Last week I had a sensor that kept saying I was low when I wasn’t (I could feel I wasn’t, and my finger prick/test strip confirmed so). Eventually, the sensor stopped reading at all, and I discarded it on the instruction of the Dexcom technician. Yesterday I put on the replacement sensor they sent me and the same thing happened (it was saying I was low, and so my Tandem was restricting insulin delivery). I was in a work meeting and it was difficult to keep being interrupted by alarms, so I turned my phone off and checked after, called Dexcom and again replaced the replacement sensor. I was 19.9 after the meeting, sensor reading 2.5 double arrow down. Put on a new sensor (all from different boxes) and had another supposed low (double arrow down 2 point something and I was actually 6.0). Had lows all night, but wasn’t low (less extreme though, like I was in the 4s, but kept getting low alarms in the high 2s and 3s).
Can anyone explain this? I have nothing different going on. I’m not sick, I’m eating the same, I’m not taking any medicine or supplements. I rarely have Dexcom errors???
About 10% of the time I will have Dexcom crashes as you describe - usually about 4-5 hours after I inserted a new one. the crash lasts about 2 hours and then the sensor recovers and everything goes fine for a while. We’ve all tried to figure out what causes these kinds of crashes and there are lots of different theories, ranging from placement to insertion technique.
You’re having them a lot more frequently, and this could just be bad luck or a bad batch of sensors, or it could be placement (those placing on the arm seem to do better) or insertion technique (some people have discussed lightly pulling up as you press the orange insertion button - hasn’t helped much for me …)).
Did you have the wonky sensors on long enough so that they might have a chance to recover? That’s the part of your story I don’t know…
Sympathies–I can’t explain this but I recently had a sensor that was giving me stupidly low readings as well (like 40-50 points too low, telling me I was in the 40s all night when I was clearly at 90). My placement was on the arm, and seemed perfectly fine. I gritted my teeth and stuck it out, doing a ton of finger sticks for 2 days. It finally stabilized on day 3. (I also ordered a replacement from Dexcom during that time, because something is clearly going wrong.)
I don’t have an answer except the dark speculation that quality control is slipping badly.
I experience this pretty regularly in the first 24 hours of a sensor. It’s a pain. I turn control-IQ off and wait until the readings stabilize at which point I usually calibrate.
It’s not something I’ve experienced much if at all after say the 36th hour of the sensor or for longer than several hours (usually just one or two). It can mess with a night’s sleep but only on that first day.
I’m really looking forward to using overlapping sessions once the G7 is compatible with Tandem.
This was 3 sensors, 1 on each arm, the other on my lower back/upper buttocks. I left them all in at least a day, the third seems to have evened out, still wearing it.
I didn’t think to turn control off until after my meeting so I went 4hrs with tandem restricting insulin. Sucks!! I’m looking forward to the G7 too (with Tandem compatibility).
If I do not put a sensor on at least 12 hours before activating it (i.e., I NEED to let it sit on my arm (always arm for me) without being started, without a transmitter sitting in it), I will have false lows for ~8 hours (almost always through the night! with the screaming alarms!). I can’t remember if you do this, @jo_jo? This sounds crazy-making.
On another note, I put a fresh sensor on this morning and pulled the inserter away to discover that the tape/adhesive was folded on the bottom half. It must have been folded under itself in the manufacturing process, then the wax paper (that the sensor code is on) was put over it so I didn’t see it until it was all settled onto/into me ugh. I have enough adhesive to keep it on my arm and I put an overpatch over the whole shebang. And the folded over tape wasn’t very close to where the sensor goes into my arm, so I figured I will let it ride and see how the sensor performs. But I’ll pull it if it is wonky at all.
Sorry so many people are going through rocky times. It seems like there’s a lot of it going around. I’m pulling for all of us!
Hi @jo_jo , I’m not sure why, but sensor # 5931 ALWAYS behaves that way for me. It must have something to do with my body chemistry or a med I’m taking as @Eric pointed out earlier. It’s a round robin of algorithm resets and Dexcom tech calls. Completely frustrating to the point where when I see that sensor number in the box I don’t want to even use it.
I had that happen once. I didn’t have any over patches, but had some large bandaids. I pealed off the gauze and just covered the whole shebang. I had No Bluetooth issues.
Wow! Just had a sensor that went wacky and was often but not always reporting extremely low readings like 50 when a finger stick showed 182. I chose to live with it for a day but it made me very upset. Just looked back at my records. IT WAS A 5931
I should have said that the sensor performed well until half way through day 8. All of day 9 was rocky and I pulled sensor about 8 hours early. I would have been at day 10.00 by 6:30 pm but gave up on the sensor mid morning, probably about day 9.7 or so. If a sensor makes it to day 9 I don’t complain to Dexcom.
Also this sensor was unusually bloody so I may have bumped it or abused it somehow. It was at my side about 3 inches up from the waist. I don’t have much fat so my site selection options are somewhat limited.
At least I’m not alone… 5931 is a rollercoaster for me. Not worth the effort to use. I almost feel like Dexcom actually knows… Which is why I get so darn many of them. 2 in a box sometimes. #facepalm
