I just got the Dexcom G4 last week and was really excited about using it. The insertion was painless so I was optimistic that it would not be a problem. I put in on my stomach, towards the side. It started to be a little painful that first night. It was pretty tender the following couple of days. I pump with the Omnipod and I rarely have pain after I put it on. Today is the 6th day that I was wearing it and I was fine until lunch and when I got back to my office it, all of a sudden, got very painful and I couldn’t sit. I had to go to the bathroom and take it off. Has this happened to anybody? Was it just in a bad spot? I loved the information it gave me and I don’t want to give up on it.
Dex can be painfully if it is poking into muscle rather than in t the fat layer. Are you thin? Did you pinch up the fat layer before placement to avoid muscle.
People have varying amounts of fat, some have very thin area and others that have more padding. The abdomen also tends to bend and flex more so can cause problems as well.
Back of arms tends to be good, some people use thighs, I use the girls, have better stability and since it's under my bra it is protected.
Try out what sites have the most flubber, and vertical is fine as well.
To me your experience is related to the sensor technology and not its manufacturer. I have used the Navigator system in the past. The application of sensors on my arms has always been problematic. The arm started to hurt very soon. Associated was a feeling that the arm is sore and less mobile like a relieving posture. Everytime it was a big relief to get rid of the sensor after one week. My conclusion was that sensors of the current type are not for me and I better do not develop some sort of mental dependency on knowing my blood glucose 24/7. Of course it is hard to compensate for the missing information. I try to test more often and to avoid typical mistakes.
Back of arms tends to be good...only place I put it.
Usually get 2 weeks out of sensor, the tiny wire doesn't cause the sort of problems CSII sites do. Back of the arm doesn't have any flexing/compression issues, and is almost always completely out of the way -- rarely bump it on anything.
I alternate arms, so the previous site has more than enough time to completely heal before I'm back on that arm again.
I would rate back of arms a 10 out of 10 for site placement. Tummy -- the only actually approved site -- one of the worst... 3/10.
Can't speak for The Girls -- the ones I have access to don't need BG monitoring :-)
Hi,
I also had this problem in the stomach area and the arm. I stopped using it due to that: lump under the skin and pain moving as well as an itchy rash at the surface due to adhesive. The one in my arm was so bad it gave me a migraine.
I'm now testing a sensor the cde at my endo's office put on for me on my back/hip/tush area and so far I'm ok- she put a barrier between the adhesive part and my skin and although I had tried skin tack before it didn't work- whatever this one is it seems to be working although I have some minor itching here and there but no rash yet. I also had some pain after changing clothes due to the little tail thing moving around so I put a bandaid on top of it. I can't remember if that part is covered when you actually use the device so I will definitely need that if I decide to try the whole thing again. Supposedly the sensor is smaller now and my endo said the new dex is much more accurate.
I would suggest trying it in this area or where you have more fat and see if that helps at all. I'm super sensitive so I nearly always have a problem with this type of thing. However I may need to use this periodically to get more info also. It's still not something I think I want on me constantly though, but I can honestly say this time, there are times I forget it's there unless I brush against it.
I have had this problem a few times. I was able to pinpoint the problem as being that the sensor was in a place without much fat or was in a place that seemed like it had enough fat but was very close to muscle tissue. The pains would trigger upon flexing tissue in that area and sometimes seemingly randomly. I had this problem on the back of the arm and on the lower inner thigh area. I have to use a site near the top of my inner thigh (basically right next to the man goods) where I have a good amount of fat and not much muscle to avoid sensor pains. I have nearly the same problem with pump infusion sites, which can be much more painful, if placed wrong, than a sensor can be.
A little painful the first night? Can’t remember if my first ever cgm was painful. I’d call DexCom. Describe the pain. Or have the trainer meet with you. The cgm could be defective. I’ve only had itching after ten days and pump site pain with skin infectioney. Hope you get rid of the pain.