You’re got the “Hydration” thing right Mark @Banting.
And hydration is not only needed for proper operation of a CGM sensor but also for decent management of our body glucose levels -BGL. As a body dries out - dehydration, the interstitial fluids [that watery stuff in which our body cells float] diminish; the CGM works by analyzing glucose in these fluids [NOT in BLOOD] so during dehydration readings could be inaccurate or non-existent.
Dehydration is often the first ‘problem’ noticed in patients who are brought to hospital emergency with high BG readings. That is why the first treatment in those facilities is to begin IV hydration therapy.
I’m using the G6! I’ve been using it for about 2-3 months now and I love it. Though I could complain about the off-reading by 20-30 points some times but other than that I got no complaints.
There is some facebook pages (if you use it) that focus on dexcom G6 issues and it became very helpful to me.
Hi Rachel @Racheltoner, when you see the 20 - 30 mg difference between your BGM and your CGM readings, which do you think is the more accurate? Actually they could possibly be equally accurate.
Each of your devices reads glucose from a different source and the both readings are within tolerance. Your BGM [blood glucose monitor] is reading glucose in your blood and under current standards “accurate” can be within +/- 15%; an actual BG value of 100 mg/dl could show on your meter anywhere within the 31 point range of 85 to 115 mg/dl. Your CGM [continuous glucose monitor] determines glucose in your interstitial fluids, the watery stuff surrounding cells, and the CGM is held to a higher standard than the BGM. Also, when doing a calibration or comparison between the two readings, always observe the CGM arrows for a period of time before you do the comparison. There can be some “lage”.