Dexcom G6 and G7 not lasting full 10 days?

​For over a year now I’ve had problems with both G6 and G7 not lasting the full 10 days. Typically I get weird numbers or they just give the 3 hour error and never come back starting around day 7 or 8.

I’m not sure, but I’m beginning to think it may be related to how much liquid intake I get.

Anyone else have similar problems and if so, what did you do?

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I’ve been using G6 since March, and have had only one sensor that I had trouble with…low alarms, erratic numbers at Day 8. When I called Tech support, they said to stop it and use a new one. They asked if I’d taken medicine with Acetaminophen. I had. So apparently, it’s possible that that affects G6 functioning properly. I realized afterwards that I hadn’t taken in my normal amount of fluids, and wondered if that was also a possible reason for the problem. Your post confirms my hunch.

We usually get 10 plus an additional two to three after reset. No issues at all worth Liam.

When I first switched to G6 (from G5), I was unable to get more than a few days on the sensor. I wore the sensor on my abdomen, same places that I wore G5 successfully. It was suggested by I believe @JessicaD to try the upper, back of arm, and sure enough, that did the trick. I reliably get 10 days on each sensor with rare occasions of failure.

My son has recently been having issues with the G6. I can’t remember the last time one lasted the full ten days. Usually around day 4 or 5 the readings start jumping erratically, sensor errors, then readings with no arrows, then more sensor errors, etc. Lately the issue has been false lows while sleeping (and it is not a compression low). He also uses the Omnipod 5 which causes a whole other issue because then it’s not giving him the correct amount of insulin because the numbers on the Dex keep jumping all over. It is very frustrating for him (us) to constantly be changing the Dex early — tech support I know has me “flagged” as a frequent flyer and always needs “further approval” for the replacements. We are going on 2 years with the G6, and it wasn’t until the last 6 months or so that he’s experienced such constant inaccuracies and failing sensors (seemed to coincide with the release of the G7?? or that can totally be in my head). He is a very active 14 year old who plays soccer, basketball, and baseball and I know the possibility of it getting bumped is likely, but there are days like today (Easter Sunday and no sports) when we had to put on a new sensor early this morning, and already tonight it’s totally wrong (CGM reading “LOW” and he’s actually 144!). Tech support says to “calibrate 3 times every 15 min and call back if it doesn’t work”. Very frustrating when all he wants to do is get to bed and have a good night’s sleep before school in the morning. I never heard that “fluid intake” can affect the readings…so should I have him drink more water throughout the day??? He’s also very thin (and building muscle) so finding a fatty spot is difficult…pod goes on his abdomen or arm and Dex on the back of the upper arm. If anyone has any insight, suggestions, or similar frustrations, I’d love to hear them!

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I wonder if the difficulty of rotating his sensor sites might be causing an issue. Perhaps site irritation or scar tissue? If his sensor sites get itchy or the fatty spot feels firm or lumpy, perhaps that’s the culprit.

I’m using the G7, but I’ve noticed similar erratic readings and errors around day 8-9, resulting in a failure by day 9-10. For me I suspect it’s because of site irritation and swelling – I’m allergic to the adhesive and still working through possible solutions. If my sensor site starts getting itchy, I usually will have accuracy issues and more errors in the following days.

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