I am Christel from Diabetes Strong in this video
we'll be talking about the Eversense 180-days CGM
which they've named Eversense E3
the 180-day sensor recently got FDA approved
and is now commercially available in the US
so I thought it'd be fun to do a deep dive on it
I’ll go with what makes Eversense unique
what are some of the pros and the cons of the Eversense
and then finally we're going to talk a little bit
about the cost of the Eversense product
and also just because I know you'll ask and because I’ve got this
question quite a bit frequently will I or will I not try the Eversense E3
since I haven't any experience with the product myself I’ve asked a friend from
the diabetes community come join me in this video and share his experience
so let's just start out by having Paul introduce himself
hey guys, it's Paul from Type One Outdoors Type One Outdoors is my website where I
encourage type 1 to get outdoors with confidence
now many of my followers already know that
I’ve been using the Eversense CGM for just about 3 years now
other CGM's that I have used I’ve used the Dexcom systems
and I’ve also used the Medtronic systems and of course,
I started with the systems that would only last like 3 to 5 days then the 10 days
then the 14 days
and then, of course, Eversense which was started off with the 90-day system
and now I’m on the 6 month 180-day sensor
I was so excited to get onto the E3 system
because of the 6-month sensor how awesome is that?
one sensor, 6 whole months, oh my god, we've been waiting forever for this
and I know this is a longer video we do have a lot of stuff to cover
but if you're only interested in parts of the video
just go down to the video description I have added time codes
to the different sections of the video so if you're only interested in let's say the cost
of the system go down there find the cost
click on that time code and you'll be taken directly
to that part of the video, now let's dig in
a few things makes the Eversense unique
one being that it's the first and only available
implantable Continuous Glucose Monitor or CGM
it has been available in the US for a while
the 90-day sensor has been available since 2018
actually if you're in Europe you've had access to the 180-day sensor since 2017
and now finally here in 2022 we now in the US also
have access to the 180-day Eversense sensor
and that one they've named the Eversense E3
Eversense E3 it's the latest CGM to get FDA approval here in the US
and as of April 4,
2022 it's been commercially available in the US for patients 18 years and older
the system consists of a small sensor that's inserted underneath the skin
by a healthcare professional and then you wear a rechargeable transmitter
on top of that on your skin
so the sensor has to be inserted and removed by a healthcare professional it's
not something that you can do yourself I’ve seen a demo of the insertion at a
conference and it's fairly straightforward so the healthcare professional will numb
the skin and then insert the sensor right underneath the skin
and once the wound is healed you can't see the sensor
but if you feel if you know where to apply pressure
you'll be able to feel it underneath the skin
it's completely painless and it takes probably about maybe 3 to 5 days to heal
the incision and it's a tiny tiny minor little incision
and that's what most people are unaware of because like it is a surgically implanted
sensor that's why it lasts up to 6 months you do have to go visit a nurse practitioner,
dermatologist, endocrinologist those who have been trained in inserting
the Eversense sensor we'll be able to insert that in about 10 minutes maybe
my doctor is really quick at it now he can have a new sensor in in about 3 minutes
he's actually doing really really good I think we've broken some records
we're done voila
voila and of course, as a patient, I don't get to see any of this all right
the implantable sensor is fluorescent-based
and the transmitter that you wear on top
will send blood sugar readings to an app on your phone every five minutes
it also have the option of giving on body vibration
so alerting you on body that means that the actual transmitter
that you'll wear on your arm will
vibrate whenever you're about to go higher low so that's a little different from
the other CGM's available those you only have the vibration
on your phone or on your watch
again this one actually will vibrate directly on your skin
as I mentioned before I had the chance to see a demo of Eversense at a conference
a few years back and I actually also got to try the transmitter on
I didn't try the sensor, just the transmitter
this is a photo of that so what you see here is me wearing the transmitter
and the Eversense transmitter and what you see next to it is the Dexcom G5
because that was the CGM I wore back then
and you can kind of get a feel for the size here
now let's talk about the pros and the cons of the Eversense E3
I’m trying to keep this video from becoming way too long
so I have narrowed it down to my top 4 pros and my top 4 cons
I think the biggest upside to the Eversense E3
is that you only have to change your sensor every 180 days
so assuming that the sensor doesn't fail or anything like that
that means that you only have to think about supplies and insertion twice a year
that's a big deal the only thing you have to do on a daily basis is that you have to
charge your transmitter and you have to change the transmitter tape occasionally
but just for comparison the Freestyle Libre is a two week wear so 14 days
Dexcom G6 is a 10-day wear this is a completely different ballpark
the second upside is the transmitter this is the only CGM system
that allows you to take off the transmitter whenever you want to
so that also means that if it gets does get bumped off don't worry about it you just
put it back on you don't lose a sensor
so that also means that for example let's say that you want to take a shower
without being attached to anything you can do that with this system just take it off
or maybe you're having a little bit of alarm fatigue or you just don't feel like wearing
it, doesn't go with outfit whatever you decide you can take it on and off
whenever you want to
so the only thing is that when you do take it off you will not be getting any blood
sugar readings so there's that
now the transmitter still is about the same size the transmitter does come off
the transmitter is waterproof it the transmitter needs to be recharged
every day or every two days that's another cool thing about the adhesive
is that it uses silicone adhesive so it's hypoallergenic
it doesn't bother the skin like other adhesives do
and you know no skin irritation it's just silicone so you know no weird chemicals
the transmitter does need to be recharged and it recharges in about 10 minutes and
I usually recharge it at night if I’m taking a shower or you can let it go
for a couple days until the battery runs out if I’m out and about in the wilderness I’ll
probably use my solar charger to give it a solar recharge
again 10 minutes no big deal
and currently I’m on MDI since I’m not using a pump
and I’m not using an adhered CGM this transmitter can be removed
whenever I want I get to take a naked shower every single day
how cool is that got a double stick silicone sticky
that sticks from the back of the sticks to the back of the transmitter
and then this sticky can then stick onto my skin
right on top of where the sensor is
the third upside is the accuracy
Eversense E3 is highly accurate it's actually the most accurate CGM
available in the US right now
accuracy when it comes to a CGM is measured in something called MARD
M-A-R-D stands for Mean Absolute Relative Difference
and the E3 has a MARD of 8.5% for comparison the Dexcom G6 MARD is 9%
the Freestyle Libre 2 MARD is 9.3% Medtronic Guardian 3 MARD is 8.7%
and as you probably figured by now the lower the MARD
the more accurate the device
the accuracy is unmatched it is good
the final pro that I want to highlight is the initial price
because that's really good if you have Medicare or you have commercial
insurance that does cover the Eversense products
so if you do you can utilize their PASS program with their PASS program
you can get your first 6-month sensor for $99
and after that, you can get each sensor for $600
so that means an ongoing cost of $100 a month
that however does not cover the doctor visit where you get the insertion and the
removal of the sensor you'll have to pay for that as well
now let's talk about some of the downsides of this product
so the first con that I come to mind for me is that you do need a small insertion made
in your arm every 6 months
and it's my understanding that some people are also having a hard time finding
a doctor near them who can do the insertion
I saw this insertion done in a dummy at a conference
it really didn't seem like a big deal,
I mean if you're used to the other CGM's available on the market like the Libre
the Dexcom or the Medtronic
it might seem like a slightly bigger deal than what you're doing today
the medical professional who inserts the sensor does have to be trained to do so
so you can't just go to any medical professional
if you go to Eversense website they do have a form that you can fill out and
they can help you find a healthcare professional in your area
but how about we ask Paul Paul what was your experience?
I didn't have to do any of the legwork in fact Eversense
or Ascensia, who is the marketing company for Eversense
they have a whole list of doctors who are trained to insert the Eversense sensor
so typically you just contact Ascensia
and they will find out where you live and suggest a number of either
dermatologists, nurse practitioners, endocrinologists who are trained to
insert the Eversense and they will send you a list of your local doctors who
have been trained in inserting the Eversense sensor
the other downside that comes to mind for me
is that you need a doctor if your sensor fails
or if you get an infection that does mean that you have to do some level of planning
so what happens if your sensor expires while you're on vacation
or while you're away or if you just can't get a doctor's appointment
when you need to have your sensor changed
I know for me that would require some level of again planning just because
I do plan on being out of the US a lot of the year these coming years traveling a lot
so again everything can be done of course, you just have to plan it
and then there's a warm-up period and the amount of calibrations
so that's definitely something we need to talk about
not only is there a 24-hour warm-up period
where you won't get any readings blood sugar readings but this system also needs
to be calibrated on a daily basis
so that means every day you have to do a manual finger stick
and calibrate your system
you have to do 4 calibrations within the first 36 hours
then you have to do 2 calibrations daily for the first 21 days of the sensor
and after that you have to do 1 to 2 calibrations daily
for the rest of the sensor lifetime
the last downside that I want to highlight is the lack of integration
with other systems so this CGM does not
integrate with any pumps or any smart pens
but you know neither does the Freestyle Libre so that might not
be that big of an issue for a lot of people
those were my top pros and cons Eversense E3
but I also asked Paul so let's see what he had to say
pros and cons, some things I love about it some things I don't quite love about it
but in general I really love it and what I really love about it
is the extended sensor life now I know it lasts 6 months with just one sensor
but did you also know that I don't need to see my readings on my phone
to know what my blood sugar is doing I don't have to get these annoying sounds
on my phone although it's an option I can but what I do like is that the transmitter
actually vibrates to let me know what the blood sugar is doing which means that I
don't have to have a phone or a watch nearby to know what my blood sugar is
doing my blood sugar could be trending up trending down and I’ll know about it
because of the vibration pattern that the transmitter sends
right here on my arm how cool is that
there's also some other smart enhancements
made to the system on the E3 so new upgraded smart technology
to know whether or not the sensor is behaving correctly
whether the readings are a little wonky it'll correct itself
so kudos to that for making this a truly smart system
one thing that I don't like is I still need to calibrate
initially when you first get the sensor in you have to calibrate 2 times a day
but after 21 days the system is smart enough to know that accuracy is dialed in
and I can just
back off to 1 calibration a day that's kind of nice because Eversense
prides themselves on accuracy
and it's really accurate I mean within one or two points
and when I do a calibration very accurate
now let's go back to that last pro that I mentioned the initial price
and remember that's actually only a pro if you have insurance that covers Eversense
but just to recap the costs, if you have Medicare
or if you have commercial insurance that does cover Eversense on the plan
the initial sensor is $99 if you use what they have named the PASS program
P-A-S-S, PASS-program
then after that it will be $600 per sensor, so that's $600 every six months
that's an average cost of $100 a month on top of that you also have to pay for the
insertion and removal of the sensor
and that will depend on how much your doctor charges
according to Healthline, healthcare professionals generally will charge you
$200 to $300 to insert a sensor and $300 to $400 to remove it
but I think that highly depends on your insurance and if you have insurance at all
so I think the key is still to reach out to your doctor whoever is going to do the
insertion and simply ask but when it comes to costs
I think you also have to think about can you find a healthcare professional
close to you do you need to travel in order to get the sensor inserted and removed
and if so you have to add that cost on top of things
if you do not have insurance or do not have an insurance that's
willing to pay for Eversense I found the following prices on Healthline
please remember this is based on a 90-day sensor
the official pricing for 180-days sensor is not really available yet
the price that Healthline has calculated is roughly $2400 to $2800 a year
for the product itself and then $500 to $700 for doctors visits
that means that the total cost a year comes to $2900 up to $3500
so that means a monthly cost of $242 to $292
and just for a little bit of comparison here
with insurance I pay about $87 a month for my Dexcom G6 system
so that's both transmitters and sensors and if I were to pay cash for it
I would be paying around $343 a month
so am I ready to try the Eversense E3 CGM?
probably not, here's why the main thing that bothers me about
this system is the need for daily calibrations
I don't want to have to do daily finger sticks
also I’m not super keen on having a small, it might be small, but a small insertion
in my upper arm done every 6 months I scar super easily
and call me vain, that's okay you're allowed to do that
but it does contribute to my decision
my travel plans for the next few years also makes this a little bit more complicated
so given I don't plan on being in the US a whole lot having to commit to a 6-month
schedule where I have to be in the US
to get the sensor removed and a new one inserted
it makes things a little bit more complicated
and finally I really like my current Dexcom InPen and Fitbit integration
I really like that I can just flip my watch and I can see my blood sugar readings
directly here on my watch
it's been a little bit surprising to me but it's actually been
greatly beneficial for my diabetes management
I also really appreciate the InPen Dexcom integration
it's not real-time but it does allow me a really really detailed
reporting where I have both my blood sugar numbers
and my insulin shots side by side and again something that really helped me
take my diabetes management to a whole other level
but this is not a hard no this is not me saying I will never try that Eversense E3
it's me saying just not right now so before we finish up this now rather
long video I did ask Paul if there's anything else that he thought that we should know
so let's see what he had to say
this is what the scar looks like
after about
after about two weeks
and I hope I’ve answered some of the most important questions about
using the Eversense E3 CGM system
and if you have any questions at all feel free to hit me up on social media
just look for me on Type One Outdoors Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, website
whatever I also have a YouTube channel called Type One Outdoors
and Christel will leave a link for that but anyway feel free to hit me up with
any additional questions that you may have
okay see you guys happy trails
thank you so much for watching this video on the Eversense E3 CGM
so what do you think, will you try it?
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thank you so much for watching