Dexcom and Hot Tubs

Does anyone here go in a hot tub while wearing a Dexcom sensor? I miss soaking my cares away! Since my Dex is out of warranty, I could just try it, I guess, but I’d like to see what others have experienced.

Has anyone mentioned the cautions a diabetic should consider re hot tubs?

this older discussion seems to think hot tubs and cgms are a bad combination

hot tubs and many diabetics is ALSO a bad combo. :slight_smile:

we used to have one, and although I never sat in it for more than 15 min, I never had any problem w it

limited time in tub and proper temperature should help keep you safe, of course.

I used a hot tub with Dexcom with no issues. I had 3 days of vacation where I used the hot tub a couple times a day. Potentially it could reduce the effectiveness of the adhesive, but most of the time I use an additional flex tape(can’t remember the name) when I’m having adhesive issues.

I agree with Marie. I have been in one for small amounts of time and have never had any issue. I might be more worried if I hung around longer that 15 minutes

I have been in our hot tub with my Dexcom, while it loses connection to the receiver mine has always reconnected after I get out. We love our hot tub :smile:

At the risk of resurrecting a zombie thread…

Yes, I’ve been having issues with my Dexcom and a hot bath. I’ve only had it roughly 3 days now, but during that time I’ve had 2 readings out of the 20% range after taking a very hot (so hot I sweat) bath. I soak in a hot bath with epsom salts, which have historically caused my blood sugar to drop, likely due to the magnesium reducing insulin resistance and/or increased circulation moving insulin about faster.

The first night I got out right as my alarm was about to go off. It was reading 169. I checked my BG and it was only 114. Tonight the alarm went off to tell me I’d hit 150, and I got out and checked it and it was only 110. I calibrated, but I’m honestly not sure if I should calibrate in this case or not. On Monday the Dexcom showed me as stable, but now it’s showing me dropping fast, whereas it was semi-slowly climbing before the calibration.

I really wish there was some way to mark this on the Clarity software. The only thing I can think of right now is to mark it as an Event as “Stress” so that my doctor knows i know what’s going on and can ask me about it. It’s not actually stress. I’m de-stressing. But it seems it’s stressing out my Dexcom.

Double zombie resurrection.

I’ve been noticing this as well. I usually take my shower about 5:30am and I take a hot shower. I consistently see my readings shoot up although they quickly come down. I also notice a lot of dropouts which might simply be explained by water and the shower walls blocking the signal.

According to the manual, the sensor doesn’t have a listed operating temperature range, but the transmitter is supposed to be good to 107.6 degF. Hot tubs don’t really go over 104 degF and a bath or hot tub at 107.6 degF is really to the point where it actually hurts.

What makes me wonder is whether my hot shower is actually causing my blood sugar to rise or is the dexcom sensor/transmitter starting to be affected by the temperature. Does anyone else experience this?

I use my hot tub 3 times a week for about 15 min with the temperature set to 102 degrees. The biggest issue I’ve found is the readings are higher than what my blood glucose meter says for about a half hour after I first get out and it’s probably transmitter temperature related. I am not sure about shorter sensor life as I usually get 2 weeks of life on a sensor, which sounds typical, and I don’t have much long term data on whether it would be longer as I us my hot tub regularly.