Hi- I’m curious, for insurance reasons, how long G6 sensors actually last past their “expiration” date. I’ve been hesitant to use them past that date. However, I’m having a hard time imagining that they actually need to be discarded then. Perhaps they become less accurate? Any info appreciated. Thanks!
I have never had a G6 sensor one that old. The G6 was released in June 2018 so it has only been 15 months. In the USA.
Just curious. Is that a theoretical question or do you actually have old G6 sensors?
Also curious how this is an insurance question?
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I can’t speak to the G6 in particular, since we have never used a G6 sensor past its expiration. We did use G5 sensors that were 6+ months past expiration and they worked as expected. Unless they changed their chemistry, their sensors use an enzyme (Glucose Oxidase). That enzyme does not have an unlimited life span unless it is freeze dried and stored at very low temperatures. So, there will be some degradation over time. How much would just be a guess.
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According to my mail order distributor it’s not actually an expiration date but a “ship by date” in which Dexcom must have shipped them to the distributor, but they can still send them to the consumer after that date.
I learned that because I challenged them about it when I received some “brand new” ones that were already passed their date… they still worked fine
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@Sam - I would argue the case that your distributor does not quite have it proper. The Dex sensors do have an expiration date while the Dex transmitters have a Ship By date.
The expiration date on the sensors is about a year out from when they are produced so if your distributor sent you sensors (assume G5 sensors) that were already expired then they were sitting around on their shelf for quite some time. One of the issues with an expired sensor is that Dexcom would not be obligated to honor a sensor warranty.
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You are right in hindsight… the past conversation I’ve had was actually about the ship by date was actually about transmitters not sensors… I misread the post, sorry.
I have also used expired sensors without noticing any difference in performance though.
(IPhone)
Hello Chris,
Thank you for this valuable information. So, it may extend the shelf life if I store these in the freezer?
Thanks,
David
It may, but I would try one frozen for a week or so and see if it affects the performance before freezing a bunch. Also, feel free to let us know what happens.
Thank you Chris,
I have been using expired G5 sensors without any trouble until recently. Some were expired in March of last year. The last three or four sensors I have installed all indicated that there was a signal loss immediately after the two hour warm-up period. The transmitter indicated that its battery was ok. So, after a few failures I figured it was due to the sensors being expired. Well, after the fourth failure today, I swapped the transmitter out and it warmed up during the two hour startup period and is working fine. So, I may have had a faulty transmitter.
David
David
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