Dexcom G5 Matters

[Tamagno]

My sensors have been crummy the last few weeks, vis, they punk out a couple of days before the seven-day mark.

I'm wearing them on my abdomen per Dexcom recommendation, but I get either wildly inaccurate readings or the dreaded question marks.

I guess I'll call Dexcom later to see if they'll replace another couple - I'll run out early if they don't.

You know, Dexcom says they last "up to seven days" but I'm going to have to find out at what point they'll still replace them.

Oh yes, I've tried stopping and starting again to no avail.

It's odd that I never had this problem until I upgraded to the G5. It shouldn't matter as both use the same sensor, but there you go.

[Grammabear]

I have to agree that the sensors should last as long for the G5 as for the G4.  If it is any comfort to you, I have had bad sensors the past month or two.  Since I pay out of pocket, I most certainly do call Dexcom and they have always replaced them. 

I must admit that I don't always wear them as recommended by Dexcom.  Sometimes I have the best luck as far as sensors lasting a long time and being accurate when I place them on my upper thigh.  Recently however, I had one sensor last 2 hours before it went 'kaput'.  I definitely called Dexcom on that one.

The young man I got went through the whole long spiel about how I should be careful to use "procedure" when inserting sensors.  I let him ramble on until I had enough and said "Please stop."  Then I told him I have been wearing these sensors for 9 years and by now I know what to do and when to do it.

It is indeed frustrating to have a product that is usually good perform poorly.  I wonder if any of their manufacturing procedures have changed at the factory?

[Tamagno]

I confess I didn't call Dexcom yesterday. Today I will.

Interesting about wearing it on your thigh - I used to always put it on the back of my upper arm, but suspected it of causing sensor failure during warm up so I went back to my abdomen. I think I'll try my thigh next week.

It's frustrating when the reps go through the same standard spiel without ever really addressing the sensor failure problem.

I wonder if they changed something in the manufacturing process recently?

[Grammabear]

One thing I wish Dexcom would address is the adhesive on their product.  Their sensor, for me anyway, does not stay put much past 3 days.  I use additional tape from the day I insert it and it could use more some days.  They tell me that the Medtronic sensor is also afflicted with that problem.  If your sensor worked well on the back of your arm, try that spot again and see what happens.  Different people have different "favourite" spots.

[Tamagno]

I use a paint-on product called Skin-Tac that I got from Amazon.

It permeates and seals the mesh. Seems to work pretty well.

[Grammabear]

Dexcom woke me at 3 a.m. saying I was LOW (which generally means 40 or less).  I got up and checked my blood sugar and my meter said 128.  I guess that means this particular sensor has gone wonky and I will need to change out.  It is days like this that I hate the Dexcom!

[Tamagno]

Nights like that I consider water boarding mine...

[Grammabear]

Nights like that I consider water boarding mine...

You have such a wonderful way of describing the situation.  Mine was a "naughty" Dexcom again last night.  It spent the night on the DR table. 

[Tamagno]

Oh dear, this could start a whole new trend in CGM adjectives...

By the way, I started seriously looking at T-Slim this week. I've got almost three months of pods left so I'm not rushing but I like very much what I saw on the web site.

I've been making a list of questions and will be calling them before long.

[Grammabear]

Most definitely this could start a whole new trend in CGM adjectives.  After having inserted a sensor 2-1/2 days ago and it had been behaving very badly, it finally began to give normal readings.  Dexcom's customer service has been declining steadily which is most disappointing.  The tech support guy from Dexcom reminded me when I called about the sensor problem yesterday "don't you remember you called about the same problem back in the Spring and we told you to do 'X, Y & Z' to solve this problem?"  Guess he forgot that it is people like me that buy their product and give him a reason to have a job.

[skb]

Guess he forgot that it is people like me that buy their product and give him a reason to have a job.

You are absolutely right about that. It is the consumer / customer that feeds the entire business. Most of these calls are recorded so that the company can cross check when required. Maybe an email to a senior would help. At least next time they'll be courteous.

[Grammabear]

Guess he forgot that it is people like me that buy their product and give him a reason to have a job.

You are absolutely right about that. It is the consumer / customer that feeds the entire business. Most of these calls are recorded so that the company can cross check when required. Maybe an email to a senior would help. At least next time they'll be courteous.

skb ~ I took your advice and contacted the Dexcom representative for the area in which I live.  I explained the situation and then i assumed that would be the end of it.  Later this afternoon, I received a call from one of the Dexcom Technical support supervisors and he apologized for the situation I was put in yesterday.  I was extremely surprised that someone actually paid attention to what went on and wanted to fix it.

[Tamagno]

Good idea, SKB. Like Grammabear, I'm going to try it. Not quite sure how to find the rep in my area, but I can figure it out.

It also occurs to me that universe of people using Dexcom is not ultimately all that large and, as CGMs are their only product (plus they're trying very hard to get approved by Medicare), they really ought to be responsive.

[Grammabear]

Good idea, SKB. Like Grammabear, I'm going to try it. Not quite sure how to find the rep in my area, but I can figure it out.

It also occurs to me that universe of people using Dexcom is not ultimately all that large and, as CGMs are their only product (plus they're trying very hard to get approved by Medicare), they really ought to be responsive.

Send me a PM and I will give you the email address of my rep and I am sure he will respond.

[skb]

We at DP, are a still a very small community & might not really carry the weight required, but we could also send an email to the rep if you like. As a larger forum with 10000s of members, I'm sure they would have paid heed. Surely they don't want bad publicity in a  community with a large consumer base.