In the past week, how many nights was your sleep disrupted by device alerts, checking blood glucose levels, or treating a high or low?
Home > LC Polls > In the past week, how many nights was your sleep disrupted by device alerts, checking blood glucose levels, or treating a high or low?
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 woke because I forgot to press start on my new sensor and I regularly ck when I wake for anything, so had to run downstairs and find my code to enter, this is rare for me, very rare now I am in control IQ
I run a tight ship – narrow range of acceptability (60-120), so frequent alerts are par for the course. But I don’t mind. I do what i need to and fall back asleep.
I can go weeks with no interruptions, but then I hit a night where I’m ready to throw everything out the window! The usual cause is constant low alarms. I’ve figured out that if my sensor is within about 12-24 hours of expiring, it sometimes gives me low readings. There have been times when I’m alarming that I’m in the low 60s, or even 50s, and when I use a meter I’m in my range…80s to 120s! And no amount of calibration will work. I’ve learned that if that’s the case, the first time it happens the sensor comes off until the next morning!
I routinely check blood sugar at night even without CGM alarming (and often take sugar or insulin to correct), made easier by my need to use the bathroom in the wee hours due to the necessity of having to stay well hydrated to avoid severe night leg cramps, as well as age. However, I find a particularly annoying aspect of the Dexcomb G6 CGM that I use is that sensors routinely display a severe, erratic dip during the first night of use, likely from pressure on the sensor. The last example on my current sensor was a reading of below 40 (‘low”) when my blood sugar was 85 by multiple finger ticks. Typical and annoying (particularly for my wife), since one cannot silence the alarms, even if one knows bogus readings are likely. And the “low” alarm is particularly annoying, as it is intended to be. After one day the sensor seems to settle down (in) and not give the huge bogus swings, but I do wonder how DEXCOM got this thing past the FDA when it shows such erratic behavior during the first day. Since I save all my CGM readings, I can document to anyone who cares that this behavior is not in my imagination. I wonder if anyone else has had this problem. The other annoying thing is that I find the G6 to be most reliable in the last few days of its mandated 10-day life. DEXCOM designed it so that sensors cannot be used beyond the 10-day limit even if they are functioning flawlessly. There is no justification for this, since when a sensor truly does run out of life (this has happened to me prematurely a couple of times), it simply drops the signal multiple times, making it clear that it is at the end of its life, rather than giving inaccurate readings. I routinely used the G5 twice its “normal” life, but DEXCOM made sure to fill that loophole when they replaced the G5 with the G6. Yes I use less strips with the G6 (certainly not 0 like one person on this site wrote), but that doesn’t begin to compensate for the increased requirement for sensor replacement (not to mention the huge increase in the amount of plastic waste associated with the G6 vs. the G5).
Thomas, I agree wholeheartedly with all your G6 issues as I have had the exact same things happen to me. Recently I called Dexcom because my G6 sensor was acting as though it was a G5. It kept wanting me to calibrate. They told me it is a known issue, but that it seems to not happen as long as you wait at least 15 minutes to start a new sensor after stopping the previous one. Ridiculous. And I seem to forget that every time. So, I have been wasting lots of strips lately. If you didn’t have to wait two hours to start getting readings, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to wait the 15 minutes. But, alas, after 54 years of Type I diabetes, I am eternally grateful for the advances in care, so I will quit complaining and move on. 😬
I first noticed discombobulated readings with Dexcom G6 when my sensor is within 24 hours of death. I assume each new sensor needs calibrating. Yes, YOU CAN prevent false lows that interrupt sleep. It’s a balancing act, isn’t it? You’ve got to avoid hypoglycemia to protect your prefrontal cortex, BUT false lows disrupting deep sleep and dream state are
an annoyance and can also to a lesser extent (?) be risky. Siestas, if you can take ‘em, will help. Or catchup naps on the weekend.
This week was not bad. Only two interrupted nights. I make sure my sugar is not dropping or in the normal/low range when I go to bed. If it is I make sure to have some fatty food possibly with a small amount of carbs that take a while to digest. I don’t remember being woken from high alarms.
I chose “1” but it may have been “0”. I have the night BGs controlled and seldom have lows or highs disrupt my sleep. Occasionally, I will eat too much after 9pm and overcorrect trying to keep the overnight BGs from going high (I use Sleep Mode on the TSlim so no autocorrections). That will cause a low about 2am.
Is 8 an option? 🙂
More than once per night. CGM saving me.
By my device 0, by my DAD twice. Way to go Mimi!
I woke because I forgot to press start on my new sensor and I regularly ck when I wake for anything, so had to run downstairs and find my code to enter, this is rare for me, very rare now I am in control IQ
Mostly to check bg……
I run a tight ship – narrow range of acceptability (60-120), so frequent alerts are par for the course. But I don’t mind. I do what i need to and fall back asleep.
Usually it’s no big deal, but this past week has been annoying as I’m not sleeping well either and usually I’m a great sleeper.
None. 0. Tandem CQI works for me!
I said 6, but only recently. Perimenopause is causing so many fluctuations that are difficult to predict. Before perimenopause i would have said 3
I can go weeks with no interruptions, but then I hit a night where I’m ready to throw everything out the window! The usual cause is constant low alarms. I’ve figured out that if my sensor is within about 12-24 hours of expiring, it sometimes gives me low readings. There have been times when I’m alarming that I’m in the low 60s, or even 50s, and when I use a meter I’m in my range…80s to 120s! And no amount of calibration will work. I’ve learned that if that’s the case, the first time it happens the sensor comes off until the next morning!
Tried calibrating two times? I’ve tried that and it helps to make sure the frigging Dexcom registers my input.
The alerts always have to do with “blocked insulin flow”. I simply disconnect my quickset and reconnect it and maybe move my pump around.
I routinely check blood sugar at night even without CGM alarming (and often take sugar or insulin to correct), made easier by my need to use the bathroom in the wee hours due to the necessity of having to stay well hydrated to avoid severe night leg cramps, as well as age. However, I find a particularly annoying aspect of the Dexcomb G6 CGM that I use is that sensors routinely display a severe, erratic dip during the first night of use, likely from pressure on the sensor. The last example on my current sensor was a reading of below 40 (‘low”) when my blood sugar was 85 by multiple finger ticks. Typical and annoying (particularly for my wife), since one cannot silence the alarms, even if one knows bogus readings are likely. And the “low” alarm is particularly annoying, as it is intended to be. After one day the sensor seems to settle down (in) and not give the huge bogus swings, but I do wonder how DEXCOM got this thing past the FDA when it shows such erratic behavior during the first day. Since I save all my CGM readings, I can document to anyone who cares that this behavior is not in my imagination. I wonder if anyone else has had this problem. The other annoying thing is that I find the G6 to be most reliable in the last few days of its mandated 10-day life. DEXCOM designed it so that sensors cannot be used beyond the 10-day limit even if they are functioning flawlessly. There is no justification for this, since when a sensor truly does run out of life (this has happened to me prematurely a couple of times), it simply drops the signal multiple times, making it clear that it is at the end of its life, rather than giving inaccurate readings. I routinely used the G5 twice its “normal” life, but DEXCOM made sure to fill that loophole when they replaced the G5 with the G6. Yes I use less strips with the G6 (certainly not 0 like one person on this site wrote), but that doesn’t begin to compensate for the increased requirement for sensor replacement (not to mention the huge increase in the amount of plastic waste associated with the G6 vs. the G5).
Thomas, I agree wholeheartedly with all your G6 issues as I have had the exact same things happen to me. Recently I called Dexcom because my G6 sensor was acting as though it was a G5. It kept wanting me to calibrate. They told me it is a known issue, but that it seems to not happen as long as you wait at least 15 minutes to start a new sensor after stopping the previous one. Ridiculous. And I seem to forget that every time. So, I have been wasting lots of strips lately. If you didn’t have to wait two hours to start getting readings, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to wait the 15 minutes. But, alas, after 54 years of Type I diabetes, I am eternally grateful for the advances in care, so I will quit complaining and move on. 😬
I first noticed discombobulated readings with Dexcom G6 when my sensor is within 24 hours of death. I assume each new sensor needs calibrating. Yes, YOU CAN prevent false lows that interrupt sleep. It’s a balancing act, isn’t it? You’ve got to avoid hypoglycemia to protect your prefrontal cortex, BUT false lows disrupting deep sleep and dream state are
an annoyance and can also to a lesser extent (?) be risky. Siestas, if you can take ‘em, will help. Or catchup naps on the weekend.
This week was not bad. Only two interrupted nights. I make sure my sugar is not dropping or in the normal/low range when I go to bed. If it is I make sure to have some fatty food possibly with a small amount of carbs that take a while to digest. I don’t remember being woken from high alarms.
I chose “1” but it may have been “0”. I have the night BGs controlled and seldom have lows or highs disrupt my sleep. Occasionally, I will eat too much after 9pm and overcorrect trying to keep the overnight BGs from going high (I use Sleep Mode on the TSlim so no autocorrections). That will cause a low about 2am.