Moving to Dexcom one

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Ange74

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Hi I'm Angie and my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2021. He is struggling with it at the moment and he is being moved from Libre to Dexcom 1 as his Libre isn't always accurate so he pricks his finger constantly. He is having problems setting up the app for Dexcom on his phone as it says not compatible and I have tried it on my phone too and says the same thing. Can anyone tell me if there is a way around this as they changed his prescription and without the app it's useless and he no longer gets the Libre. I would appreciate any help with this as his anxiety is really bad.
 
This is one of the problems with Dexcom - the app is only supported on certain phones and if not supported on your phone, you cannot set it up.
I believe there is a reader or you could check out 3rd party unofficial apps like xDrip+ for Android.
 
Hi @Ange74 I too found the Libre very inaccurate. In the end I was fingerpricking all the time. I was swapped to the Dexcom G7 which is incredible. I have a reader for it, which is great - no issues at all. Ask if there’s a reader for the Dexcom One.
 
Hello @Ange74; I also found Libre 2 very inaccurate AND unpredictable. Once Dexcom One joined the NHS Formulary I changed onto that; it was better; but still not brilliant. I self-funded the G7 to prove to myself there was a CGM that could work for me and thereby prove to the Hospital there was a possible solution. The Hospital changed me onto G7 and I have a Reader as a back-up.

I have a Samsung A52S. Initially the Dexcom website said it was incompatible, but it wasn't; then the website said it was not tested by Dexcom. I found, amongst my family and their phones if the software installed onto the phone, then it worked; of course if it doesn't install you know you can't get started.

Can you and you son experiment with the help of fiends and/or family to find a compatible phone then search for a lowish cost refurbished phone?

Meanwhile my sympathies - I know how frustrating this all is. My 1st year with CGM was challenging! But it was still better than the year before that, when I could only finger prick and had no CGM. I learnt to mentally juggle with inaccurate displayed numbers; but I also learnt to manage sufficiently well from the displayed trend arrows - whichever were invariably accurate. If I wasn't falling steadily, no need to get stressed. Good luck.
 
Ange74 said:
Hi I'm Angie and my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2021. He is struggling with it at the moment and he is being moved from Libre to Dexcom 1 as his Libre isn't always accurate so he pricks his finger constantly. He is having problems setting up the app for Dexcom on his phone as it says not compatible and I have tried it on my phone too and says the same thing. Can anyone tell me if there is a way around this as they changed his prescription and without the app it's useless and he no longer gets the Libre. I would appreciate any help with this as his anxiety is really bad.
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Hi there, my son had the libre, found out he was allergic, went to Dex, he is currently on the dex G7 and he had an iPhone 11. flipping thing kept saying no data, i thought he kept turning it off to eat a snack ! Turned out his phone wasn't compatible so now had to get him the iPhone 13 !
really annoying as I'm still paying the contract on the i 11 ! and now this one too.
Really don't know why they issue the Dexcom's without checking what phones they have first.
 
Rachelj said:
Really don't know why they issue the Dexcom's without checking what phones they have first.
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At first glance, I absolutely agree with you @Rachelj. Alas, it is way more tricky than my first glance.

Personally, despite my own engineering background and former regular user of all sorts of tech, I am increasingly finding that seemingly 'clever' people are happy to produce solutions that are thoughtless for the user and underperform in practice. Secondly it is really challenging for a Health Care Practicioner (HCP) to keep abreast of the myriad of subtle but critical changes in the phone manufacturer's hardware and software. That is without the additional changes in operating systems and upgrades because these clever people write codes that are too easily 'hacked' by idiots and criminals for essentially malicious purposes. Thirdly, even when the CGM provider might have started with best intentions, they have put onto the "Health Market" a product that has had to go through a rigorous approval process; from that moment onwards even a small change to either improve their product or just keep up with the changing operating system changes is 'fraught', to say the least. The slightest change to the currently approved product needs to be re-appraised which takes time and costs money; at this point the cost overheads and financial overview overtakes any common sense about correcting, improving, upgrading etc of the original product.

Meanwhile HCPs are overloaded with patients, mostly with different needs in the details of their needs and varying degrees of understanding about what they have receiving from that script or what they need to know. They are prescribing a product for which the NHS process hasn't necessarily done its best "due diligence", and if it has there will be a volume of paperwork to read (and understand!) about the device - so (surprise, surprise!) the patient can be poorly served.

It's wrong, but sometimes inevitable. I'm not defending this and I personally am super critical of the constant flow (rather than trickle) of shortcomings: but by writing this catalogue of challenges I am attempting to manage my expectations, plus those of anyone who reads this. There are several forum members who can explain it all a lot better than I have.

The Libre Reader is a solution: it doesn't change and works regardless of phone and app software / hardware. But it's a crude, basic device that had a colour change in between Libre 1 and Libre 2 but remained otherwise unchanged: basic and crude. Dexcom Receivers are a little more modern and seem to be upgraded with each sensor new release. My G7 Receiver is continuous, works in parallel with the phone app and usefully independently; none of this Freestyle nonsense about activating the app and the Reader in a particular sequence. It allows some data to be logged such as meals and insulin; but nothing about activity - which is just as fundamental to how we metabolise food as part of our BG management.

My D Consultant last week reminded my wife that I make 350 decisions every single day of the year as part of my D management. A small no of those decisions are vital, most are more routine. Collectively they are extremely stressful. All the Agencies in this business of D management could do a lot worse than take this aspect of relieving stress on board and try a lot harder to get things right for the Patient, first time round. They are trying - you can interpret trying in different ways.
 
helli said:
I believe there is a reader or you could check out 3rd party unofficial apps like xDrip+ for Android.
Click to expand...
Also (again for Android only) there's a way to get the Dexcom apps but with the device checking removed (so it'll install and work on Android devices they haven't approved):
https://www.reddit.com/r/dexcom/comments/y4vixk/oc_build_your_own_dexcom_app_update_now_with_g7

Obviously neither of these excuses your healthcare team. They should have checked that you can actually use the sensors and offered a Dexcom reader if the phone's not supported.
 
@Bruce Stephens, I have a degree of suspicion about many of the social media apps - partly because they can sometimes promote rubbish and partly because they try to take over your phone if not your life! In your opinion is Reddit one of the safer sites to get onto? I appreciate one person's opinion doesn't fit all!
 
I used the 'build your own dexcom app' from reddit and it worked well for me for g6. In fact, i prefered it to the proper one as it doesn't have the annoying 'alerts' screen to click through, and it allows screen prints.
 
Sorry you’ve been left in the lurch by a phone compatibility glitch @Ange74 :(

Hope you are able to get access to a reader, or some help jumping through those technical hurdles.

Have you contacted Dexcom to ask their advice?
 
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