I'm at the end of Day 7 of my trial of the Dexcom (mine is arriving today). I absolutely loved it. Until last night.
I started getting screwy readings about 10pm. Going up up up. Then up down up down. Hadn't eaten since 5:30. Weird. Tested on the meter. 138. Still screwiness. Tested again 10 minutes later. 129. CGM still rising.
Well, I decided to just accept it as I was very tired.
Fast forward. 11:30 - low. 1am - low. 2am-low. 4am-low (55).The glucose tabs didn't seem to work. Tried to test my blood in bed. Battery dies on that monitor (another story...). Got up, found another monitor. 141.
141.
What could be causing this?? Was I wrong? Was this CGM crap just another "cross your fingers and sometimes maybe its better than nothing" diabetes "solution"? I mean, I didn't do anything different. Anything weird. I was even fasting, which seems like it should be easier for the CGM to work. I didn't take anything. All I did was take a Percogesic. And that doesn't....it doesn't....does it?
And sure enough. Acetominophen.
Dam.
Lesson learned. I accept garbage in, garbage out. Looks like I fried the sensor though, as the thing just wants more and more blood. Oh well, its almost 7 days to the hour anyway.
As I read your post...I must admit I am a bit confused....First, you say yours "arrives today." Do you mean your 7th day or do you mean the Dex? I guess it MUST be day 7, seeing as you go on about what has been happening with the dex in the past few days. At the end you say "And sure enough, Acetomenophen." Do you mean you have NOT taken any or what? Based on your story, I would avoid any more Percogesic, call Dex and report a "bad" sensor...I find they are usually more than willing to replace it, as long as there has been no drug use (ie Tylenol...cant tell if you mean you havent or you have). IN any case, good luck and PEACE.
My own personal just-for-me brand new unit should have arrived today, but alas Fedex is holding it hostage. The tracker actually shows it sitting in the local warehouse since last night. This morning they marked it "Package not due for delivery", since it was sent 3-Day. So they're making me wait til tomorrow. Nice, Fedex...
As I'm sure you know, Acetominophen (most popularly Tylenol) is known to cause errors in the Dexcom. I took Percogesic without thinking about the Acetominophen, and only later did I confirm that it did contain it. I got errors in the Dexcom. I shan't use any more Percogesic.
Appreciate the advice, but none needed on this one. I just wanted to share a lesson learned, as reading other people's experiences has helped me alot.
Glad you figured it out savage! Same exact thing happened to me except with another OTC medicine...took several hours for the light bulb over my head to go on...acetominophen sure enough.
Good luck with your Dex. I wouldn't give mine up for anything.
