I'm almost wishing I never knew about re-starting sensors! It's really frustrating to know that my first sensor went 26 days, and haven't been anywhere close to that since! today was my 1st restart on my current sensor; right away getting the ???. it doesn't make any sense! it was spot on (within a few points) all day today. why would restarting it suddenly give me ??? ? i think there's some sort of timer they've placed in there and it automatically turns off after 7 days (besides the normal 7 day countdown)! the last 4 sensors went bad either the same day of the restart or within a few days of enduring ??? on and off and numbers very inaccurate. just venting - i know this subject is covered a lot! it's just that they're so expensive and sometimes very painful to insert!
I had a strange occurrence with my last sensor, started getting ???s after a couple weeks. These lasted for hours on end for a couple days, then the sensor worked fine for the next 2 weeks after. I just about gave up on it, but stuck with it and it cleared up. Not the first time I've seen this either, though this one was a bit more than previous.
I'd keep track of what you eat, what you wear, anything you put on your skin, type of soap you use and everything. Might sound overkill, but if you want Dexcom and/or your doctor to look deeper into it, they might find something that is known to cause issues. Good luck and keep strong, it'll all work out.
I have been on the G4 for just over a month (5th sensor). they have only lasted 10 days today is the 11th day for this sensor so hoping that it last's a bit longer, I am happy if it lasts longer then the 7 days since I pay out of pocket. so any days plus the 7 days I consider a bonus. I am glad we have this technology to help us.
I've just been on the Dex for two weeks and one day. I LOVE IT!!! My first sensor lasted 14 days but I think I could have gotten more out of it. I was just nervous about going longer than 14 days. Now that I've read a bit more about it, I'm going to see how far I can take my second sensor! :-) I can't believe the accuracy. It's incredible and Dex has saved me from several night time lows. The two hours I had to wait while loading the new sensor were horrible lol. I'm already addicted!!!
ya, i tried that. waited about 3 days with wacky numbers and ??? off an on and finally gave up. maybe this time i'll go a little longer and see if it fixes itself. it's back on again after being off most of the afternoon. we'll see what happens!
yep, those 2 hours are hard to endure when you get used to it! i feel so addicted to it too!
I look at my receiver more times then a clock or anything else, knowing what my sugars are or where they are going seems to be an addiction for me also.LOL
+1
That is the dream, for sensors to last a looong time so the cost is better. I would love a system where the accuracy was steady from start to finish without that whole routine of patiently waiting through multiple ??? until giving up. Personally, I could never get my PLUS sensors to go past 10-11 days and I hear that the G4 sensors are less likely to allow extended wear.
I'm wondering if Dexcom will even help you out if it's past the initial 7 days that the sensor is "officially" approved for? Has anyone had experience with their customer support for problems with a sensor older than a week? I'm just thinking that maybe, since they're only FDA approved for one week, they'll simply tell you "you can't wear it past a week so that's why you're getting the ???".
Just a thought.
Agreed. My girlfriend worries that I become too dependent on it haha
I've been getting 2+ weeks pretty easily out each G4 sensor before they start to fade out. I managed to get 24 days out of the last one, my longest by far. I haven't noticed any significant difference in the amount of time they last (or don't last) as compared to the 7+.
I've only tried one non-abdomen location in the 6 months or so I've been using a cgm. I tried inner thigh, which did get me to 2 weeks, but it tended to get rubbed by clothing and would get sore. That makes me nervous to try alternate sites since I like getting the long wear times, but with summer approaching I will want to be a bit more discrete with the placement. Have any of you longer term dex wearers out there noted any significant difference in wear time with differing locations?
I've only been on the G4 for almost a year, but I can tell you that I absolutely get the longest wear time on the back of my arms. I get 3 weeks without a problem pretty much every time. On the other hand, I can very rarely get more than around 9 days on my abdomen. So I think it will probably vary a bit from person to person.
Experimentation seems to be key, though!
i've only worn it on my abdomen in the 4 months i've worn it. i just don't get why i can't get it to last longer. as mentioned, my first one lasted 26 days. i've had a maybe 2 others last about 2 weeks; the rest not more than 7-9 days. it's been giving me ??? on and off all day today. it seems that when i go out of range from it, it automatically goes into ??? mode. but it's been at ??? for about 3-4 hours now, so i think it's done. how long do you guys wait to see if it will come back?
Gayle, I’ve heard when that happens that sometimes you can do “end sensor” and then restart sensor to get more life out of it. Also, are you wearing it horizontally or vertically? Some people claim that wearing it horizontally allows water to stay in the casing too long and it makes the sensor go bad quickly. I’m on day 4 of my current sensor and it is spot on! Going to see how long it lasts!!! 
Lol!!! I know!!! My friends say I need to go to Dex-Anon. Lol. They also constantly remind me that she isn’t a person. She has saved me from 3 dangerous lows in two weeks, pretty sure that makes her my new BFF!!!
I usually wait 2-3 hours. I remember reading somewhere in the Dexcom manual or something like it that if the ??? appears you should wait 2 hours for readings to come back before calling support, changing sensors, etc.
I usually get frustrated after 2 hours and if I'm in a position where I can change a sensor easily, I'll do it. I get impatient without my G4 working!!
back of the arms has been where I have been thinking, but that has also become the go-to spot for my omnipods. I seem to be running out of suitable real estate, but I guess I could have them both on the same arm at once.
I'd avoid that, unless they are facing opposite ways and relatively spaced out.... you want to avoid having the insulin injecting close to where the G4 is reading. This could easily skew your numbers, I think.
But alternating is totally fine. I'm having a similar experience right now. I used to get good numbers with my pod on my thighs, but that has not been a good spot lately so I'm back to my arms and my lower back.
I have had the G4 on the abdomen got 10 days, on the thigh 10 days, on the back of my arm I am at the 2w tomorrow the restart will happen. so going to keep trying on my arms and hopefully get more time from them since it is out of pocket.
Pod's my best spot is the girls or lower back/butt area but best readings are the girls lol go figure.