[Cyborg]

I received my new pump on Thursday and had my training yesterday. I've been wearing the MM 722 with CGMS for about 24 hours now. It's definitely a change from the Animas 1250. Still getting used to it. I already have a few questions.

[notme]

Welcome back into the collective, cyborg. You have been missed.

[gettingby]

Glad to see you have gotten your re-assimilated behind back where you belong. You have been missed.

[Penny]

Hello Michael, How's our Emily Rose...oh and welcome back.

[Cyborg]

Thank you very much. Emily is doing very well, I'll post some recent pix soon.

On to the questions... How accurate do those wearing the CGMS feel the readings are?

The very first sensor I inserted never responded with the transmitter flashing lights indicating it was ready. After 2 hours, the trainer said to remove the sensor and put in a new one. The second one took, but after about an hour I got a sensor error alarm and called MM. After I answered some questions, they told me it was normal during the "settling" in period and to leave the sensor and transmitter in place.

I woke up about 4:30 am last night to use the rest room and I checked my bg on my meter and via the cgms. I was amazed they both matched perfectly indicating 88! Then this morning I was woken to a low bg alarm from the CGMS indicating 57. My meter verified with a 59. I was once again very impressed.

Later today, I left to do some shopping. I had my first low alarm (set for 60) on my way to the store. When I arrived I checked with my meter and I was 88. The alarms continued for 2 hours until I returned home as I pulled a no-brainer and left the house with a single test strip. Once home with another alarm from the CGMS indicating 47, I checked with my meter and this time I was low with a 63.

I did do a calibration this morning right after a small snack. Perhaps that was the cause of my problems. One thing that I noticed before bed was that when the CGMS showed a low reading and I wasn't low, that a calibration would not "adjust" the CGMS readings. I would have thought that a calibration would have forced the CGMS to align its reading with the calibration value.

I was curious what kind of experiences are others having using the system? Any tips for get the best results?

[morrisma]

Cyborg,
Post those questions! I have a 715 and hope to be 'assimilating' a 722 and cgms soon. Many of us will appreciate the info no doubt.
Mike

[morrisma]

Oops. Got that post in just AFTER you got the questions in.
Mike

[Keezheekoni]

The sensor uses your last four calibrations to figure out its basis for where your bg really is. If you calibrate while you are not stable, then the sensor is going to read you incorrectly.

The best way to remedy this is when you wake up in the morning, do 4 calibrations, 15 minutes apart. Do not eat or drink during that time.

I've also learned that inserting the sensor at more of an 80 degree angle works better for the sensor than the 45 they say to use. When putting in a new sensor, I'll actually put it in at night after a shower and let it stay in without the transmitter until I wake up in the morning. For some weird reason that seems to make the 3 hour warm up period go away.

[valc3]

Glad you're back Cyborg. You have been missed. Glad to hear Emily Rose is doing well. Can't wait to see pictures.

[poodlebone]

When I have a good sensor the numbers are always very close to my meter unless my numbers are changing rapidly. The sensor will usually read higher during exercise, for example.

I try to be careful about when I calibrate. I can often get away with doing it twice, before breakfast and before dinner, about 12 hours apart. I never calibrate if I've eaten or taken insulin in the past 2 hours and try to wait at least 3. If I was low and treated with some fast acting carbs I'll calibrate 30-40 minutes or so later if I have to.

Sometimes a sensor takes a long time to get "wet". You may end up getting a calibration error the first time you calibrate aft6er inserting a new sensor. Just turn the sensor OFF (on the pump) and wait another hour ot so and try again. The longer the sensor gets wet before attaching the transmitter, the better. I think the official MM manual says to wait 5 minutes before attaching the transmitter, but a minimum of 20 is better.

The transmitter should flash when you attach it to the charger, when you remove it from the charger and when you attach it to the sensor. If yopu don't see the flashing lights after attaching it to the sensor, do not tape it down. Remove the transmitter, wait a bit and reattach it. Sometimes if the sensor isn't wet enough it won't flash.

If you get two bad calibrations in a row the sensors will "end". Ignore it. Turn it off, wait awhile, and start all over.

You can tell if you'll get a good calibration by testing your BG and dividing it by the Isig. BG/Isig should be between 2-20. You may still get an error if you're too close to either end. If your BG divided by the Isig is not between 2 & 20, don't calibrate. It won't take.

Insert the sensors at more than a 45 degree angle. I try to aim for 60.

Do you plan on using the sensors for more than 3 days?

[mortis505]

Welcome back Cyborg. Good to see you again.

[davef]

Welcome back to the collective, we are one again. Congratulations on your new pump.

[Cyborg]

Thanks again and thanks for the tips.

The greater insertion angle and the BG/ISIG range tips were also provided by MM yesterday, so I'll try them next time. I pulled the sensor this morning and they are sending me 2 replacement sensors.

I woke up last night drenching wet. My bg had gone up to 178 and I had the high alarm set at 180 due to the variability. When I woke up the CGM was only reading 151, so I lowered the high alarm to 160 and recalibrated. Unfortunately, I recalibrated right after a correction bolus, so I probably threw the sensor off. After seeing it still off this morning, I decided to pull it and try again after my next set change.

This lead to 2 new questions... With the Animas pump, I had the ability to change the ISF when giving a bolus. As my insulin sensitivity changes with my bg, I'm jealous of the pumps that allow you to set a variable ISF. With the Animas I could manually change the ISF at the time of the bolus. Is there a way to do so with the 722?

Second question, is there a way to refill a reservoir without doing a set change? And is there a way to save any remaining insulin left in a reservoir when doing a set change?

[Subby]

Hi Cyborg. Change ISF on the fly: No I would love this feature, I would love to have a "temp ISFs" feature as well.

Refill reservoir: sure you can, just hang onto the "screw-in puller" and the "blue bit" and fill it up as if it was new. I refill up to 3 or 4 times often. And if there is any left in the reservoir it will become one with the new filling of insulin. If you don't want to do a set change, just don't change the set at the time, use your existing lead (or a new lead if you want new lead but not new set)!

Edit to add: of course make sure you refill the line, whether new or old, every time you do this. I thoroughly purge insulin through the line with a push from the screwy puller before inserting into the pump, to be sure there are no bubbles from the change of insulin.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Subby

Hi Cyborg. Change ISF on the fly: No I would love this feature, I would love to have a "temp ISFs" feature as well.

Refill reservoir: sure you can, just hang onto the "screw-in puller" and the "blue bit" and fill it up as if it was new. I refill up to 3 or 4 times often. And if there is any left in the reservoir it will become one with the new filling of insulin. If you don't want to do a set change, just don't change the set at the time, use your existing lead (or a new lead if you want new lead but not new set)!

Edit to add: of course make sure you refill the line, whether new or old, every time you do this. I thoroughly purge insulin through the line with a push from the screwy puller before inserting into the pump, to be sure there are no bubbles from the change of insulin.

So make sure to safe the plunger thing and the blue collar...

And when saving insulin from an older reservoir, I can hook up the old reservoir to my insulin vial and push the insulin back into the vial. Then disconnect the old reservoir and use the new reservoir/set to proceed as with a normal set change?