Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ralph on November 22, 2011 at 5:15pm

Gos-I agree there are plenty of sensors that i don't get even 10 days out of (and as mentioned above I don't fight hard to keep restarting electrodes). Some give a very shaky line that I don't trust even after the first restart so i get rid of them but others run for a long time as stated above. (I only got one to run over a month tho which was a highly unusual length of time). I think it is luck of the draw! Perhaps some batches of 6 are better than others. Also I think on some insertions the electrode may cause a little bleed around the tip (just by hitting a tiny capilliary etc) and I get the impression this makes the first run less reliable than usual - but then the electrode lasts longer and improves as the blood clot surrounding the tip adsorbs so you may then get more length out of it. (But all this may be rubbish and it is in fact down to just luck with some electrodes restating more times than others by chance??).
Control is by following Dr Bernstein pretty much to the letter (buying his book from Amazon was one of the best things I ever did!) so no milk and no carbs except salad / green veg. Not sure if living on meat/fish/eggs/green veg/avocado and occassional rhubarb and double cream is doing me any good but it does allow tight glucose control which wavers the minute I eat carb. It seems there are plenty of eskimos who manage on few carbs and it seems to have worked for Dr B too (tho I am sure his strong daily exercise programme helps him too!) so for the present I hope to continue with it as long as I can!
Great to hear how others are getting on with the Nav - and also to hear that having an Omnipod on the same arm is not a problem (am still wondering re getting a pump tho OK with injections at present) . With best wishes, Ralph

Permalink Reply by Jgos on November 26, 2011 at 4:42pm

Ralph

Just got Dr Bernstiens book. Very different approach to what I am use to. Maybe thats the point. I seem to need Carbs even when not exercising. My cylcling is important but I know now that the liver dump you get after a ride has to be combated by an extra bolus. Still difficult to deal with.

I am on the second cycle of my sensor at the moment and its pretty crap - might change to a new one in the morning.

Gos

Permalink Reply by MaryMary on November 27, 2011 at 7:00am

If you need carbs when not exercising, your basal dose may be too high. You should be able to fast and not go low if your basals are set correctly.

Permalink Reply by Todd on November 30, 2011 at 2:03pm

I think it is just the US FDA that is stopping Abbott. I live in Cincinnati and last month I bought the Freestyle Navigator 1.5 from France for $2,500 and had it illegally smuggled in. It starts reading blood sugars in 1 hour and is AWESOME!! I called Independence Medical and bought 20 boxes of sensors for $7,000 because I heard as soon as the medical suppliers in the US are out of sensors, they will only be able to be obtained from France, Israel (France and Israel are the only two countries that use our measurement system), UK, Germany, and I think 5 others. If the FDA has a problem with this and wants to take this away from me, they will have to send a large team of men to my home with guns in both hands..... and then they will have to send for back up! They will still not be leaving with my Freestyle Navigator 1.5. The crazy thing is the Freestyle Navigator 1.5 I bought in France was made in California, but because of the FDA, it can only be sold in other countries. I also paid $2,500 instead of $1,200 if I was able to buy it in the US.

Permalink Reply by Kat1997 on January 11, 2012 at 1:01pm

i've been waiting since august of 2010 for another system or a refund and have not gotten anything. i dont even get a letter stating what is going on all i get told is that they r on back order and am still waiting to know what they r going to do. i guess they think they can steal my money and get by with it. i have heard there are several people besides me that were tricked into sending the system back cause of things expiring and now i have had nothing since. i used all my savings to get that one and dont have enough to get another system from any where else. i know i need a lawyer to handle this but i dont have the money to do that either. im in need of a solution, any ideas?

Permalink Reply by Todd on January 11, 2012 at 1:24pm

Hmm. I remember hearing that if your Nav. is broken, they will not be able to send out replacements (I'm pretty sure becuase of the FDA). I'm almost positive that this is impossible unless someone like Ron Paul slashes the FDA. I would consider this as a no deal. But you should be able to get your refund. Since I bought my new 1.5 Navigator in France, I was going to send my old one back to them to get the $2,000. I think we have about 2 months left to do this and then the deal is off. You should be able to get the Dexcom, which is not too bad. I tried it and it wasn't as sweet as the Navigator in my opinion but I would totally get it if I didn't want to pay $2,500 and go to France. I hope this helps you!

Permalink Reply by fgiraffe on February 22, 2012 at 4:26pm

For folks who sent back in unused sensors, did you get $150 each or $125?
Abbott just told me it was $125.
I'm still so bummed at losing the Nav, my A1C has crept back up by 0.7 since I started to wean myself off it last fall.

Permalink Reply by Franco on February 23, 2012 at 7:13pm

I got $125 for each. I too am missing my Nav very much. I've switched to the Dex7plus but what a downgrade compared to the Nav. The only advantage to the Dex is the transmitter size, everything else is inferior.

Permalink Reply by Andi on March 1, 2012 at 1:15pm

If you don't mind my askibng, how many did you send back? I sent 21 sensors back to Abbott along with the receiver and tramsitter back in October, and i have yet to receive any payment. Every time I call I'm told that it's "with finance" and up to them to do anything. I'm about to start calling local news outlets to see if they can do the ombudsman thing, and/or my state Attorney General's office. I mean, I did everything Abbott asked, and this was supposedly approved mid-October. It would be nice to know that someone got paid; I sure didn't.

Permalink Reply by Franco on March 1, 2012 at 8:50pm

I only returned 4 along with my receiver and transmitter, and I got refunded fairly quickly, I think it was less than a month. It was autumn of 2010.
I kind of think during one of my phone calls someone mentioned the $125/ea for the sensors up to some kind of limit, I just remember I was well within their limit with just the 4.
Good luck, sounds like quite a hassle.

Permalink Reply by fgiraffe on March 21, 2012 at 11:40am

I've decided to hold on to my Nav and keep using it until I run out of sensors. I've heard such negative things about the Dex that I would rather wait a while to see what (if anything) they release later this year.

Since I do not have out-of-pocket expenses for my new CGM I am not eligible for any $$ from Abbott for my Nav and unused sensors.

Still :-( they discontinued this product in the US!

Permalink Reply by Franco on May 22, 2012 at 10:45pm

I was at the ADA Expo in Seattle last month (April) and met an Abbott rep who told me that it was mostly not the FDA but a financial decision. He said the FDA did have a minor problem with the sensor manufacturing plant but that it was mostly just the US market was too small to make a good profit compared to the European market and they chose to make more money. He was very emphatic that Abbott has not given up on CGM and had newer stuff in the works (he had no details) and they would wait for the third generation (second gen is what's in Europe) to reintroduce back into the US. Of course we all know that it could take forever because of the FDA so don't hold your breath.

The longer I use the Dex the more I hate it! Although my A1c is roughly the same I do have wider swings and many more correcting boluses and glucose corrections. There is only 3 things I like better with the Dex, one is the size of the transmitter, but I'd prefer the larger Nav in order for the extended range. Second I like the Dex inserter, it's a little easier than Nav. Third, resetting the receiver to fool it into a accepting extended sensor use. In every other aspect the Nav is vastly superior for managing Bg! I guess it's better than nothing.

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