Nix Hydration Biosensor

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Looking at coverage of yesterday’s Boston Marathon, I noticed Zdeno Chara (former Boston Bruin) crossing the finish line with what looked like a Continuous Glucose Monitor on his arm. Never having heard that he had diabetes I googled “was Chara wearing a CGM at boston marathon”.

Turns out he was wearing a Nix Hydration Patch which he has been using over the last year to train for now EIGHT marathons (his first one being last Boston Marathon). Looked up the product and it’s quite affordable.

Has anyone here used the Nix Hydration Patch system to assess your hydration and electrolyte status during training and races? Has it helped you improve?

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Wild

But if this is for use during active exercise, how are you supposed to figure out “drink 3.2oz” mid marathon?

And there is a company selling CGMs to non-diabetics, Levels.

Admittedly, ever since they put my mom on one, I’ve wanted to try one on myself

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Looks like they are selling the Dexcom G7. (Which, if I end up not happy with the Freestyle Libre 3 I’m currently using, I might try and switch to.) You would need a prescription from your doctor, I’m guessing. The CGM makers aren’t allowed to sell them without a prescription. Even for me to get a free sample, I had to have a doctor’s prescription.

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Yes this is discussed by another poster in another platform as being the challenging thing. But if you can figure out how much a sip or a mouthful is for you you could probably arrive at a pretty good approximation. For example, I know that if I’m really gulping down the fluid I am at just over 1 ounce per swallow.(I have chugged a 12oz bottle of water and counted how many times I swallowed to consume the whole thing).

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My mom is on the Dexcom. So far we like it. I think the Freestyle you need to regularly touch the meter or your phone to the sensor to get the latest readings. The dexcom is Bluetooth, so readings come through automatically

From a review I saw on YouTube, it sounds like they have doctors on staff to do video visits to make the script. Downside is you probably need to pay full price. I can’t imagine health insurance picking up the tab for someone that doesn’t have diabetes

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The Freestyle LIbre 2, yes. I have the Libre 3. It uses Bluetooth as well. It is slightly smaller than the Dexcom (about the size of a penny), and supposedly slightly more accurate…but I’m not really happy with their app. I’ve contacted them a few times complaining about some of the app features, so hopefully they will address them. If they don’t, I might switch to the G7. I think the G7 has a better app.

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Incredibly unlikely

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My health insurance didn’t cover CGMs at all a year ago. They only just started covering it, so I’ve been able to try it finally. Without insurance, I think I would end up paying $1800/year, give or take, if I remember correctly.

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We still have to do a LOT of preauths around CGMs

Which is insane because overall they are supposed to help the patient become more stabile which lowers both immediate and long-range sequelae and is what they should WANT

But (insert my daily rant about insurance as a legalized scam here)

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Thanks for giving me my first laugh of the day. Cheers!

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One thing that is helping improve coverage isn’t really even any medical reason…it is that the cost of CGMs has dropped so dramatically. Believe it or not, to buy the CGM out of pocket for a year is LESS than the cost for test strips for a year! (Caveat: This calculation somewhat depends on which brand of meter/strips…just going on the strips that my insurance actually covers at the moment.) Even WITH insurance, my copays on the CGM are cheaper than the copays for the test strips!

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I often find myself counting things without even realizing it.

I’ll be walking along and all of a sudden realize I’m at 127 steps and counting

This was one of those things

I think there’s something wrong with me.

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Oh for sure. Anything that’s expensive they don’t want to pay for. Carte blanche.

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Especially stairs

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My health insurance was covering my CGM and then suddenly would only cover it if I was on insulin. Well, I’m trying to reverse my TD2, and a CGM would be very useful during this process, but I can’t afford it out of pocket right now.

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This is absurd! Three months on a CGM and counseling with a dietician made huge changes in my eating habits in addition to helping me learn tricks that jad a major impact (like 10 mins of exercise after a meal)

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Try just asking your regular doctor. Insurance will not cover it and you would have to pay out of pocket but you can use GoodRx. Around here, a Libre 3 sensor is about 70$ per sensor on GoodRx and each sensor lasts 14 days. All the other options are higher. It might be worth it for a month or two as a learning tool—it was for me and my husband. Both the Freestyle Libre 3 and the Dexcom use Bluetooth. If looking at Dexcom, the G7 is much preferred over the G6 as it is smaller and the sensor and transmitter are one piece instead of two which is much easier to use.

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