Dexcom Journey

Hi, Everyone!

 Welcome back! As the year 2020 comes to a close, I wanted to reflect on the biggest change in my diabetic life this year and that is my journey with my Dexcom G6. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a Glucose Continuous Monitoring System. That means I currently have something attached to my body, 24/7. Attached to my body is a sensor that you insert into your arm/stomach and it takes your blood sugar all day, every day, about every 5 minutes.. Each sensor lasts about 10 days and at the end of that 10 days you take it out and you put a new one on. In the sensor is a transmitter, that lasts about 90 days, and it is what sends your blood sugar numbers either to your receiver or an app on your smart phone, the transmitter moves with you from sensor to sensor. Now, most people are probably thinking, “that's a really good thing that you don't have to do as many finger pricks!” Well… yes, that is very true. However, for 18 years of my life, I didn't use one, nor did I really see the point in it because I'm someone who really hates having things attached to me constantly. I think that comes mostly from my younger years because I was always so afraid of others knowing that I was different or that I was diabetic (So stupid looking back now, but more on that at a later date). 

In recent years, I have become very comfortable with this idea of being type 1 diabetic and I don't care that others know about it or ask questions or want to know about it, I actually encourage it! So after years of being asked to try it by my doctor, I finally decided that maybe this year, where everything has been harder, let's try making it a little easier. Like I said, I don't like having things attached to me, so I knew it was going to be a challenge.

  I started this journey in April and the first few months were really rough. I hated having something attached to me, I felt like I wasn't trusting my body like I always had because I was being told one thing on my Dexcom and sometimes something completely different with my body. I felt like it wasn't something I could put my trust in, mostly because it was new, and I had been doing something a certain way for so many years. I mean, it had kept me alive this long, so why change it? The first few weeks I remember constantly looking at the Dexcom app on my phone. It was like I had to know at every second of every day what was happening, I don't know why because I've never felt that way before, but maybe just because now that I had the information so readily available to me, I felt the need to compulsively check it. That's not a healthy way to do it. You start to feel like you aren't doing things correctly because your blood sugar is going up or going down or you don't know why it's so steady and it puts you into a headspace that makes you think that you're failing. Let me tell you, that is not the case! If I have learned one thing in my years as a diabetic, it is that you are not failing. This disease is really hard and really complicated, so much so that most people will never fully grasp what your day to day life is like. You have good days and bad days and it's important to keep trying to do better and to keep yourself as healthy as you can. That's the goal, it's not to be perfect, it's just to be as good as you can be and strive to get better!

  I have had some issues with the Dexcom. A lot of it has to do with it being able to stay connected to my phone. I have opened the app many times to see that is has “lost signal” when my phone has been next to me literally the entire time, so I don’t know how I could lose that signal. That may have more to do with the age of my phone than Dexcom, but that is a big thing. I also wish it lasted longer than 10 days per sensor. Mostly because it sometimes takes 24 hours for it to accurately calibrate to my blood sugar, then I have I to change it out 9 days later and start all over with that process. Sometimes the adhesive wears down and you have to figure out ways to keep it on your skin, so you use it for the full 10 days. I will say, even with these “issues”, it feels really great having something there to help keep me on track, especially on the bad days. I think it has helped me become more in tune with my body, which is funny, since I felt like it was doing the exact opposite in the beginning. 

  As you could probably guess, these last eight months have been a challenge and a learning curve. The amount of times that I have hit my Dexcom on a wall or a door because I forget it's on my arm has been numerous. Well here we are months later, and I have to say I have become much more dependent on it than I ever thought I would. It has caused me to really look at the things I'm eating and how much insulin I'm taking. It allows me to make decisions in real time instead of just hoping for the best, as many diabetics know, that is what we do 98% of the time. Allowing help in these areas of your life is important because this disease can feel very isolating and feel like no one can really help you, but there are people and there are things, along with a community, that can help you!

  If you are someone who, like me, didn't really want to try something new or felt like you were doing just fine before, I would encourage you to take the risk and try a Dexcom or some other monitoring device and see if it helps or hinders you. For the first few months, I thought I would use up the first set of sensors that I got and then I would stop and be done with it. I didn't like it, I didn't trust it, and I thought it wasn't helping me the way it should. That may have just been my stubbornness and feeling like I have to do everything on my own. It really can help though, if anything, it can help you see what things hurt and help you and what you need to change to make yourself healthier and stronger. 

  This is just one of many glucose continuous monitoring systems that are out there, and I am only one person’s experience. If you have had issues with blood sugar management, with feeling like you don’t know how to help yourself, I encourage you to try something like this. If not a Dexcom, then find the one that best fits you! As with everything with diabetes, it is all a personal preference in what you like and what helps you most. Let me know what you use and have found the most success with because there are many, and I would love to hear about what others use! I am sure I will come back and write something else about my Dexcom or what else I am using, but for now, this has been my first step into the wide world of diabetic help and I hope to only become more aware of other things that can help me! Even though I have been a Type 1 Diabetic for 18 years, that doesn’t mean I am still not learning new things every day. Be open to new things, there is always more to learn. Let me know what you use to help make your diabetes more manageable! Include a comment on my Instagram or Facebook page, or contact me on my website! I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences! 

Keep going, you got this!

-Marlee