It is the cartilage that is just below the sternum that ossifies as we age. So I basically place sensor horizontally, in a straight line, between the xiphoid process and the belly button. There is enough space there in a straight line to select several different high/low positions to give each sensor position a few weeks to rest before being reused.
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I’m using the G5, and I experience signal loss, on the receiver particularly, when it’s in my pocket, about 6 inches away from the transmitter. This doesn’t happen all the time, or even every day, but it’s peculiar enough to make me laugh a little when it does.
I have one important question on this. When you have this experience of losing signal, did you extend sensor beyond 7 days and if so does this experience mostly happen in the period beyond 7 days? I have found that signal loss always happens at a certain point beyond the 7-day original sensor life but very rarely in the first seven days. In the 1% or so of the times it has happened in the first 7 days, there was an issue right after the sensor was inserted. That happened once or twice when I first started using G5 and hit a large blood vessel or did not insert the sensor correctly.
I always place my G6 vertically on my arm because I get better readings and less loss-of-signal than if I wear it on my abdomen. I think the readings are better on the arm because I have used my abdomen for years for injections and then pump placement, so the tissue there is scarred from overuse. Wear it wherever you will personally get the best results for you. Everyone is unique.
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I use arms and buttocks for the Pod. I have used every adhesive product available, but Pod will fall off when using abdominal areas.
UPDATE: I just wanted to confirm the left, upper ARM works!! I reached the 10 day expiration of my G6 last night!!! Yay!! I did not restart it since it was nearly falling off (yet still accurate readings!), but replaced it with another on my right arm! So far, so good. I had soaked the new sensor for about 12 hours during the day, not night, so that it would be ready to take over last night at 10:30 on expiration. This morning readings were a bit off, reading 55 when actually my fingerstick showed 84. I calibrated it then, and so far seems to be much more stable. Hoping it lasts for the full 10 days. I’ve not tried the Dexcom Overpatch before, but I am thinking to try it for added security.
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@Trying I apply more Skin Tac when I extend my sensors, without Skin Tac my sensors fall off in a few days. But you can keep applying it to the edges, it just can get messy looking, so I keep cleaning up around it with alcohol.
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I clean skin with alcohol, allow to dry then apply rectangular Opsite patch with small window cutout for Dexcom wire cannula.
Skin Tac applied to 1) skin, then 2) top of Opsite, onto which Dexcom is applied. A 2nd over-layer of Opsite (rectangular with cutout for sensor / transmitter) covers the whole mess (Skin Tac on the Opsite and Dex prior to top layer application).
G5 sensors usually last me 4-6 weeks. This process saves me about $3,300 per year (out of pocket - CGM’s not covered for me in Canada)
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Thanks for the picture @Jimi63!
I’ve heard of people using Opsite, but I never saw it before. I use Tegaderm.
I just looked them both up on google and they are pretty much the same thing! I’m able to just use the bottom layer of Tegaderm, without any cutout or use of SkinTac, with the sensor on top of it. The Tegaderm generally looks like the day I applied it, 21+ days later. Rarely, like my current application, the Tegaderm will curl up on the end during placement, but it has never curled so much that it came off.
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I’ve never extended a sensor. I’m describing what happens with a new sensor within a week of placement.
I do the same - have used only in my arm for about 6 years.
The only issue I’ve noticed, for both me and my nephew with T1D, is that if you’re dehydrated, it doesn’t read well in the arm. Usually drinking a bottle of water corrects it a short time (an hour or so-or less).
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I use my arm mainly because it’s just a more comfortable spot for me. Sensors on my stomach bruise and hurt a lot more, and my skin in that area is more oily so the sensor comes off quickly. I usually get about a month out of 1 sensor on my arm with a simpatch (purchased from amazon) put over the top around the start of the second week. Sensors on my arm get in the way of clothes a lot less as well, waistlines always seemed to bug sensors on my stomach (I LOVE clothes and switch between many different waistlines throughout the week so it was hard to find a spot that avoided them all).
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I go in my arm with the G6. No scar tissue here. I have quite a bit on my abdomen from pumping for 25 years
So I finally got my G6 and looks like I’m going to eat 24 G5 sensors but that’s another thread. Anyways 1st G6 sensor was awesome and I love it’s flatter, trust me I’ve walked into door jambs and somehow ripped them off working.
I see a lot of people talking about losing signal, I have an iPhone 7 currently and just bought new phone so I will see if it’s the phone but anyways this 2nd sensor has been a flipping nightmare, I lose signal every 10-15 minutes so far the whole 6 days it’s been on.
I will say it’s on my arm but never had an issue before and my phone is always on me on same side so no way it’s due to losing signal. I turn on and off Bluetooth like folks have said and it works for about 15 minutes then that obnoxious alert again stating no signal wait 3 hours.
I have lost a lot of sleep literally because my wife thinks I’m going low and wakes me up saying the thing is beeping again, grrr I want to smash my phone. It’s so loud and annoying.
What am I doing wrong and I don’t really want to hear it’s cause it’s in my arm, that’s just bullocks. Could it be my phone is just a pos? Thanks
I’m afraid I can’t really help, but I can tell you that it’s not the iPhone 7. I have one and it’s fine with the G6. I can also tell you it’s not because the G6 is in your arm. I do that, too, with no problem.
I imagine you could get into removing software that might be interfering with the bluetooth or reinstalling the operating system the Dexcom app and all that, but if you have a new phone coming anyway it might be a lot of effort for nothing.
Hi thanks for posting, just to follow up. I believe the day after writing this my sensor failed all together so it was bad. I called them and they sending a new one out. I put a new one on and haven’t had an issue since.
I’m glad because I like the G6’s size and didn’t want it to be an issue having sensor loss but seems to be just a one off, on my little bit of experience with it. Thanks again for you input.
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