I am finding that these sensors are failing after a few days or less. At times they last but often they fail and I have to spend ages on the phone getting replacements. They won’t admit there are problems with them. Any user experiences that are similar? I am an experienced CGM and pump user having recently moved from an Animas Vibe which had no sensor problems.
My daughter has never had the “pleasure” of using the Enlite, and has always had very solid success with the Dexcom CGM. The overwhelmingly vast majority of folks on TuD (and another D forum in which I participate) frequently write about how much non-Dexcom CGM systems suck the big one. Happy Enlite users are very few and very far between. This played strongly into my decision on which system to choose for my daughter. Have you ever tried the Dexcom system?
Kind of related to @rgcainmd’s comment, I assume that when you switched to Medtronic from Animas, you went with the Enlight sensors because of the device integration, is that right? I know that’s pretty important to a lot of people, but I’m one of those who uses a Medtronic pump and a Dexcom 5 CGM. I find being able to view my status on my phone–and now in the tools bar of my work and home computers using the GlucoGram widget–I don’t really care about the stand-alone receiver component one way or the other. I often carry it with me just because, but I’ve occasionally left it at home and not missed it. True, you don’t have the readout right there in your pump, but to me that’s a fairly trivial consideration. As always, YDMV of course.
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I believe @acidrock23 is a user of the enlite. He might have more specific insight.
I had a lot of problems with the Enlite sensors. A lot of the time, it was sensors getting caught in the inserter or insertion needles not retracting. I am, like DrBB, now using a Medtronic pump and a Dexcom CGM. Very few problems with the Dexcom and the accuracy has been great.
Despite rumors that you haven’t heard, a cute animal does not die when an Enlite sensor user switches to Dexcom.
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I use Medtronic and G4. Never used Enlite, but the Medtronic sensors before that were really not all that good. I’ve heard that Enlite is better than that, but not as good as Dexcom
I just started with the Enlite sensor 5 months ago. If I had read the forum earlier I may have chosen the Dexcom, however here I am. I usually get the full 6 days from the sensor but it depends on how well I calibrate on day one. I usually need to have an extremely stable day without any fast moving readings. If I can do that, the week works well. If not, I have to turn the sensor off and restart. When working well, I can rely on the CGM readings for dosing.
When I first made the switch to the Enlite sensors I hated them for all the reasons that everyone has heard. And I was even ready to go back to the old harpoon-like MiniMed sensors. When discussing this with my CDE, she suggested that I contact the regional Medtronic insulin pump rep for in person or group session training specifically on the Enlite. Which I did and that made all the difference. She had so much more detailed knowledge, the little intricacies, than the people on the phone at Medtronic or even my CDE. I was able to implement changes based on the info I received and did a little experimenting and the results have been very successful. I went into that class like I do most classes I attend, I know more than the speaker and they’re not going to tell me anything I don’t already know, but in this case I was wrong, and gladly so.
If you have a CDE or a diabetes center or something like that, they should have a regional MM person that educates and supports their staff for the use of their products and they may be willing to help. My rep is an RN, MSN, CDE and was very experienced in pump/CGM use and was so helpful and I continue to this day to use her as a resource for any of my pump/CGM issues. I’m not sure of the qualifications of the regional reps so everyone may not have the same experience as myself but it might be worth a try.
Yes, I believe the reports of cute animal deaths have been blown out of all proportion.
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I use the new “enhanced” enlites with the 640g in the UK. (Not sure what’s enhanced about them ha)
I’ve also used Dexcom system with the vibe.
I had a few issues when I started with the enlites, I now position them in my upper arm and I don’t have the issues I had when I first started using them on my stomach, I often restart the sensors on the 6th day and can average 19 days out of a sensor if I wish.
With the enlite, it pays to ensure that the ISIG values are in the right place when you calibrate.
These days I am comfortable enough to bolus from my SG value, as the majority of the time they are inline with my BG readings.
There are numerous videos on youtube about getting the best of the sensor, they are more finickinetty than the Decxom for sure, but I have no real issues with them these days.
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I’ve used both the old and new Minimed sensors, and the only thing I appreciated is the size. But the pain and bleeding when inserting together with the inaccurate readings made me give it up. I wish that Dex could come up with a rechargeable and small transmitter a la Minimed, that would be the ultimate solution.
I tried Enlite sensors for almost a year before i finally was able to convince my endo to switch. I had horrible results with sensor fails and just flat our wacky numbers. Had to turn off low alarms as it was waking me up at night when I was well into safe range. My graphs looked like a mountain range. Gave up calling Medtronics because they always implied it must be something I was doing wrong and always took almost a half hour to go through their “troubleshooting”. They always question how I was taping. Guess what, with the Dexcom I don’t overtape at all. I don’t know how these things got approved. I’m now using Dexcom and what a difference. This is what CGM is supposed to be. Thank you Dexcom. I’m still using the Medtronic pump and it’s been good though I have nothing to compare it to. I input carbs and bolus into the Dexcom receiver manually to make it easier for my endo so they don’t have to look back and forth between pump data and receiver data. Worth the extra work to have accurate CGM. I fully intend to switch to a different pump when my insurance will allow it. I don’t want to support a company that switched their headquarters to Ireland so they don’t have to pay taxes in the US.
Thank you for your reply.
I like your idea of positioning on the arm. I’ll give it a try. Any tricks to know about this? I’ve been advised to only use my abdomen but the failure rate there is high with the enlite. I used to use dexcom and they worked for up to 30 days. Thanks for taking time to reply. M
I’m taking your advice and switching
Good luck!
I position over the tricep towards the back of the arm, this is where I’ve had the best accuracy with the abbott freestyle libre, the dex and the enlite.
here’s a video made by @Danica2 on how to put the dexcom in your arm by yourself
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I’ve been using the Enlite sensors with the 530 pump for 18 months. No problems. Love the integration. I can sleep assured that I’ll survive a low BG. I normally get 11 or 12 days of use with a sensor. I’ve only had one that failed after 2 days and easily got it replaced. I self pay for these sensors so their performance is very important for me. Care in placement, insertion and taping is necessary to achieve good performance.
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Yes I agree David, once you get to grips with them and are careful in how and where they are replaced, and take careful consideration of ISIG values when calibrating they are excellent.
The 640g and the smart guard feature and overnight suspends etc make this a good choice in my opinion.