This is just a “for your info” “for whatever it’s worth” post.
I had a sensor failure this morning that I hadn’t anticipated. And, judging from the failure description choices listed on Dexcom’s online reporting page, I don’t think Dexcom expects the sensor to fail this way either.
The sensor was attached to the (lower) outside of my left arm. When my t:slim x2 pump displayed a CGM result of “ – – –”, I felt around on my arm for the sensor and was surprised to not feel anything.
Looking closer, I found that while the adhesive tape was still in place on my arm, the socket containing the G6 transmitter and sensor cannula wire had broken away from the adhesive tape. Huh?
The Dexcom online report page seems to focus primarily on adhesive tape failure as the reason a sensor would “fall off”. The recommended solution is to apply some sort of sensor tape overlay patch.
But apparently even if the tape stays in place the sensor can still “fall off”. And I don’t think Dexcom’s overpatches would fix this.
Had you been swimming lately…in Goof Off?! Have never heard/read of such a thing…though plenty of otherwise defective reports. Fortunately, I haven’t (knock on wood) experienced a failure problem as yet. Glad the replacement is enroute!
I don’t think I have gone swimming in at least a decade. Possibly longer. </ sigh>
I would be willing to believe it’s not that common. I eventually talked to a Dexcom rep who is sending me a return kit so Dexcom can look at what went wrong, shrug their corporate shoulders, and then ignore it.
Sorry you haven’t gotten to enjoy the water in a long time! I haven’t really had the opportunity since getting my G6. Don’t think I can pass up the water…used to do scuba, got the beach, and hit the pool on at least every vacation or trip…couple of times a year.
I’m fortunate not to have to had tested the Dexcom customer service issues I’ve read about and hope I don’t very often. I understand they were very good initially, but as corporate greed takes hold, it seems just about every company succumbs to cutting back on customer service.
Please let us know if you figure out what caused the problem! This is a great site of passing on accurate information: facts, opinions not disguised as facts, and suggestions based on actual experience. I hope it stays that way!
A likely first sign of that happening would be if Dexcom some day decides to set a limit after which they won’t replace the sensor. If they decide, for example, not to replace if it fails on the 9’th day, or 8’th day, or whatever.
I got that for Medtronic guardian CGM not quite a year (?) ago. Switched to Tandem + G6 a few months later so I never had a chance to find out if that was a one time response for Medtronic or a new policy for them.
I don’t expect to figure this out.
All I know is the morning of my 7’th day of use the sensor socket just “fell off”. The adhesive tape was still on my arm.
I think whatever adhesive is used to attach the clear plastic socket to the tape just failed. No idea why that would happen. I guess it just would fail in some cases given a large enough number of sensors manufactured.
</ sigh>
