How continuous glucose monitors work and much more

🤔 What is a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM)?

A Continuous Glucose Monitor, or CGM, is a small device that helps people with diabetes track their blood sugar levels throughout the day and night. Unlike traditional methods that require frequent finger-prick tests, CGMs like the Dexcom G6 automatically update your blood sugar readings every few minutes, making it easier to manage your diabetes. 🩸📱

🔍 How Does a CGM Work?

A CGM has three main parts:

1. Sensor: This tiny device is inserted, leaving a plastic cannula under your skin that measures the glucose (sugar) levels in the fluid between your cells. This fluid is called interstitial fluid. 💉
2. Transmitter: The sensor sends the glucose data to the transmitter, which is stuck to your skin. The transmitter then sends the data wirelessly to your phone, smartwatch, or Insulin pump 📡
3. Receiver/Device: The device, such as your phone, shows the glucose levels on a graph, updating every few minutes. This way, you can see if your blood sugar is going up, down, or staying steady. 📊

Some CGMs, such as the Dexcom G6 and Freestyle Libre 2 can connect to a variety of insulin pumps creating an automated delivery system. This is better known as ‘Hybrid closed loop’ or ‘Closed loop system’. Depending on the technology in use, insulin can be increased, decreased and suspended to help the user better manage their diabetes and increase their time in range. 

💪 Benefits of Using a CGM

🖐️ Less Finger-Pricking

With a CGM, you don’t need to poke your finger 30 times a day to check your blood sugar. The CGM does it for you. 🖐️➡️🤏

🧠 Better Understanding of Your Body

CGMs give you a lot of data. You can see how different activities, foods, or even sleep affect your blood sugar. This information helps you make better decisions about your care. 🧠

🎢 Avoiding Highs and Lows

If your blood sugar tends to swing up and down a lot, CGMs can help you notice patterns. For example, you might see that your blood sugar rises when you’re stressed or drops after exercise. You can then adjust your care to avoid these extremes. 🎢

📉 Improving A1C

The data from a CGM can help you keep your blood sugar in a healthier range more often, which can lead to better A1C levels (a measure of your average blood sugar over three months). 📉

Life-changing for those with impaired hypo awareness

CGM systems offer customizable alerts to notify you when your blood sugar levels are at risk of falling too low. You can also connect your CGM app with friends and family, allowing them to stay updated and provide support during critical low glucose events.

🤔 Is a CGM Right for You?

Only your doctor can answer this question, but CGMs are generally helpful for many people with diabetes. They make monitoring easier and can give you peace of mind. However, they aren’t perfect. Sometimes, the CGM might give a reading that’s not accurate, and you’ll still need to do a finger-prick test to double-check. 🔍✅

🧪 How Does a CGM Measure Glucose?

Once a CGM is inserted, it leaves a tiny plastic cannula under the skin which detects glucose levels in the interstitial fluid. Interstitial fluid is the clear fluid that surrounds your cells, acting as a bridge for exchanging nutrients and waste between your blood and cells. Since CGMs measure glucose in this fluid rather than directly in the blood, their readings might sometimes be slightly different from blood test results, especially if your blood sugar levels are changing quickly.

💰 What Are the Costs?

Well, they can be pretty expensive, and it depends on where you live. In the UK, you can now get a Freestyle Libre (this is not a CGM, but it's extremely similar) on the NHS, owing to new NICE guidelines. However, most diabetics will have to pay privately if they would like a Dexcom G6. If you have specific needs and are lucky enough to live in a postcode where that CCG or trust has direct funding, you can also get an insulin pump and other tech on the NHS.

For example, in Kent, there isn't much funding for insulin pumps. However, there is a dedicated specialist hub for insulin pump therapy in London, so patients often refer themselves there to get the treatment on the NHS.

Suppose you are in a country with private healthcare, like America. In that case, it's more complicated, and you'll have to go through insurance or pay privately. Combinations of care, like an annual setup of a Dexcom G6 + Omnipod Pump, will set you back over $5,000 personally per annum before we include the price of Insulin and other consumables. Terrifying.

You might also have to buy a reader or receiver if you do not have a compatible phone or smartwatch, which are generally a few hundred £/$.

There are also associated running costs with CGMs. Some skin types or lifestyles will not work well with CGM adhesives. If you cannot comfortably replace devices, you'll want to protect your skin, device, and wallet with an over patch. Type One Style adhesive patches are the only medically rated fabric in the world at present, which go around your CGM and protect it from coming off. The protection from the adhesive patch means that you can focus on living your life while passively shielding your CGM. 

Lastly, you'll want clinical backing to get your CGM. When you're going into your endocrinology appointment ready to defend your request for a CGM, or even a pump, you'll need some support. It's beneficial to get approval from your nursing team or another vetted clinical opinion that affirms it is indeed right for you. This clinical opinion is essential because CGMs and pumps are not suitable for all patients.

🏷️ Popular CGM Brands

Here are some popular CGMs:

• Dexcom G6: Updates your glucose levels every 5 minutes. Suitable for people over the age of two.
• GlucoMen Day: Lasts 14 days and is for people over six years old.
• Medtronic CGMs: Can be used alone or connected to an insulin pump.

🛡️ Protecting Your CGM

Since CGMs are expensive and important for your health, it’s crucial to protect them. Some people use special adhesive patches to keep the sensor in place, especially if they have active lifestyles. 🏃‍♂️

🤝 Should You Get a CGM?

Deciding to use a CGM should be a discussion between you and your healthcare provider. While CGMs offer many benefits, they might not be the right choice for everyone. Your doctor can help you figure out if a CGM is a good fit for your diabetes management plan. 🩺💬

In Summary 📝

CGMs like the Dexcom G6 can make managing diabetes easier by providing continuous updates on your glucose levels. They offer a lot of useful data that can help you understand how your body responds to different factors. However, they come with costs and aren't perfect, so it's important to talk to your doctor to see if a CGM is right for you. ✔️

Protecting your CGM:

As a trusted provider of patches and stickers, we're on hand to advise and support you at every step of your journey. You can explore designs and styles from the menu or by clicking here :)

 This information is a guide and might not be explicitly helpful for you. Your friends might be mean or a whole range of things that we, as authors, cannot possibly predict or cater for. This is a guide designed to inform and help those struggling with this topic and no other audience. This guide is also to help non-diabetics understand the perspective of a T1D when this question is asked. The content of this guide is not a reflection, inference, or comparison in any way or form against your circumstances or your understanding of general T1D audiences and groups or your friendship group. If you have taken offence to this guide, please write in detail to hello@typeonestyle.com. We appreciate and explicitly action all constructive feedback.