Are you in the States? Who told you this? Dexcom? Medical supply company? Just curious.
I received two G5 transmitters with absolutely no mention of a backup receiver requirement. If you use a G4 you can upgrade your software on your receiver to work with the G5. I haven’t used a receiver since upgrading and I donated my G4 to a fellow T1.
has anyone on the new G5 Dexcom noticed that after calibrating their direction arrow disappears?
also, has anyone noticed how incredibly sensitive it is regarding BG levels going up and down?
and,also, just curious, has anyone noticed it being grater or more accurate it is compared to your finger sticks?
also, when i called tech support, the techies weren’t as well versed in helpful answers to my questions regarding the G5. i wrote an email to a supervisor/manager and was called back w/ in the day and was able to express my concerns. he was extremely helpful, apologetic, and took the time w/ much patience to walk me through every question i had. hopefully, the tech support staff will get more into the groove shortly.
I have definitely noticed how sensitive the arrows are. It can go from an upward arrow to down in one update. Question: are you using both receiver and iPhone?
I’m in New Mexico. I think it’s because I don’t have a receiver compatible with Share.
oh yeah that’s it. Receiver needs to have BT.
i am only using the receiver. i don’t own an iPhone. (not yet anyway). but w/ regard to the arrows, today mine was up/down/up/down and up again. then the arrow just disappeared and then shortly after that i got those pesky ???. it was an all day affair waiting for it to come back to life. then later during the day, it requested a calibration (from a finger stick) and right after i entered the BG, the damn arrow disappeared again. it did come back on in about 10 minutes, but still…its kind of ridiculous. i am at the very least, glad to know that i am not alone in this. so, thanks for responding.
i think i shall call the company and let them know about this. i did report it yesterday, but i will climb higher to the more elite management. 
I totally agree. I find myself not fully trusting the arrows anymore and relying more on the general trend of the graph itself. It is possible that you had a bad insertion site. I have experienced rare occasions such as those as you described. In one instance I was awakened with a low alarm showing 53 ↓↓. I panicked noticing that there was about a 2 hour window of no data before that reading. After checking the BG, it was actually about 160. Very weird and rare–but scary nevertheless.
I am getting my G5 in 3 days. What adhesive are you using? I dont want to use extra tape. Is skin tac you best option? Any suggestions would be great.
I have my best adhesive results by painting the entire adhesive of the sensor with Skin Tac and letting it dry before I apply it to my skin. I do not put Skin Tac directly on my skin. This usually keeps my sensor strongly attached for a week or more. When the edges peel up significantly, I apply a rounded rectangle of Opsite Flexifix with a hole cut out for the transmitter. This enables me to use my sensors for 2-1/2 to 3 weeks with no problems. I would never be able to do this with just the Dexcom adhesive. It only lasts a couple of days for me before it starts to peel up.
So you put the adhesive on the dexcom adhesive. Not on your skin?
Yes. I put it on the Dex adhesive. The reason I don’t put it on my skin is that it is impossible to position it exactly where the sensor will go. Skin Tac is so incredibly sticky that any adhesive on your skin not covered by the sensor will then stick to your clothes, etc. Also by putting it on the adhesive patch, you don’t have to worry about the sensor filament going through Skin Tac on your skin and being compromised.
Sounds weird, but it works. I learned this in the Dexcom group of TuDiabetes several years ago. We don’t have “groups” anymore on TuDiabetes.
What do u use to take it off? Thank you for the response going to buy ut now.
Usually I don’t need anything to take it off. But when I do, I use Uni-Solve. My insurance pays for it, so I order the wipes through Edgepark where I get my other supplies. You can also order it at Amazon.
I think some people just use baby oil.
This is very interesting… I put SkinTac directly on my skin, air dry, and then put the sensor on top of the SkinTac. I had a bad experience once when I put a sensor on top of incompletely dried SkinTac - it fell of about 30min later. After that, I’ve always just assumed it was bad to get wet SkinTac on the tape glue!
How much do you use Laddie? Is there any trick to it?
With putting the SkinTac directly on my skin, the sensor is usually still well attached on my arm when I remove it two weeks later (no extra tape or skinTac reapplication). On my abdomen, though, the edges tend to be peeling a bit at 2 weeks - I think b/c the skin there stretches when i twist or bend.
I use baby powder or moisturizer on the skin not covered by the tape (powder works better) to keep the SkinTac from sticking to my clothes.
When I use the bottle with the dabber, the adhesive pad gets quite wet. It is more cumbersome to use the wipes because I try not to get my SkinTac on my fingers. I don’t think the adhesive pad gets quite as wet. It seems to work well either way. The bottle, although financially great because you will never finish it, is scarier to use because if you spill it, you will probably ruin whatever surface it ends up on. I use the wipes when I travel.
I ordered my Dexcom g5 from Advanced Diabetes Supplies and is covered by express scripts. They are only sending me one receiver. I thought we got two receivers with the purchase of the system. They told me no because your Dexcom is covered through your prescription benefits. I only had to pay 30 bucks for the system. They will send me a second receiver for 10 dollars after the 90 days. So basically i have no backup receivers if the one goes bad.
The dexcom sensor is supposed to be changed every 7 days. How long do you leave yours in? After the 7 days do you lose accuracy?
I go 2 weeks, with the G4s I always found that for me accuracy started to suffer after that, I haven’t been using the G5 long enough yet to say that’s still always the case but I think it may be.
What do you guys do if the area where you have the cgm starts to itch?
Another reason I limit mine to 2 weeks, usually does itch a little by then. Only once did I have an infection and blood blister though, it was definitely itchy and closer to 3 weeks with ab site.