Accidentally ordered Stelo instead of Lingo (and arm locations)

(Bob M) #1

I got confused and got an offer for Stelo. I thought it was for Lingo (another glucose monitor) and thought the $55 was for 2 sensors. It was for Stelo and for 1 sensor. I think $110/month is waaaaaaay too expensive for glucose readings. I’ll have to pay attention more next time.

I think the Lingo is easier to apply, as the Stelo requires the sensor and then another patch that goes on top of the sensor. I had a hard time with this, because I tried to put the sensor in a location on my arm where I wouldn’t sleep on it, but that meant it was hard to reach/see.

If you use one of these and are a side sleeper, where do you put the sensor?

The last time I had Stelos, I bought 4 of them and 50% of them failed. I’ll update more.

(Bob M) #2

Stelo versus Lingo:

Stelo has fewer data points per hour. Not sure whether that’s good or bad, as the Lingo’s data sometimes looks weird (eg, a peak 10 points higher that lasts a very short time). I also found the Lingo to be weird sometimes, because you could watch the blood sugar go up in the morning or after eating, faster than what the Stelo does.

Lingo “rates” spikes, though often these are not spikes due to food for keto folks. Stelo also helps with data analysis, particularly on the website. I don’t currently have enough data to do anything with that.

To get better data, you log into a website for Stelo, whereas for Lingo, you use the app on your phone and it’ll send you a CSV file of the data.

Both of them won’t let you lower the range lower than 70, and I believe they don’t tell you where you get.

For the Stelo, I can move the graph on the app, say if I want to see the highest level, but it doesn’t tell me what that level was. The Lingo does do that. (And maybe I just don’t know where this is in the Stelo).

As for the location of the sensor, I put it all the way at the side of my arm toward my chest. This location isn’t great, as I had a hard time going around the sensor to help attach it to the arm and also to put the extra seal on, which the Stelo uses. (The Lingo only has one seal, which I like better.) I can’t tell whether this is good or bad, as I’m still getting weird up/downs at night. Not sure if this is due to being a side sleeper and sleeping on the sensor.

Both of them are too expensive, the Stelo is $110/month, and the Lingo is similar.

(Bob M) #3

Another comment about both of these. They don’t allow you to “blow up” the graph. I just changed my “high” glucose to 110 on the Stelo, thinking that it would make 70-110 bigger, but this is what happens:

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That’s worthless.

(Bob M) #4

Well, this is my fifth Stelo, and the seal on this one failed about 1/2 way through the 2-week time period. That means that out of 5 of these, only 2 made it the whole way through the 2-week time period for sensing. 3 did not

Based solely on this, I think the Lingo is a better option.

Also, we took my daughter to get gelato last night, and I got some too. My blood sugar went from low 70s to low 120s. I could not determine exactly how much, however, because I can’t get the app for the Stelo to list the values at certain times in the graph. You can move the graph to the time you want (say right before I ate the gelato), but I can’t figure out how to see what my blood sugar was at that time.

Edit: right now, the Stelo is $100 for 2 sensors with no commitment; the Lingo is $90 for 2 sensors with no commitment.

Edit2: It was around $86 for 2 sensors from Lingo with tax. Not sure exactly how much, as I use our debit card for our health savings, and I can’t go back to where the order was.

#5

Been using Stelo since they came out and have only had a couple of failures, which Dexcom replaced without issue. But since I’ve been getting them it’s always been $89 for 2 sensors. I put mine on the side I don’t sleep on, but that said I’ve slept on it a million times as well and it’ll either do nothing, or just say I’m super low after being on it for a while which will self correct once I’m up and moving around.

100! Water / Interstitial fluid “pools”.

You don’t have to use the overpatch, but you’re way more likely to snag it on something if you don’t. A lot of people don’t, I grab mine on things sometimes, and I do use them, I’ve killed a couple of them from doing that.

If you’re on Android, many of us use the xDrip app which is way more powerful than the intentionally crippled apps that both Dexcom and Abbott give you for Stelo and Lingo. You can control the amount of updates, they show actual values and aren’t software limited to the range they tell you if you’re going outside of the "non-diabetic range, you can add carbs or insulin and see predicted levels etc.

No great alternative options on iPhone’s, there’s Zukka, which is based on xDrip, but there’s been some back and forth on it being removed and re-added to the app store last couple months. My wife uses that one, but not sure if it’s still available for download or not.

Seems the price is still the same, where’d you see them for $110?

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(Bob M) #6

I meant $110/month for the Stelo. A 2-week supply is $55.

Because of where I put the sensor, I couldn’t get the patch that goes over top correctly positioned. It ended up with the patch coming partway off, and not actually contacting part of the original seal. So, the whole thing came off. And I didn’t realize it, but this morning saw the underside of my arm, with the glue still there are a dark bruise where the pin was. I couldn’t find the pin in the device, so maybe it’s still in my arm? But I don’t feel it.

I’ll look at the xDrip app, that sounds interesting. I downloaded and installed it, but it doesn’t support the Lingo. Or at least that’s not an option it give. Bummer.

I used our health savings account and bought 2 Lingos, so about 1 month. The Lingo might have too many data points, but I’ll try it again.

(Bob M) #7

One reasons I’ve been getting these CGMs is because I wanted to see what happens at night, and also to see what’s happening to me because I’m taking Jardiance, which makes you pee out blood sugar. What’s happening at night is crazy:

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I did not eat yesterday until about 6-6:30 pm, where I ate 2.5 hamburgers with cheese and some onions; 2 slices of “protein lasagna”; and some yogurt with collagen peptides, creatine, and l-citrulline. My blood sugar went from 79-80 to 101-10, then there’s the huge dip to 65. I did have a small (around 3-4 ounces) chocolate “mousse” (made from 100% chocolate, allulose, coconut milk and oil, vanilla), so maybe that amount of allulose caused the dip? Not sure.

But check out the wild ride after that. The “peak” was so high (from 79 to 102), that the Lingo’s software rated it with a number. I expect the peak in the morning, because my blood sugar always goes up, then I did body weight training, which causes my blood sugar to go higher. But I don’t expect a peak while I’m asleep.

Edit: I went to sleep around 9pm, so that dip at 10:27pm is while I’m asleep.

I believe what’s happening is that the Jardiance is making me pee out glucose, which is where those dips are caused. I plan to write down when I go to the bathroom to see if there’s some correlation between the dips and when I go.

#8

That’s literally what the *flozins do. But 79 -> 102 is normal transient movement. That’s not even noteworthy. Seems you’re doing really good as a whole. I basically ignore everything (unless I feel it) when I’m sleeping. Just like subcutaneous water, interstitial fluid moves around different, pools, etc when we’re not moving. Let alone if you wind up putting pressure on the sensor which almost always will think you’re going hypo when you’re not.

(Denise) #9

Is that returnable, or exchangeable? I have a hard time with ordering as well Bob, so I use Amazon, or make sure to check the “return” policy.

I don’t know a thing about this monitor, so I can’t help with placing it. Thank you so much for sharing your experience though, as I have thought about the GM that others are wearing in their arms. I do thing a lot about placement of things since I have a Pacemaker. When I lost all the weight I needed to, it is just covered by skin now. At my age, not a big deal that it shows so much, Denise :wink: