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If you’ve had the continuous blood glucose monitor, what are the pros and cons of it?
Question : If you’ve had the continuous blood glucose monitor, what are the pros and cons of it?
My blood sugars have been so bad for a while now that my doctor recommended the continuous blood glucose monitor. It’s the Minimed version I believe.
So what are the pros and cons of this? I will be trying it out eventually obviously but won’t be getting it for about another month now. What do you think of it?
Thanks!
blood glucose monitor
Best answer:
Answer by Annie
At this point in time there are more cons than pros….unfortunately.
With the present home meters we use today (and it doesn’t matter which one) all we can determine is what our blood sugars are at random readings with about a 10% rate of inaccuracy, either up or down. The big drawback is that no matter what the reading is (high, low or normal) , we don’t know if that number is on it’s way up or down, unless your willing to check every 1/2/ hour on a continuous basis, I don’t know many people that are willing to do that, for obvious reasons.
The pros are that we would be able to determine with more accuracy which way our numbers are heading (up or down).
I don’t know a lot about the device called a “glucowatch” but that’s where manufactures and the FDA need to put more resources so it can provide accurate results for us, and it doesn’t have to be in the form a a watch.
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#2 written by Roxie 1 year ago
Pros-It will help keep track of your numbers more often but you still need to check your sugar 4x a day so the sensor is calibrated correctly. It alerts you when your blood sugars are going out of range.
Cons-Its really expensive, especially if insurance won’t cover it and it is still pricey if they do. You can call Minimed and ask them about what you would be paying. You would have a second device hooked up to your abdomen, not sure how you feel about that.
I am in the same situation about getting one but the thing stopping me is the price because I am on tight budget because I am going back to school in a month. At my doctors office they had a CGM and I was able to try it for a week to see if I even liked it.
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#3 written by Adenaike 1 year ago
Pros of monitoring your blood glucose level always will keep you healthy and reduce the risk of been cautious.
When your blood glucose is normal then your body will function properly.
The cons of not monitoring your blood glucose level is that this can lead into unhealthy and even untimely death.
It is better to always check your blood glucose level so as to know when you will need medication.
Stick to your doctors instruction always if you want to remain healthy. - Comment Feed for this Post
This is an excellent question. The positive point is that you do not need to lance your finger or forearm. The negative is that we do not have good data on using such glucose values to determine how to adjust your insulin. I think it is still a valuable tool but it may not eliminate the need for you to check your capillary (finger-stick) glucose from time to time. With every 3 month visits to your physician the A1C may be of benefit but it only determines the average rather than the range. The point is that if your glucose is ‘too high’ half the time and if it is ‘too low’ half the time the A1C will be within the normal range. Nonetheless continuous glucose monitoring remains a useful method of monitoring your glucose if you check the readings frequently. If you do not check your readings frequently then the continuous glucose reading will have the same short comings as the A1C as referenced above. I wish you the very best of health and in all things may God bless.