[loremm]

Is that true? I have no perspective but it's relied on by diabetics and if since they can't regulate it themselves, if the readings are off and they gave themselves insulin, they would know it is wrong. Maybe the OTC ones is different than the diabetic one but I didn't think so

[djur]

Stelo is basically just a consumer packaged version of the Dexcom G6, and in both cases they warn you to use a finger stick to verify unexpected readings. But finger sticks can be really inaccurate, too. For many diabetics it's not a life-or-death matter (only 1 in 4 type 2 patients end up using insulin), and the important thing is the trend over time.

I've personally found my CGM to be really useful in understanding the effect of diet, sleep, stress, etc. on my blood glucose, like the OP says, but you definitely get some weird readings sometimes. Yesterday a new unit told me that my blood glucose dropped below 70 for 2 hours. It definitely didn't! After a while it got itself straightened out in time to scold me for eating some corn chips.

[nmehner]

As a diabetic having alarms is the most important thing. Measurements are not that accurate (neither is the finger prick method: If sometimes get a difference of 20% comparing two measurements from both hands). But also the "ok" range of 3.8 mmol/L to 10 mmol/L is quite large and levels can rise/drop 20% in minutes. So it is still quite helpful.

With the CGM there is also an additional delay of about 15 minutes in the measurements. Mostly you want to be triggered when something strange happens and then you do a manual measurement to confirm.

A false alarm of low blood sugar is annoying, but it is a lot better than collapsing. You can relax a lot more if you know you will get an alarm.

[bix6]

Most T1Ds I know use a CGM now as they are much more accurate than they used to be. But they are expensive so insurance generally covers for T1D but not T2D. You can always double check with a finger stick though as that uses blood instead of interstitial fluid. My friend uses a Tslim which uses a CGM to adjust her insulin automatically.

[privatelypublic]

They're not any different. CGM's have issues- sometimes need to be calibrated against a finger stick (officially, they always need to be)

In the end though- it's still a bit of fungal extract painted onto an electrode, and an ADC that reads the value every so often. Like any other glucose monitor.