My 10 year old daughter has been using the Dexcom G4 since September. For the past several months we've been placing the sensor in the back of her arm. Last week when I inserted a new one she complained that it hurt several minutes after I inserted it. She said every time she moved her arm it hurt. She decided to tough it out and went to school. By noon she called me telling me it still hurt so I told her to go ahead and take it out.
A couple days later we tried again but put it in the other arm. Same thing happened and we pulled it out within an hour. Two days later tried again and the same thing happened, it hurt so bad she wouldn't even move her arm.
Has anyone else experienced this? The back of the arm is such a perfect location for her. She does gymnastics and it gets ripped off most other places and she puts her pump on her hip so I don't want to use that area for the Dexcom.
I've had a couple that kept hurting and, like your daughter, I take them out. No reason to be uncomfortable :) I don't have much advice about placement as I use my arm for my pump and avoid it for the dexcom. Good luck in finding real estate that works for her!
My daughter wears the G4 only on her arms. For us, painful sensors, especially during movement, are usually a sign the sensor wire is hitting muscle. We have to make sure we tilt the inserter back before inserting. It allows insertion at a slightly more shallow depth, & avoids the muscle.
This is interesting because I was wondering if it was hitting muscle. Her arms seem to be more lean with more muscle due to all the gymnastics she's doing. When you say "tilt it back" how exactly do you do that. Do you stick it on her arm and then tilt it as you insert it?
I'm really going to have to talk her into trying again. She's now so afraid it's going to hurt that she doesn't want any part of it. But her numbers are consistently higher without the Dexcom since I'm not willing to correct at night like I do when she's wearing it. I miss Dexy!!!
We place the sensor with the "legs" that hold the transmitter on the bottom side...sensor sits vertically, not horizontal. Once the sensor adhesive pad is in place, but before actual insertion, I tilt the inserter down gently...towards her elbow. It just changes the insertion angle enough to keep away from the muscle.
My daughter is pretty tough when it comes to pain. She said the pain from the sensor wire was so bad it radiated up through her shoulder & down to her wrist. She couldn't take it.
Dex really isn't meant to wear on arms or legs, although some do. I too am very lean with a lot of muscle, both sensors failed with my arms and legs. Insertion often does hurt a bit. Vertical insertion, if using arms - legs. If using torso, horizontal.
