Marianne de Nazareth who has lived with and managed diabetes for a long time, decided to try out the latest technology for diabetes management, the CGM or Continuous Glucose Monitor. She shares her experience here.
So here I was enjoying the company of 10 other writers in the friend's home one evening, when I noticed one of them kept touching her arm with her phone and only then agreeing to a drink or indulge in a snack. She told me - a person with long term diabetes about Continuous Glucose Monitor CGM and said, “Get it fixed and it will help you control what you eat.”
So, I called Suresh*, a support resource of a CGM maker – the number was given to me by my endocrinologist on request and that day he arrived home and fitted the little CGM sensor on my arm. Ït was painless and I felt I was wearing a trophy!
The next day we were driving to Goa on work, so I did not do my regular morning jogs which I do in Bangalore. Lucky for me I did not carry my swimsuit and so did not swim at all. While bathing I was very cautious, raising my arm and avoiding any splash of water.
“You can even swim with it Madam!” said Suresh but I am naturally cautious and the first-time round everything went well. I found the CGM sensor guided me on what to eat and what to avoid instantly and that was such a boon.
I was able to observe which foods I ate and whether they spiked my sugars or not. However, when I saw the spike went down after a while, I learned the foods (like upma) hit the red marker and avoided them and which did not cause any major jump.
I slept badly as I was all the time concerned about the CGM falling off. It was not a comfortable feeling at all.
Some of the insights I gained :
- With the CGM I learned that if my sugars are low when I wake and start my morning 2km jog. Then my sugars, instead of falling, rose higher. I was told that was the liver kicking in to help the body cope with the jog. For me I thought that the jog would automatically burn sugars. Made me read up on it and begin to jog half km more.
- With the CGM I realised that chappatis made out of dough kept overnight in the fridge had a lower glycemic index than freshly mixed dough. So, a chapati and an egg did not spike my sugars as I thought they would. That was great.
The CGM sensor lasts for 14 days. So, after the first fortnight was over, I decided to give it another go so I could learn more about managing my diabetes better.
The second time was different
However, the second time round was a huge disaster. And an expensive one too! 12 days ago, I asked Suresh to fit another sensor and he did. From the word go it gave trouble. I kept getting screens which said the CGM sensor was not able to scan, wait for 10 minutes while I waited for hours. I could see Suresh could not help me when I called him. All he said was did you knock it against the door? NO! I did not, I replied quite annoyed.
Then this time I was home in Bangalore, so I went for my regular morning jog. I did wonder how the thumping would affect the sensor, but I was assured, nothing could shake it. I was very unsure because taking off the first one was like Suresh said – peel off like a sticker! How could a jogging motion not affect it?
Then I got a call from my fellow diabetic friend in Goa who swims every morning in his home pool. “It fell off inside the pool, so I threw it out in 8 days!” he said, very annoyed. I was aghast as Rs 5000 is not a cheap throw out. As it is, persons with diabetes have to shell out heavily every month for our meds and monitoring.
Finally, yesterday after 12 days it fell off my arm. When I called Suresh, he sent me a picture of how the sensor is anchored down by another user with a large Band Aid trimmed to keep the sensor open and anchor it to the skin. “I told you to look after the sensor,” he says without batting an eyelid. He did not! They really should include clear guidance on how to look after the sensor, especially for those of us with an active lifestyle.
My takeaway
The CGM is great for us to know what spikes our sugars and avoid those foods. I am now aware of these. However, it is an expensive loss if its going to fall off my arm before the stipulated time and with no prior warning by the company. In fact, I was told that it would never fall off and not to worry. The company will not step in to replace it too.
It's an dicey investment that makes great conversation starters and allows us know the impact of our diet but I would not spend another Rs 5000 again to have it fall off and waste my money.
Related reading: Jayesh's CGM experience
PatientsEngage Note: In some reddit forums as well people point out adhesives to be a weakness
* Name changed
