I keep getting lost sensor readings today (I have the minimed minilink). I am confused about the difference between lost sensor and weak signal. I get weak signal at times and just move the location of the pump, but with lost sensor it is more of an ordeal. I have gotten these readings before with interference from electrical equipment, but today I have no clue why it keeps happening. Ideas?
Thanks
Back when I used minimed CGMS - I found it could be many things. First, a bad sensor. Or a bad insertion. Are you on the first day? It may not be “wet” enough. You can try a restart new sensor without unplugging the transmitter and see if you will have better readings. You can disconnect the transmitter and recharge it, (MM tech support always told me that placing the transmitter in the charger would clear the transmitter memory?) then start new and see if that will correct the problem. I believe the lost sensor is the inability of the unit to read the glucose in the interstitial fluid, and if I remember right, there will not be any ISIG number or the ISIG number will be a very low number. The weak signal is just a loss of communication between the transmitter and the pump. Sometimes massaging the area around the site helps. Sometimes something warm placed on the insertion site (like a washrag or hot shower) may help. It was amazing all of the different things I would try to see if I could correct the problem before calling tech support. And finally, call tech support. The sensors are expensive! If it is a bad one, it should be replaced.
Thanks. I did restart and recharge and it seems like that worked. I rarely get the lost signal, but when I get them, like the other day, it is one after another after another!
Weak signal - no communication with the pump. Lost sensor - I believe it displays this when there is no communication for over 20-30 minutes. Lost sensors can happen as well if the transmitter battery is dead and needs to be recharged.
Lost sensor and weak signal can be one and the same. If your pump is too far from the sensor, you may get one or both of those signals. I used to have these signals at night while I was sleeping because I wore the pump in an elastic pocket on my leg (too much space between them). I bought a couple of sleep T-shirts that have a pocket right in the middle of my chest. That put the pump less than a foot from the pump. No problem after that.
I sometimes have similar problems when I wear the CGM on the left side of my abdomen and carry the pump in my right pocket. I guess the radio waves just can't make it around my ample belly.
If the problem just doesn't meet the situation described above, just turn off the sensor for a couple of hours. Then restart it as a new sensor. Most times it will get the transmitting back on track. This applies to a Bad sensor signal as well. If this trick just doesn't work, you actually have a bad sensor and may need to change it.
Good luck.