I’ve been on the pump for about a month and some change now. I absolutely LOVE the Medtronic MiniMed Pump, however, I am not to crazy about the Enlite sensor. I have lost a weeks worth of sleep due to either “off readings” or constant alerts regarding low blood sugar. I’ve also experienced difficulty with starting new sensors. I’ve gone through four already… They either never calibrate or get kinked and I have to restart a new one. When I called Medtronic about the issues with sensors they asked me so many questions as if I were lying to them about what was going on.
In the past I have used the Dexcom system and I don’t ever remember having these same issues with it. Yes, it alerted me, but it didn’t drive me nuts.
Has anyone experienced difficulty with the Enlite sensor as I have?
I have, but not with the new 530 sensors. I can relate what I have done with the older So let me start again by saying I do not use the 530 so my solution ideas might be a little off base. Take what I say and if you can use them great if not well ignore them.
I was having terrible issues with the darn things starting. So I I hatched an idea and it worked. When I first insert my sensor I do not turn the pump sensor link system on. I know under the old system it takes 3 hours for a new sensor to start. So I leave it off and after about 2.5 to 4 hours I turn it on. Usually almost instantly the pump finds it and reports it is ready for the initial calibration. i think what happens is during the first 3 hours if the sensor loses communication even for a bit the process is interrupted and it starts over. By shorting this period to a few seconds or maybe 30 minutes max. It really lessens the link time and minimizes the darn warm up period. I have been doing this with the old system for years and it very seldom fails to link and be fine. Now if it does fail I need to start over with a new sensor, but I bet in 8 years this has happened less than 10 times. The good part is it lessons the alarms and the worry. Hey it either works or not.
The alarms are a constant issue with the older sensors. In the pump settings, you can turn some of them off first I lengthen all the re alarm settings by the most I can. Yeah I get it there is a communication error etc. Push it out as far as you can and then driving down the road you knwo you have to fix it or turn the darn sensor off. Yes if You turn it off it does take the 3 hours again to restart, but to me it beats those constant wacky beeps.
My wife goes a little off kilter if she hears an alarm. That drives me wacky and before it is over with we are arguing, so turn the alarm on low she seldom hears them and if I can get away with it, I vibrate the pump. Again pushing it out as far as possible means at the very least I can work on it when i get to a place of my choosing instead of in the car.
Finally, at night, I never put in a sensor after 4 PM. That gives me two chances to work out a decent working sensor by bed time. I knwo if it is working and I can get in two calibrations by bed time, It will likely not go off over night.
Finally the dexcom, I believe is stronger power. so I always keep my sensor on the same side as my set. So if my set is left, my sensor is left, if it is right same. That puts the pump closer to the sensor. I find that reduces errors. I know the dexcom and pump work independent, but getting them lined up on the same side saves me alarms. That means more often changes and yes that is a hassle but it seems to help a lot.
Ok those are my ideas, let me knwo if any of these work for you. I want the new 530 and if these dont work, I will be interested in what does work.
YES! I am having the exact same problem. Every time I call Minimed they treat me like I know nothing about pumping or CGMs (which I can sort of understand) and then, as you say, ask so many questions you think they think you're lying - just to get a free sensor. I was on the Dexcom G4 for over a year and loved it. Been on the Enlite for less than a week and am beginning to hate it.
I TRULY appreciate your response, I will defiantly consider all the techniques and tricks you've told me about before reverting back to Dexcom 4g Platinum. I am very new to this system and technology. I have not had a set time to begin a new sensor, however, I've tried to consistently begin a new one in the evening. I now find that it's annoying when I'd like to go to sleep, however,I have to constantly be alerted for calibrations that won't calibrate... With that being said I will try starting a new sensor in the early afternoon and try to begin at a consistent time of day. I will also try to leave the sensor off for two hours before calibration and hopefully everything will be in sync. I will be sure to let you know if these techniques work out for me!
Hate the things. Utterly inaccurate for me is the issue, but am partly blaming that on what I'm putting my body through at the time when riding. I've had times when it'll be utterly in sync with the FS reading for a couple of hours, go out for a ride then huge swings from BG to sensor reading. Once I had the sensor reporting 220, which my FS was reporting 75. Correcting for it would of been wonderful if I didn't trust the thing as much as I do.
My DSN (CDE) basically told me just make sure all alarms are off on the things and just use it for direction trends and not an accurate number. Which is basically all I can use the things for.
Tried the Enlite 2 which came out a couple of months back, but still haven't noticed a big change yet from the first. Hate to say it, think the original harpoon before the Enlites might actually of been better!
Regarding sleep i would also turn off EVERY alarm, they are usually very annoying. Makes life a lot easier;)
I got a sensor today for a week, have been disappointed so far by them, thats why i dont use them constantly, but hope with the new sensors things should get better.
Hugs, SC
I would love to turn off the alarm LOL, however, I've been having a lot of lows in my sleep so I need to keep them on. Is there anyway you can turn the alarms to ONLY vibrate?
I now see why physicians ask type 1's to not depend on the sensor alone... When I used to Dexcom 4g, I barely ever had an off reading
I personally thought the paradigm had too many alarms, I only set mine for high/low threshold and I still think it beeps too much on a good day! I was on it constantly for 2 years and I haven't worn mine consistently for the last year because too much info. Sorry to go off-topic - the point was to program only the bare minimum alarms!
