so here's the deal, I have a CGM, minimed pump, but I keep wanting to stop using it because i'm having a lot of trouble...
I put it in with the insertion thing and the only way i don't bleed a ton from it is if i angle it so it doesn't go in totally--I'm almost afraid to let it go in all the way because of problems i used to have.
So it'll be accurate for about a day and by day 2-3 it will start saying my blood sugars are perfect or well, whatever i update it with it will stick with like all day.
I was on a car trip and felt a little sick but it said my number was in the 100s so being stupid i just thought hey i'm tired i trust this thing and it makes sense I've been doing wayyyy better with diabetes care... (plus I had been lower on the entire trip)
After the trip I checked and I was around 400 when it said I was 107 or so. I tried calibrating it again and again and it said bad sensor.
This happens all the time so it's super frustrating.
Any thoughts? Where to put it in? How? I don't know, I'm a college radio/tv/film student and I have almost no time for these fun games it puts me through...
ps i know i sound like a bad diabetic, i promise i'm not, i just struggle with my schedule and getting everything to fit...
i only had a bleeder once, and it was when i angled the insertion too shallowly. according to the book, it has to be angled at least 45 degrees. i know it's kind of scary because it's a particularly big needle, but just try it in your fattiest spot and aim for more like 60 degrees. and don't use your stomach! I use my side, at about the same level as my belly button (a place where i'm able to pinch a very decent amount of fat).
i had some similar frustration with accuracy when i first started, and i got some
advice from someone who'd been using it a while, and it seems to be
working, so i'll pass on her tips. insert the sensor at night before you go to bed. then don't turn on the sensor and calibrate it until the next morning. this makes sure the sensor has lots of time to be gathering data before you make it active. i found that doing it this way, and calibrating it with my first AM blood sugar reading, worked really well. if your blood sugar is changing at the time you calibrate it, it doesn't work as well.
once it's totally off (like it tells you you're 100 but you're actually 400) that means the sensor has failed. but you should be able to get 6-9 days from each sensor. you might need to change the adhesive covering a couple of times to protect it... and also i think inserting it at least 45 degrees will help make it last.
Good luck! these things are definitely not perfect, but should be better than what you've been experiencing.
thanks i'll try some of that, on the side it really works? sounds painful but I'll give it a shot, doctors have always been kind of mad that I love using my stomach the most...
Hi Jenni - I actually use my thigh for the sensor sites. Of course, I'm past the days of short shorts and skirts :-)
I also do what Brynne says and turn the sensor software on the pump on and insert a sensor but I do not start the sensor in the pump until the morning. Once you start it, it will ask for a BG almost immediately (within a few minutes).
I also only calibrate it two or three times per day, and I try to do it when I know I'm at a somewhat steady BG level.
I used to do the morning thing (do it late and then calibrate it later) because my schedule is crazy with school, and when i first started doing that (I've had this thing for like a year and used it maybe...10 times total) it worked all the time awesome, but recently it made me wait 2 hours again still so that's why i stopped doing it but i'll try it again