The CGM tri-lemma: Abbott, Dexcom, or Minimed?

After a year and a half on Abbott’s Freestyle Navigator Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, I’m back to square one. I loved my Abbott. Sure, it had its problems — a bulky transmitter, adhesive that refused to stick, an annoying tendency to reject new sensors. But seeing my blood glucose levels in near real time? Amazing.

So I was very sad when my Abbott receiver broke in the midst of my trip around the world. I had planned for such contingencies and actually had a back-up — but it broke, too. Then my transmitter cracked. I decided to stop wasting $75 sensors, wait till I got home, and then get them to send me a replacement.

Unfortunately, when I called Abbott to ask about this, I found out that they have not sent out any new transmitters or receivers since last May. Perhaps other readers know more about what’s actually going on, but my understanding is that there was some paperwork glitch with the FDA, and despite the fact that Abbott has the transmitters and receivers on hand, they are not able to send them out. Regardless of the reason, though, the fact remains: I can’t get a replacement, and no one can tell me when that situation might change. Instead, Abbott is offering a $2,000 refund for the receiver/transmitter, and $75 for each unused sensor.

I’ve pretty much decided to take them up on the offer. Yes, the prospect of getting pre-approval from my insurance company sounds dreadful, but since it’s a new plan, I might have to do that anyway. And I don’t want to keep waiting.

So here is my question to the SweetLife community: what are your experiences with the Minimed and DexCom Seven Plus Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems? I’m on a Minimed pump, so I’m tempted to try theirs since the numbers appear directly on the pump’s screen. But I’ve heard bad things about its accuracy. I was actually surprised to hear that DexCom, formerly the bottom of the lot, is now considered to be at the top (at least by my former diabetes educator). What are your experiences? In particular, how’s the DexCom’s accuracy? Comfort? (Those sensor wires look a lot more uncomfortable than the Abbott.) Adhesive?

I’ll post more information here as I find it, but in the meantime, I’m very interested to hear your thoughts. After several months without my CGM, I’m eager to stop driving blind.

Catherine Price

Catherine Price (www.catherine-price.com) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism

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Catherine Price

Catherine Price was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism