Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Manager of Marketing at T1D Exchange.
I haven’t slept in the same bed as my wife more than 20 years now as I have a hospital bed (single) at home that I use. My wife sleeps in a bed upstairs.
My husband could sleep through an alien. Invasion! I once had a reaction and fell out of bed trying to get to the kitchen for food. Nope, zzzzzzzzzzz. Got the food, came back not bed, munch munch munch, zzzzzzzz!
This is why I do not wear the CGM. Had it on for 6 months and never ever had an alert for a low or high but had multiple alerts to calibrate CGM. It was more disruptive than my T1D !
I had that exact experience with my first CGM and I only lasted a week. It was like having a newborn in the house but not cute or lovable at all! My current CGM doesn’t alert has figured out my nighttime patterns, so alerts are rare now.
Not saying my wife likes the alarms but she cares enough about me not to complain. She knows the various alerts and supports me. She has already put up with me for 47 years.
Freestyle Libre 14 day doesn’t have alerts and I like that at night. When I awake for the bathroom I scan the sensor and keep snacks beside the bed. Works for me without sleep deprivation. My T1D son who had alerts on his CGM distupted employees in the office setting too.
I also have a Libre 14 Day CGM. I do not want one that alarms and, hence, the reason I do not have the Libre 2. I wake up naturally with lows and do not need alarms.
I don’t share my bed, so I answered: I do not know how often they wake up to my alerts. Another response is needed for I use a CGM and don’t share my bed.
Things have gotten a little better now that I routinely put my receiver inside a ski glove and under a pillow on the floor. I can hear the alarm, but at least a small fraction of the time it doesn’t wake my spouse. I believe the alarm function on the DEXCOM gives far more alarms that necessary. Once I treat, I should be able to temporarily disable the alarm function — it is counterproductive to have an alarm during the brief period when I have already treated but the sugar hasn’t yet it.
Here, here! I vote for letting me disable alarms for a period of time. ALSO, could we please not alarm on the way back down from a high, or on the way back up from low? Once I acknowledge the high/low, I don’t need to be told yet again!
My Libre 2 has no alarm. BUT, my lovely bride (an RN), wakes me up whenever she thinks I MIGHT be low, and insists that I check the reader and let her know what my CBG is.
My wife apparently hears them all, including when I have them turned to vibrate only…. amazing, since she can’t hear me when I talk at times (nor I her honestly)… I too am blessed to have a wife that is forgiving, understanding, and tries like heck to help!
This question needed a simple “Other” without anything else. I said “I do not know….” which wasn’t the totally true answer. I routinely turn off my Dexcom at night because I get compression lows every time I try to leave it on overnight.
My dear husband hears almost all the alarms, puts up with my sometimes fowl-mouthed responses to them, and helps ensure I address lows when I sleep through them. He’s a good sport and wonderful support. ♥️
I sleep alone and remove my hearing aids at night. So the vibration and screen lighting up are more helpful to me, though I’m only half way hearing impaired.
For night-time, I reduce the number of alerts. Only high levels and low levels. They are all on vibrate as the vibration wakes me, but not my husband. Rate of rise and fall alerts are turned off for night-time.
Mine wake up the dead, sometime three counties over. 💑
I haven’t slept in the same bed as my wife more than 20 years now as I have a hospital bed (single) at home that I use. My wife sleeps in a bed upstairs.
My husband could sleep through an alien. Invasion! I once had a reaction and fell out of bed trying to get to the kitchen for food. Nope, zzzzzzzzzzz. Got the food, came back not bed, munch munch munch, zzzzzzzz!
This is why I do not wear the CGM. Had it on for 6 months and never ever had an alert for a low or high but had multiple alerts to calibrate CGM. It was more disruptive than my T1D !
I had that exact experience with my first CGM and I only lasted a week. It was like having a newborn in the house but not cute or lovable at all! My current CGM doesn’t alert has figured out my nighttime patterns, so alerts are rare now.
You must have medtronic? Tandem pump with the dexcom sensor doesn’t do that.
My husband wakes up to all of my alerts. He even wakes me up when I’m sleeping through one! 🥰
us, too.
I don’t know if the alerts wake up my husband or not. I would assume they do but when I ask, he just says “Don’t worry about it.”
Not saying my wife likes the alarms but she cares enough about me not to complain. She knows the various alerts and supports me. She has already put up with me for 47 years.
I raarely have an alert. Libre does not alert for calibrations, and I have been lucky enough to have almost no out or range bs at night.
Freestyle Libre 14 day doesn’t have alerts and I like that at night. When I awake for the bathroom I scan the sensor and keep snacks beside the bed. Works for me without sleep deprivation. My T1D son who had alerts on his CGM distupted employees in the office setting too.
I also have a Libre 14 Day CGM. I do not want one that alarms and, hence, the reason I do not have the Libre 2. I wake up naturally with lows and do not need alarms.
He actually sleeps in the guest room because of this.
Sad to hear.
I should answer “occasionally she wakes me up when I don’t hear the alert” On CIQ I have eliminated 80% of the overnight lows
Thank God my husband hears the alerts. He’s the one who wakes me because I don’t hear them. He is a God Sent.
I don’t share my bed, so I answered: I do not know how often they wake up to my alerts. Another response is needed for I use a CGM and don’t share my bed.
I believe that is what the last option was for.
Things have gotten a little better now that I routinely put my receiver inside a ski glove and under a pillow on the floor. I can hear the alarm, but at least a small fraction of the time it doesn’t wake my spouse. I believe the alarm function on the DEXCOM gives far more alarms that necessary. Once I treat, I should be able to temporarily disable the alarm function — it is counterproductive to have an alarm during the brief period when I have already treated but the sugar hasn’t yet it.
Here, here! I vote for letting me disable alarms for a period of time. ALSO, could we please not alarm on the way back down from a high, or on the way back up from low? Once I acknowledge the high/low, I don’t need to be told yet again!
My Libre 2 has no alarm. BUT, my lovely bride (an RN), wakes me up whenever she thinks I MIGHT be low, and insists that I check the reader and let her know what my CBG is.
My wife apparently hears them all, including when I have them turned to vibrate only…. amazing, since she can’t hear me when I talk at times (nor I her honestly)… I too am blessed to have a wife that is forgiving, understanding, and tries like heck to help!
This question needed a simple “Other” without anything else. I said “I do not know….” which wasn’t the totally true answer. I routinely turn off my Dexcom at night because I get compression lows every time I try to leave it on overnight.
My husband said the alerts give him peace of mind…me too!
My dear husband hears almost all the alarms, puts up with my sometimes fowl-mouthed responses to them, and helps ensure I address lows when I sleep through them. He’s a good sport and wonderful support. ♥️
They wake my husband, and he wakes me! He is such a light sleeper!
My spouse woke up every time when I started on a pump. As he (and I) has aged, his hearing is not as good. So, he only hears it some of the time now.
I sleep alone and remove my hearing aids at night. So the vibration and screen lighting up are more helpful to me, though I’m only half way hearing impaired.
For night-time, I reduce the number of alerts. Only high levels and low levels. They are all on vibrate as the vibration wakes me, but not my husband. Rate of rise and fall alerts are turned off for night-time.