The sensor was inserted on 24th. I’ve read that you should recharge the transmitter to prolong the sensor life. What am I supposed to do? Yank the sensor off or put it into some pause mode before that?
John: What type of CGM are you using?
Medtronic (Minimed) Paradigm
I charge the transmitter while I’m changing the sensor. I put in the sensor, and then let it sit for about 10 minutes while I charge the transmitter, and then I clip on the transmitter and start the process of calibration. it’s worked so far for me. I don’t think you need to charge the transmitter every 3 days. It seems like it has a pretty good battery life. But I would call your Minimed rep to double check. I don’t work for the company so not sure the technicalities of the products.
I wear my sensors 20 plus days. you can go 7 days and a couple hours before you absolutely must charge your transmitter. On day 7 you will get a weak signal alert and then a lost sensor alarm. Simply remove the transmitter and charge it, once you have done that reconnect it and tell the pump to find lost sensor. You will have to wait 2 hours and then plug in your BG when prompted and away you go.
I don’t usually wait until day 7 because sometime it will be late at night and I don’t want to be messing around with charging and the calibration period. I try and charge it every 4-5 days so the battery won’t get trashed out. I also put IV-prep 3000 over the entire transmitter and sensor so that it does not move, this prevents the sensor insertion point from getting irritated.
Around day 20 or so you start getting crazy readings from the sensor which means it is time to change it!
Good Luck- Dave
When my sensor ends, I place it into the charger for 20 minutes to recharge. My sensor hasn’t died yet and I have had it for about 8 months. You just need to be sure to be careful about having good batteries in the pump, and the charger for the sensor… I think the only problem I have had was when the sensor was not fully engaged with the insertion. kwlawson
On day 7 is when I start getting a weak signal and I need to recharge. But usually by this date, my site is sore, so I just change it out. The longest I’ve ever had one in was 9 days. The site was so sore that I usually just change it after day 7.
There’s a lot of confusing language in this thread. Please clarify your terminology.
Sensor = the part in your body. In the case of Minimed CGM sensors approved for 3 days only.
Transmitter = the part that gets recharged and clips onto the sensor. Should not need to be replaced for a very long time.
I recharge my sensor transmitter every 3 days - the 1st time it says end of sensor (after 3 days) I simply restart it as a new sensor - when it says end of sensor again (after 6 days total) I carefully remove the transmitter & recharge it - I then reattach it and usually go for another 6 days without recharging it - sometimes I have to remove the sensor after about 10 days because my skin has become too irritated - but I am on day 13 now and the sensor (and my skin) are both doing great.