I will be removing the sensor pod in a day or two but wanted to ask about removing it. In the book it says to keep the transmitter on the pod and remove it. But do you remove it like you would for a band-aid? Or do you do it while your in the shower? What is the best way to remove it with ease?
I just yank mine off… I leave them on so long that they’re usually BEGGING to come off by then… if you’re on a 7 day schedule you might want to try something like uni-solv.
Like a band-aid. After seven days (or more) it almost falls off. Check and make sure the wire comes out when you remove the transmitter assembly. About 2 in a million - litterally - loose the wire in the belly. If this happens, mark the spot with a sharpie and discuss with your endo, CDE, or Dexcom. The reason to mark the spot is in case the wire requires location.
About the “or more” - some of us reset our Dexcom receivers when the system tells us time is up and just restart the sensor for another seven days. Save a little money.
I prefer to do the 7 day schedule. I’ll see if I can find uni-solv
I prefer to change it. I like to stay on a 7 day schedule until I am told otherwise its ok to keep it on longer. It keeps me in check plus my insurance company will wonder why i am ordering more a lot later than scheduled.
A cheap way to loosen the adhesive is soaking it (adhesive) in baby oil. I usually let the baby oil soak in for 30+ minutes and it falls right off. (This was a trick I learned with my pump pods.)
I do have to go to the drug store so I can pick up some while I am there. Thanks for the tip.
Jay, are you sure about that figure? I’ll SWAG that there’s still less than 3000 of us customers, and FDA has heard about several such events. (I’ll assume at least 5, and I suspect that my assumption is too conservative.)
2 events per million Sensors would mean that at least 2.5M Sensors have been sold and used; almost 1000 Sensors per customer. Heck, even if there’s 6000 customers, the math doesn’t make sense with a 2 incidents per million rate of wire-left-behind events: We’d have used an average of 500 Sensors each! It’s only a SWAG, but I think that the frequency of wire-left-behind is much higher.
MAYBE IMPORTANT (for that “twice in a million” broken wire event).
AFAIK, Dexcom doesn’t say anything like this. But thinking about the geometry and physics a bit has led me to the conclusion that the Direction of Removal will effect the stresses on the cylindrical wire. (This is not a guess- it has to occur this way.) You should always remove by pulling up from the end where the Transmitter is being held by the two clip-in arms. Not! the end where the Transmitter was slid under the non-moving tab. Here’s why:
Back at insertion time, when you removed the Inserter, the plastic tab with the two spring-loaded electrical contacts was waving in the air. This is because the Inserter shot the wire in at about 60 degrees from horizontal. Ignoring gravity, the angle of the plastic tab corresponded to a straight wire. You pushed it flat, level with your skin, by inserting the Transmitter. This made a bend in the wire, where it goes into the plastic tab. Now, when you’re removing it, if you pull up from this end with the clips, your removal tends to restore that original orientation. But if you pull up from the wrong end, you’re making the bend even more sharp.
Original orientation = straighter wire, less likely to break.
Wrong end pulled up = increases the angle in the wire, making it more likely to break.
And it’s not just a difference at the plastic tab, above your skin, where the bend occurs. By making the pull much stronger on one side of the wire than the other, (the outside of the bend gets much more tension than the inside) you create more risk of breakage under the skin too. So go slowly, and pull up from the correct end!
IANAMD, IANANurse, I don’t represent Dexcom, etc…
I pull mine off like a band-aid. After 7 days, there is not much stuck to me on the top when the water hits when I shower. I haven’t had to use any product to get it off, and I have skin that doesn’t like adhesives. I had to tape two toes together, and when I removed the tape to take a shower, it pulled skin off too. I have never had that problem with a sensor.
The sensor adhesive is sticking quite well on me and I’m almost at the 7 day mark to remove for the next sensor. my body loves having adhesive stick and wont let it come off.
So start the removal from the removal of transmitter side? I want to be sure I have that right
Baby oil is a pleasant way to remove a sensor, but usually I carry around unisolve pads… *unfold to use, it gives you more surface area to rub off the adhesive after) and soak the pad and the tape, then i pull it off… Haven t found it locally at the pharmacy, ended up mail ordering it…
I bought baby oil at walgreens. I had to go there today anyways. I’m gonna try that and see how it works
First pull the tape, not the transmitter housing. And do it along the length of the Transmitter (not the width). Pull tape up until you reach either end of the Transmitter housing. NOW is when you pull the tape up at the end with the Transmitter clips, and tilt the housing upwards until the other end is free. (The end where it’s simply set underneath the tab, not held by clips.)
Keep the housing at this angle while you lift, pulling the wire out at the same angle it was shot in. After the wire is completely removed, unclip your Transmitter and set it down in a SAFE spot. Then discard the housing-wire-fabric mess and prepare your new site.
thanks…I am going to remove it soon :)…I hope for a successful removal and successful insertion of new sensor pod