I did send him a Twitter response with a mention of the thread 
He should know he is very popular here.
10~12 days is pretty typical for us. 14 max. Too concerned about skin issues to restart for a third week without moving the site.
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Currently on Day 29 of my current sensorāitās gotten a little bit of noise in the last week, similar to the image above, but today (within first 24 hours of the most recent reboot) was the first time itās been majorly off from my meter (prior itās been within about 15-20; just now it was off by about 100, depending on which meter value I use, since I tested a couple of times). So we will see how much longer it lastsāI considered pulling it yesterday and starting fresh but kind of want to see just how long I can push it ha. I doubt Iāll beat 42 thoughā¦
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My record was either 42 or 46 days, I canāt remember which, but itās posted at TuDiabetes somewhere. It was the first (and I think only) sensor I wore on my arm. My skin had a horrible rash on it and was unbearably itchy by the time I removed the sensor, but it was worth it. I pay out of pocket, so Iām willing to put up with quite a bit of itching and irritation, dropouts and inaccuracies. Lately my sensors have been lasting a month on average (which is great, since my average used to be only three weeks). I use a combination of Hypafix (placed over the Dexcom adhesive with or without a hole), Skin Tac (painted over top of the adhesive), and Cavilon cream (under the entire sensor site, since Iām horribly allergic to the Skin Tac) to keep things stuck. Iām starting to swim more, and often end up changing adhesive almost daily during the 14-30 day period (the first two weeks are usually pretty good with just Skin Tac), so today I also ordered some Opsite Flexifix and RockTape to see if they stick better.
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That is really amazing.
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Hey @Jen - that is awesome!!!
The crazy thing about my sensors is that I donāt use anything to keep them stuck and they last 20+ days even sweating pretty good on jogs. Most of the time when I take mine off the edges are rounded up a bit, but the adhesion around the middle is still pretty strong.
Please let us know your thoughts on Flexfix and RockTape once you put them through the ringer.
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I had my current good results (still going at day 30āseems to be getting back on track) with Flexfixātaped two pieces, with a bit cut out of each to fit around the sensor, each piece running vertically so that they would have created a vertical line down the middle of the transmitter. Taped them on fairly tightly, and they lasted through week 3 I think, at which point I needed an extra strip reinforcing the top. Today Iām going to re-tape one of the sides, since I guess Iām committed to seeing just how long I can make this last ha.
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Spoke too soonātime of sensor death, Day 30, 10:22am. It just couldnāt get back to accurate after this last restart (was just trying to convince me I was 43 when Iām 99, after Iād already did some aggressive re-calibrating this morning)āit seems to have hit a hard wall, after having been quite reliable until this point. RIP.
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Outstanding duration though!
We seem to be hitting a hard reliability wall around day 15-17. Possibly it is that we are swimming almost daily.
I am always amazed by the variability these things have in different people. We get 21 days easy, we just stop because it gets to be more work to keep them going. But the sensor is still providing valid data. I wonder what the variables are. Clearly being super thin is one.
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It sounds like being super thin may prevent accurate numbers from the start.
My assumption on how long a sensor provides valid numbers has to do with how the particular personās body attacks foreign substances. Really I base that on nothing and is pure speculation.
This is where we are also with the G5. The MOST weāve been able to get has been just a day or two over the 2 week period. For the most part on day 14 we start seeing shaky data (missing gaps in data/communication) and we change it out.
I think itās probably also how much the site gets disturbedāduring this period, while I did go swimming a couple of times and had one kayaking adventure, I wasnāt super active, and my sensor didnāt see a lot of contact or rough conditions. It also seemed to be in a spot where it wasnāt getting pulled at much by clothingāI do the lower abdomen, and while usually that keeps my sensor fairly protected, sometimes I get a placement that ends up being tugged at more by jeans etc, and those seem to not to last as long, even if I can tape them down so they arenāt actually getting pulled out.
Liamās site doesnāt get disturbed at all. He doesnāt do water and when we give him showers, we donāt get this site, or his POD site wet at all (just to be sure they donāt encounter any problems that would result in us needing to change them out prematurely.) I can only speak for our son, but his sites remain undisturbed through the entire course of their wear periods.
I find stable blood sugars are a big one for me. The more stable Iām able to keep my blood sugar, the longer the sensor seems to last. I think thatās why recently Iāve had sensors lasting a month rather than two to three weeks. My last sensor I was away in the US when it died, and so I kept it going just for the heck of it. Surprisingly, after five restarts it actually came back for a few days. I noticed, though, that every time I spiked the sensor would cut out or the readings would go crazy and it would need to be reset.
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I would agree that I do not find it likely to be related with a site being disturbed. If it was related to the site being disturbed, it would not be so consistent when the numbers get wonky.
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I had been applying Hypafix after a sensorās first week, but found that after just a few days it would start peeling away and need trimming or replacing.
Then I put on my new Flexifix. A week and a half later and it still looks like I just put it on. Hypafix, meet Garbage Can.
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I wasnāt suggesting that it was a single instance of a site being disturbed but rather that greater friction and more mild disturbances (that themselves donāt kill it) might cumulatively age the sensor faster. I suspect that is the case, but itās probably far from the only factor and might not explain some peopleās different results.
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