This is my first winter using the G7 and every time I cross-country ski or backcountry ski I receive a “brief sensor issue” message approximately 15 minutes after beginning the activity and then do not receive CGM readings the rest of the time. For cross country skiing, the sensor comes back on about 15-30 minutes after my activity. For backcountry skiing, the sensor fails about 2.5-3 hrs after I begin the activity. Something similar happens about 60% of the time when I walk for more that 30 minutes and it also happened when I hiked this summer. But it rarely happens when I strength train, run indoors, or ride my bike.
I did not have this problem with the G5 or G6. When I tried to report the problem to DexCom, they said they would replace the failed sensors but would not discuss the recurring problem because they said “no one else is having problems exercising”. Is that true? Is anyone else experiencing these kinds of issues when they engage in activities where they cover a distance? Needless to say it is frustrating because I don’t know what my blood sugars are doing during exercise, which was a primary reason I wanted to use the CGM. Thank you in advance for any help or insight you can offer!
When I am inside, it does not matter in which pocket my iPhone is. I think the walls reflect the RF signal from the G7 so that an iPhone on the other side of my body can still get the signal. However, this is not the case outside. There I need to have my iPhone on the same side of my body as the G7. I noticed the same behavior with the G6.
is usually due to the measured rate of change greater than what the sensor can keep up with. This could be due to you blood sugar actually changing too fast or external factors like rapid temp changes, sensor wire movement, etc. It’s the “etc” that is tough to figure out.
The dex support reps work for an outsourced company so they don’t know what is going on. The response they gave you is nasty. When you changed from the G6 to G7 did you move from your abdomen to your arm?
Thank you for the info on the different messages. That is helpful to know. I have always used the sensors on my arms because the sensors fell off my abdomen during activity and I frequently wear backpacks and they were incompatible with abdomen placement. So i have worn G5, G6, and G7 on the back of either arm.
Just an update on the G7 failure issue. I was able to get a prescriptions for G6 before my ski trip in March and have had great success with the G6 while skiing and all other exercise. Does anyone know how long DexCom will continue to make the G6?
There’s no firm date as yet, afaik. I’m not especially eager to change as I’m happy with the accuracy of the G6 and its foibles are familiar enough that I’m not especially eager to learn a whole set of new ones. There are certainly advantages to the G7, but sufficiently dissatisfied with the G6 to make it seem worth the effort. To me, as for you, tracking my BG during exercise is pretty much the primary use case for CGM to begin with, so what you describe makes me even more disinclined to make the “upgrade.”
I’m on G6 still. Refuse to upgrade. I have not had problems backcountry skiing, cross country, or normal downhill.
But I would be super curious to test this and I appreciate you sending warning that this happens because it would be a real problem to have that sensor fail in the backcountry.
For me, when I cross country, I get really rapid BG increases that definitely are gonna impact sensor accuracy and could result in the sensor errors.
Are you out in the super cold? Because I used to see MT pump failures because the tubing froze and took me a while to figure out. You do see unusual failures in super cold. We had a couple days a few weeks ago where all the gas pumps ad the LED signs at McDonalds started to fail. Tech does start to fail in strange ways in the ultra cold (like -20).
Try to be cautious because the newer devices running off bluetooth have a weaker communication signal than the old devices that used RF. RF is stronger. So, if you are out skiing with a bunch of patrols and they are running their radios, your more likely to see communication failures.
If you are running a system on a cell phone that requires service, you won’t have internet access anywhere (even on small ski hills) other than the top of the hill. If you want to call 911, you gotta get to the top of the hill to do that. That’s why the patrol uses radios.
Have fun, but watch those knees, @troygirl. I just hit my early 40’s and I feel every day of backcountry skiing that I did when I was young. It just started. I never got hurt. But, I feel it now. It was icey moguls in MN and the terrain in MI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmf4_XycAWs
I do not believe this issue is related to cold. I have had these failures and “brief sensor issues” across a variety of winter temps (30 degrees - 10 degrees). And I have had success with the G6 across an even wider range of temps. Good question, I initially wondered the same.
Are you a “heavy pole planter?” Like especially in xcountry, some people ski really heavy on the poles, like they pole plant really hard in order to push themselves forward. Some people are prone to breaking poles that way.
Maybe the location of the sensor (on your arm) might contribute to it becoming dislodged.
