Dexcom G6 failing before 10 days

Has anyone else had issues with their G6? Mine always gives me a “sensor error” message around the 7th day of wear (and often before), then fails shortly thereafter. I seem to remember getting longer wear with the G5 then I get with the G6, and was just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues.

I am still using G4, but there have been several posts regarding issues with G6 not lasting, and backorder issues.

You can do search to find them.
Here is one of them.

Thanks. I really want to like the G6 (the no fingersticks is a game changer) but I’m getting so many error messages and sensor errors, I’m befjnning to wonder if I made a mistake switching to the new system. Only one of (I believe) 8 sensors has made it to day ten. Every other one has given consistent sensor error warnings and unreliable readings after several days.

I’m hoping they get issues worked out, and then I will switch. For now, G4 is still available, and I get at least 14 days per sensor.

We’ve had no issues with ours, every sensor has lasted 10 days and we’ve had no loss of data. We love it. However with last Saturday’s site change the transmitter failed. “Critical Low Battery!” alert popped up twice. I called Dexcom and they are sending a replacement because the Xmitter was only around 30 days old. Luckily we still had a couple of G5 transmitters and sensors left so we have switched back to the G5 until the G6 Xmitter arrives.

We miss the G6, it was more accurate and we rarely did finger checks.

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If the sensor fails before it’s supposed to, contact Dexcom. They have always replaced them for me (with one exception). One sensor got knocked loose on the 8th day. I found out later that Dexcom even replaces ones that come off prematurely. I phoned them and they replaced it (a few weeks later).

My teen son has used the g4, g5, and now on the G6. We have had more sensor failures in the 2.5 months on the G6 than the years on g4 and g5 combined. We have never made it to day 10 on the G6 and start to see erratic readings and sensor errors around day 4; we used to get a solid two weeks out of the previous models :frowning: Dexcom has replaced all the sensors, but it’s getting exhausting calling them all the time. I had one support person tell me that any sensor error that lasts less than 3 hours is “normal”… even if it happens multiple times a day? This can’t be “normal”? I had to end that call and talked to someone else who agreed, that it is not in fact normal for the sensors to do this so early in the session. They have also been telling me that they don’t receive any other similar complaints with this system. I feel less crazy seeing on this forum that we in fact aren’t alone! I do hope they fix it…

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My gawd, doesn’t that just burn you up? Aaargh!

On a related note, a Dexcom tech told me that they keep a list of patients that receive “lots” of replacement sensors. I’ve just got to wonder what they are going to do with that list–are they going to deny replacements to those on the list, at some point? (rhetorical). I was afraid to ask…

Well, they can look back and see that prior to this, we received maybe 1 replacement sensor the whole three years on the other models… so hopefully that sparks some curiosity on their part! They said they are extremely backordered on G6 sensors, so I imagine their supply is low in part because they are having to replace a lot of failed sensors…

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I’ve been on the G6 for just a few months and the first several sensors failed. Then I started placing them in areas where I expected less scar tissue, I.e. the places I’m less inclined to put them such as closer to the center of my abdomen. These areas have been more painful in the past (more nerve endings?) but the G6 inserter helps with that. I’ve had no sensor failures since moving the location.

Our daughter has had the G6 since around July and only a few sensors failures (maybe 3). We call them and they send a new one. Sometimes they ask for the old one and they send a FedEx envelope for us to return it to them. So far no issues even the on hold times have been better lately.

I’ve been using the G6 sensors for about a year. At the beginning I rarely had any sensor errors. Unfortunately, the number of sensor errors has gradually increased as time has passed. These days my sensors have errors every night. After I’ve worn a sensor for about a week, I experience errors a few times a day.
I’m wondering if the placement of the sensor plays a part in the errors. I can’t wear the sensors on my abdomen anymore (where it’s recommended) because my skin is extremely irritated by the adhesive of the sensor. Instead, I’ve been placing the sensors on my upper buttox and on my upper arms. My body is fairly lean and I’m wondering if the sensor errors have to do with a lack of fat for the sensor to pull readings from.
Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

We have a lot of failures on our 3 year old. I am starting to see a correlation between G6 sensor error and big BG swings. Any time it shows “straight up/down” or especially if we have “double up/down” it fails until BG stabilizes. Has anyone else noticed this?

Welcome Jan1. We are glad you are here.

What type of errors are we talking about here?

I’ve noticed that a lot of the errors I get that are recoverable are due to hydration. See if drinking water helps any.

I also have asked for and received their over-tapes which work great.

Finally, if one ever fails before 10 days, please don’t hesitate to call for a replacement. They replace them for ANY reason if they don’t last the 10 days so long as you tell them stomach and are using either their software or a receiver, so NEVER tell them you’re using XDrip+ or putting it elsewhere for example.