Yesterday morning, it was time to replace my Medtronic CGM sensor, so I pulled the old one off (painfully ripping off some precious body hair in the process) from my thigh and proceeded to insert, or “SenSert” (stupid name for a poorly designed inserter gadget) the next sensor in my abdomen. Everything seemed to go OK, in fact it didn’t hurt as much as it usually does! Only the harpoon needle didn’t go in all the way. So I manually pushed it the rest of the way in and went on with my day.
And I “flatlined” (steady sensed-glucose, not heart failure!).
My meter told me I came down from 200, but my CGM didn’t. Recalibrate. My meter told me I came up from 110, but my CGM didn’t. Next morning, I wake up with a BG in the 70s, CGM says I’m in the 110s.
OK, rip it out, try a new one. Same thing – the SenSerter graciously sticks the dagger in my gut only halfway, and I’ve got to manually force it in. Again – flatline, it’s obviously not telling me the truth, even though I kind of like what it tells me! (Staying at 110 after a Wendy’s burger and fries? I wish!). Third time, I hold my skin as tight as my fear-tolerance will let me (I swear that needle will go through me and come out my back it’s so damn long!) while inserting the sensor. It goes in most, but not all the way. Push it in, tape it down, etc. About halfway through the 2-hour warmup. I get a SENSOR ERROR, which I clear. After the two-hour warmup, I flatline - again. So I rip it out and give up for the night.
Medtronic will overnight me a new Senserter, and I’ll wait 'til tomorrow before trying #4. I can’t afford to waste more sensors on this stupid thing (stupid me didn’t ask for more). I’ve only had it for a couple of months, and the 'serter shouldn’t go bad so soon.
This is frustrating. I’ve only had the CGM for a few months, but I feel like I’m blind without it. I’ve grown to rely on this thing, for peace-of-mind if nothing else.
Hey Scott, sorry to hear you’re having such bad luck. I had a terrible experience with MM cgm for nearly a year until I got good advice from the people here. I try to insert the skewer, (I mean needle) : ) at a 30 angle instead of the suggested 45. I find it goes in better. Also, I don’t use my abdomen because I get all kinds of calib. errors when I do. I try to stick with the thigh. I also insert before bed and don’t turn the sensor on until waking in the AM. It’s the only time my numbers are really steady and I get much better calib. result when I haven’t been eating, or moving around for a while. I am anixously awaiting the animas/dexcom integrated model. I hear that will solve all our problems.
Thanks for the advice Sarah. Yesterday I tried my thigh and - again - flatlined most of the day. It was also irritable. It’s hard to put it in the thigh without hitting a muscle (not that I’m muscular, but I am thin). Where in the thigh do you insert it? I put it slightly towards the center/other leg as per someone else’s advice here. Maybe I should try on the outside of the thigh where I used to inject.
Medtronic sent me a new serter (overnight delivery took UPS two days – they’ve now been dropped a few positions on my “companies-I-like” list). I put it in my hip/upper butt area last night, an it was really painful all night and this morning. I attached the transmitter this morning and calibrated, and saw a quick rise and double-up-arrow (which my meter showed was false) - between the pain and the dramatically false readings, I ripped it out. Two more sensors wasted.
To add insult to injury, the clasp on my Medic-Alert bracelet broke last night, so I’m going without it today. It’s not been a good D-Week for me.
Hey Scott, I sit while inserting. If my knee is 12:00 and upper thigh is 6:00, I insert at 4 or 5 and 1 or 2. (outer thigh). 3:00 tends to bump stuff and inner thigh rubs pants too much. The wetting period seems to be super important. Before I started letting it “soak” overnight I had very erradic readings too. If it’s not in a terribly painful spot try waiting at least 12 hours or so before you pull it. Sometimes they level out, sometimes not : ( I also find I get pretty good results when I insert in the back of my arm ( but I need some help for this). This is usually a winter spot however because I don’t particularly like explaining all my hardware to nosey people.
Yes, the 2 days was definitely UPS, not Medtronic. I thought I made that clear in my other message – guess not.
Is it really critical to get the long “wetting” period? I thought if you plugged the transmitter in and the green light blinks, it’s wet enough. And as for the wetting overnight part…do you plug the transmitter in at night and not turn it on (select “New Sensor”) until the morning, or do you wear it without the transmitter at night. I’ve plugged it in overnight but not turned on, so when I do select New Sensor in the morning, I don’t need to wait 2 more hours.
I had terrible results (off by 100 points or more) until I started wetting over night. I find that calibrating first thing in the morning, before eating or moving around, while still in bed works the bests for me. I insert at night, attach sensor and tape and then just let it sit while I sleep. When my alarm clock goes off I “start new sensor” and within 5 min it asks for the BG. This usually gives me fairly accurate results. However if I have to bolus overnight or have a hypo then all bets are off. I followed the package directions for more than a year and was literally ready to throw the cgm in the garbage. I got some good advice from the people here and things are much better now. Having said all that, I will however be switching to the animas/dexcom integrated unit as soon as it gets FDA approval and my insurance will cover it. I hear the dex is unbeatable and not nearly as pissy as the MM cgm. : )
Well, I think I’m stuck with what I’ve got for now, unless I’m ready to fork over a ton of money. I also like the integration between the CGM and the pump. Maybe next time around, Animas/Dexcom will have surpassed Medtronic and I’ll switch.
Sarah, thanks for the advice…
