For those who use this cream under pump or Dexcom sites, how do you use it? Do you put it on and then let it dry and insert the set/sensor? Or insert while it’s still moist? How much do you use?
I’m having issues with my Dexcom sites getting very irritated and dying after only two weeks of use. This may be in part because I’ve started using Skin Tac, which worked extremely well the first time I tried it (sensor lasted 28 days with no additional tape) but to which I seem to be allergic (when I tried to use it to help with infusion set allergies it made the irritation a million times worse). I thought that painting the Skin Tac on top of the Dexcom tape and then getting a shower was a good strategy because the tape would be between my skin and the Skin Tac and some of the Skin Tac would be washed away by the shower, but my last two Dexcom sites have died after only two weeks (short for me) and have gotten extremely itchy and painful within a day or two of applying the Skin Tac. Once the tape is removed, there are welts and bright red areas all under the area where Skin Tac was applied (but the area under the transmitter, where the Skin Tac can’t reach, seems relatively fine). The soreness of the site lasts for a few days after it’s removed.
So, I’m hoping to use Cavilon to create an additional barrier between my skin and Skin Tac to see if that helps. I’m going to put a bit on my skin first with nothing on top and leave it for a few days to make sure I’m not allergic to it. If it works, I’ll also try it under my infusion sets, since the tape from them often gets itchy within hours of insertion.
Any advice or experience with Cavilon cream would be helpful!
Jen, we have no experience with Cavilon, but have read a lot about Flonase. We used it once (just a spray) when we thought my son was getting allergic to his patch. It’s OTC.
As a note, we noticed that using SkinTac anywhere else than on the skin seemed pretty ineffective for us. When we called our CDE, she told us that Skin-Tac only works when right on top of the skin.
We still use it over the sensor patch when we use addl adhesive tape - but recognize that it is not very effective there. We use Skin-Tac all the time.
EDIT: what we have used that’s OTC is Nasonex, not Flonase.
I haven’t talked to my endocrinologist about this, but I’ve been spraying Flovent on my sites (which is prescription, but I happened to have for other allergy issues) and have found it does help a bit. I do have some Nasonex that I use daily as well (for its intended purpose), but it’s similar to Flonase (I’ve never seen Flonase OTC here), so maybe it would work better than the Flovent (which is an inhaler, not a spray).
I’ve found “painting” it on top of the adhesive, as suggested by @Terry4, works very, very well at holding the sensor in place. The sensor failures I’ve had have not been because the sensor is moving or not secure (I have to use adhesive remover to get it off), but simply that the receiver goes to ??? for hours and/or I get a “Sensor Failed” alert even after multiple restarts.
Oh, I see what you mean - you are using it to hold the patch itself. We are appplying it on top of the patch to hold another adhesive to the sensor patch. I had misunderstood the way you use it.
As a matter of fact, what we used was Nasonex, not Flonase - I went and checked after reading your comment.
I have been using opsite since the summer & find it works very well. I can usually keep a sensor for about three weeks & maybe on last 3-4 days, it lifts a little on one side. I just use adhesive tape until i change sensors but you might try your sticky stuff at that point. Here is the video with instructions. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o4dUgRZB4h0&rdm=27qfnj23s&client=mv-google
