I started using a G7 this week and so far I love it! I do not use a pump or a phone etc. I just use my receiver so I am sure that I don’t share some of the frustrations that others have.
The G7 is extremely accurate. I had to test my blood quite often to make sure that my G6 was showing correct numbers. I was calibrating the G6 several times a day. I am only calibrating the G7 an average of once a day. Even when I wake up in the morning my G7 reading matches my finger stick test.
I wear my G7 on the front of my upper arm towards the inner arm. I am a side sleeper who moves from side to side throughout the night. So far I haven’t had a problem with compression lows with the G6 or the G7.
I like how easy it is to attach the G7 and I am pleased that there is less waste. I like the shorter warm up time and I am glad that I don’t need to soak the sensor any more. I also am going to appreciate the 12 hr grace period.
I am pleased with the size of the receiver, because it is easy to put in my pocket or waistband. The receiver is also very easy to use.
So far I am extremely pleased with the G7. It has made my life easier.
I gave the G7 a glowing review a few days ago, but unfortunately it has not worked well at all during the last few days. I kept getting the signal lost alert or the brief sensor alert, some of these alerts said that they might not start beginning to read again for up to three hours. Yesterday and through last night I received more alerts than readings. By that time I wanted to throw my lovely new G7 through the window. It woke me again at 6:00 am and said that the sensor had failed and to put in a new sensor. I finger tested and it read 49. I had received no low alerts from my G7. Thankfully I was woken up by the sensor failed alert.
I haven’t put a new sensor on again. I guess I will try placing it on the back of my arm and see how many compression lows I get.
Also during the last few days the G7 has been off in its readings and it rejects my finger stick readings. It will not let me calibrate.
I am really fed up and terribly disappointed. Hopefully the next sensor will work the way it should.
I was pleased to read of your and other members success with the G7. I realize that the G7 will eventually be my only Dexcom option. I have held back on the G6 but that choice has not been without its own problems. (Edited to add: To be clear, I’m using the G6, not the G7.)
A few weeks back I called Dexcom to request replacement for an inaccurate sensor that failed early plus the replacement that bled profusely. They said that I was “over the limit” for replacements and my request needed review at the supervisor level. When I asked what the “limit” was, the rep was evasive.
I did receive replacements for those two but it affected me. I had good performance for the next two sensors, both ran 10 full days. Then I started having problems with accuracy and data dropouts on the third day of a sensor. I stuck with that sensor and had three consecutive interrupted sleep nights. Then the sensor failed on day six. I called it in and they said they will replace it.
I was forced to consider that I might be the problem as I age and live with other health problems. When I read about the problems you are dealing with, I think that much of Dexcom failures and inconsistency is likely Dexcom’s fault.
When the Dexcom sensor works well, it is amazing. I don’t change my daily habits and diet much, but I do have to change my Dexcom sensors.
Thanks for your reports, @Marilyn6. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one!
So sorry to hear you did not have good luck. I had some drop outs on my first sensor, but my next sensor worked perfectly. I did make sure by my second sensor to always have a good line of sight between my phone and the G7. I wear my sensor on the abdomen and carry my phone in a belt holder about 10-11 inches from my G7. At night I try to keep the distance under four feet and no longer have signal loss.
I agree because for the weeks I ran both the G6 and G7 parallel when I did have sensor losses, they were virtually all with the G7 while the G6 appeared to keep on ticking. The only issue I noticed was I did catch a few G6 signal losses that subsequently filled themselves giving me a false sense of security with the G6
I had urgent low CGM alarms at approximately 12:25 am, 1:30 am, and 2:30 am ranging from “Low” to 51 mg/dL. I did one fingerstick at 12:25 am that measured 78 mg/dL. My symptoms did not feel low.
Each of these events was a rapid drop CGM glucose trace followed by a rise to 75-85 level. I had little to no insulin on board and no unusual eating or exercise events preceding the low alerts.
The first three full days with the replacement sensor showed excellent results.
Thanks Terry! I have been learning new things from this discussion:
Yours was the first report I’d seen of Dexcom support questioning a G7 replacement. I was curious if the sensor was giving readings that fell outside the G7 specs and appreciate the info.
I’m thankful that you posted about your positive experience with the G7 system. I have some G7 sensors on the shelf but my reluctance to use them holds me back. I’m most worried about my skin’s ability to adapt well to the 90 degree sensor placement.
I’ve lost a fair amount of weight in the last year and my overall fat layer has decreased. What I should do is just take the plunge, install the G7 app and see how it goes.
Although all of my failed G7 sensors have been replaced, I was notified a while ago that I was over the limit and my replacements have to be reviewed by a supervisor.
The vast majority of my G7 sensor replacements have been due to a faulty insertion/sensor. I have had 4 that failed at startup with apparently no sensor wire. I learned and was able to see through the hole on top that the sensor wire was wadded up inside the sensor. Then I had another where the sensor wire was bent and not inserted. These five were all in the first batch sent to me by Dexcom replacing my non-Tandem-compatible sensors. I hope that they were just a defective lot but I worry with every insertion whether the sensor will deploy correctly. The insertion procedure seems straight forward and I can’t see how my problems are user error.
Prior to using the Tandem-compatible sensors, I had at least two sensors fail due to massive bleeding after insertion. Those were on my abdomen and I have given up trying to wear my G7 sensors there.
When I have a successful insertion with G7 I am mostly satisfied with it. My Day 1 is bad with the sensor reading much lower than my actual BG. But that was also my experience with G6, G5, and G4. What is nice about G7 is that I can turn off all alerts for 6 hours and not get alerted to false lows. I turn off Control IQ on my pump and when things are really bad, put my pump in a Faraday pouch to stop it from receiving false sensor numbers. My aim is to pre-insert sensors but several of my pre-insertions were the ones that failed due to no sensor wire. My experience is that the sensor rights itself in about 18 hours and ultimately works better if I do not calibrate.
I find G7 to be mostly accurate after Day 1 and maybe more accurate than G6.
Not sure why I have been plagued with so many problems. I have never been a Dexcom “problem child,” but I am definitely on their naughty list now.
Mine have been hit or miss. Most of them work flawlessly. However, I have had two that came up with the 3-hour lost data message and then kicked back in close to the 3-hour mark around days seven to nine. My last one did the 3-hour lost data on day nine and then totally failed.
My BG, GMI and TIR have improved since on the G7 due to the more accurate data, without the smoothing that led me to make better decisions. When the G7 works, I find it a huge improvement over the G6. G6 failures however, were highly infrequent compared to frequent minor and the occasional major failure with the G7. Fortunately, I built up a very large backup stock of G7 before converting over to G7 and hope that these failures will be resolved soon.
With close to 3 million and rapidly growing Dexcom users Globally, I am sure they are at least as impatient as we are to find a solution sooner rather than later.
I have great faith in Dexcom and am sure you are right. The Dexcom rep I talked with today was really nice. I thought that they might give me a hard time because I keep asking for replacements. I too, have quite a few boxes of G7 sensors, but I still like to receive replacements.
We are not about to sell our Dexcom stock!
… For a variety of reasons, G7 may be unable to provide a valid
sensor reading. The percentage of valid sensor readings you can expect from G7 over the sensor life is 99.4% (data not shown). All sensors (100%) had valid sensor readings available at least 90% of the time (data not shown) …
90% of 10 day sensor life is only 9 days worth of readings. Your experience is within spec. There is nothing for Dexcom to fix. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like it and I want a CGM that does better. The CGMs we have are just tools and it is up to us to figure out how best to use them.
