I presoaked a G6 sensor. I put it on in the evening, did not tape or use a dead transmitter in it, and started it the next morning. Sleeping with the unprotected sensor did not damage it. When I started the sensor, I gave the contacts a scrub with alcohol pad.
The presoaked sensor seemed more accurate the first day than others that were started without a presoak. The weird readings the first day of a sensor don’t bother me too much though, I have had good luck calibrating the new sensors into decent accuracy.
BUT once I decided to restart sensors to get extra days of use, the opportunity to presoak was gone. My restarted sensors seem to die pretty abruptly, usually on day 13 to 16. So I end up needing new sensors started without 12 or 24 hours advance notice.
I see what everyone means about the g6 being wonky the first day… then again the g5 could be too
Here’s the side by side of my old g5 and my brand new g6 side by side… I calibrated the g6 only once, when it was reading 55 and my meter read 105—- so maybe I introduced a large upward bias—- but it read crazy high all night while the g5 stayed much closer to goal readings
Max overnight on the g5 was 170— still higher than I’d like— on the g6 though it read 230. That’s a big difference
Try just leaving it alone for the first 12 hours. In my experience, it will read way low for a few hours, but then bring itself into pretty good alignment all by itself when the insertion trauma calms down. An alternative is to calibrate periodically until the new sensor stabilizes.
That matches my expectations… I’m just strongly averse to having false lows logged then having to argue about them with my healthcare provider…
Before seeing the g6 sensor up close I just assumed it was very similar to the g5 and that it wouldn’t be safe and secure installed without a transmitter—- now that I’ve seen it up close I think I understand how it’s a much more durable design for pre-soaking so I think I’ll try that next time.
Fwiw this first one was a bleeder too… I’m not convinced whether or not that makes them take longer to stabilize or not
This is what the G6 will (sometimes) do when a sensor is starting to die. The graph is day 13 on a restarted sensor. This one starts to show “sensor error, wait up to 3 hours” on high BG but seems to work fine when BG is back in range or low. Others have died abruptly a few days after a restart leaving no time for a presoak. That is the downside of restarting.
I inserted a new sensor during that first dropout (10 pm last night) so when this one gives up I have a presoaked sensor ready to go. Gut feel is this sensor will give up after dinner when I usually have a sustained high or high ish BG.
Let the sensor expire, pop out the transmitter by releasing the side tabs situated just across from the “break off” point on the sensor case, wait 20 minutes, reinsert the transmitter, and restart. You’ll need the saved sensor code to restart (unless you want to calibrate).
@Sam you probably know, but if the G6 is off from the meter by 20% you can ask Dexcom to replace it. After the first day, my sensor is usually within a few points of the meter when testing during stable times, ie., no physical activity.
I agree, 20% is a low bar to begin with. I’d fill out the online form to have the sensor replaced.
When i switched to G6 most of them failed within a few days. Dexcom replaced each one. I eventually learned that they simply could no longer be inserted on my abdomen. Now I only insert them on my arms. Makes a big difference.
I went through that cycle in reverse with the g5 trying everywhere else… then too high on my abs… then finally found the best spot just above my belt line
I also really don’t like the format of the g6 app but I guess I could eventually get used to it
I very much enjoyed the at a glance highlight dots on the g5 where I could in less than 1 second see— eg my bolus was about 1.5 hours ago—- or I took a carb correction 20 min ago… with the g6 app events are only visible if you turn the iPhone sideways and fiddle around for significantly more time. Time is money.
I’ve added the Sugarmate app to my Share list and I find its interface preferable to the native Dexcom app. For one thing, it gives you a numerical comparison to whatever your last reading was, e.g., “120 +4” if the previous one was 116, etc. Uses “+0” to indicate no change. I find that a lot more useful than the up/down arrow thing, which doesn’t even kick in unless you pass some threshold. I mainly use it on my phone but you can also run it in your desktop/laptop tool bar.
