I am going to try to get a CGM, but I’m not sure which one will work best for a teenager in high school. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I would say Dexcom g6. The sensors are very important.
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@T1DRockstar Welcome back Amanda!
In use now in the US there are four different CGM approved and available - hope I haven’t missed any. Your choice should be made based on your needs, lifestyle and finances.
Dexcom, both the G5 and G6 models appear to be the leader; I use the G5 and will soon upgrade to the G6 which inserts easier and does not need calibration. All Dexcom are worn externally on the surface of the skin; abdomen the preferred location but many wear the sensor/transmitter on the upper arm.
Recently an acquaintance of mine switched from Dexcon, which he really liked, to the implantable Sensonics Eversense - he is hiking the 2,190 mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia and thought that this CGM is one that would not get knocked off - he is about halfway done and appears to be doing well. The Sensor must be inserted under the skin by a physician and currently needs replacement every 90 days.
The Libra Freestyle made be Abbott Labs is getting very popular, is accurate and from what I see is the least expensive of all the CGM. The Freestyle is not-passive meaning that the user must pass a receiver over the sensor to get readings, rather than the sensor sending the data automatically to a reader/receiver or other device. There are new advances and the newer models may/will transmit data automatically.
The Medtronic CGM is available in a couple of models - the Guardian is the latest and appears to be accurate although I’ve heard complaints about the number of finger-stick calibrations required.
This is a start; think about what YOU want and need. consider “connectivity” to your other devices such as an insulin pump.
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I meant to say the alarms are very important.
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I would choose the Dexcom over the FreeStyle Libre, as the Dexcom beeps alarms when sugars are out of control. Otherwise your son could go hours without checking to see what his sugar was.
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Hi Amanda,
I agree with Dennis - choose the one that fits your needs best. We use the Dexcom G6 for our son. We like it because it provides continuous monitoring with alarms for highs and lows. Like any system, it’s not flawless. He occasionally calibrates it, and from time to time the sensor shuts down. We have even had a couple fail; however, Dexcom is great about providing replacements at no cost right away. Again, as Dennis said, choose the one that meets your needs best. These are solely our observations on the G6.
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Using both in the past year dexcom is by far the more advanced version with Bluetooth paring to your phone. The Abbott is 75$ a month cash price but you have to manually scan it in order to see your graphs and doesn’t give you real time trends unless you are constantly scanning it with the device. My vote would be the dexcom by far.
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My 19. year old daughter who is high functioning autistic uses Dexcom G6 (their newest). The nice thing about the Dexcom, there is an app that you can put on your phone. If it’s an iPhone, you can also see it on the iWatch. Also, I can see her sugars on my iPhone when she is in school. This has made a world of difference for me, because she constantly forgets to put her carbs in her pump.
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i’ve used freestyle, medtronic and dexcom and handsdown love dexcom the best. all info is available on my phone… I rarely do fingersticks…it stays put… and it’s accurate! good luck! I’m in process of trying ot get new pump to synch up with it… that is important to consider as well.
I’ve used Dexcom for several years - I have the G5 now - and am very happy with it. Due to an error with my insurance (since corrected) I had the chance to use a Freestyle Libre for a couple of weeks. I had (have) a bit of trouble calling it a CGM as you don’t see your numbers until you swipe the receiver over the sensor (with the Dexcom and Medtronic you have a continuous readout on your pump/receiver/smartphone). But one thing I was surprised to find I liked better with the Freestyle was, getting the reading was sometimes more convenient than with my Dexcom. My pump is my receiver and I usually keep it in my front pocket. If I’m driving it takes much longer to finagle it out than it does to swipe the Freestyle receiver, which I kept in my cupholder. As an aside Dexcom does have a separate receiver I could use, but that requires some button pushing to read. Not a big deal, and just one step, but it’s just a bit quicker with the Freestyle. Unfortunately the Freestyle does not have alarms, and I need the alerts to let me know if I’m in range.
I use the Dexcom G6. Key reason is of all the CGMs the Dexcom are the only ones waterproof. It’s good for 24 hrs 12 feet. All others are 30 minutes 3 feet.
Thought about Eversense because of 90 day cycle. Still waterproof issue, also not all endos have capability to do the insertion.
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My son was diagnosed in February, he is 17 and using the Dexcom G6. It’s great. We went with it because it alarm me along with him. With the Libre he would have had to wake up to scan and get a number. The alarms on the G6 can be set how however you want and keep you alerted all the time. Hope that helps.
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Hello Amanda,
Not sure if you have already made a decision but I think Dexcom G6 would be a good choice for a few reasons… I have had Dexcom G4, G5 and now G6 and have found that G6 is pretty spot on most of the time. When it tends to be off is when I change it out and after a few hours from the warm up I will check it if it doesn’t seem right. Having alarms for blood sugar highs and lows is important, especially at night or while playing sports. And family and friends can follow so you would be able to see what your teen’s blood sugars were any time.
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