Hi guys. I have been using the back of my arms as my preferred Dexcom site for a while, because I don’t get good readings on my abdomen due to a lot of scar tissue. Lately though, I’m getting sooo many false low readings at night from the pressure of my arms on the mattress. I’m losing a lot of sleep with these. Any suggestions on spots that don’t have that issue? Has anyone tried putting Dexcom on the front or side of their arms? My arms are fairly muscular, so I’m not sure if it would be feasible.
I wear my Dexcom on the front of my upper arm with it placed towards my inner arm. I do not remember any pressure lows since I moved the Dexcom sensor from my abdomen. It also performs much better on my arm.
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The sides of my abdomen never worked well for me but you may want to try in a direct line between your belly button and your xiphoid process. I am a side sleeper so that is a great position to stay off the sensor and you may find that you have very little to no scar tissue along that line.
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I almost always use the front of my arms, close to where my arm lays against my body. It’s my favorite spot, since it talks real nicely to my pump there, doesn’t interrupt my sleep, and it’s really accurate.
At the moment, I’m trying a few inches over, on my chest, in that little bit of soft skin next to the armpit. Still seems really accurate, and definitely won’t get compressed there, but for some reason it’s itchy. Don’t usually have that problem.
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I put dexcom G6 on inner thigh and it works well. Occasionally on stomach or outer arms.
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I also use my inner and top of thigh as well as back of the arm. I’m a side and back sleeper and no pressure lows from either of those sites.
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Another vote for this position. Rarely had the pressure-low problem until the last year or so, which makes me wonder if it has something to do with Dex manufacturing quality or something. But it started being such a problem that I was desperate for sites that wouldn’t be affected and keep me awake all night with false alarms. I was hesitant about trying front of the upper arm–just seemed likely to hit the muscle sheath, which is painful as heck. But I recently started trying it, like six weeks ago, and it’s now my preferred location.
Interestingly the Dexcom-recommended location on the abdomen, which they show in all their instructional and promotional materials, SUCKS in terms of pressure lows if you’re a side sleeper, like I am.
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I put mine on the side of abdomen towards the back but not too far back. Like where u would wear a high waisted pant. No pressure lows. I sleep on my sides,
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I’m a side sleeper, and find putting the sensor more to the inside of the arm (about halfway between back of the arm and the side) prevents it from getting pressed in the night.
Unclear from your photo which one is you, but if you’re a male, I find a sensor on the pecs is comfortable, out of the way when sleeping, gives accurate readings, and frees up real estate for pods. If I’m on my back I can get a signal loss, though.
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If you are muscular and lean, you can try sticking the sensor and pulling up with the aplicator so that it pulls your skin away and then hit the button to insert, this will keep the wire from bending when it hits muscle. I wear it on the back or the front of my biceps you can also push it to the side if it works better.
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Thanks Timothy! I’ll give that a try.
Thanks DrBB. I totally agree. The pressure lows have gotten way worse in the last year, and I am done with losing a whole night’s sleep over false lows. Very frustrating. So far the inner side of my arms are working well, although a little painful at times.