Quick Dexcom Question

I’ve been wearing my sensor on my arms. Great results. Moved back to Abs (ha ha) over the weekend. Never had a sensor loss on the arms, even sleeping on it. Since the move…it’s day two…I’ve had several. Two since noon today.

Thought?

I’ve used arms and abdomen without a problem. Sounds like something’s amiss with the sensor.

That is totally common. Do not remove it. That’s going to happen from time to time. Trust me

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Thanks.

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I regularly suffer through the first 24 hrs of a G4/5 sensor wackiness, but after two full days if you’re still getting wild reading or dropouts, that’s not right, call Dexcom, they’ll send you a new one. Maybe I got your timeline wrong, but things should settle in within 24 hr. Let us know if yours worked out after all!

Has anyone tried to increase the warmup period from 2 hours to say 3 hours with the hope of avoiding the first 24 hour problems?
Don

I hear a lot of people have problems with day one. I don’t have problems with day one and I’ve been using the G five since last September.

I did an overnight sensor set-in (while the old sensor was still on). I switched the transmitter and did the warm up on the new sensor in the AM. Not quite the same scenario, of course, but I still had wacky first day results. Maybe I’ll give the longer warm-up a shot and see how that goes.

Are you aware that what you just did is what folks did to TRY to get Enlites and Sof Sensors to perform better on day one? ie, “long soak-in” periods. That is NOT recommended for the G5 and I’ll tell you why: the algorithm for the receiver (and 3rd party s/w as well) takes into account the manner in which most newly-installed Dexcom sensors behave. They perform best when you calibrate right around the 2-hour mark–not many hours later–specifically because Dexcom engineers take into account the “curve” of the G5’s sensor when it’s newly installed and for roughly the first 24 hours. that is also why, when doing a restart after 7 days, one may find that the first day is not a great day for the sensor data–in fact it should be worse than on day ONE.

I have fantastic results with the G5 as does my wife, and we both calibrate right at the 2 hour mark (unless our bg’s are moving too fast, but I take pains to make sure that I’m pretty steady when I know the 2-hour cal is coming up). From reading across the internet, I’d say my success with the G5 is on a par with the best reported results out there. I don’t calibrate very often, either. Once I learned, early on, that it is not necessary to calibrate when I see the every-12-hour-reminder orange drop, my G5 system is very accurate. I don’t even have to carry a meter with me on hikes, shopping, or other several-hours-long trips away from home. That’s something I never thought I’d be able to do, going back decades.

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One of the most important things you can do is to plan your day around your sensor change or sensor session restart. Do everything you can to have stable, in range glucose through the whole process. This makes a big difference with the accuracy and reliability of your Dexcom sensor. It will keep your frustration level down too. I don’t presoak or do anything other than have stable BG and I get accurate Dexcom readings right from day one.

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And that just stinks…

Unless something happens where I HAVE to replace my sensor unscheduled. I always put a new sensor on in the mornings on a weekend.
I wake up early, check my BG. If stable, I put the new sensor on and start it. I DO NOT EAT, but I do have coffee.
I make this my time to sit and read, or some other mundane project that I can keep myself as stable as possible.
I test as close to 2 hours as possible. And I usually have pretty good results.
Btw, if I have a sensor that comes off in the shower at night, I will replace the sensor. I have ignored the calibration (I am asleep.) and calibrated in the morning when I wake up. I actually get pretty decent BG numbers when I do this. So it doesn’t really affect me too much. I am lucky that way.

I have been very successful with sensors on my top upper legs, several inches below the hip joints.

I also use legs, alternating with my arms. Never my stomach,which I use for pump. But I use inner thighs, and get good results. Someone had suggested to put hands on lap, approx centered between hip and knees. Where your thumbs are is the area I use.

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Topic has changed through responses, but thought an update was needed. First it was the data loss, then got a ??? next morning. Went away after 2 hours. Two days later the transmitter installed on 4/28 failed. So, seems lack of reading and ??? were each a warning of upcoming events.

Dexcom is sending a replacement transmitter and sensor.

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