My son has been using the Dexcom Platinum for one month. We have gone through seven sensors. Thanks to this site, we have tried every skin prep known to man and nothing is helping. We have used IV Skin prep tape, Tegaderm patch, medical tape and Skin Tac. His sensors fall off on average 3-5 days after placing them . Today his sensor failed (didn't fall off but just failed in general) and we just placed it two days ago.
He is a VERY active 11 year old boy. He plays soccer five days a week, does extra personal training two days a week, and then plays in the neighborhood with friends. So he is always running, sweating, jumping, playing. I would say after school he is active for about 3 hours each day non-stop. Plus, in just a few months he'll be swimming all day, every day.
I have talked to Dexcom at least twice and they don't have any further recommendations other than what we've tried (showering first, using only alcohol before placing the sensor, medical tape if need be, etc.) He despises placing the sensors in the skin, so trust me, we have followed their recommendations perfectly.
I am just trying to figure out if the Dexcom is really not intended for active, sweaty, 11 year old boys. And, I predict once summer hits the sensor will probably fall off daily.
Any secrets out there that we haven't tried? Anyone else have active kids using this system with luck? We are very disappointed b/c the convenience of seeing your BS and trends is amazing. He loves that part. So we hate to give up on it...but at this point we are not sure what else to do!
I agree that the adhesive on the g4 is pretty useless. When I started on the 7+ I used opsite flexifix. I still use it with the g4 and it works well for me (but I'm an adult female and not an 11 year old boy). Good luck! I hope you can find a solution that works for you both!
The adhesive on the G4 is way less sticky than on the old Dexcom 7+. That being said, something I discovered that helps me get more stickiness out of both sensors and pump sites is to NOT use alcohol to wipe off the area beforehand. I know this seems counter intuitive to everything you've been taught, but for some reason, it works for me. I just make sure I place a sensor or pump site right after I take a shower,but make sure the site is totally dry. So, maybe try that? I also have trouble keeping it on, especially if I'm sweating. When I do end up taping it, I literally tape the ever-living-crap out of it, because I'd rather keep a good sensor in that is working and have a ridiculous amount of tape on me, than lose the info from that sensor. You could also try the dexcom in an alternate site to see if it is less sweaty or less jostled? I've done mine on the back of my arm in the fatty bit (not the muscle-y bit) and it worked really well. Hope you guys can find a solution soon! It does get frustrating at times! So, in summary, try the following: 1) don't use alcohol 2) tape the ever-living-daylights out of it 3)Try an alternate site. Good luck!
mine fall off after day 3 as well, especially when i take a shower. i bought latex free tape and tape it down on all sides, but don't tape down the actual sensor, just the edges, i'm going on day 6 right now and my entire dex site is covered in tape. also, when I shower, i now take a small plastic sandwich bag and just cover it up with tape, then remove it when i'm done with shower.
Opsite flexifix is incredible. I didn't use Dexcom but the Minimed CGM and they didn't stick good either, but definately will with the Opsite, and you don't have to use a big piece either. I personally don't like the cgm, it annoys me, but if you are getting a lot of use out of yours and its beneficial, try the opsite, you can get it on Amazon.
Try Mastisol liquid adhesive. If that doesn't keep things stuck nothing will! You can try to paint it on the area the tape will hit before insertion, you can try "painting" the tape prior to insertion, you can try painting the tape after insertion. Just make sure if you use this stuff do not insert through it. I have success with inserting, then soaking the tape of the sensor after insertion with skin tac. If you have not tried this, it is worth a trial. I will use a blow dryer on low heat to help dry the skin tac then, takes only a few seconds. However, I have not been using the G4 in summer months - so will see once the hot summer hits how it will do. I will use the mastisol if the edges begin to peel, apply with a q-tip, paint under the peeling edges of the tape, use a dry q-tip to press the edges down.
Yup. The good ole days when bandages and its tape used to really stick down and one had to grab it firmly and rip fast to get off are gone. Ever since 3m came out with the post it pad adhesive; it seems to have crept in everywhere. On post it pads great. On your skin, the crap falls off fast at latest sweat.
I can barely find a bandage/tape over at the drug store anymore that will stay stuck down as well.
It is interesting to hear the reports here. i have used the dexcom 7 sensors and the suggested solutions set forth here were most helpful or they barely hit 7 days without falling off.
Use Rockadex. It is a big, sticky patch that sits over it (it has an open space for the sensor). My 12 year old daughter is on day 12,of the dexcom and it finally came off today. She is very active, and this has worked well for her. They ship from Australia I believe so they take a little while to arrive.
Also, my experience is that the Dexcom adhesive needs some time to “set.” If you go and exercise right after putting on a new sensor then it will just fall off. It also makes a lot of difference to use the advice in this thread to clean the area with alcohol to remove skin oils, to use an adhesive like Skin Tac and then tape over it.
My friend uses Rocktape. He does lots of high intensity sweaty workouts and it sticks for 2 weeks. I never let soap or shampoo get near my sensor. The area around my sensor gets rinsed with water and nothing else. Soap will dissolve the adhesives. If the sensor gets dirty clean the area gently with a damp cloth
Likewise, I find that SkinTac reallly does take time to offer its full adhesion power. We fan daughter’s skin Tac for. A good 30 seconds before inserting the sensor. My 13-year old gets about 2 weeks or so from her sensors. Don’t give up!
I haven’t had much success with the adhesives. I’ve found that taping my site down with dextape (or one of the other adhesives with a Dexcom slot cut out) and changing the tape when it starts to peel up to be most effective. I have to change mine every five or so days but I imagine for you every day/every other day might be needed. Doing this keeps enough of the Dexcom adhesive intact that I can wear it for several weeks. Even when most of the edges have peeled up, the most important part right under the Dexcom stays stuck in place.
I’ve been using skintac and rocktape personally. I was using onsite flexifix but I kept getting a rash from that, so now I apply a thin layer of skin tac, wait for a good two minutes, and insert the sensor. I reapply skin tac overtime one of the corners starts to lift up until the entire area ends up being perma-tacky from being so oversaturated from skintac (this has been around day 6 for me) and then I apply rocktape (with a hole cut out for the transmitter) over the whole sticky mess. When the rock tape starts peeling up (usually around day 3 or 4 of the rocktape) I gently peel it off by sticking a finger through the hole at the transmitter and then peeling in an outward motion (so that the edge of the dexcom tape never gets pulled) and re-apply fresh rocktape.
