Announcement by DEXCOM that a new CGM sensor will be available soon in the US without a prescription. Stelo, from the makers of the most accurate prescription CGM on the market now, Dexcom 7.
This CGM will open the market beyond the premium companies like Levels, etc through which you can get CGMs but at a significant cost with telehealth prescription.
I have not seen estimated pricing.It will likely still be less expensive and more accurate to use an OTC glucometer like the Contour One, but this opens a new market for overweight and pre-diabetics who want to improve their diet to avoid insulin.

Details here: https://www.dexcom.com/stelo



One issue for anyone planning to use a CGM is that they don’t know how to use all the data! Two articles to help you follow.

CGM Data Demystified: Your Path to Metabolic Health revealing powerful and personalized insights about glucose health.

https://optimisingnutrition.com/con...nitor-cgm-data/

How to Use a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) for Weight Loss

https://optimisingnutrition.com/con...or-weight-loss/

Hurray!!!!!

I hate the old finger prick method. That has been otc for 25 years. About time the CGM are,too.

I’m guessing Stelo will be expensive, in line with a Levels CGM type package, and inserting a CGM is not painless. False compression lows during sleep is a drawback. Needing to understand and adjust for the differences between capillary blood, venous blood and interstial fluid. Time lags, and reaction to non food stress events…lack of sleep, illness, etc. Although stable and lower blood glucose levels are a positive marker of metabolic health, merely treating the symptom (i.e. elevated blood sugar) rather than addressing the cause (i.e. insulin resistance, energy toxicity and excess body fat) doesn’t help.


The finger prick method doesn’t bother me, but I’d like to see what happens over the course of a day, during the night, after exercise, etc. By using a simple, inexpensive glucometer and tracking pre-meal BG, not relying on "hacks" I was able to correct the pre-diabetic HbA1c I had on the keto diet.

In USA Today:

1. You may need a diabetes diagnosis to get that insurance coverage?
2. Warning in the fine print, always check with a glucometer if symptoms don’t match the CGM number. Recent post, a TD1 had 193 on the CGM and 61 on glucometer! Glucometers are more accurate.

Some people are squeamous about using the fingerpick method. I use the side of six fingers, and rotate site. But there are also alternate sites, Marty and family use the back of the forearm, the thumb pad is another. I posted a new interview in my journal today with The Meat Medic which discusses how to use other painless sites.

Visiting the Dexcom website for Stelo, it indicates a prescription will not be required. You can sign up to be notified when it's generally available:

https://www.dexcom.com/stelo

I'm hoping it's priced reasonably for the short term.

The currently available Signos Dexcom G7 is being offered at $143/mo. for a 6-month plan. Signos is similar to Levels and requires a prescription and authorization to collect one's data during the subscription period. Both Signos and Levels will refer those interested to an online medical practitioner to provide the prescription.

For those who don't have diabetes and simply want to learn what spikes their BG, I'm hoping the Dexcom Stelo offers reasonable 3- and 6-month plans. That's about enough to experience "life" and monitor one's BG responses to make adjustments.

I'm sure some people will do better when confronted with some stark feedback.

Finally the news we have been waiting for! and surprisingly, a Stelo CGM is priced less than the CGM with a Levels or Signos type of package. Now avaialable, direct from Dexcom, no prescription.

Yesterday's Press Release:
https://investors.dexcom.com/news/n...le/default.aspx

https://www.dexcom.com/stelo. Read the fine print, but for anyone who wants to use their BG readings to lose weight, lower their HbA1c, don't like fingersticks (which do not bother me at all but some are delicate), or are pre-diabetic or not on insulin so your doctor will not write a prescription, lots of reasons...
Here is the opportunity to try a CGM for one month, one time price of $99 or $89 a month for a subscription. A Contour One Next glucometer is cheaper still, about $25 for 100 strips, but new wearable medical devices are an exciting development to take control of your weight. No prescription, no fingersticks, control over your medical information, all saved in a wearable medical device. If you have questions, ask in my journal.

That's a lot more reasonable than the drugs, and more likely to work.

Even with my example, I couldn't get DH on board with low carb the way a week of using a glucometer after every meal put up billboards for him. He thought he was eating healthy, but it was processed versions of what his Mom made for dinner.

So it was hitting his blood stream harder than when he was a growing boy.

Journalist tests the Stelo: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/26/...nitor-wearables

Medscape. A PCP orders a CGM Before prescribing a GLP-1! Brilliant idea…every doctor should do that…if someone is going to pay $1200 for drugs, spend $100 for one month to understand what your diet is doing to BG first.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticl...000fjc?form=fpf

Popular already! People have ordered and are using them to not only learn about diet but to lose weight.

Two more articles about this rapidly changing market, availability and affordability, in BG wearables:
https://www.wareable.com/health-and...lable-in-the-us
https://www.cnet.com/health/medical...lable-for-sale/

Interest is high from EVERYBODY and their CAT Photo on Instagram of a cat wearing a CGM.

The Stelo website has a 122 page manual with clear instructions, and short YT videos how to attach a sensor, why is there a difference between BG on Stelo and Glucometer, etc. Very user friendly…as it should be if you want to sell medical devices direct to the consumer.

BUT, using a CGM to know that your BG shoots up after eating a donut is wasting the power of your BG data to help you lose weight! My journal has other strategies I used with a simple Contour Next glucometer, either works but the CGM is the shiny new toy

More CGMs!

Abbott's 2 non-prescription CGMs are now available. Packages start at $49 for a 2 week trial. Lingo..sounds like a foreign language app.

Hello Lingo (cute? ) https://www.hellolingo.com/
This technology is based on the Freestyle Libre..reviews have complaints about its sensor accuracy and there was a recall for the Libre 3

Abbott PR: https://abbott.mediaroom.com/2024-0...able-in-the-U-S

I know someone who had a 2 week trial for a CGM (no idea what brand it was). They removed it after a week because the numbers weren't even close to finger prick numbers.

In this particular case it was useful in that it at least showed there were no random overnight spikes (which could have led to a high A1c from some months ago), and even though the numbers weren't anywhere near the same as finger prick tests, they were consistent in their difference: Off, but by the same amount (percentages?) all the time.

My guess is that unless there's a similar case where you're trying to figure out if there are blood sugar spikes or lows for some reason that you're just not picking up with the timing of eating and finger prick tests, then you probably don't need one.

The Stelo is based on the Dexcom technology. The Dexcom is the gold standard for CGM monitoring. You can calibrate it to ensure accurate readings that align with the glucose in your blood (not just interstitial fluid). Some in the DDF groups skipped that important step..capillary(fingerprick), Interstitial (CGM) and venous blood (lab) are consistently different and need to be calibrated.

Abbott Freestyle is the cheaper line, and that offers a 2 week trial (Lingo) but does not have ability to be calibrated. Known as less reliable. Then some do not understand how to use BG readings beyond checking the glucose response after eating. If your goal is to lose body fat and manage your risk of all the diseases related to energy toxicity, then the power of measuring your blood sugars lies in managing your blood sugar levels BEFORE you eat.

How does it work? And has there been any developments from that Israeli gal that was developing non-invasive cell phone based techniques for tracking vitals and BGM? I think I saw an online presentation (TEDTALK) about that a while ago. Of course such techniques are much more easily transitioned to a smart phone with the skin contact. And I see more being done with smart glasses now, too.