Dexcom G7: Upgrade Worthy?

The latest offering from Dexcom, the G7 has hit pharmacy shelves in Montana, which has some wondering; is it worth the upgrade?

I started my third G7 sensor today and so far, I like the 90 degree angle insertion and drastically reduced warmup time of 30 minutes. The G7 phone application provides a sleek display and more in-depth data to analyze blood sugar trends in three, seven, fourteen, thirty, and ninety day increments. In addition, the G7 has a built in transmitter, which eliminates the need to upgrade transmitters every few months.

Among the changes, I believe one that has been overlooked is the 12 hour, “grace period” after a ten day sensor session is completed. How many times have you had a sensor fail right before a big event or even a family dinner? No matter how well I planned a sensor change, it seemed to hit at inopportune times.

I’ve tried the, “grace period” twice and so far the sensor has not lasted much beyond 30 minutes. I either receive a sensor error or my blood sugar readings are completely off. Less than ideal? Yes, however it still provides time to make a change, and with a sensor warmup of just 30 minutes, I’m back online very quickly.

Overall I’m happy with the lower profile size of the G7 and the performance of the system. I’ll post updates as I continue to use the systems, especially during activity. A few items to consider:

• If you plan to integrate with a Tandem pump, make sure you upgrade your pump software. The upgrade was easy to complete and I’d suggest doing it on a cartridge change day as it will require a set change.

• Don’t forget, you need to start a new sensor session on both the G7 application and your Tandem pump. The sensor code remains the same for both devices.

• There are two different G7 sensors and one is compatible with Tandem pumps and one is not. When you pick up your sensors, double check to make sure you have the compatible version. Tandem compatible G7 sensors have a white line under the LBL code (photo below).

For me, the lower profile, elimination of transmitter changes, and quick warmup has made the upgrade more than worthwhile.