Hi, all! What are your recommendations for extra adhesive for CGM and where’s the best place to purchase it? I’m going to stop by CVS as it’s closest to home but wanted some insight from the experts. Thanks!
Which CGM system are you thinking of? Dexcom?
As for “best place to purchase” … define “best”. I tend to buy a lot of stuff from amazon.com because I usually can wait ~week or so for it to be shipped “free” so that works for me. Others may have different preferences.
I use Tegaderm film on my Dex cgm. My insurance pays for it via Liberty Medical. Not sure what it costs on amazon.com.
I clean skin with IV prep and let it dry before covering my cgm with 2 films, crosswise on my arm. I sometimes snip a hole in bottom film area so any shower water could run out (some say that is important) though I have never had a problem with completely covering it. I go 2 weeks between site changes and always amend the Tegaderm at the beginning of week 2.
My fave is Skin Prep which you didn’t mention. I think IV Prep is a joke, when it comes to a product that is useful for adhesion. It has far too much alcohol in it to be useful for adhesion.
I use Tegaderm and order it from Amazon. I have found it to be cheaper there than from the drugstore, and I can usually get two weeks out of one piece, so the box lasts me a long time.
I’m not quite sure what you’re saying. Do you mean that you cut it in half? 
For my Dexcom, I use Skin-Tac and then surround the sensor with a patch of Opsite Flexfix tape (buy the 4 inch wide stuff and cut a hole in the middle for the sensor bed). My best ever sensor lasted 25 days (18 is more typical) with the same tape. Buy from Amazon.
I used IV3000 when I started with the Medtronic Sof-Sensors 6 years ago.Peeled off in the swimming pool. About as much use as a chocolate teapot.
Joel
Nope. I just mean that I can wear it for two weeks without changing it. I also use skin tac on top of the dexcom adhesive pad after I’ve inserted it, so that helps it stay sticky longer.
I recently had two Dexcom G4 slimlines dislodge in their first couple days. So I bought antiperspirant. Put that on first then a skintak pad I dabed and I used my arm for the first time.
I once tried antiperspirant under tapes. was a disaster. 
I bet it matters WHICH antiperspirant.
It’s my first try using arm. It burns a little from the antiperspirant. It’s sticking well. The sensor readings had a gap and questions and then a wrong reading but it took a calibration. The antiperspirant I got is a solid because that is easiest on the skin.
There is, of course, always the concern that any substance applied to and covering your skin could potentially contaminate the sensor probe and reduce it’s effectiveness.
Not saying it happened. Not saying it did not happen either. Saying it’s hard to know which is why I believe it’s not recommended. But this being Dexcom, I am of course not really sure what is or is not recommended. 
with regards to what is recommended by each respective mfgr, I tend to take anything MM says with a grain of salt, give how I’ve gotten a number of blatantly off-the-wall information from them (such as “if you use IV3000, it will block the signal and that’s why we don’t suggest using it.” gimmie a freaking break!). that’s hardly the only strange thing I’ve been told. oh, and let’s not forget they say to only put the sensors in our abdomens. good god, that’s the worse place ever for me and why I got more than 14 sensors replaced for free over the course of the first 6 months or so. I’m pragmatic. I do what works. If it works in my arm and they don’t like that, tough. If they want me to put it in my abdomen, and I wasted tons of time with tech support calls, and many months of bad readings, then they can kiss my grits.
I’ve also heard that chemicals can contaminate the sensor. So lets say that I apply Skin Prep, AND LET IT DRY. I’m not sure that would cause an issue, but on that score I can’t argue as I’ve never done it. Let’s say that I apply Skin Prep and DON’T let it dry. I can conceive of that MAYBE causing a problem with the sensor, although, again, I’ve never done that. I apply Skin Prep only around the sensor area, once it is installed and never let it drip near the sensor. Bottom line is IF I were to take a chance and wipe Skin Prep over my skin prior to applying a sensor and I had a bad sensor, I wouldn’t know if that is what caused bad sensor readings. I think I’ll just not apply anything to my skin other than alcohol, just to be sure.
Yea it did happen. I just got off the phone, call last one and one half hour. A Dexcom CDE walked me through the insertion. It was a valuable retraining. And I’m not using anything on the skin in that dime sized area that the needle punctures. I’m using skintak and iv3000 in an assembly the CDE walked me through. And I’m not planning to use my arm again although it may have been ok if I hadn’t used antiperspirant on the insertion site. But my experience with using the arm is now at 100% failure. It was different having my abdomen free. It took getting used to sleeping with it on the arm. I may eventually try again?..And the two fallen off sensors are being replaced.
The Dexcom CDE told me to put nothing over the transmitter. But that Medtronic transmitter comes with tape to be applied over it, right? But not over the insertion point. But the arm is different. The CDE said that the FDA pivotal test had been done on abdomen only and was therefore they only site they could propose but she said the side could be considered part of the abdomen. Funny that abdomen wouldn’t work for you. May never have come to market were you the study group.
I put my sensor right through the tegaderm patch. It works great, better than not using it. I also put tegaderm right over the whole sensor and removed it with unisolve. If I do all this, it won’t break out my skin, or make a sore.
You are correct. it wouldn’t have passed FDA approval if I was one of the many people for which the abdomen is a totally useless location. sigh.
You could have then bought the company cheap and introduced an arm only product.
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i couldn’t agree more!!! as most of you know, i am very very lean.i am 5’4" tall and i weigh 100lbs soaking wet on a good day. i have relatively no sub q fat in my abdomen. i mean, thats a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. well, the dex rep told me that all i needed to put the sensor on my abs was enough that i could pinch up some skin. no problem there (its how i get my pump attached). but the sensors either weren’t reading accurately or i would get the ??? icons all day and night. i was on the phone w/ tech support at least twice a week having sensors replaced.
my endo suggested i try any other place on my body that had some good layers of skin. i found two great sweet spots. my outer thigh is my favorite. and i’ve had no problems since.
but i digress. i use Tegaderm and i love it. i made myself a “template” w/ an old sensor so that i could cut a hole in the center to make room for the new sensor. i just peel back the tape and stick it over. its as easy as pie and i actually have trouble getting it off.
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I used Tegaderm for keeping my CGM on and I buy them from Amazon… Here’s a link for the ones that I buy.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JJH3MU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
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