Dexcom New Session - any way to skip the 2 hour wait?

That’s true. Per the developer (Johann Degraeve), you have to “forget” the connection in the Dex receiver in order to connect via xDrip. One of the downsides for me as I’m one of those weird people who prefers to have both. But a lot of people only want to use their phone, so not a problem for them.

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I loved all the options and settings in Xdrip. However, my main reason for getting the G5 for my daughter was my ability to follow her. This is where Xdrip doesn’t compare to the Dexcom app (or at least it didn’t this summer). As soon as I (as the follower) was out of wifi range and onto my data, I wouldn’t get readings for long periods of time. It was only in wifi that I could rely on it. It worked like a dream on my daughter’s LgG5. If following isn’t a priority, I would highly recommend it and we’d likely still be using it instead of the Dexcom app.

Quick question. What is xdrip? :blush:

We do the warm up every 7 days but if, in between the 7 days, we have wonky numbers or a sensor starts to peel too much…we place another sensor before we remove the old one…then swap the transmitter to the new one quickly. Sometimes it reads fine, other times we end up having to do the 2 hour warm up to get good readings.

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XDrip and XDrip+ are open source non-Dexcom approved programs that have similar/same functions as the Dexcom receiver and can be run on an Android phone. The G5 transmitter 3month/3week/3day software limitation is not present in XDrip(+) (it will work until the batteries actually are depleted which for me is an additional 27% additional battery life). If the user where to open up a used Dexcom transmitter, they could replace the 2 batteries (see Youtube), seal the transmitter and reuse it repeatedly until you eventually break the circuit board. XDrip(+) lets you port the information out to a MongoDB, other Nightscout server, or even the Dexcom servers. I have mine set so my spouse can follow my BG levels remotely.

Wow. I had no idea! And you can replace Dex batteries? Sweet.

Facetious question. I think you can understand what it means. By the way I was diagnosed 5 years ago.

HUH? If you don’t want to answer an honest question, fine, but I DON’T understand what you meant.

xDrip can be run under IOS as well. Fairly recent development, but that’s what I was running it on.

Good to know. Thanks Dr BB!

Once you replace the batteries, the Dexcom receiver will not recognize the transmitter. You need an “unofficial” program such as Xdrip to utilize this function. Have you tried using something like Grif Grips and a barrier like Skin -Prep to keep the sensors in place longer? I use those and other similar products and am able to keep most sensors running for 21-30 days.

It is not an easy procedure. The peeps on YouTube make it look easy but it is not.

I do have a procedure for inserting a new sensor that works if you are not at the end of a sensor session. I usually wear my sensors till they “fail” (defining fail is a whole nother story). What I do is insert the new sensor and then quickly remove the old transmitter, wipe the contacts with alcohol and put the new transmitter on the new sensor. I skip the stop and start cycle. The signal drops out as it reconnects, but typically within a half hour it comes back on-line. My experience is that the sensors typically start pretty close to the right calibration.

@meee - How long do you typically use a given sensor?

Some people just use it the 7 days and then change to a new physical sensor. We typically do a single restart on a given sensor to get about 12 days life from one sensor. Some people post about getting crazy long life from a single sensor in the 30~40 day range (insane but great if it works for them !!!)

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It was with two G4 receivers.

I apologize if I sounded snarky Dave. I mean that my Bg drops rapidly and spikes rapidly at times and even a 2 hour period with no data is not really safe for me a lot of the time because I never know what will happen for sure Bg wise. As much as I sometimes complain about accuracy and other things to do with dexcom it is not an option for me. I really need it to have any kind of a life. It is really hard also to schedule things well for a 2 hour delay with no data. I don’t want to walk around with iob not knowing what is going on.

I wish they would change it so you could simply put your new sensor in place 2 hours before and have no delay. I’m not sure what you did all these years but when I was on mdi and had no dexcom I had some very bad lows which came on with little to no warning that is not something I want to have happen.

I use mine for 7 days now because I ended up with a bunch of expired and near expiring sensors when I left them on for 30 days or so😹 and those don’t work for me. I can’t see what you wrote so I’ll reply more later.

Yep I’m one who got crazy long life :joy_cat: I also get really cray stuff going down for no apparent reason and horrific inaccuracies. If I wait long enough it sometimes- often goes back to normal.

When I hit the G5 software limit, XDrip+ usually says I have 27-29% battery left. I get a month minimum, and sometimes 6 weeks.

@meee
Where I was going was in regards to the 2-hr warmup.
My feeling is that all “2 hr time periods” are not the same. Some are more important than others to be monitored. Rather than waiting for the Dexcom sensor session to end at whatever time it is going to end at, we will end the session early based on picking a time period which I think is more likely to be level and in range.
Then we either restart the sensor or change out the sensor and initiate the 2-hr period.

Only point being that you can have a say over WHEN this happens but obviously it can not simply avoided.

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My previous sensor failed within an hour of bedtime so it was super inconvenient for me to install a new sensor and have to stay up much later than I wanted to to get in the 2-hour calibration.