Sarah Howard
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.
Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.
I’m still using the Libre 14-day because it CANNOT ALARM! All those alarms give me anxiety after two pregnancies. There are certainly times when I wish my CGM could alarm, but I make do. Yes, I scan my Libre a lot, but I enjoy the peace and quiet, too. No alarm fatigue for me.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing.
I now use the Libre 2, but with a reader rather than my phone. Unlike the phone app the Libre 2 reader has an option to turn off all alarms.
My pump and phone are always on vibrate.
My alarms are already on vibrate, so unless it is an urgent low (unlikely to happen), nobody else knows about my alarms.
I normally keep my alarms on vibrate at all times. Should something stupid happen and my pump actually does put out an audible alarm. Answer it as fast as possible and hope it interrupts things less than the baby crying that someone else should have left at home.
I LOVED YOUR COMMENT!
All my alarms are already set to vibrate.
The only alarm I have on is high alert which never happens. Also if under 60 the alarm will sound. But I have numbers on my applewatch so I keep an eye on numbers.
I haven’t really felt the need to turn off or silence alarms. I keep an eye on the CGM though to try and head them off. There are a couple places I can think of that I would.
I put my phone in silent mode and keep it in my purse to muffle any CGM alarms and rely on my watch (Bluejay GTS) to check BG levels.
I keep it on
I chose “do something else”. All my pump alarms are on vibrate except for the Dexcom’s urgent low. I never turn my phone off but always turn off my phone ringer and I put my phone on do not disturb.
If anybody was to moan about my alarm alerting me that I was heading into a possibly dangerous medical event I would tell them “Oh, I am SO SORRY that my disease is annoying you”.
I always have my sounds set to vibrate. I turn my I-watch to theater mode.
Me too.
There’s a “theater mode” on an I-watch?! =:0 How cool!! I don’t have an I-watch, but maybe they’ll lead the way for other devices. 🙂
All my sounds come into my hearing aids, so no one else ever hears them.
Wish I could do that! Do you control sound levels thru a phone app? When purchased 2 yrs ago, told phone would stream calls thru aids, not happening.
I am rarely, if ever, in situations where I need to silence my devices. I could see myself turning the volume down on my phone. However, I doubt I’d do anything with my pump. I guess it would depend upon the circumstances.
I don’t go to many events where devices need to be silenced but I don’t normally change anything. Always thinking everything is in good control. Lol. Occasionally I have had it beep but I have it set to low volume and just a single beep so it’s never been an issue
I seriously annoyed the person sitting next to me at an opera by glancing too frequently at my lighted watch face to check my BG. When I explained to my brother why I wanted to switch seats with him at the break, he commented (loudly) that the guy might prefer having to step aside for the paramedics when they had to rescue me from passing out from a low BG. It did kind of spoil the event for me, but I’m not sure what else I could of done after a brisk walk up a hill to get to the opera house after eating an unfamiliar meal at an unusual time.
I may change my CGM low alert. I usually have it at 85 but I will lower it to 70, or even 60 if I know I have already taken steps to avoid a low if needed
I very rarely feel a vibration from the vibrate mode so I don’t typically use that setting.
Alarms already reduced to the most important ones like going low. All the ones that rise or high reminders are already off on my pump. Watch and phone are already linked to cgm, so vibrate is all I need.
I turned off my phone at a funeral I recently attended, and had taken steps to make sure my bg would be good for that hour. At an opera, I would turn it to vibrate.
Sometimes I do notify them that due to a medical condition I am unable to silence my devices. If I get a – then you must leave – I will silence what I can and excuse myself before any noise is made. I have noticed with my most recent Tandem pump replacement you can turn all alerts to vibrate. Not sure if it works like that but I do what I can to fix anything that may sound an alarm.
I have an iPhone and Apple Watch. I get a vibratory alert from my watch before my Dex or pump goes off so am able to silence any alarms that might happen.
My cgm does not have an alarm feature. My pump has no way to silence or turn off all alarms, so I put my pump control device in my purse and be prepared to respond as fast as I can.
None/Something else.
I always have mine silenced because I don’t mind a vibrate, but I hate hearing it scream all the time. So, unless it’s a critical low alarm, I am always set to vibrate for everything.
I am glad to turn my phone completely off. However, my cgm only alerts me through its scanner (libre), and that is left on.
Dexcom G7 has a silence feature that I use. It allows me not to receive any alarms but I’ve got my Apple watch to periodically check to be sure blood sugar is in range.
I’ve only experienced one time when there was a complaint…and it was during a medical appointment. The followup appointment after cataract surgery my CGM (Dexcom) kept warning of a low trend. I ate a couple gummies to avert the low, but by the time I was in the exam room, 40 minutes later than scheduled, I started getting severe low alarms. The staff member who had just started the vision test was extremely annoyed by the sound. He told me to turn it off and take it off. I explained what the alarm was, that I wasn’t going to remove it, and that I needed to very briefly reach my purse, where I had more gummies, to treat the low. He stormed out of the exam room. I sat there for maybe 10 minutes eating my supply of fast acting carbs before another staff person popped their head in the door to ask if I needed any assistance. By then the alarms had stopped and my glucose level was quickly raising from all of the carbs. I let her know that I was OK, that the exam could continue. The guy who had been so annoyed returned, rushed through the vision test and told me to go back to the waiting room. Five minutes later I finished the appointment by speaking with the surgeon. I mentioned to her that a staff member had been very annoyed by my CGM alarm. She was aware of that, no apology. Fortunately, that was the second of my two cataract surgeries and I’ve had no reason to need her services again.
That employee was WAY out of line. That is NOT patient care. He should have been fired for his extremely rude behavior. I’m glad it didn’t happen to me. I don’t think I would have been so diplomatic. I hope you find a different Ophthalmologist.
I put my phone into Airplane Mode and leave my pump alone. If it sounds off, I step out and take care of myself.
My old system, I would do anything and everything possible to avoid a low and turned all high alarms off. The plays I go see are in a small-ish venue and it would disturb the whole theatre if anything beeped or blurped or vibrated.
I have no idea (yet) how to turn things off on my new system… and being the complicated device that it is, there’s likely something I would miss. So, I haven’t been to a play recently.
I did not do anything when I had jury duty. I figured that it was better that I beep aloud there so that any trials could stop for me. But, I didn’t even make it into a courtroom, let alone on a jury panel.
In the past, I would also change my CGM (if necessary) and pump early to make sure there were no “you’re almost done with X” beeps.
Like others, I have alarm fatigue!
Yes, KarenM6, I too have alarm fatigue.
I was deleted from being called to jury duty many years ago because I am a T1D. I have not heard from a jury duty call since the 1980’s.
I will eat a glucotab to avoid a low.
I’m a professional orchestra musician, and loud alarms are absolutely not acceptable. I’ve done all of these strategies to avoid alarms, I’ve been successful so far, but it feels unnecessarily stressful and risky. I can always find a way to cope with or work around a low BG discreetly, but I could get fired from a job I really love for a single loud alarm. I keep hoping that pump manufacturers will let users sign a form to release them from liability and be given opt-in access to an “All-Silent-Mode” setting for work that would override every alarm. I understand this isn’t for everyone, but I’m probably not the only PWD with professional obligations who would be very grateful for this option.
I chose “None” because I normally have my alerts/alarms set to vibrate, so no change is needed. I only set my phone to “airplane mode” when in this type of situation.
I notify the theatre at least a week in advance of my situation – including the pump screen occasionally being on. Under the ADA, they have to allow me some reasonable accommodation. They’ve always been understanding.
I keep all alarms on vibrate due to my job as a nurse, so I do not have to silence anything.
Summoned to local jury duty, I am literally unable to silence the CGM re lows. Called the courts ADA (American Disabilities Act) clerk what the judge required for diabetes tech? She had no idea what it was, why I could not turn off the alarm, entirely clueless. Sigh…. Contempt of Court for Severe Hypoglycemia Unawareness has a nice ring to it don’t you think???
I was once dismissed from jury duty when I explained about having jelly beans with me to treat possible lows because “No food is allowed in court”.
As checked off, I turnoff my phone, however I always keep my “T” Slim pump alerts on. Thats tough “Do Do” if my beep bothers them!!!
On my phone I quit the dexcom app when I need to silence alerts.
I turn my blue tooth off because there is no way to silence some of the Dexcom and Omnipod 5 alerts. I just have to hope I don’t have any lows below 40 while my Bluetooth is off.