Living with Type 1 diabetes involves managing the routine tasks of daily care, where it’s all too easy to slip into ‘comfortable’ patterns. Yet, the arrival of new technology such as Dexcom G7’s enhanced alerts presents an opportunity to shake things up and refresh our approach to care.
Disclosure: This article reflects the ideas and opinions of Connected in Motion, however, it is important to recognize that Connected in Motion works closely with the team at Dexcom Canada as a sponsor. The content will compare Dexcom G7 and its innovative features with Canada’s currently available CGM technologies and it is essential to recognize the nature of our partnerships. We invite readers to visit our Partners Page to understand more about the organizations that support Connected in Motion.
In this article, we delve into Dexcom’s latest innovation – the G7 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system – specifically exploring Dexcom G7’s enhanced alerts features that have the potential to transform our experiences of living with T1D. Whether it’s minimizing disruptions during important moments or providing advanced warnings of potential lows, these alerts are designed to empower us with timely insights and interventions.
Let’s walk through the alert settings together:
- Open the Dexcom G7 app (download instructions here):
- Click Profile → Alerts → Primary → Glucose Alerts
Now let’s take a look at what some of these alerts mean:
→ Urgent Low
This alert notifies you when your sensor reading is at or below 3.1 mmol/L. While it cannot be disabled, the G7 grants users the ability to customize sound/vibration options (figs. 1 & 2) and snooze options (fig. 3).
Figure 1. Choose how your alert notifies you: sound, vibrate, or match phone settings.
Figure 2. Customize your alert sound if desired.
Figure 3. After you acknowledge your first alert, it repeats if your sensor reading stays urgently low for 30 minutes. This setting can’t be changed.
→ Urgent Low Soon
This alert notifies you when your sensor reading is projected to reach 3.1 mmol/L or lower within 20 minutes, empowering proactive management. Users can customize sound/vibration and snooze options and have the flexibility to disable this alert (fig. 4) if desired.
Figure 4. You can disable the Urgent Low Soon alert by toggling it off.
→ Low
Alerts you when your sensor reading is at or below your set threshold (fig. 5). Users can customize sound/vibration and snooze options and have the flexibility to disable this alert if desired.
Figure 5. Set your threshold anywhere between 3.3–8.3 mmol/L.
→ High
Alerts you when your sensor reading is at or above your set threshold (fig. 6). Users can customize sound/vibration and snooze options and have the flexibility to disable this alert if desired. Additionally, the G7 introduces the innovative Delay 1st High option (fig. 7), allowing users to postpone notifications until glucose levels remain elevated for a specified duration, minimizing unnecessary alerts.
Dexcom’s enhancements to their CGM glucose alerts result from actively integrating user feedback into their designs. For example, the introduction of the Delay 1st High option emerged from insights shared by users who acknowledged that post-meal spikes might not always require an immediate high alert. However, they still desired high alerts if elevated levels persisted, indicating a preference not to entirely disable their high alert notifications.
Figure 6. Set your threshold anywhere between 5.5–22.2 mmol/L.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
→ Rising Fast
→ Falling Fast
Dexcom G7 introduces customizable thresholds for rapid changes in glucose levels (fig. 8), offering heightened awareness and timely intervention. Falling fast, for instance, may trigger an alarm when BGs are crashing during exercise, but not when creeping low ahead of a meal time.
Figure 8. Choose when to be alerted when falling or rising fast.
Profile → Alerts → Quiet Modes
With the quiet mode feature (fig. 9), users can silence their CGM for up to 6 hours, ensuring uninterrupted moments during important events or periods of rest. For safety, Urgent Low and Sensor Fail alerts remain turned on in quiet mode.
Figure 9. Quickly change your alerts to be more discreet. These override your phone sound setting.
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As we explore the advancements of Dexcom’s G7 technology, let’s take the opportunity to optimize our diabetes care!
For further assistance or technical support, reach out to Dexcom’s dedicated team:
Visit their website here and click Support → Contact Us. Scroll down to Dexcom Care to call, email or book a training session with the Care team!
