Hi you all. My son Micah, type 1 using the OminPod and Dexcom, is in need of some help from his fellow Dexcom users for a school project. If you could take a few seconds out of your time to answer some questions for him it will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
These are the questions:
1. Do you ever wear your sensor longer than the 7 days? If yes, how many days can you get out of it with good readings?
2. Where do you wear your sensor?
3. If you wear your sensor on somewhere other than your stomach, which spot have you found to give you the best readings?
4. How often do you charge your battery?
5. What are your feelings about the wait time for starting a new sensor?
Here are my answers to your questions. 1. I usually wear my sensor just 7 days. I've gone longer but never got good readings after the 2nd week.
2. I always wear the sensor on my stomach.
3. N/A
4. I plug my receiver in to charge when I go to bed about every three days.
5. I'd like the startup time to be shorter but if that's what it takes, I can live with it.
1. I wear my sensors as long as possible. Dexcom is currently seeking FDA approval for 14-21 days (so says my Endo, and he talks to them). My longest sensor was 25 days but I freaked out and took it off - I won't do that again.
2. I wear my sensors on the side of my thigh. I can feel the sensor in my pocket. I almost never bump anything with that part of my body and if need be, I can put the receiver in my pocket.
3. Hold your hands down at your sides. When I do that, I can feel a sensor on one side and a pod on the other. When deployed correctly, the numbers are excellent! I shot my stomach up for 30 years and I'm not gong back. It's all arms and legs now. I'm even going to try my calves next!
4. I put my receiver on the charger every night. I keep it in a shallow bowl of loose coins beside my bed with the end of it sticking up in the air. It vibrates and wakes me up whenever I'm low (90 for me) or high (180). Occasionally, if I role over I may loose reception, but it works most of the time. I know they say it'll work for 3 days on a single charge but I've never actually tested that.
5. The wait time is pain. If I knew what I was waiting for I might be more patient. I just consider is part of good control and stick it out. Having real time data is worth the wait, in my opinion.
1. Do you ever wear your sensor longer than the 7 days? If yes, how many days can you get out of it with good readings? Yes - my average is about 10 days.
2. Where do you wear your sensor? Lower abs
3. If you wear your sensor on somewhere other than your stomach, which spot have you found to give you the best readings? N/A
4. How often do you charge your battery? About every days - I take full advantage of the alarms and wear it out quick.
5. What are your feelings about the wait time for starting a new sensor? It doesn't bother me because prior to the Dexcom, I used a Navigator and that was 10 hours.
1. i usually get atleast 7 my highest is i believe 11 days... my readings are always accurate usually no matter how long the sensor is in 2.I wore it on my stomach until i got a pump again now i wear it on my upper arm area
3.Upper arm
4.every 3 days or so sometimes 2
5. i think its great.. 2 hours is nothing for me
1) Yes, I usually get about 3 weeks out of mine before it falls off. I've never really lost accuracy with it. 2) I wear mine in my stomach (love handle area), my upper buttox, and my thighs
3) I like my thighs the best and think they are the easiest... I think the accuracy is pretty consistent throughout
4) I charge my battery every other night, if I forget I usually find it dies between 2 and 4 pm the third day.
5) I wish there was less wait time (especially when I'm just restarting a sensor). I find it makes changing sensors at night difficult since I like to get a few glucose readings into the receiver before sleep and it's hard to do if I change the sensor after about 7pm.
Andrew, thanks for helping out my son. Micah had this to say to you:
Hi Andrew. Thank you for answering my questions. I have finally found another person who wear their sensor on their upper arm like me. It is my fave spot.
1. Do you ever wear your sensor longer than the 7 days? If yes, how many days can you get out of it with good readings? Not usually.
2. Where do you wear your sensor? abdomen - vertically because of my tossing and turning during sleep.
3. If you wear your sensor on somewhere other than your stomach, which spot have you found to give you the best readings? It and pump (Ping) alternate in upper half of stomach.
4. How often do you charge your battery? Battery recharges.
5. What are your feelings about the wait time for starting a new sensor? The sensor must get "wet" with interstitial fluid. After this it must stabilize its current production. I believe the value could be lower based on the fact I have two receivers and one transmitter. The 168 hour limit is in the receiver. I have played some games with the two receivers and found the 2 hours is reasonable.
1. Yes. I can usually get about between 10-12 days out of it (3-5 extra days) 2. I've worn it on my stomach & on my the back of my upper arm.
3. I get equally good readings on both sites.
4. I charge it every 2-3 days.
5. I feel like 2 hours is a long time to wait. I wish it would be faster.
I just started, so my answers may not be exactly what you like. I used the Navigator for 2 years before switching to Dexcom last month. My answers are somewhat colored by my experiences.
I wore my first sensor for 14 days, and was still getting good readings from it.
I wear it on my stomach–the insertion process seems unwieldy for me to attempt to try it anywhere else.
New device–battery appears to last longer than 3days, but I recharge it any wat every third night.
Wait time–far better than the Navigator 10 hours, but the accuracy is much better after 24 hours.
I average 10 days per sensor occasionally 14. I usually pull it at 14, readings aren’t as reliable plus tape is coming loose and don’t want to lose it.
Thighs or abdomen.
I get good readings on both sites but it lasts longer on my thighs. I think there’s less wear and tear from clothing plus it’s over a straight portion of my anatomy and I’m really short waisted so it’s harder to find a site on my abdomen that doesn’t end up rubbing on something at some point.
I usually end up charging receiver every 4 days.
I don’t have an issue with the warm up period. It is what it is.
I have to tell you, after 25 days, my sensor adhesive pad looked pretty ugly with Smith & Nephew FlexiFix tape all over the adhesive pad edges to keep it tacked down. The numbers were good even up to the very end which really surprised me (I still test with my meter 6 to 8 times a day). That spot was on the side of my right thigh. You want to find a spot like that and see if you can get a similar result.
Micah, here's my answers: 1. Do you ever wear your sensor longer than the 7 days? If yes, how many days can you get out of it with good readings? YES! I usually average about 12-13 days before it goes ???
2. Where do you wear your sensor? Usually on my abs/side love handle area. Recently on my hip...that's a little funky though.
3. If you wear your sensor on somewhere other than your stomach, which spot have you found to give you the best readings? That hip has good readings, but it was pretty tender for a couple of days and I found myself just hoping the sensor would go bad so I could get a replacement AND have a good reason to take it off early. Well into the 2nd week now, and it is still punching out some very accurate numbers though, and the soreness wore off after about day 3. Even been to water aerobics with this site and the tape is still sticking like glue!
4. How often do you charge your battery? about every 3 days
5. What are your feelings about the wait time for starting a new sensor? No problems at all. It could be worse (I've read about different CGMS that have a much longer wait time). 2 hours is fine with me, though I find myself getting a little antsy without that BG info right at the push of a button for that long!
