Reordering more g5 sensors

anyone on medicare know if you can order more dexcom g5 sensors if you have medicare?? I’m T2 and on dialysis so having my diabetic test strips, lancets, meds for diabetes and CKD is not a problem but I wanted know if you can order more g5 sensors or does medicare only give you 5 sensors a month??

Has anyone ordered more sensors out of pocket?

Historically, you have been able to order additional G5 sensors out of pocket on Medicare direct from Dexcom in excess of the maximum monthly allotment of 5. I currently have my September monthly Medicare shipment en-route from Dexcom with 5 G5’s + test strips. Dexcom is currently in transition so not 100% positive you can order additional out of pocket at this time.

Call customer service and ask them and let us know latest status.

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to pay out of pocket for more than 5?

Why would u want/need more than 5 G5’s per month?

well say if one or two g5 sensors fail by some slim chance

You call Dexcom and get them replaced

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Then you call tech support and they send you out a free replacement by FedEx. If you restart your G5 a few times after the first seven days are up, you can quickly build up a supply of a few spare sensors within a few weeks.

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Not necessary. I’ve been on G5/Medicare for 2 years. I have plenty of sensors on hand. PLENTY.

were these replacements or just ones with future dates that ended up expiring until you got to them?

I did call tech support today and they’re sending me 2 replacements since one of the new sensors kept giving me sensor failed alerts. I restarted it about 4 times to know avail…even tried placing the reader in the microwave so that it would disconnect the bluetooth and then after the 2 hour warm up, bring it back within the bluetooth range but still sensor fails.

Ok, so they’re sending the replacements via fed ex…didn’t know what carrier they were using to ship them out quickly

Would you say, you have a plethora of sensors?

are they accurate though or do you find your graph all over the place?

In the beginning, they can be a bit wonky until you get used to best place to put them on your body. If, for example, you put them somewhere the sensor and transmitter gets buried into your mattress, your readings can drop up to 50 points until it regains line of sight. If you bury sensor/transmitter spooning a partner, you will get complete loss of signal. These are just the little nuisances you need to overcome and once you do, the sensors are usually stable. If you hit a blood vessel putting in a sensor, you may also get false readings.

Replacements come out of California or Mississippi 3 day FedEx depending on your location.

First month on Dexcom is usually a learning curve and a lot of OMG moments when you realize how certain foods send your BG all over the place.

Second Month is usually, " I always wondered how I would react to this food or this situation" and BG goes a little all over the place.

Third month you start really managing your BG starting with determining and implementing best time to pre-bolus so that you flat-line after eating rather than having a high BG 1 hour after food which is then hard to bring down, You will have learned that keeping BG low is much easier than trying to Bring BG back down without a BG roller coaster ride.

Lots to learn, but you will be amazed at how much easier it will be to control your diabetes and bring down your A1C

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I live about an hour away from San Diego, so hopefully it’s just 1 day via fed ex

I’ve been placing the sensor on my tummy since it is an ideal spot. My left arm is my fistula (I’m on dialysis) and my right arm is where they usually put the blood pressure cuff so on the arm isn’t really ideal

That is where I put mine as well as I sleep on my sides. Directly in line between belly button and Xiphoid process. Just move up or down a few inches each time and side to side of center-line by about 1/4 Inch to let each implementation recover.

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how long in terms of days does the reader that they include with the initial dexcom kit last on a single charge?? I’ve been charging it every day so it’s usually around the 85-100% range

The Dexcom receiver will go about 3 days on a charge. Do not leave it charging at 100%. If you do that your receiver battery will degrade fast and the receiver will fail after a few months. Let it go down to like about 60% and then recharge only to 85% or so. The receiver charges very fast and is easy to overcharge.

3 Days is just a rough average as it really depends on how often you check your BG, how many alarms you have set and how often the alarms go off but you should be able to charge every other to every 3rd day or top off to below 85% daily.

ahh thanks. Usually though I only charge it up to about 97 or 98%

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I have had an experience where getting additional sensors might have been required even if out-of-pocket.

In July/August, I had to undergo radiation treatments for cancer. Five days a week for six weeks. I had to remove the DexCom each day to keep the transmitter from being fried. Fortunately, being an engineer (and thus very sneaky, conniving, and possibly a few other things) I used the hints someone on this forum gave me and ended the sensor session, removed the transmitter, then replaced it and did a restart when they were done using the phaser on me. Worked perfectly, but caused some squirreliness in the readings. So I did OK, but it easily could have turned out that I would have gone through 30 sensors in six weeks. I doubt that DexCom would have replaced those gratis, and most assuredly Medicare wouldn’t have.

I don’t think there is a limit when it comes to necessary removal of sensors for medical procedures. I think you would have been able to get Dexcom to replace them as necessary. (Medicare is not involved in warranty replacements).

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I agree, most of us stop sensor for procedures, pop out the transmitter with either a test strip, dental pick, tweezers, etc.,leaving the sensor in body, and then pop transmitter back in after procedure and re-start sensor. No big deal. On the other hand the contract between Dexcom and Medicare clearly states that Dexcom will supply as part of the Medicare monthly subscription package, everything required to operate their system which includes test strips, lancets, sensors, transmitter, etc. Since that is the contract, I would think you would just need a letter from physician that states that you need so many additional sensors for a month due to a procedure and Dexcom would have to provide free of charge. I am only familiar with Medicare contract between Dexcom and Medicare so this may not apply to non-Medicare patients.