Rick, thanks so much for your help! My sensor pad is taped down and very secure at all times. My insurance is covering ALL my expenses with the whole Dexcom experience. If I decide, after 3 months, that it is not going to work for me, what should I do. Put it on the shelf and notify Liberty I am stopping for awhile? I would feel guilty receiving those expensive sensors if I stop using the Dex. Maybe I should call my insurance company and tell them I am stopping. They should appreciate that very much. They have been so good to my wife and me for so many years and have never complained.
Rick ~ Since I never received any ‘official’ training for my Dexcom 7+, I’ve never heard of the pre-starting concept. I would like to try it, but I’m wondering about something. After you shoot a new Sensor into it’s new location, doesn’t the little place where you put the Transmitter stick up slightly? How do you protect it while sleeping in anticipation of using it the next day? Is this technique used only for people who have a lean body mass?
Thank you for your thoughts.
Per above, your insurance will probably NOT pay for a second device until the current system goes out of warranty-- or, you make sure, with Dexcom, that insurance will be fully refunded for the purchase price of the Start-up kit when you return it. (Receiver and Transmitter with software and cables; the Sensors are not refundable.)
On what date did your Dexcom system arrive? If you’ve exceeded 30 days already, then your insurance is stuck with the purchase they made on your behalf already, and you’re both probably stuck with a “still in warranty, not physically or electronically broken” policy. Abbott is, unfortunately, much more expensive, and you’ll probably be buying it out-of-pocket if you want to try Navigator before your Dexcom warranty expires…
David, that’s fascinating-- thanks! I’m going to try your spot after I return from my next trip, and see if I can reduce the Site Rotation load on my love handles (from 50% each to roughly 33% each, if all 3 areas end up being of similar size).
I’ve never had luck near the Costal Cartilages, or lower frontal abdomen. But maybe higher, right under the Xiphoid Process and it’s cartilage, could work out-- there might be an area where breathing doesn’t yet cause a lot of movement at Sensor depth (as it does, for me, further down).
Howdy Rick. I received my Dex on Dec 30, I think. It has been less than 30 days. I don’t think the Nav would be any better for me. The Dex has a great reputation and is working well for so many Dex users in this group. I will stick with Dex and give it a full three months. I tested a few minutes ago at 103 and Dex says 79. See there I am only 24 points different. What a big improvement!!! LOL!!! There are so many diabetics who need a CGM more than I do, but their insurance will not cover it. I guess it would be very wrong for me to give mine to a friend if it never works for me? Just a passing thought. I have done without a CGM for 64 years and I have done very well, so I will be fine if it never works for me. I do have a few lows as low as 50 and highs as high as 180, but there are very few of them. Frequent testing when I feel a little off catches them very well. BTW, I am using all of your suggestions. I was already using most of them beforehand. Thanks for your help!
Rick,
I know you as the DexCom expert. Are you saying that you would prefer a Navigator? Just curious.
Richard,
Do you calibrate/compare when your bg is absolutely stable (15 minutes before and after)? I wait until my bg is absolutely stable and the difference between dex and bg meter is typically less than 10 points.
Hello Helmut. I did that with my second sensor when I was within 10 or 12 points of my meter number. My Dex was gotng way high or low when my Bg approached my alarm boundaries (70 & 140). On my third sensor I am putting in a few numbers like that to keep Dex from going berserk at those times. I’m sure that is why I am not having any close agreement even when I am near the center of my range. I was very tired of Dex alarming so frequently during the night. What I am doing now has improved that situation, but it is not helping the over all control.
Richard, sorry about your bad experience with the dex. Always comparing the dex to the bg meter drove me crazy. I know that when the 55 alarm goes off at night that I am most likely not 55, more likely 65 or 75. I drink half a glass of OJ anyway just to shut the dex up. I cannot live my life always questioning the dex. As long as the dex and the bg meter are within 10 points during calibration I just go by the dex numbers. Doing this I have less lows, less highs and a better A1C. I forgot to mention the piece of mind. I understand that body chemistry is a big part of the equation. Switch to the Navigator before it is too late if the dex is not working out for you.
For what it’s worth, I’m attaching the chart I use to track the rotation of my Dex and Omnipod sites. Each time I change either I just move a magnet over to the next number. I figure I’m only hitting the same area once every 36 days for the Omnipod and once every 56 days for the Dex. I exclusively use my upper arm for the Omnipod and love handles (plus an inch or two inwards) for the Dex. Hopefully this rotation scheme will work and not cause any scarring but time will tell. Might be coals-to-Newcaste but I’m providing just in case it is useful.
6812-Siterotationchart.jpg (471 KB)
P.S. I very rarely have any Dex sensor failures - perhaps 1 in 20.
Richard, I would call Dexcom and arrange for the “money-back” period to be extended, while you rotate sites and see if you can find one which works well.
It would definitely be very, very wrong to give YOUR Dexcom to another person, for two reasons:
(1) That’s insurance fraud; we PWD’s must never stoop to the same level of dirty tricks and sneaky behavior which some of our insurance companies use to make $profits. We must always beat them by following the rules and hammering them into submission legally-- it used to be challenging, back in 2006 and 2007, but it’s now quite easy.
(2) Your prescriptions are written for YOU and not anyone else. Your MD becomes involved too, for having failed to assure your compliance with the paid-for treatment.
I’ve assisted many PWDs with obtaining coverage during the last 3 years. Every person who was willing to send the nasty, threatening letters which I’ve prepared for their Appeals has won coverage immediately, even before the JDRF/NEJM study results of last fall. I have NEVER lost. One person whom you know of found the draft letter to be to disrespectful, insensitive, and abrasive-- deciding not to send it. (Her decision, and she won coverage a few months later without it. Everyone else won on the first letter.
So, if they’re covered by ANY private insurance company in the USA (not Medicare, and not self-insured), I’d like to slap their insurance companies around, and help them out. For me, this is fun !!! If they’ve got “normal” insurance, just relay my offer to assist-- and if they like the idea, send me a message with their email addrs, a quick description of their issues, and who their insurance providers are.
What a great chart :))
I use a nearly identical rotation (although, at 13 days per, it takes WAY longer than 56 days before I re-start the rotation.) Your rotation will work well; I’ve been using it for 3 years, 8 months. Massaging each of the old sites with Udder-Cream seems to help healing, I use it until during the 2 weeks after I leave a Site.
Why only 7 days per Sensor? From my own experience, the damage from extra “punch-in, rip-out” cycles is the problem, NOT extended time within subQ tissue. If you’re quitting due to reaction with the Dexcom adhesive, search on “Skin Prep” –
and if you try it, remember to use a hot hair dryer until you see the tiny cracks appear in the film, DON’T put down the Sensor until the film has been completely dessicated. Air drying is not enough!
It’s encouraging to know that this rotation has worked well for you. You are absolutely correct about the # days - I generally get a lot more than 7 days from a sensor but my chart is constructed as a base “conservative” case. I agree about the damage of re-punching and try to delay the new sensor until the accuracy on the current one has degraded (generally 10-14 days for me). I’ve been fortunate not to get any irritation at the site and do already use Skin Prep but I like your advice on using udder-cream to help the healling, as well as the drying process. Thanks for the helpful tips.
I’ve been using the Dex for quite a while and recently my nighttime readings started getting wildly inaccurate. Basically as soon as I went to bed the Dex started showing rapidly declining bg even though my actual bg was pretty much flatline.
Eventually I discovered that a new medication I recently started was causing the problems. I stopped taking the med (Diamox aka Acetazolamide) and immediately the Dex started behaving. My daytime readings were fine because by morning the med had worn off. Dexcom did not know of this conflict but I don’t find that surprising since this is a pretty uncommon drug.
I went through all kinds of experiments before I narrowed it down to this - I tried sleeping in a different bed, turning off the electric blanket, etc.
If you are confident that the dex is consistently inaccurate at night then you might want to try something similar.
Good Luck!
Dave
Thanks, I am using Allopurinol at night for my gout problem. Also Altace for BP, a water pill and Vitamin D tabs. I will see if they are causing my problem.
Altace is DEFINITELY not a problem, I’m on it. Your Water pill almost certainly isn’t a problem either (I use HCTZ, and have been using it for years). Vitamin D, definitely innocent-- again, I’m on it.
Adding up my pills with my relatively heavy consumption of fortified dairy products and yummy salmon steaks, I’m probably averaging about 800 IU of “D” per day. Unless you’ve got similar dietary sources, or you’re going way over the current RDA (IIRC, 600 IU/day), my intake is bigger than yours, and possibly excessive. So I’ll SWAG that the only one to study further is Allopurinol.
But I have no Medical license of any sort: ALWAYS Remember that I’m unqualified to give any opinion about any medical question. Just SWAG from a friend.
Dave, that was fascinating. Thanks!
Thanks Rick! I doubt Allopurinol is the pronlem. Among gout meds it is a rather mild one and has no effect on my BG levels. I don’t see how it coluld bother my Dex system.