@Carbless one more thing is to consult a dermatologist. An endo or PCP does not have the knowledge base for skin reactions.
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Seeing medical professionals complicates my ability to work; many of us will consider death before we’ll risk our medical certificates by seeking medical attention that requires reporting and explaining. It really is a thing. Aside from that, there’s the simple matter of finding the time to see a doctor outside of the exams I’m required to take. Most of my time is spent internationally, typically a different country every day…no way to see a doctor, nor even get a replacement sensor. Nature of the beast.
When the initial diabetes discover occurred, I’d had a trace of sugar in a urinalisis. The FAA doctor asked who my doctor was…I said I hadn’t had a doctor for thirty five years. I was told, “you’re an old guy. You need to get a doctor, and go get all the old-guy tests . Among them, get an A1C.”
I had to ask what an A1C was. I was told “when you find a doctor, he’ll know what it is.” It was that doctor, that I subsequently found, who diagnosed the diabetes. Adding to that complication and adding more medical professional visits, is not in my best interest, or conducive to my career. For now, it will be a matter of experimentation with underlayment, barrier wipes, and so forth, or doing without, or just dealing with it.
So it sounds like you were diagnosed with T2 diabetes. Do you take insulin every day as either basal/bolus injections or with a pump? Do you take some other medication that can cause severe hypoglycemia? If not, then a CGM is nice but far from necessary.
You did not explain why you do you not simply stop the CGM and directly test your BG with a meter? That is much easier than a CGM for someone traveling to a different country every day. There is far less to pack and carry, and every drug store in every country in the world has test strips for sale over the counter. No doctor visit or prescription is required - you just go in and buy them.
I do test my blood glucose with a finger-stick. Frequently. In part because the continuous monitor often isn’t that accurate.
As for availability internationally, I carry ample test strips, and I I’ve not seen strips available for the meters I use anywhere internationally, but maybe I dont’t visit enough places (85 countries this year).
I’ve already stated here that I’m a type 2 diabetic. Maintaining and monitoring is essential to certification for my employment. Failure to maintain throws 40 years of lifelong career investment away. It’s a big deal.
I reluctantly switched from G6 about 35 sensors ago. (I know because my grandson wants those little magnets I had saved from my used applicators.) G7 has worked well for me - only one goose neck, and one with unreliable readings that I was unable to correct with calibrations. I’ve had the odd bleeder, but when the bleeding stops, they work. If I get the “brief sensor loss” message, it’s often because I haven’t been taking in enough fluid. Even up to the last hour of Grace period, i find finger poke and G7 readings to be close enough and even had one where they had the exact same reading. Have I just been lucky?
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I think there was a bad batch last summer - I had a ton of goosenecks, but thankfully they have stopped. (That being said, the first 12-24 hours I find to be rough many times, so I leave the old one and new one overlapping for at least 12 hours to be safe. Thankful for that grace period!)
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