Remove transmitter while sensor is still on your arm, you can use
a test strip or thin card, but a guitar pick works really good… - there
is a hidden clip in middle of the sides of sensor - try to get it to raise up slightly
on both sides and the transmitter will pop up.
Wait at least 15 minutes
longer is okay
Snap Transmitter back into the sensor
Start new sensor session using your original code
I found another way to restart a sensor. I just used the method to restart mine so it does work. I am not sure it’s easier. I was able to do it with my one hand but just barely. I had to brace the sensor with my fingers so it wouldn’t move and used my other fingers to insert a contour test strip. If it was on your stomach where you could use two hands it seems like it would be fairly easy. Hold it still with one hand and then use the other to insert the strip. I used the contour test strip but it looks like he used a LIbre test strip.
Worked like a charm. I have never restarted a sensor before as I get my supplies covered 100% but my sensor was expiring today and after reading the post I thought I would give it a whirl. Thanks for the post. I used a Libre stick.
I tried this a few days ago and when I restarted my sensor was wildly wrong (reading me in the 400’s!!! Which I was not even close). I didn’t know if the readings would ever level out but I don’t want to wait for it. After 8 years on medTronic I’m done fighting inaccurate sensors.
That is normal for a restarted sensor, since the reagent has been degraded, but the sensor doesn’t know it. They have to be calibrated back in line. You only have to do it after the warmup, then it should behave beautifully without further calibrations. At least until it reaches the end of it’s life, that is, at which point your graph looks like it’s doing acrobatics.
You can only make small changes in the calibrations at a time, though. I do no more than 40 percent or 40 mg/dl, whichever is smaller, at a time, and wait at least 20 minutes until the next one. That’s 40 percent of the Dexcom reading, not the fingerstick. My first restart it usually perry easy, one calibration and done. The lower your actual BG is, the easier the calibration process, as the discrepancy seems way smaller. But since I run mine for 30 days, the second restart is a much bigger PITA.
I have it on good authority that they will also come into line on their own, but it can take 24 hours or so. That’s in the official Xdrip+ community restart instructions. I’m not that patient, though.
I read these on youtube but now can’t find the source after much searching. So take it with a grain of salt if you wish.
I tried this different way to restart my g6 the last time and it worked. Will try again the next time.
Either stop sensor or allow it to end itself.
Wait 15 to 30 minutes. I waited at least 20.
Start without removing and use “no code”. Allow it to warm up for at least 15+ minutes.
Stop sensor. Wait 15+ minutes.
Start sensor with original code.
This is without poppint out the sensor at all duing these steps.
Another site said that the sensor works better if you do the no code for the 'real" start for a second round rather than reusing the same code number. I’m sorry I can’t recall the details.
Anyway, the no popout option has worked once for me. I shall try again and see what happens. My g6 appears to be working OK.
I’m so glad I have decent insurance so I don’t have to deal with restarting sensors.
I have done it a few times just to see if it will work, but the restarted ones take more time and effort and make me a little anxious about working correctly.
I think the G7 is going to end all that. I really hope the cost will come down because so many people have to pay out of pocket.
Unless someone figures out how to hack the G7 and reset the timer. I mean I expect someone will eventually do that.
That may not be possible since the sensor and transmitter are all of a piece. I’ll bet Dexcom is engineering a kill switch in the transmitter at the end of 14 days or whatever.
I love restarts. The sensors are free for me and originally I did it to have a back up supply. But restarts are more reliable and take less work for me. YDMV.
People do various things on restarts but this is what I basically follow. For me, some start off closer and then go haywire later and some start with huge differences.
I am usually restarting in the evening.
Just like people can vary, so do the sensors. For me, some start off closer and then go haywire later and some start with huge differences.
I am usually restarting in the evening.
Restarted sensors for me start high and I make an effort to make sure I am below 100 when they come on so my numbers aren’t absurdly high. So if it comes on under 130 I will leave it be until it starts to climb, and it will almost always climb for me. My first calibration I will pick a number in between what I’m at and the number it says. It will usually start to work it’s way down towards the number I calibrated into it.
Then I will try to wait another couple of hours and I will still calibrate it about 10-15 points above what I am at, as it usually continues to drop. And I go to bed.
The next morning I fine tune it and it might take one more fine tuning before I am happy. If it is 10 points off, I do still calibrate it. I always calibrate above my number by a few points as I’d rather they read higher and they have a tendency to trend down. But these things vary with sensors and people.
Things to remember when calibrating.
Never calibrate with too much of a difference, it sends it into a repeated request cycle. You can stop repeated requested calibrations by entering the same number two times, one right after the other. Generally you try not to do this as it has an algorithm it follows so it will end up “off” later.
Try to calibrate when your numbers are steady, Fast changing numbers will confuse it
I always calibrate when I am at my preferred range which for me is between 95-105. Those are the numbers that I want it to be accurate at. I expect it to be more off at high numbers.
You have listed the old way which used to be super easy. You have to either remove the sensor or use the new method with blocking the sensor/transmitter communication in the new way I listed above. That used to be nice lol, but Dexcom changed the programming.
@Luis3
Yes, from what I understand they have put all their effort into the new G7 and you won’t be able to restart it. And it still will be 10 days. It will all be one piece like the Libre which has proved difficult to figure out. I think someone in one country figured out a way, but there is slightly different programming in each country so that doesn’t work somewhere else. It’s possible once everyone is using a G7 in the US someone might figure it out lol!
OK. well, I used it anyway!
I now am more concerned with the Tandem pump. I want to know when they are going to be as responsive to customers as Dex has.
Before I switch to it vs staying with MM pump and g7 dex. I can’t find any company interviews or reviews about anything new coming down the pike for the weird soft “syringe” more visibility etc. Thanks.
The new Mobi pump will have a visible syringe for the pump. At least that’s what the pics show.
I don’t know about the new T3 pump. It looks the same as the T2
The reality about the T2 design isn’t as bad as you might think. Just a bit of annoyance because I was used to being able to see it when on Medtronic.
I don’t trust a new sensor until I calibrate it, and I continue to do so until the meter and my G6 are reasonably close. Usually the new sensor becomes stable after 24 hours.
I read about how to restart G6 sensors nearly 2 years ago (use test strips, one on each side) or guitar picks to pop out the xmtr, wait until the xmtr forgets (I wait 30 minutes to be sure, but sounds like 15 minutes works), then re-insert xmtr and act like it’s a new sensor. Just remember to save the sensor’s code when starting a new one.
Whether new sensor or restarted sensor, I always calibrate. Key to calibration is only do it when trend is even, not up or down. Reason has been explained here – Dexcom is measuring BG in interstitial liquids, while your meter measures actual blood gluscose level. When BG changes, there is a delay until the interstitial liquids reflect the BG changes. So to calibrate using a meter, make sure not to do it when BG is changing up or down.
I have good insurance but live in earthquake country. I like to have a small extra supply of sensors in case re-ordering is delayed. I know, there is no way to get an extra supply of transmitters short of learning how to pry it apart, solder in new batteries and glue it back together. Hopefully I will not have to learn how to do that… At least the life of xmtrs is 90 days, so I might get lucky and have enough battery remaining when needed.
I’ve been successfully using this technique for over a year and it works very well with my Tandem t:Slim X2 pump. I typically give it 20 to 30 minutes between the CGM shutdown and removal of the transmitter to the reinstall of the transmitter and restarting the sensor with the original code. I had a couple of times where I got an error on my Tandem pump trying to restart it sooner than 20 minutes.
In my case, I use Opalpix by Ultradent as a substitute for flossing. They are very stiff but very thin “picks” that you slide back & forth between your teeth. Because they are so thin, but still stiff, they work perfectly for very easily removing the transmitter from an existing sensor without much effort or damage to the sensor… I just cut off about 1/2 of the length of the pic and it works perfectly. They are so small that I’m able to keep one of the shortened ones in my wallet for access anyplace and anytime.
With that said, I rarely get a full 2nd 10 days out of my sensor before I start getting erratic readings or loose the readings all together. Also, I tend to initially get CGM readings that are quite a bit higher than actual. I just do a couple of calibrations during the first day of reuse and that seems to take care of it.
Is it me or has the quality of sensors gone down considerably the past few years? I used to be able to get 20-25 days out of a sensor and nowadays 2-3 days into a restart and I start getting erratic numbers and end up just changing it out.
I don’t understand this need to restart a sensor . The batteries in the Tx’s only last for 30 days and are not rechargeable. Even though back in G4 days the stories abounded on how to cut them open and install new ones
@John70 My sensors are free through my insurance. I originally did a restart because I was going to be without a sensor before replacements could arrive. At the beginning they would not stay on until I got hold of some Skin Tac… I realized how attached I was to having one. I skip them purposely one or two days all the time, now but it’s my choice when I do so. But I wanted a back up supply for when things go wrong. So now I have a back up supply and I don’t have to worry about how fast they get sent, when the pharmacy runs out, a shipment gets lost, when I switched to Medicare and how fast everything was approved, if my doctor goes out sick, or the myriad of other things that can go wrong.
But I found out that I like restarted sensors better. I like my sensors to be accurate within 5 points of what my BG is. Instead of spending the first two days recalibrating a new sensor, most of the restarts take a lot less work and stay more stable.
And in this day and age of tech, I have to replace my pod every three days and it feels like I blink and those 3 days have passed. It’s nice stretching out the time and not having to constantly replace a sensor too.
@Baddog40 I noticed they aren’t lasting quite as long lasting either. I used to consistently get 25 days and had ones last up to 45 days before. I still have 2 out of 3 last 26 days and a random few go over 30, but I also have several that have only lasted about 15 days now.
I am going to give it a try also, not because of cost but because of delivery issues. Dexcom is forbidden by Medicare, so they say, from shipping sensors even one day before the 90 day period is up. Weekends & holidays are not compensated for, so there are occasions where I have been without coverage for 1-4 days.
Transmitters, however, are shipped almost as soon as you order them even though you can submit an order 3-weeks in advance.
With everyone experiencing or warning of supply chain & delivery problems, it will even more important to have a backup supply for the sensors.
