Mum of a Warrior Recommends

These are products I genuinely use and love as a tired Type 1 parent navigating chaos, caffeine, alarms, and survival mode.

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Glowcose from Lewcose 

My honest Glowcose review so far

I was gifted a Glowcose by Lewcose in return for a completely honest, “warts and all” review. I’ve now used it at home with Rebekah’s MiniMed system for two days and two nights.

I’m hoping to try it in her classroom too, but I need to discuss permissions with the school first. For now, this is how we’ve got on with it at home.

What arrived

The parcel arrived in a small box with Lewcose-branded tape. Inside was the Glowcose unit and a 1m USB cable. No plug.

Lewcose had already messaged to say they were adding the optional 2m cable free of charge. There was also a little personalised note and a wee bag of sweets, which was a nice touch.

The unit is similar in size and shape to an Alexa Dot. It has a modern white casing and looks good sitting in the room. It doesn’t scream “medical device”, which I like.

I used the 2m cable straight away because of where I wanted to plug it in. The standard 1m cable may be fine for some rooms, but the longer one definitely gives you more choice over where to put it.

Setting it up

The whole setup only took a few minutes, although there were a couple of niggles.

I scanned the QR code and read through the instructions before starting. Thankfully I did, because once I moved on to registering and connecting the Glowcose, the instructions disappeared. I had to rescan the QR code to get them back.

Registering the unit, adding its device code and connecting it to Wi-Fi were all straightforward. Medtronic CareLink connected fairly quickly too, although I had to battle through several CAPTCHA requests before it finally accepted me.

Once it was connected, I changed it from mg/dL to mmol/L and set our own levels. I currently have the high setpoint at 14.0 mmol/L, in range at 5.5 and low at 4.2.

The biggest setup issue came afterwards. I’d connected Glowcose using the same CareLink login I use for xDrip, as the instructions said to use my Medtronic account credentials. After that, xDrip repeatedly logged out.

I eventually worked out that I could create a separate Care Partner account and use that for Glowcose. Luckily, I still had one Care Partner space available. Both Glowcose and xDrip have stayed connected since, including overnight.

That’s something I’d definitely add to the instructions for Medtronic users. If someone uses xDrip or another service, a separate Care Partner login may save them a fair bit of head-scratching. It does use one of the limited Care Partner spaces, though, so that’s worth knowing.

There was also one early point when CareLink and xDrip had data but Glowcose wasn’t updating. I managed to get it connected again, and it has been reliable since. I’ve unplugged it, moved it between rooms and used it through two nights without any further problems.

What it’s like to use

The colours are much better than I expected. It isn’t simply red, green or blue with nothing in between. It moves through different shades of green, amber, red, blue and purple, so I can get a rough idea of where Rebekah is sitting just by glancing across the room.

The light changes within about 30 seconds of a new reading appearing on her phone.

If her phone loses connection, perhaps because she has left it in another room, Glowcose turns white within about 30 seconds. I really like that. It doesn’t carry on displaying an old colour and leave me thinking everything is current when it isn’t. As soon as her data returns, the correct colour comes back automatically.

You can also choose whether it flashes for a high, a low or both. I have the low flash switched on and the high flash switched off.

When Rebekah is below our low setpoint, the light flashes once every 30 seconds until she is back in range. It isn’t constantly flashing, but it’s enough to catch your attention and remind you that the low is still ongoing. My phone alerted at the same time, but I can see the flash being particularly helpful if my phone wasn’t beside me.

There is also a small button on the unit that cycles through five brightness levels. I initially missed this and thought the brightness was fixed, but once I found the button it was simple to adjust. The softer settings work well overnight, while the brighter ones make the colour easier to notice during the day.

Has it made a difference?

It has.

I’m opening CareLink less often just to see where Rebekah is sitting. I still check the actual number and trend when I need to, but I’m not picking up my phone for every little glance.

One moment stood out. I was about to go outside when I noticed the light had turned amber. I checked Rebekah’s glucose and was able to give her a heads-up before her usual alert sounded. It has prompted a few earlier checks like that.

It was especially useful when I temporarily lost my xDrip widget. Instead of having no quick view at all, I could still look across the room and see roughly what was happening.

Rebekah likes it too. She thinks it’s cool and understands what the colours mean. I’ll probably have to explain it to my younger kids, but the idea itself is very easy to grasp.

I don’t see the lack of an exact number or trend arrow as a limitation. Glowcose was never meant to be a standalone glucose monitor. It’s sold as a CGM companion, and that’s exactly what it is.

It doesn’t replace Rebekah’s pump, CareLink, phone alerts or the need to look at the actual data. If the colour catches my attention, I open CareLink and check. The light simply makes me notice things when I’m not already looking at my phone.

What I would change

The setup instructions could do with staying accessible throughout the process. I’d also add specific advice for Medtronic users who use xDrip, including the option of using a separate Care Partner account.

I’d make the brightness button more obvious in the main setup instructions too. The five brightness levels work well, but I didn’t realise the control was there until I went looking for more information.

I’d also make it especially clear that the standard box contains a USB cable but not a plug, just so people know exactly what they need before it arrives.

None of those things has put me off using it, but they’re worth mentioning in a warts-and-all review.

My thoughts so far

So far, I’m impressed.

Glowcose has stayed connected, responded quickly and already stopped me from opening CareLink quite so often. I like the range of shades, the repeated low flash, the adjustable brightness and the fact that it turns white when no current data is available.

It’s a companion, and it does exactly what it says it will.

The next test will hopefully be Rebekah’s classroom. That was what first caught my attention because staff could potentially see at a glance that something was changing without continually checking a phone.

I’ll review that separately if the school gives us permission to try it.

I would also add the Paul from Lewcose has excellent customer service and confident any issues would be resolved quickly. 

Grace & Stella Retinol Eye Patches

For the mornings after Dexcom alarms and 3 hours sleep 😅

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