Comment by paulcole
2 days ago
> Glucose sensing on the other hand is a literal pain to test
I’d be hard-pressed to believe that someone trying the newest Dexcom G7 CGM would find it more discomforting than a mosquito bite. And for that literal pain you get 10 days of constant readings on your phone.
> I think demand would be high enough, even if they have to raise prices, that it would easily be worth it.
This is probably correct but I don’t think many non-diabetic people would see an actual benefit from CGM data. It’s the kind of thing people love to think is useful but in reality it’ll be just one more thing to ignore.
I have type-1 diabetes, brought on late in life after going through a miserable 2 years of stress after my wife was in a coma due to medical negligence. She came out of it, but the damage was done, she won’t recover, and she is a shadow of who she was. Prolonged extreme stress can trigger type-1 diabetes, and once you have it, you have it for the rest of your life.
Right now, I’m on glipizide which manages (along with a low-carb diet) the situation, but I need the GCM so I know when this “honeymoon” period (before I start needing insulin) starts to end.
Unfortunately I have an extreme needle phobia too. My insurance doesn’t cover the G7, just the G6, so I don’t know if it’s different, but if I try to apply the G6, my heart rate will massively speed up, I will start to hyperventilate, and typically pass out when I click the button on the applicator. I’m out for only a few minutes, but it’s not a pleasant experience… I have to make sure I’m lying on a bed to do it now, after learning the hard way that it’s possible to fall when just sitting down, and head wounds don’t stop bleeding when you’re unconscious.
I would dearly love the ability to measure glucose non-invasively. It’s actually nowhere near as bad for me if I don’t have to click it myself, but my wife wouldn’t understand what to do, and my son is too young for me to feel comfortable asking. Theres no-one else around to help, so sometimes I make a dr appt, for a 10-second “click”. Most of the time I just put up with it. The hope is that the phobia starts to diminish, but so far it hasn’t, and yes I’ve tried psychologists.
Every 10 days, and [sigh] as I write, I recall that today is the day. Again.
The G7 has a smaller applicator. To me it looks less "needly" than the G6 did. The libre applicator is even smaller. There's less of a need to look at the underside because the applicator is set on the skin without having to pull free the sticker. That could make it easier for you.
But obviously they all have a needle because they need to get something under your skin. Which is I guess what triggers you.
Doesn't really matter what the G7 offers, it's not covered by the insurance :( I was originally on the Libre-3 but they stopped making them (now it's virtually the same thing but called the Libre-3+ and my insurance doesn't offer that either, even though the difference is just in Bluetooth).
So G6 it is. And yeah, the difference between the non-invasive and invasive is what causes the problem. It's weird, I don't have any other phobias, but I found out about this one when we all stabbed our fingers to test our blood-groups in school. Fell off the stool in the lab, 14 stitches in my scalp. Not the last time, either.
I’m T1 as well and the G7 is night and day better than the G6. Total game changer for me.
Hopefully you get access to it soon.
> you get 10 days
Isn't that the key point and means Dexcom/Libre would cost you (or your insurance company) several thousands of dollars/pounds/euros/etc every single year. For many people they already have an iphone and just need an Apple watch which could last for several years.
Right… my comment was arguing against the assertion that testing is a literal pain, not a metaphorical pain in the wallet.
Yes, obviously if Apple could figure out how to get accurate BG numbers on an iPhone it would be better than the currently available CGMs.
> I’d be hard-pressed to believe that someone trying the newest Dexcom G7 CGM would find it more discomforting than a mosquito bite.
Not diabetic, but I've tried a set of two of these out of curiosity. The insertion pain is nothing, but having something bonded to your skin with adhesive constantly is kind of a pain.
I also got some irritation at the insertion sites around the 1-week mark, though that might have been because I don't have much fat on that area of my arm.
The market is likely for folks that are unaware that they have some glucose issue.
I agree with the idea that the market that this will be sold to is people who believe they will benefit from CGM data.
My point is that CGM data is very very very unlikely to change behavior in the overwhelming majority of people.
If apples app explains everything simply and factually, maybe users can set alerts if a meal spikes tbem more than a meal normally does. I don't know much about diabetes so flip that around if I said it backward.
I would have probably quit drinking alcohol a lot earlier if I had seen the hell it plays with sugars in your blood iirc.
Sometimes a notification that you did something unhealthy might be enough? Like my watch buzzes if it detects less than X steps in the last hour, tells me to get up. The app tells me I get to sleep too late most days.
If it told me that food I just ate is something I'll have to be careful with...
Huh? The G7 requires an app on your phone. Being slim and hitting muscle when using any kind of subcutaneous device burns like hell.
The CGM that wins is the one that doesnt stop working when batteries die. Or piercing the skin.