Follow My In-Progress Journey Below!

So I’m new to this whole blogging thing, but here’s my first try! Has anyone else worn three different CGMs at once before? Well, I did… for fun! At work, I was lucky enough to demo the Guardian Connect (Medtronic’s new stand-alone CGM system). I always wear the Dexcom G6 (my personal device) and had some personal Freestyle Libres in case of an emergency (like running out of Dexcom supplies too early… just happened recently!!!). I figured I would have some fun and wear all three CGMs at the same time for comparison.

Follow below for my experience using the Dexcom G6, Freestyle Libre 14 Day and Guardian Connect at the same time.

A final review will follow. Enjoy!

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22 hour update: Well I was planning on giving a 24 hour update with the three different 24 hour graphs but this will have to do. If you look at each graph closely, you’ll see the same pattern of a rise after many carbs at @barrio_tacos for dinner (even with pre-blousing and a temp rate increase for hours after- BUT ALWAYS WORTH IT 😋🌮) and another spike after breakfast/before the gym/ a bit after I put on my temp basal decrease. You also can see the drop after my cardio workout. All three CGMs definitely give insight into BG patterns! You’ll see some missing data on the Libre graph- I didn’t swipe for over eight hours while I was sleeping so lost that data. The Dexcom graph appears to show less dramatic spikes and drops though and Guardian appears to be more precise in the patterns when taking a closer look. However, I’m not finding the sugar IQ app (works in conjunction with the Guardian Connect) that predicts patterns in advance to be so helpful with proactive insulin adjustments on my pump yet- but my opinion might change! The app gives aggressive predictions based on only my sensor readings (no insulin, food or activity) which haven’t come true yet. Regarding accuracy, Guardian and Dexcom have both been within a couple points of my fingerstick readings and Libre has remained consistently higher by many points. By the way, I’m not used to pricking my fingers even twice a day anymore (due to usually wearing Dexcom G6) but the Guardian requires calibrations every 12 hours minimum- 3-4x/day for best accuracy, plus for this experiment I need the fingerstick comparison. Comfort wise, I can only feel the Guardian right now- it feels like it’s pinching me a bit but it’s not too terrible. Experiment to be continued on Monday after getting a new Libre sensor. Stay tuned for more fun 😁 #T1D #type1diabetes #diabetes #CGM #Dexcom #DexcomWarrior #DexcomG6 #FreestyleLibre #medtronic #GuardianConnect

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The tri-CGM experiment continues! Today, I had my labs drawn before lunch (when my BG was steady!) and my BG was 128! Libre was basically spot on but the other two CGM readings were still pretty accurate. Why does this surprise me? First, the Libre has been shown to be the least accurate of the three (if calibrating the Guardian three times per day- which I am). Next, it is only day one of my new Libre sensor. Typically, sensors are less accurate within the first 24 hours. Additionally, I had my HbA1c drawn today and it was 0.7% LOWER than the estimate based off of my Dexcom Clarity report- that’s crazy! But this alone would lead me to assume that Dexcom runs slightly elevated and not slightly lower… It was a bit lower than the Libre in this situation. Keep following— more updates to come! #t1d #type1diabetes #diabetes #type1 #type1warrior #cgm #freestylelibre #dexcom #dexcomg6 #medtronicdiabetes

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To be continued…

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