Ensuring silence with dexcom g6

[Tdm]

I'm wanting to go to the cinema/theatre, but i don't want my dexcom g6/ phone alerting or making any noise.
I want to be able to check my blood sugars, but with no alarms.
If i turn sound off on the side button of my phone, the alert just comes on at maximum. I had thought to keep headphones plugged in, so any alarms come through the headphones so silent, but i need a new phone and they lack headphone jack.
Any thoughts, other than leaving the phone at home and relying on test strips? (which i find a bit of a scary prospect as i have no hypo awareness)

 

[nonethewiser]

Not sure about unofficial app you use but on official app you can turn all alarms off.

Only other suggestion is run a bit higher than normal but increase high alert number & turn of rise & fall alerts, as back up you could carry bg meter just in case.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

You can customise alarms in the app. Just don’t forget to change them back again afterwards. Depending what phone you have you can also customise do not disturb settings to suit too.

 

[Tdm]

Not sure about unofficial app you use but on official app you can turn all alarms off.

Only other suggestion is run a bit higher than normal but increase high alert number & turn of rise & fall alerts, as back up you could carry bg meter just in case.

On my version you can't turn off urgent low, sensor failure, loss connection...
Its not just cgm noises, its other phone noises...i couldn't really relax if i though there was any risk of the phone making a noise and everyone turning to look....nightmare fuel
(Obviously going badly hypo is also scary but not, somehow, as much as a whole auditorium turning and tutting)
If you turn the whole phone off would that stop any noise? Still fairly new to mobiles....

 

[helli]

If you turn the whole phone off would that stop any noise? Still fairly new to mobiles....

If the phone is completely switched off, you would get no alarms. But you would also not be able to see any readings on your phone during the movie. Bear in mind some phones emit a sound when they start up.
I do not use Dexcom but all CGMS I have used contain a small memory in the sensor which will be uploaded to your phone when you turn it back on to give you history.

The other thing to consider is that cinemas are no longer the silent venues of the past. If your Dexcom alarm goes off, it is unlikely to be the only sound - there will be buzzes from other mobiles, there will be light from people messaging on their phones during the movie, there will be sweet wrapper rustling, there will be people talking, ... your sensor alarm will be lost in that noise and you will not get the whole auditorium turning and tutting at you.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

On my version you can't turn off urgent low, sensor failure, loss connection...
Its not just cgm noises, its other phone noises...i couldn't really relax if i though there was any risk of the phone making a noise and everyone turning to look....nightmare fuel
(Obviously going badly hypo is also scary but not, somehow, as much as a whole auditorium turning and tutting)
If you turn the whole phone off would that stop any noise? Still fairly new to mobiles....

I have a G7 through my android phone and had that same or similar problem that 2 or 3 alarms simply couldn't be silenced. I suspect its a Dexcom 'thing' where someone who is not D thinks we can't be trusted to make our own decisions! It's almost as stupid as not allowing an android user to take screen shots for so-called security reasons.

I now also have a Reader on prescription which I can mute or more readily turn off. Before I got the Reader I had a significant snack and bumped my BG up then fully closed my phone until an interval.

 

[rayray119]

I have a G7 through my android phone and had that same or similar problem that 2 or 3 alarms simply couldn't be silenced. I suspect its a Dexcom 'thing' where someone who is not D thinks we can't be trusted to make our own decisions! It's almost as stupid as not allowing an android user to take screen shots for so-called security reasons.

I now also have a Reader on prescription which I can mute or more readily turn off. Before I got the Reader I had a significant snack and bumped my BG up then fully closed my phone until an interval.

I thought they said you could slience allerms with dexcom g7.? Interesting that you found that not to be the case

 

[Proud to be erratic]

Just certain alarms @rayray119.

The Dexcom defined Urgent Low Alert @3.1 (why 3.1mmol/L? This is close to 56 mg/dl, so if a consequence of code from US software why 56?). On my android phone Dexcom specifically tell me it can't be turned off and although it can have the sound set at vibrate only. There is a snooze option but if the first snooze alert is not acknowledged it will by default go to sound (at full volume). There is also an option to use phone sounds, but Dexcom volume imposed overrides my phone mute settings.

Sensor fail is the other Dexcom fixed default.

But, rayray, as a consequence of your question, I have now found a somewhat hidden option to Silence All for up to 6 hrs. @Tdm do you have that hidden option? If you did you could mute your phone through normal settings and Silence All for a selected time up to 6 hrs?

 

[rayray119]

I must admit I went to the cinema on news years and didn't actually end up turning the allerms off perhaps I should have done.

 

[rebrascora]

I use the reader with Libre so whilst I turn my phone off I would not think of turning my reader off. It went off at the theatre last month but only myself and my sister and friend either side of me would have been aware of it over the music. Surely my health and welfare is more important that a couple of seconds of very minor distraction to those around me. If you are hypo unaware then that very short minor distraction is better than risking a hypo that might need assistance and/or paramedics.

 

[rayray119]

I use the reader with Libre so whilst I turn my phone off I would not think of turning my reader off. It went off at the theatre last month but only myself and my sister and friend either side of me would have been aware of it over the music. Surely my health and welfare is more important that a couple of seconds of very minor distraction to those around me. If you are hypo unaware then that very short minor distraction is better than risking a hypo that might need assistance and/or paramedics.

yeah i asked on Facebook group if people did before i went and they just said if anyone says anything just say its a medical derive. pherherps that would ber an idea @Tdm?

 

[Satan’s little helper]

I had thought to keep headphones plugged in, so any alarms come through the headphones so silent, but i need a new phone and they lack headphone jack.

Hello, I have at least 2 new devices without a headphone jack. But it is possible to get a usb conversion for corded head sets. Which might minimise alarm noise with corded “buds” coiled in your pocket with the phone?
Or you could tether a Bluetooth set. & pull the buds out of the charging case?

 

[nonethewiser]

On my version you can't turn off urgent low, sensor failure, loss connection...
Its not just cgm noises, its other phone noises...i couldn't really relax if i though there was any risk of the phone making a noise and everyone turning to look....nightmare fuel
(Obviously going badly hypo is also scary but not, somehow, as much as a whole auditorium turning and tutting)
If you turn the whole phone off would that stop any noise? Still fairly new to mobiles....

Sure I'd phone is switched off you won't get any alarms, but that seems extreme so why not just have phone on mute where it will just vibrate to alert you.

 

[rayray119]

Sure I'd phone is switched off you won't get any alarms, but that seems extreme so why not just have phone on mute where it will just vibrate to alert you.

I believe the urgent low soon alert overrides the sliant mode on phones. That what I've heard from others that use it anyway

 

[Proud to be erratic]

Sure I'd phone is switched off you won't get any alarms, but that seems extreme so why not just have phone on mute where it will just vibrate to alert you.

Simply to prevent misunderstanding - alas Dexcom have seen fit on the G7 (and I suspect the G6 also) to build a couple of seriously frustrating things into their android phone app. One is that, regardless of phone settings the app will sound at full volume the Urgent Low Alert for 3.1 and will snooze it and repeat if the alert is not answered. Neither the volume nor the value can be altered. However I found, today, a somewhat hidden override option for 6 hrs; otherwise only switching the phone off will prevent that alarm from sounding at 3.1.

The other frustrating thing is that Dexcom will not let anyone take phone screen shots for so-called security reasons. So I can't share on this forum a typical bad day (nor an unlikely brilliant Unicorn day). I also can not share by taking screen shots the route to the hidden override - just type the route.

This actually backfired on Dexcom last September, when I filed a formal complaint about their app unexpectedly closing down on me while I was in France and then their protocols refusing to allow me to re-install the app because I was not in UK. On my return to UK I eventually got to speak to an apparently senior manager in connection with my complaint; he initially felt sure I was doing something wrong but eventually conceded there might be a fault within their app, because I was overseas. I was asked for a screenshot of my app configuration details and I amicably asked (teased) him to tell me how to do that. After wasting 15+ minutes of his time, I explained to him that Dexcom don't permit screen shots - he went silent, checked with someone else and then confirmed this was a necessary security protocol. But he couldn't explain why such a security protocol was at all necessary!

 

[rayray119]

Simply to prevent misunderstanding - alas Dexcom have seen fit on the G7 (and I suspect the G6 also) to build a couple of seriously frustrating things into their android phone app. One is that, regardless of phone settings the app will sound at full volume the Urgent Low Alert for 3.1 and will snooze it and repeat if the alert is not answered. Neither the volume nor the value can be altered. However I found, today, a somewhat hidden override option for 6 hrs; otherwise only switching the phone off will prevent that alarm from sounding at 3.1.

The other frustrating thing is that Dexcom will not let anyone take phone screen shots for so-called security reasons. So I can't share on this forum a typical bad day (nor an unlikely brilliant Unicorn day). I also can not share by taking screen shots the route to the hidden override - just type the route.

This actually backfired on Dexcom last September, when I filed a formal complaint about their app unexpectedly closing down on me while I was in France and then their protocols refusing to allow me to re-install the app because I was not in UK. On my return to UK I eventually got to speak to an apparently senior manager in connection with my complaint; he initially felt sure I was doing something wrong but eventually conceded there might be a fault within their app, because I was overseas. I was asked for a screenshot of my app configuration details and I amicably asked (teased) him to tell me how to do that. After wasting 15+ minutes of his time, I explained to him that Dexcom don't permit screen shots - he went silent, checked with someone else and then confirmed this was a necessary security protocol. But he couldn't explain why such a security protocol was at all necessary!

you cant sliince alerms on dexcom g6 at all that was a thing dexcom said. that was a thing that people were saying was going to be a new thing 🙂(i happen to watch alot of diabetic youtubers which first started when i was dianosiged as it gave me comfort 🙂) 🙂

 

[nonethewiser]

Simply to prevent misunderstanding - alas Dexcom have seen fit on the G7 (and I suspect the G6 also) to build a couple of seriously frustrating things into their android phone app. One is that, regardless of phone settings the app will sound at full volume the Urgent Low Alert for 3.1 and will snooze it and repeat if the alert is not answered. Neither the volume nor the value can be altered. However I found, today, a somewhat hidden override option for 6 hrs; otherwise only switching the phone off will prevent that alarm from sounding at 3.1.

The other frustrating thing is that Dexcom will not let anyone take phone screen shots for so-called security reasons. So I can't share on this forum a typical bad day (nor an unlikely brilliant Unicorn day). I also can not share by taking screen shots the route to the hidden override - just type the route.

This actually backfired on Dexcom last September, when I filed a formal complaint about their app unexpectedly closing down on me while I was in France and then their protocols refusing to allow me to re-install the app because I was not in UK. On my return to UK I eventually got to speak to an apparently senior manager in connection with my complaint; he initially felt sure I was doing something wrong but eventually conceded there might be a fault within their app, because I was overseas. I was asked for a screenshot of my app configuration details and I amicably asked (teased) him to tell me how to do that. After wasting 15+ minutes of his time, I explained to him that Dexcom don't permit screen shots - he went silent, checked with someone else and then confirmed this was a necessary security protocol. But he couldn't explain why such a security protocol was at all necessary!

Mind it's not a bad thing if you can't override fall rate for safety reasons obviously. Not bothered about not being able to take screen shots, only people I share my data with is my diabetes clinic as they can look at it anytime they want without me being there.

Did you eventually find out why app shut down on you?

 

[Tdm]

I can do screen shots, but i use the 'build your own' version of the app.
Can you screen shot the reports out of clarity?

 

[Proud to be erratic]

No @nonethewiser and Dexcom were careful to not admit anything in writing despite some observations in a phone call. I did get 2 extra sensors for my trouble and a free Reader (c. £250 retail) to protect me when I next travel against something that apparently can't happen after Dexcom's original exhaustive tests.none

On New Year's Day my app froze again while in UK with the following message. NB this is one reason why it would be helpful to be able to take screenshots! From here the app was frozen and only Reset App was possible. Existing data is lost to the app and the reinstall took over 15 mins of tedious step by step processes including having to watch various videos that as a longtime user I did not need to see and should not have been made to watch and formally accept.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

you cant sliince alerms on dexcom g6 at all that was a thing dexcom said. that was a thing that people were saying was going to be a new thing 🙂(i happen to watch alot of diabetic youtubers which first started when i was dianosiged as it gave me comfort 🙂) 🙂

There are only a handful of alerts that can’t be silenced on iOS. Most of them can be silenced except urgent low, transmitter fail, and sensor fail.

And tbh I would WANT to know if I was dropping to 3.1 and an earlier treatment hadn’t worked when I’d felt the early tingles.