When I inserted my son's very first CGM sensor last month (with the help of a Dexcom advisor) there was no bleeding. Now, this is the 3rd sensor that I have inserted and he has had bleeding right after I pull the plastic plunger/applicator back up. You can see the blood (larger than pea size, smaller than dime size) absorbing into the white adhesive. Is this OK? What should I do ... wait a few minutes or is it OK to just click in the transmitter??
Thanks,
Lori - Kyle's mom
Call Dexcom Technical support. It sounds like you hit a large capillary branch. Call Now!
My kid has been bleeding a lot more with the G4 insertions than with the 7+. It has not affected anything (as far as I can tell) but I feel bad for my little guy. He doesn't complain about the needle at the time of insertion, but he has been in pain for up to four hours afterward. Something he never complained about with the 7+. However, the G4 wire is supposed to be half the diameter of the 7+. I don't get it.
oh no, I am sorry to read these posts. one of the reasons I switched (after nearly four years) from the Medtronic CGM to the Dexcom was because of the terrible problem I had with bleeding from the Medtronic sensor insertions. and I was delighted that in one year of using the Dexcom Seven+ I only had a "bleeder" one time. but this week when inserting my very first G4 sensor I had the worst bleeding I've ever experienced, and had to discard the G4 sensor. I was hoping and hoping that was just a fluke.
We left the sensor in, but are getting very off readings - AGAIN! Last sensor we left it in (after it bled too) and it took almost 24 hours to sync (get accurate readings). But then the reading were spot on for 9 days!! I am hoping, fingers crossed, that this one will sync today. Does your new sensors take awhile to get accurate readings??
I am now on sensor #4 of the new G4 system. Sensors 1 & 3 both lasted 16 days. Sensor #2 had a few ??? problems in the first few days but then gave me reliable readings until about the middle of the second week and then started with ??? again.
Sensor #3 showed some blood just after insertion but not a lot. I left in in and it performed very well - it went 16 days and had very good correlation with the fingerstick readings.
If there is a lot of blood, I would call Dexcom and see if they might replace that sensor as a courtesy. In any case I would probably pull the sensor. You don't want to compromise your son's safety and your peace of mind.
By the way, yesterday I placed a sensor on my upper arm for the first time. So far so good.
Good luck!
We may try the upper arm. I have enough trouble right now on the belly - it's only my son's 3rd sensor and I still feel like I'm all thumbs. lol We made it to day 10 and starting getting the ???. But, I'm happy with 10 days. We may try to push it to 11 so we don't have to put a new one in on Christmas.
I truly believe that it was a fluke because the insertion is basically the same between the 7+ and the Gen4.
I had terrible bruising with the Medtronic CGM and often had hard, swollen, bruised and extremely painful areas after insertion. Like you, in 18+ months of Dexcom I have only had one bleeder.
I would call Dexcom . The problem with Dexcom now is they are slow to answer or to get back to you. If there was a trainer for the CGM I would contact them. I used both systems and i never had any blood. I probably will now. Good luck
I haven't had this problem yet, sorry to hear about you having it though. Call Dexcom. They will replace the sensor for you, I would just use their "call back" option, they have been excellent in getting back to me within an hour every time.
I just called About 2 hours ago 1:30 am Christmas eve. Chris answered within a minute and answered all my questions. I’m Very impressed.