New to glucose monitoring & Dexcom G4 Platinum is so much bigger than I thought

Hi! I love the info that the Dexcom G4 is giving me.

But.... it is so much bigger than I thought it would be. Two questions:

1) Does everyone only put it in the stomach area? I wear fitted clothing & bikini bathing suits so it is a bit obtrusive.

2) I believe Dexcom is working on a smaller sensor. Is it common practice for Dexcom to let you upgrade to any improvements for a reasonable price?

Thank you so much!

Best,

Gail

I had the same though, Gail, when I first got it a few months ago - I kinda sticks out! I've taken to wearing my sensor sort of where my back jeans pocket is, like so it's right under the top of the the pocket. I wear jeans a lot, so I don't feel like it's noticeable there, since denim is kind of bulky anyway. It's almost out of sight, out of mind. That works for me. I haven't worn a bathing suit since getting it, though, so I'm not sure about that. I know some people like to wear their sensors on the back of their arms, but I don't really like the idea of having it out and about. Just a personal thing.

1) I usually only wear it on my stomach. I have found the best accuracy for me is there. However, when at the beach, I wear at the top of my butt, under the bathing suit. There it gets OK accuracy, but makes for less weird tan lines. I also wear the Omnipod, which takes up my legs, arms and back so the stomach is basically the Dex's home.

2) The 7 sensor was smaller. Dexcom went bigger for the G4 to increase the range of the transmitter, which is kind of awesome. With the Dex 7, you usually had to carry it around the house with you. Now I just leave it in one place and it always gets my readings. As for upgrades, I upgraded from the Dex 7 to Gen 4 using their $399 special upgrade price. That's the only upgrade I've ever been able to use since the 7 was my first Dex.

I hear the next gen5 will return the transmitter back to the size of the PLUS.

The Dex 7 was a much smaller sensor, but for me the G4 is much more accurate. Also, the receiver doesn't seem much smaller, but it is much easier to carry around.

1) I always wear it on the tricep area. I have tried different areas, and that is the only place I don't hit it on things. I wear different clothes with different waistlines, and for me if I wear the wrong thing, the clothes rub against the sensor and the adhesive pulls on my skin. I used to care if people see it. Now I don't care anymore. Most people think it is a Bodybugg type thing.

2) I have no idea. When my 1 year warranty was up, they got my insurance company to get me the G4. I am type 1 so my insurance company started covering CGMs for Type 1's. I got lucky.

1) I wear sensors on my abdomen, arms, and upper butt.

2) When Dexcom changed to the G4 from the 7+, people who had bought 7+s in the past couple months could upgrade for free, and those who had not could upgrade for a price or just wait until their systems expired.
I do not believe Dexcom is at all likely to have the G5 in the United States before 2015 even though they are developing and testing it elsewhere, because they haven't even begun doing any testing with it in the US.