There are several videos on YouTube that detail how to remove the transmitter without snapping the sensor. But how I do it is I use a guitar pick (other options are a thin plastic card or a hair barrette) and slide the pick between the transmitter and the clips on the sensor. There is one clip on each side of the sensor. The transmitter should pop out without damaging the sensor. Clean the sensor and pop it back in. Don’t stop the sensor or anything and it will start picking readings back up.
You can try it a few times on a used sensor that isn’t attached to his skin to understand the mechanics of the process better. This may not resolve the issue but it is a god thing to try. If you can’t find a solution to your accuracy issues then I would ask my Dr. to write my prescription for every 5 or 7 days, whichever your more comfortable with and get it pushed through insurance.
I have heard that it is more cost efficient for Dexcom to replace bad sensors (not everyone reports them) than to work on making the sensors more reliable. They get a lot of data from us about what goes wrong from actual users, but it seems it is not their policy to revise the current iteration of sensors. So I was surpised to see on the box for the B7 sensors that on the LBL line there is a REV number. This changes on different boxes. My current one says REV 011. Are they actually making improvements? If is the case, we need to be vigilant in reporting our problems. BTW, it does seem to me than the sensor lead is shorter on the G7 than the G6. I am not sure if it is related, but one pairing failed for me because the sensor lead bent rather than pierce my skin.
Unfortunately I’ve already tried the insurance route. They’re adamant that since dexcom claims 3 sensors is a month’s supply, they won’t cover more regardless of what my doctor says. And while my son has medicare as a secondary, they won’t come in unless the primary has “denied” something, and again, as long as my primary covers 3/month, they don’t consider that anything has been denied.
@EthanO I restart my G6 sensors all the time. If you have a sensor go wacky, restarting might or might not work. Since I restart mine and commonly get over 20 days, when one goes I am usually replacing it. But the good news is that I just had a brand new sensor fail on day 2 and since it was new I decided to see if restarting it would work. It worked beautifully the second time around and I am on a second restart.
No one seems to know why one person can get 10 days plus and another struggles to get to even 10 days. Lots of theories, but no one has figured it out yet.
Note to add, a transmitter near it’s expiration date can be a cause of losing communication with the sensor.
Since you mentioned that your son runs a lot I have a few suggestions.
Make sure he’s really well hydrated. These sensors measure interstitial fluid and if you are just a little dehydrated they can really start throwing bad numbers. High BG will also make them less accurate.
Large swings in BG will wear out the reagent on the filament sometimes. Tight BG control can extend sensor life.
Even though the sensor is not falling off, the filament may be wiggling it’s way out of his skin a little bit causing bad readings. Do you use Skin-Tac or another adhesion aid?
Hi @EthanO I suggested to Luis, who posted a very informative image of his dexcom graph, that he try cleaning the transmitter contacts with an alcohol wipe before putting it in a new sensor. The discussion we had made me re-read a few versions of the G6 manual and turns out I’ve just been cleaning my transmitter for fun. Do not try to clean the contacts on the sensor.
Please check out Luis’s image, its in the second post in this topic, and try to post something similar. This topic has many people describing different problems that all result in a sensor not lasting 10 days. You gave us lots of good info, a picture will fill in the rest.
Have you had the “Sensor Error” message persist for 3 hours then seen a screen that says “Sensor Failed”? For the most recent sensor that Dexcom wouldn’t replace what was the CGM number and what was the fingerstick (BGM) number? If you compared the the CGM to a BGM multiple times, what were those values and how much time passes between comparisons?
You said the sensor doesn’t come off, along with what Firena was asking, does it come loose in the middle? I’ve had some do that and the graph gets crazy when the sensor filament is changing depths.
Yes, that’s exactly what happens. We start getting the 3 hour sensor gaps about day 4 or 5, and then when it comes back the numbers are hugely off from the fingersticks, like 50-80 points off. (As soon as the sensor comes back online, we do a stick to calibrate) After a calibration attempt, the numbers get more in line, but then another 3 hour sensor error hits. By day 6, error frequency is such that the sensor is useless and we stop it to put in a fresh one. We actually rarely get the sensor fail message: it’s that the 3 hour temporary failures become so frequent we have to give up.
Happens to me with the G7 quite regularly. Using the non underlined LDL version (as I don’t pump). Got hold of a batch of sensor with with underlined LDL. No more problems. Dexcom DOES NOT acknowledge that this version is improved, only that it is tandem compatible. But I think otherwise. It doesn’t have the issues I had been experiencing. Do you think maybe they fixed the bugs and aren’t telling us? Please chime in!
Thanks Ethan. Glad Dexcom isn’t (yet) denying replacements for “Sensor Failed” errors. Without the graph I’d suggest trying a different location. Here’s the site image from the G6 manual.
Here’s what works for me
Red is unreliable. Blue is where I haven’t tried yet in 3 years of using the G6. Green is where the filament has been and worked great. Note I switch to my arms for the 6 months of summer. As far as I can tell the G6 should work where there is a layer of fat under the skin that has good, but not too good, circulation. Since your son also has an Omnipod you also have to consider communication, bluetooth can’t go though bodies of water, and avoid inserting the G6 filament where the last pod was injecting insulin.
When you contact Dexcom for a replacement remove any doubt that the sensor is bad. Since they have already blacklisted you I’d contact Dexcom support the next time you want to replace a sensor and get the rep to instruct you to replace the sensor before removing it. For too many sensor errors you’ll probably need to demonstrate a total of 24 hours of missing data.
A greater than 20% difference between CGM and BGM, even a 80mg/dL difference doesn’t mean the sensor is bad. When the G6 was studied for FDA review out of 9,433 samples that the CGM reported were between 70-180, 66 were off by more than 40%. I’ll abuse statistics and apply that to the 2880 readings in a sensor session 20 readings from every sensor can be more than 40% off.
I don’t know how long a sensor has to be more than 20% off before Dexcom would declare the sensor is defective and authorize a replacement for you. If moving the sensor doesn’t work next time you have a sensor problem please Dexcom before removing the sensor and let us know what they say.
Has anyone noticed a difference between the underlined and non underlined versions?
I lost count but I’d say that since January, I’ve had to replace at least 90% or higher of the G7s for readings that go wonky starting at day 6-8 or so with the 1 hour sometimes but usually the 3 hour warning. When numbers do come back, they are totally unreliable, give 1-5 readings, then error again. I can’t use LOOP reliably if the Dexcom G7 isn’t feeding it reliable data!
I’ve always rotated spots on my stomach because they continually fall off my arms and I don’t like it there anyway, Never tried my back and I don’t like the sound of that. I just don’t know.
This last sensor replacement request had to go through a supervisor who took several days to approve it, but it did get approved. I’m fortunate that they have been replacing them via the form. I don’t have the patience to sit on the phone and have scripts read to me. I understand the need for that, but if they have questions, they can email me and I can respond when I have time.
I just wish Dexcom would acknowledge that they have a problem and steps they are doing to fix it? It seems like they are just throwing replacements at it but the issue never really gets addressed.
I requested they replace all my (and it’s been many) non underlined sensors for all the error message addressed above, when it happens, and they refuse, even when I documented that the errors don’t occur with the underlined version. It is very frustrating, like we don’t have enough real issues to deal with. But no, I guess we can’t expect them to be user centric.
I’ve used both Medtronics CGM & Dexcom’s. For me Dexcom provides more reliable data. The downside is they rarely last 10 days. That’s been true of G6 and G7.
When they fail i either go to their website or call. Dexcom has never failed to replace a sensor that lasted under 9 days. And they replace a LOT! This last time they did ask for me to return the failed sensors (4!), which was a first. I didn’t have them. But 3 days later, i had 4 new sensors. If they send me prepaid labels i will return failed sensors so they can improve them.
The newer G7 boxes have a code with “LBxxxxx” underlined. A Tandem representative told me today those sensors have stronger Bluetooth signals and i can only use these for my new Tandem t-slim iq-control (closed loop system). Perhaps with stronger BT signal, the sensors will be less likely to fail?
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Someone should study those who never get the 10 days from a G6 or
G7. Are you all unusually thin? do you all have very high energy (high metabolism)? Low metabolism?
I get 20 days out of my G6 like clockwork. Sometimes I simply can’t remove it at day 10 but mostly I can. I am a little overweight and certainly am not high metabolism!
I am sure there are other body issues but can’t think of anything but these obvious ones.
I have always cleaned the two gold sensors or whatever they are, with
an alcohol pad and I assume someone told me to way back when but I can’t recall. My BGs don’t seem to vary as the 10th day nears.
I agree that it is something to do with one’s metabolism but why has it not occurred in their testing samples? Or has it?! And they did not attend to it.
I have had 1 sensor last the full 10 days.
I’m very thin, have a fast metabolism and active. I was wondering if it could be from sleeping and possibly it getting pressed on?
I get notifications that I’m dropping low at night and I’m fine.
I also get little blood sugar spikes when I take a shower, it goes down right after, and after I work out.
When I take my sensor off the area where it goes in is raised and usually itchy so I think my body has a weird reaction to it.
I find that my right arm is usually more successful than my left. I have a tattoo on my left but I make sure to place the sensor where there isn’t any ink.
Also I have gestational diabetes so I’m not sure if that would make a difference.
It’s so frustrating because my insurance doesn’t cover these. I pay for them and i would love for them to work. I also would like to try placing it somewhere else since I keep having issues with my arm. And sending them back is a pain to do once a week with 3 kids and pregnant.
Also a few times, after inserting the sensor, usually a day or so later, there is some soreness and pain where the probe is. Is it even worth all the trouble?!
I don’t like finger pricking(who does) and usually forget because I have 3 small kids that I’m usually tending to, so it’s easy to have something to track it for me.
It would be so great if they could figure it out so the sensor stops failing so much for some of us
Hello Helen! Congratulations Could you please let us know if you are using the G6 or G7 and what happens when it doesn’t last? Tips for adhesive or Sensor Error or readings that don’t match your feelings are going to be different.
A slight bump, redness and itchy feeling that all go away in a day or less is normal in my experience and doesn’t affect the sensor lasting 10 days. I find it helps to remove the adhesive that stays behind with these Uni-Solve Adhesive Remover Wipe.
On the coverage issue, because yeah, these things are pricey, have you checked both the medical portion of your insurance plan in addition to your pharmacy benefits? A lot of plans have been taking Medicare’s lead and if you are taking insulin the CGM is covered. When I first got a prescribed a CGM I paid out of pocket for a couple years because it wasn’t covered at the pharmacy, turns out it was covered as DME. Since you are busy if your insurance Evidence of Coverage doc is available without a login feel free to post a link to it and I’ll see if there’s a way to get your insurance to pay.
The itchiness could be a slight allergic reaction. I have had that happen sometimes. I apply Flonase (nasal allergy spray) to the area where I am going to insert the CGM and wait for it to dry and then apply the CGM.
As for the jumpy readings, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Try applying the sensor somewhere other than your arms. Are you using the G6 or G7?
It just fails. Or will not let me calibrate. It also alerts me to low lows when I’m perfectly fine also.
I do hydrate, I drink a massive amount of water daily. Just so I don’t have any issues with blood clots etc…
I’m not taking insulin, I’m diet controlled. My previous insurance covered a good portion but for some reason this insurance we have(my husband picked out the plan) doesn’t cover anything besides $20.
I also use the G7 and I was told that I can only use it in my arm. I get a little scab where I had it placed also. Sometimes it goes away and some times it stays for a few weeks
Always contact Dexcom when a sensor fails or does not properly calibrate. They must replace those that don’t last/work the full 10 days. If one technician says no, call back and get a different tech or manager. Time consuming, yes. But the sensors are expensive. I find 99% of the time tech support is helpful and reasonable.