whenever i take a shower, even with my Tegaderm on, when i get out of the shower or the bath, ect. i get the ??? icons in the top right of my receiver. sometimes the screen clears and works its way back to normal, but sometimes the sensor just bumms out and stops working. does anyone else have this problem? i would love to be able to wear my sensor for longer than the 7 days (guaranteed by dexcom) but the one time that i tried to, i just kept getting the ??? and finally ripped the darn thing off and started all over again. it is INSANE to take a shower only when i am changing my sensor. absolutely ridiculous.
does anyone go through this? also, w/ regard to restarting an “expired” sensor (past the 7 days) do you wait until the receiver alarm goes off to change the sensor, or can you just re-boot it any time you want to, like a day early, for instance?
I have had ??? after a shower a few times, but not frequently. Most of those times, the sensor recovered in an hour or two. I usually check for any slightly raised sections of tape prior to going in the shower, as those will make it easier for water to get underneath. I also try and minimize any direct flow of water onto the sensor from the showerhead.
I think I’ve mentioned that I carry a receiver in addition to my Animas Vibe’s internal receiver. I try and keep them on different sensor stop/start schedules. To do that, I have to sometimes stop a sensor early (like tonight, since I started a new transmitter 6 days ago). Works just fine.
Are you sure that the transmitter is clicked into the sensor correctly? Are the little tabs over the transmitter on both sides. I find just pressing with the inserter just gets 1 side clicked in, so I manually click in the other side. Since I started ensuring that the transmitter was clicked in correctly I have had no problems while showering. It can be water getting under the transmitter. While changing the sensor I practiced getting the transmitter properly clicked into the sensor, it was easier to see exactly how it should be inserted while it was on the counter top & not attached to my body.
thanks mikep. now i know that the day i am ready to change my sensor, i can just re-boot the existing one instead of going through the entire rigamarole again. maybe it will work for me. i wish i could understand about the water issues though. it really pisses me off and gets me all frustrated and disappointed.
yes. i definitely click in the transmitter correctly. when i am placing it into the sensor and attaching it, i press down on the tab until i hear the 2 clicks. also, i use tegaderm over the sensor (leaving a hole for the transmitter, of course), so i know that it is firmly held down. weird, huh?
I had problems when showering, not so much with ??? as with the readings shooting down so I got low alarms. I started leaving the receiver in the pocket of my robe rather than out on the counter. Things have improved no end, maybe it is steam or moisture on the receiver rather than the transmitter that causes the bad readings. Just a thought.
i’m going to try to do that during my next shower. i never even thought about that. i think that i read somewhere on TuD that moisture got under the transmitter and that until it dried out, there were problems w/ it transmitting accurate info.
I usually leave my receiver just outside the batrhoom (on a shelf) when I shower. I’m too nervous that steam or moisture would get inside it. I’ve heard the receiver is very sensitive to moisture.
Before I get in the shower I always check my tape for wrinkles or parts that aren’t stuck welll, and frequently will re-tape my sensor just before getting in the shower. I don’t use Tegaderm because it irritates my skin, but I used to use it on pump sites, and I think water gets under it fairly easily. I’ve had times where I’ve gotten ???s after a shower, but I’d say 75% of the time I don’t.
And yes, you can restart a sensor at any time. I sometimes restart early if I’m getting highly inaccurate readings to see if it improves things, and often it seems to help.
Perhaps you could try this to try to isolate the problem.
Do everything you regularly do for a shower. Leave the monitor where you usually leave it. Close whatever doors or curtains you usually close, open whatever you usually open. Do everything the same except do not turn on the water. Just get in the shower with the door/curtains/whatever closed for the length of time a shower usually takes for you. Perhaps take something to read with you while you wait.
After the “usual amount of time” get out and check your receiver.
All I’m thinking is you probably have never tried to isolate whether the problem is a result of the water from the shower or possibly from some other aspect of what happens when you take a shower. I think the above might help do that.
If it appears from the above that the water is problem, then I would suggest to try taking a shower with a rain coat or other protection on so that you know beyond a doubt that your sensor & transmitter did not come into contact with the water.
The above may be tedious, but it sounds like this has gone on long enough to resort to a process of elimination. Perhaps?
Yeah, or you could just seal up the receiver/monitor in a zip lock bag. Maybe try that one first since it sounds easiest to do?
I dunno. Sticking it on a shelf as I walk into the bathroom is probably less effort than finding a Ziplock bag to put it in… It’s not like I can look at it while I’m taking a shower (I’d be too nervous getting it anywhere near the water).
One other thought, I think Dexcom used to sell a tape that can be put over the whole sensor to provide added water protection. May want to ask them about it.
As I said before, I have had a problem only rarely. When it happened, I ended up changing the sensor. Usually, I just avoid letting the shower directly hit the sensor and usually that’s been enough to keep it working. I like @irrational_John’s approach. There may be other factors. For me, I usually leave the receiver my the bedroom, which is just a hallway away from my bathroom - usually, it’s fine. My assumption on the couple times it failed after a shower was that it just got too much water under the sensor, or the sensor got otherwise messed up (maybe even bumped and pulled a bit out, or maybe the the water was too hot… Does hot water adsversely affect a sensor?). Dexcom replaced those sensors, and, as it has been infrequent for me, I’ve not thought much more about it.
This happens every once in a blue moon with my daughter’s Dexcom. (She is a "soak in the bathtub until your entire body becomes “pruney” kind of girl.) I just use a very absorbent towel to wick the accumulated water away from the sensor/transmitter (without unsnapping the transmitter), then dry the area around it thoroughly but gently. She and her Dexcom are good to go a short time afterwards. Worth a try…
One thought that hasn’t been mentioned…do you wear your sensor vertically or horizontally? I find that this water issue happens when I’ve worn my sensor horizontally, as the direction of the water makes it easier for the underside of the transmitter to get wet. Now I only wear my sensors vertically–on legs and backs of arms.
Also, if I still do get the dreaded ??? after a shower/swim, (which is very rare and more likely to happen near the end of a couple of weeks of wear) I just pop the transmitter out of the sensor footing, wipe the water off of the contacts, and pop it back into place. You have to be careful, but it’s easy enough to do, and has solved the problem for me every time!
Yes, I have the same problem. I get the ??? most days after my shower. Someone here suggested popping the sensor out and drying it and that would do the trick. I haven’t tried that though because I find it very difficult to remove the sensor while it is attached to me. Instead, I try to keep water from directly penetrating it during the shower. I will cover it with my hand to keep water off it. I think that has been helping. You might want to try that.
