life will usually last about 8-10 days and the monitor will also give a countdown of time the monitor life left.

This monitoring device works great, but insurance is bitching about the cost of these monitors, they are about $400 each, but luckily the girl at the pharmacy found a coupon online and that code gives a discount so now each monitor is only around $180 each. But every now and then she gets a defective monitor - one that won't pair with the receiver, or won't attach to her arm, or just the other day instead of fine wire needle there was a much longer heavy gauge needle that luckily didn't penetrate all the way into her arm. She had told the pharmacy about these defective monitors, but they were told not to replace them, but tell the customer to contact Dexcom directly. My wife did that and the call center is in India or Bangladesh and the phone attendant's accents are so heavy you can't understand them, and of course their reason that these monitors don't work is because my wife is not attaching them correctly (they are attached to a spring loaded attachment device that does the attaching work for you, you just place it on your arm push the trigger button and it with a loud plastic snap it attaches it to her arm), there is no way to not install it incorrectly.

Since we weren't getting anywhere with their "customer service" I got online and went to their website and was found a section on returns and refunds, well it turns out that continous glucose monitoring devices are not returnable or refundable. What a crock of shit - they send out defective units and take no responsibility or liability for the quality of their products.

Anyone here on RDP that uses this device and has had any headway with the parent company getting replacement monitors or refunds, if they were only ten or twenty bucks each I wouldn't be complaining, but $180 - $400 each? Yes, that justifies complaining.


Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[OCMerrill]

Look into the Libre 3. Its quite small, placed on the arm, and real time monitoring on your phone with alarms so she can do something before sugar levels become to low.

My wife has been using one for the last year or so. They last 2 weeks. Seems to me it's $80 bucks a month (2 sensors) with our Blue Shield Ins.

 

[Spitfire]

Sorry you have to deal with that. 2 of my 4 kids have type 1. My twins, my daughter had her onset at 21/2 and her brother a year and half ago at 16. They both are on the Omnipod insulin pump and one uses the dexcom 6 and one on the 7. I will say the 7 has been better than the six but it doesn’t have automated mode like the 6 yet. The 7 has been way simpler and less issues when putting in the the 6. Many times with the 6, the sensor part that the transmitter snaps in to would not set properly and they would replace. I think we have has one bad 7. We did get It replaced but you are correct, it is a bit of battle.

 

[Cole Trickle]

Type 1 for 35 years (since 13)

There should only be a couple different types of insulin.

Super fast , fast and slow release like Lantus.

Perhaps she is just not ul to speed on a super fast acting insulin? I will tell you a bunch of years back I tried the rapid release and it didn’t work for me as it caused a ton of lows. If I wasn’t ready to eat or dinner was delayed it was a problem.

I have been on the dexcom system for the past 8+ years and I think it’s easily the best diabetes based technology released since I was diagnosed. I am currently on the g6 and have had almost zero issues. It’s been a complete game changer to tighten up my control.

Over the past 8 years I think I have had 2-3 sensor failures and they easily solved it when I called customer support.

I only use them on my shoulder area. Make sure you clean and shave the area and make sure the inserted is firmly against the skin and push down when you hit the trigger. It uses a big ish needle to insert a small cord or cable.

Sorry for the trouble if you have any questions reach out.

Being a type 1 and getting good care is a pita by nature. You just have to keep fighting and greasing that squeaky wheel. I’m fortunate that I have good healthcare but they still fight. I have great control and health so I think they see what I’m on as a bonus given my track record. 1 trip to the hospital would cost more than several years of dexcom.

Perhaps see if there is a different generic insultin that may work better for her.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Sorry to hear of the current challenges. Best to you and the wife dialing things in with medical. I personally know how hard it can be navigating the process. Looks like few suggestions from RDP already hope that you find what works for your wife. Keep you head up you are not in this alone.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Look into the Libre 3. Its quite small, placed on the arm, and real time monitoring on your phone with alarms so she can do something before sugar levels become to low.

My wife has been using one for the last year or so. They last 2 weeks. Seems to me it's $80 bucks a month (2 sensors) with our Blue Shield Ins.

View attachment 1351963 View attachment 1351964

That looks similar to the Dexcom, but the Dexcom isn't able to connect to a phone - I'll have her ask her doctor about the Libre 3, she actually is going to a new endocrinologist today too. Thanks.

Type 1 for 35 years (since 13)

There should only be a couple different types of insulin.

Super fast , fast and slow release like Lantus.

Perhaps she is just not ul to speed on a super fast acting insulin? I will tell you a bunch of years back I tried the rapid release and it didn’t work for me as it caused a ton of lows. If I wasn’t ready to eat or dinner was delayed it was a problem.

I have been on the dexcom system for the past 8+ years and I think it’s easily the best diabetes based technology released since I was diagnosed. I am currently on the g6 and have had almost zero issues. It’s been a complete game changer to tighten up my control.

Over the past 8 years I think I have had 2-3 sensor failures and they easily solved it when I called customer support.

I only use them on my shoulder area. Make sure you clean and shave the area and make sure the inserted is firmly against the skin and push down when you hit the trigger. It uses a big ish needle to insert a small cord or cable.

Sorry for the trouble if you have any questions reach out.

Being a type 1 and getting good care is a pita by nature. You just have to keep fighting and greasing that squeaky wheel. I’m fortunate that I have good healthcare but they still fight. I have great control and health so I think they see what I’m on as a bonus given my track record. 1 trip to the hospital would cost more than several years of dexcom.

Perhaps see if there is a different generic insultin that may work better for her.

She's going to a new doctor today and hopefully he'll put her on an insulin that will work better for her. My boys are both firemen and they say they get a lot of calls for people, mostly elderly, who's bodies don't react well to this newer time release insulin causing them a lot of lows.

Thanks.

 

[EarpRider]

I have a family member that uses Freestyle Libre 2 sensors, whenever one falls off to soon or malfunctions we just go online and request a new sensor and a new one arrives a few days later no questions asked.
It looks like Dexcom has the same thing, give it a try.

Product Support Request

dexcom.custhelp.com

 

[Mandelon]

My son has been Type 1 since he was 9. He's 30 now. He's got a dexcom and is he's fighting with pharmacy, doctor and insurance all the time. He spent a few days around Xmas in the hospital. Had a really low episode, fell down, smashed against the nightstand and chomped his tongue, tweaked his neck and back. Still suffering the injuries today. Overnight in the hospital and two days. No operations or anything--just being monitored. Bill was $23,000

Good insurance is a must.

 

[Cole Trickle]

That looks similar to the Dexcom, but the Dexcom isn't able to connect to a phone - I'll have her ask her doctor about the Libre 3, she actually is going to a new endocrinologist today too. Thanks.


She's going to a new doctor today and hopefully he'll put her on an insulin that will work better for her. My boys are both firemen and they say they get a lot of calls for people, mostly elderly, who's bodies don't react well to this newer time release insulin causing them a lot of lows.

Thanks.

My dexcom pairs with my Apple. I don’t use the supplied deal. It would surprise me that dexcom doesn’t work the same way with the g7.

You can also add additional people to the dexcom so it will notify on a different screen. My kids buddy was just diagnosed and his mom has the mirroring and can see his blood even when he is out and about.

 

[Cole Trickle]

looks like it should looks like it should work unless you have an old phone or a super new phone.

 

[Chili Palmer]

looks like it should looks like it should work unless you have an old phone or a super new phone.

That’s good to know - when my wife was given her orientation on it at her doctor’s office they didn’t pair it to her phone so I assumed it wasn’t pairable with phones.

Thanks.

 

[Chili Palmer]

looks like it should looks like it should work unless you have an old phone or a super new phone.

Thanks, I’ll see if I can pair it for her.

 

[BigAl96]

Thanks, I’ll see if I can pair it for her.

Type 1 here. The dexcom g7 is great ( the older ones required a transmitter as well), hooks right up to my phone and shows me my glucose level without having to go into the app. The few sensors ive had issues with, you call dexcom with the pin off the sensor and they mail you a new one in a few days. Shows up right on the notification drop down. I will say, my insurance forced a switch from Lantus insulin to semglee. If I used the semglee at the same dosage it cause lows that would then spike when i consumed something to bring it back in line. I had to lower my dosage to keep it from doing this but now that it's dialed in I've noticed it holds my levels much steadier than Lantus ever did.

One thing I will say though is I've noticed the semglee is much more sensitive to consistency. I have to make sure I give my basal dose around the same time every morning or it seems like my levels stay a lot higher and I typically have to dose my short acting insulin in higher amounts for up to a day or so. Easy fix, I just dose every morning when I jump in my truck to go to work at 6am.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Type 1 here. The dexcom g7 is great ( the older ones required a transmitter as well), hooks right up to my phone and shows me my glucose level without having to go into the app. The few sensors ive had issues with, you call dexcom with the pin off the sensor and they mail you a new one in a few days. Shows up right on the notification drop down. I will say, my insurance forced a switch from Lantus insulin to semglee. If I used the semglee at the same dosage it cause lows that would then spike when i consumed something to bring it back in line. I had to lower my dosage to keep it from doing this but now that it's dialed in I've noticed it holds my levels much steadier than Lantus ever did.

One thing I will say though is I've noticed the semglee is much more sensitive to consistency. I have to make sure I give my basal dose around the same time every morning or it seems like my levels stay a lot higher and I typically have to dose my short acting insulin in higher amounts for up to a day or so. Easy fix, I just dose every morning when I jump in my truck to go to work at 6am.

My wife is on Lantus and Lyunjev. The Lyunjev is the quick acting insulin that seems to be giving her the problems. The doctor she saw today that was recommended was an internal medicine doctor, not an endocrinologist, she was pissed. She’s got an appointment for a real endocrinologist in two weeks.

Thank you all for your replies.

 

[Jimmyv]

Sorry to see so many members dealing with this (themselves or family).

My 7yo son is type 1, diagnosed at 4. He see‘s an endocrinologist at Childrens Hospital Orange County.

We’ve previously used the Libre freestyle CGM, and we were happy with it, but he upgraded from 4 daily insulin shots to an insulin pump this past year and it (Tandum TSlim) needed a Dexcom glucose monitor.

In the 7 months since we started using the Dexcom 6, two, yes only 2, sensors have lasted the 10 days theyre supposed to. I’m on the phone with Dexcom WEEKLY and have successfully forced them to replace every failed sensor.

The insurance costs and co-pays for what is a life threatening condition is insulting.


…

 

[Justfishing]

My wife has been a diabetic since she was 5 years old (she's 60 now), and in the last year her doctor has put her on a new type of insulin that is causing her to have peaks and valleys in her blood sugar, the lows cause an almost inebriated affect on her and sometimes if she doesn't catch it in time it will cause her become unable to respond to me needing to give her a sugary drink to get her blood sugars back up to get her brain functioning agian and then I have to use a glucagon shot to get her to come out of her funk. She never had these issues on her old insulin prescription, but insurance wants her on this insulin because it's cheaper (but illegals get free medical care and junkies get free syringes, don't get me started), so the doctor recommended her getting a monitoring device called a Dexcom 7 that has a monitoring transmitter that attaches to her skin to the underside of her upper arm that has a small wire that penetrates her skin and is able to read her blood sugar levels in real-time and it sends it to a small monitor that's the size of a thin garage door opener. When her blood sugars get too high or too low an alarm goes off so she doesn't get those lows she was getting before. The monitor's battery life will usually last about 8-10 days and the monitor will also give a countdown of time the monitor life left.

This monitoring device works great, but insurance is bitching about the cost of these monitors, they are about $400 each, but luckily the girl at the pharmacy found a coupon online and that code gives a discount so now each monitor is only around $180 each. But every now and then she gets a defective monitor - one that won't pair with the receiver, or won't attach to her arm, or just the other day instead of fine wire needle there was a much longer heavy gauge needle that luckily didn't penetrate all the way into her arm. She had told the pharmacy about these defective monitors, but they were told not to replace them, but tell the customer to contact Dexcom directly. My wife did that and the call center is in India or Bangladesh and the phone attendant's accents are so heavy you can't understand them, and of course their reason that these monitors don't work is because my wife is not attaching them correctly (they are attached to a spring loaded attachment device that does the attaching work for you, you just place it on your arm push the trigger button and it with a loud plastic snap it attaches it to her arm), there is no way to not install it incorrectly.

Since we weren't getting anywhere with their "customer service" I got online and went to their website and was found a section on returns and refunds, well it turns out that continous glucose monitoring devices are not returnable or refundable. What a crock of shit - they send out defective units and take no responsibility or liability for the quality of their products.

Anyone here on RDP that uses this device and has had any headway with the parent company getting replacement monitors or refunds, if they were only ten or twenty bucks each I wouldn't be complaining, but $180 - $400 each? Yes, that justifies complaining.


Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Is she on a no carb/low carb diet. By low carb i mean 50 grams or less of carbs. Protien should be about 1 gram per lb of body weight. Rest of calories from good fats ie animal fats, olive oils, avacado, sea food. Fats will slow the gluclose rise. Low steady gluclose will make it easier to match insulin need.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Is she on a no carb/low carb diet. By low carb i mean 50 grams or less of carbs. Protien should be about 1 gram per lb of body weight. Rest of calories from good fats ie animal fats, olive oils, avacado, sea food. Fats will slow the gluclose rise. Low steady gluclose will make it easier to match insulin need.

No, she's not - I was on that diet about 5 years ago and lost 60 lbs in 5 months, since then I've put back 35 of those pounds - I just so sick of eating salads and chicken and more salads. I really do enjoy pizza, desserts, breads, tortillas, and tortilla chips with salsa, mmmm. I need to get back on it. With all the lows she's been having and having to take fruit juice to get her sugars back up, it's caused a weight gain, she's counting down the days she can see her new endocrinologist to get her dialed in.

 

[BigAl96]

No, she's not - I was on that diet about 5 years ago and lost 60 lbs in 5 months, since then I've put back 35 of those pounds - I just so sick of eating salads and chicken and more salads. I really do enjoy pizza, desserts, breads, tortillas, and tortilla chips with salsa, mmmm. I need to get back on it. With all the lows she's been having and having to take fruit juice to get her sugars back up, it's caused a weight gain, she's counting down the days she can see her new endocrinologist to get her dialed in.

Is she dosing the lyunjev before or after eating meals? I noticed when the switched me from Humalog to fiasp that the faster reaction time would cause lows sporadically when dosed before a meal, I started dosing immediately after eating and it helped a lot.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Is she dosing the lyunjev before or after eating meals? I noticed when the switched me from Humalog to fiasp that the faster reaction time would cause lows sporadically when dosed before a meal, I started dosing immediately after eating and it helped a lot.

It seems as though maybe she is producing insulin, because she'll take her dose of Lantus in the morning and sometimes she'll be having lows all day, even after eating.
So something is off somewhere. Her current endocrinologist is the idiot who keeps telling her that her body needs time to adjust to it, but it's been over 6 months - some people just need longer. That's why she's going to a new guy in 2 weeks.

 

[Cole Trickle]

I haven't been to a endo in probably 25 years. It was always a PITA and as soon as i would find someone i like they would no longer accept my insurance.

I have seen it all over the years. I loved the kid straight from medical school that told me if i didn't get my A1C into the mid 5's I was going to die....lol As someone that consistently runs a A1C in the mid to low 6's I knew right away that this kid was an idiot.

I have had great luck with my last 2 primary Care doctors. I do the research on what I want and what is new and then when I call and shop doctors I tell them I want a doctor that is good at everything but also very familiar with Diabetes. When I talk to them and they see my results they basically allow me to choose what I want.....Be your own advocate read up several times a year on what is going on in the T1 world so you can stay educated.

I have seen quite the shift since i was diagnosed. They are now of the mind set that chasing perfect numbers and having a ton of lows is bad for quality of life and almost impossible to obtain. You can die a lot faster from a low event when chasing a A1c in the 5's.

Food and exercise is going to be the key and i'm not just talking Diabetics. If you eat like shit and you are overweight you are slowly killing off body internals. Anything with Sugar/carbs is going to cause issues for a type 1 diabetic because you will start a rollercoaster of corrections that will lead to lows.

Everyone will have a bad Blood Sugar days the key is to not have bad weeks or month.

Dexcom also has the Clarity app you can download and it will keep track of the readings going back 3 months and give you the A1C over several different timelines......I highly suggest it

 

[Cole Trickle]

It seems as though maybe she is producing insulin, because she'll take her dose of Lantus in the morning and sometimes she'll be having lows all day, even after eating.
So something is off somewhere. Her current endocrinologist is the idiot who keeps telling her that her body needs time to adjust to it, but it's been over 6 months - some people just need longer. That's why she's going to a new guy in 2 weeks.

I take my Lantus before bed.

I spot dose R probably 5-7 times a day depending on what's going on and what i eat. Everyone should know what a unit of insulin does to there blood sugar. 1 unit handles about 30 BS points for me.

Have her reduce the Lantus by a couple units until she can get a good flatline that is in range. If her BS starts to rise adjust accordingly.

 

[Warlock1]

I have the Tandem Pump and the Dexcom G6. They work together to give me good results when I pay attention to things and eat properly. Hell it even does a fairly good job when I don't do things right. I think having the Dexcom is a game changer as you can track the sugars over a period of time. This allows you to analyze trends you might be seeing. Is it a day or night thing? Is it hormones or a period thing? So many factors can play into it and this is just another tool to help us D1s figure this out.

I am set up to use the G7 but I haven't made the switch. The Diabetic facebook page I belong to has had a lot of failures with the G7 as far as reading accuracy. My son was even wearing a G6 and a G7 sensor and the readings were pretty far off. When he checked with a finger stick the G6 was closer. I'll let them figure that out a bit longer before I switch.

 

[Mandelon]

Meal configuration changes things. A fatty meal will make you absorb sugars more slowly.

If you exercise a bunch or go swimming you can low later in the day. It takes a lot of paying attention as to what you did during the day before highs and lows. It is really difficult. Testing a lot really is the key, assuming the monitors are accurate. Endless finger sticks suck!

 

[Jimmyv]

I have the Tandem Pump and the Dexcom G6. They work together to give me good results when I pay attention to things and eat properly. Hell it even does a fairly good job when I don't do things right. I think having the Dexcom is a game changer as you can track the sugars over a period of time. This allows you to analyze trends you might be seeing. Is it a day or night thing? Is it hormones or a period thing? So many factors can play into it and this is just another tool to help us D1s figure this out.

I am set up to use the G7 but I haven't made the switch. The Diabetic facebook page I belong to has had a lot of failures with the G7 as far as reading accuracy. My son was even wearing a G6 and a G7 sensor and the readings were pretty far off. When he checked with a finger stick the G6 was closer. I'll let them figure that out a bit longer before I switch.

Same boat. Son has the G7 sensors, but we’re inclined to stay on the G6 until things get better sorted or there’s more data to justify a switch.

The pump was night and day difference for us. No more wild swings in blood sugar, easier for him to pay attention in school, and just overall feel better through the day.