I’ve been using the Dexcom G6 for a few weeks now and I’ve noticed that it doesn’t consistently alert my lows in enough time. For example it will send me an “urgent low soon” alert when I’m already having an urgent low. Today I went down to 2.0 mmol/L and my Dexcom was reading me at 5. It seems to read and alert my highs really well just not my lows. I don’t calibrate unless the G6 readings are inaccurate. Any ideas what I could do?
@liamrobertson221 Hi Liam, and welcome to the JDRF TypeOneNation Forum!
I had to begin in thinking mmol/L rather than my brain set at mg/dl. So, for the many who understand mg/dl I’ll just add that the multiplier is 18.0182. 2.0 mmol/L = 36 mg/dl and 5.0 mmol/L = 90 mg/dl.
My first question, Liam, is how did you feel when your reading [I’m presuming a finger-stick with BG Meter] was 2.0? Did it feel as if you were really that low? My next question is related; is your meter accurate? whatever, that great a difference is huge and needs investigation.
To answer your question about getting alerts ooner, did you know that you can adjust your DexCom settings to alert you at a higher BGL? I’m a brittle diabetic [for 64 years] and I tend to “fall” very quickly, so I have my devices alert me when I get as low as 5.5 mmol/L [100 mg/cl]. I also have a default alert set to tell me whenever my BGL is dropping at 0.11 mmol/L [2.0 mg/dl] or faster. See if you can fix these settings in your device reader.
you may not like what I say next. I suggest that you try to determine if your G6 readings are constantly so divergent. No matter how good a device is, and how well it works for most people, not everyone is the same, and some this Dexcom device may not be compatible with your body. For instance, some people are allergic to certain insulin formulations.
Next time that you have lab work done, I suggest that you compare your CGM reading for the minute blood is drawn with the lab test result for whole plasma glucose; also do a Meter check at the same time as the blood draw.
Good Luck!
Thank you for the reply! Firstly, I’m hypo unaware so I don’t feel my lows. My metre is accurate yes. I have my low alert set at 4.2, I will bring it up higher and see if that works. Again thanks a lot!
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