CGM Self-fund

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bigpurpleduck

bigpurpleduck

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi all,

Firstly, sorry for not participating in other threads recently. I've had a horrible week with the D and am beyond exhausted. Been up every 1-2 hours every night since Tuesday, and have had either several hypos or several highs every day. I feel awful.

Anyway - my question is, does anyone know how much a CGM costs to self-fund? I know my PCT will fund one for a few days, but I really don't see the point in this as my insulin needs change with the direction of the wind. I'm specifically wondering about the Medtronic CGM which bluetooths BG to the Veo. I had a look at their site, but it just said to contact customer services for prices and right now I just don't have the motivation to do so.

Many thanks 🙂
 
In a word, the answer is alot. Firstly you have to pay for the transmitter that sends the data from the actual sensor to yout pump. Even when I could have got it at a discounted price when I started pumping it was beyond my means. After that you have the cost of sensors which is quite something also.
Perhaps for further information give Medtronic a call?

Tom
 
Each sensor costs about ?37. They have just been licensed to be left in for 6 days.
 
Yep, the transmitter is in the hundreds of ?, and the sensors are about ?30 each.

Could you borrow the transmitter for a month and just pay for the sensors? Not exactly what you want, but might be some sort of compromise?
 
If you are considering self funding for the Continuous Glucose Monitoring aspect of the Paradigm?
VeoT System, the price of the Continuous Glucose Monitoring Starter Kit including the MiniLink,
download software, CareLink USB Adaptor and a box of 4 glucose sensors is ?250 when purchased
at the time of the pump (or ?535 if purchased at a later date). When used with the Paradigm? VeoT
System, sensors need to be changed every 6 days and the cost will depend on whether you wanted
to use these occasionally in order to immediately adjust insulin therapy when sick, exercising etc or
whether you wanted to aim to use sensors all of the time. A box of 10 sensors ?375.00 or a box of 4
sensors is ?160.00. Glucose sensors have a life of 6 months from point of manufacture so the 4
box should be considered if you are only anticipating occasional sensor use. Continuous use of the
sensors could cost as little as ?6.25 per day. The cost of the Paradigm? VeoT Insulin Pump is
?2,850.00
This info is from medtronic as I emailed them a couple of weeks ago.

The Dexcom 7 is renowned for being more reliable with better cgm results.
http://www.advancedtherapeuticsuk.com/home
Some people have made their sensors last a month 😱
http://www.input.me.uk/continous-glucose-monitoring/ the navigator is here as well.
 
Last edited:
Pumper_Sue said:
Some people have made their sensors last a month 😱
Click to expand...

Can I just ask where you've heard that? I'm pretty interested in the Dexcom but know the sensors cost ?60 each, obv making it more expensive than the Medtronic sensors, but if they last a month then obv they are wayyyy cheaper in practice.
 
shiv said:
Can I just ask where you've heard that? I'm pretty interested in the Dexcom but know the sensors cost ?60 each, obv making it more expensive than the Medtronic sensors, but if they last a month then obv they are wayyyy cheaper in practice.
Click to expand...

Hi shiv,
People on other message boards are saying this 🙂 So it's the users not anyone with a financial interest. 🙂
 
Oh yes I thought you meant people using them, I think officially they are okay-d for 7 days at the moment. It does make them more appealing hearing people have made them last so long.

Basically I have a tiny bit of inheritance left and I've always promised myself I'll save it to go travelling at some point, but now I'm leaning towards putting it towards a CGM and occasionally self funding one...and obv would want to get the max amount of time out of each sensor. So yes. Something to think about.
 
Hopefully Shiv, CGM will be available on the NHS in the near future.
I am working on a case for having CGMS from my PCT now. But suspect pigs might fly before it's forthcoming :(
 
I bought a Dexcom last year. It cost ?875 or ?975 I think for the transmitter and receiver and ?240 for 4 sensors. I am no longer using it though. I tried everything to get the sensors to stick to me for more than a few days. As soon as they started to come off the results would be inconsistent or completely wrong and most of the time didn't register at all. I rarely got one to last 7 days even. It was a very expensive outlay and I am very disappointed.
 
Donna said:
I bought a Dexcom last year. It cost ?875 or ?975 I think for the transmitter and receiver and ?240 for 4 sensors. I am no longer using it though. I tried everything to get the sensors to stick to me for more than a few days. As soon as they started to come off the results would be inconsistent or completely wrong and most of the time didn't register at all. I rarely got one to last 7 days even. It was a very expensive outlay and I am very disappointed.
Click to expand...

Hi Donna, have you tried sticking tape on top of the sensor or using skin tac to stick it down?
 
Im glad Ive read this- seems Ive done exactly the same research!

last week I phoned Medtronic to ask about self-funding the CGM and nearly fell of the chair, I knew it was expensive but this was quite a shocker. Especially as you have to pay out so much for the starter kits.

I also enquired about the Dexcom. They didnt call me back! Shame. I met someone with one last week (a silver durfer with a zimmer! she was great!) who rated the dexcom. She had bought it from America online. My only disapointment on viewing the Dexcom was the size.

Shiv- et al- if you can view one before you decide to make the purchase, defo worth it. My silver-surfer had it in a spi-belt, but I personally need to think more about whether carrying one more device attached to me is carry one more too many.......if you get what I mean.

Shame we cant sort out a dexcome time share 😉
 
Donna said:
I bought a Dexcom last year. It cost ?875 or ?975 I think for the transmitter and receiver and ?240 for 4 sensors. I am no longer using it though. I tried everything to get the sensors to stick to me for more than a few days. As soon as they started to come off the results would be inconsistent or completely wrong and most of the time didn't register at all. I rarely got one to last 7 days even. It was a very expensive outlay and I am very disappointed.
Click to expand...

Hi Donna,
Were you covering the sensors with a tape or tegarderm - it is unusual to have them come off. We self-fund sensors and the transmitter is around 450 and the sensors are 35 per week - but we dont use them every week as Alex doesnt really like them - so try to use every other week. I have heard that some sensors can stay in for longer than the 6 days - but the trouble is that they then cause infections and send levels high - we cant do more than 5 or 6 days on a Medtronic CGM as Alex gets infections and it irritates his skin. I have to say though, that using sensors is brilliant and it gives you an insight into what is happening when you are not testing and it helps to build up a pattern to enable you to make a change. I have heard that the dexcom is the most accurate and also that there are new Medtronic ones coming out in March or April that will be easier to insert - more like a mio.🙂Bev
 
I tried everything to make them stick, Tegaderm patches, flexifix, skin tac. It would work for a while and keep the edges stuck but once the sticky stuff on the pad started to give up around the actual wire, the wire started to move about and it could get any results. I would just keep getting ??? every time I moved. Even getting up to make a cup of tea!! Very frustrating, I just couldn't trust it to give me results when I wanted them.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
If you are considering self funding for the Continuous Glucose Monitoring aspect of the Paradigm?
VeoT System, the price of the Continuous Glucose Monitoring Starter Kit including the MiniLink,
download software, CareLink USB Adaptor and a box of 4 glucose sensors is ?250 when purchased
at the time of the pump (or ?535 if purchased at a later date). When used with the Paradigm? VeoT
System, sensors need to be changed every 6 days and the cost will depend on whether you wanted
to use these occasionally in order to immediately adjust insulin therapy when sick, exercising etc or
whether you wanted to aim to use sensors all of the time. A box of 10 sensors ?375.00 or a box of 4
sensors is ?160.00. Glucose sensors have a life of 6 months from point of manufacture so the 4
box should be considered if you are only anticipating occasional sensor use. Continuous use of the
sensors could cost as little as ?6.25 per day.
Click to expand...

Many thanks to all, especially Sue.

More thoughts? I want one. But it's insanely expensive, and we can't afford it right now.

Does anyone know if there are implications with the NHS funding my pump if I self-fund a CGM? Will my DSN & consultant still advise on on basals, etc?

Clearly need to start playing the lottery on a regular basis.
 
Does the accompanying pump respond to the data from the cgm, if not its not really a long term solution is it.....or is it...?
 
novorapidboi26 said:
Does the accompanying pump respond to the data from the cgm, if not its not really a long term solution is it.....or is it...?
Click to expand...

The Medtronic Veo, when used with a CGM, responds if BG levels fall below a certain level (determined by the user) - it cuts off insulin for 2 hours. Obviously, the insulin can be restarted at any point before the end of that 2 hours, it's designed to be a safety net for people who hypo during the night.

The artificial pancreas is the next step, in which the pump and CGM would 'talk' constantly and would use insulin and glucose to balance glucose levels.

CGM can be a very long term solution, particularly if you have say no hypo awareness - they can alert you to falling levels. What makes you think it isn't long term? I know I'd love one if I got the chance (I'd love a cure more, but I'll take what's available).

Emma - there's no reason why your consultant and DSN should stop advising you if you self fund CGM. There are some parents on the CWD who self fund CGM and they certainly still get all the advice they can get from their teams.
 
Hi Emma

You might want to PM the delurking Alison (of Shoot up or Put Up) who began posting here a few weeks back. Either that or just check out her blog which details how she managed to successfully secure funding for her Paradign pump/CGM combo.

I don't think it's easy by any stretch, and I have no idea whether being in Scotland would make it easier or even more impossible, but I'm edging around the whole pump/cgm question myself with my team at the moment (new consultant has taken over in the hospital and I'm yet to have met her to see what her views are on the subject).

Have you had the CGM for the week or whatever? If it were available to me I'd jump at that first so that a) I could see what it was like and b) I'd get some 24 hour results even if only for a few days.

Good luck with it.

M
 
i only ask as the cgm allegidly has a delay from the real blood sugar swimming about....so for avoiding hypos yeah......🙂

but i suppose any delay be it constant or variable could be compensated for with the pump computer........:D
 
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