Hi, I have 4 daughters 22, 17, 13, & 8 using G6 for about 2-4 months. The three older girls connect BT using new iphones; 1-X, 2 7s. But the 8 year old using the ipod + G6 display device goes through more sensors than the older girls. she will get a sensor failure message w/ the prompt to warm up for 3 hours, but I have noticed that it comes back live sooner. The last one I called in had a strange error about re-calibration or re-warm up and the CS person said that was not even an error on the G6 (new call center in Indiana).
The 8 year old also loses and establishes communication on both devices several times a day and I believe that may cause more of a power drain on the transmitter. This is not a problem with the older girls because their phones are always in the transmitters vicinity.
The other issue is a high failure of the sensor coming out of the body before 10 days.
I was told that they are opening new call centers and ramping up production, but I spoke to them late last week to replace several sensors and a failed transmitter. They have a 10 day delay on sensors because of the production back log. I can only get a replacement order for 3 sensors at a time and that call takes 1 plus hour. I am lucky because that is 4x3 not 1x3. One CS person told me to call in every 2 weeks, but I plan to escalate it because it is crazy.
I did speak with a CS software person and I know they have the capability to analyze sensor and transmitter performance. I am not sure how they troubleshoot with you, but I have them go in and look at the account that is having problems.
What are you using when he is at school to transmit to the cloud? the Dexcom apps or what is this openAPS? I am looking to be able to get real-time G6 data to generate IFTTT triggers when BS is low, like large siren that sounds in the 22 year old’s apartment to wake them up. It does not look like the FDA is allowing Dexcom to make the individual’s BS reading available real-time and they are forcing them to do a 3+ hour delay.
We just called them as Eric has had a number fall off due to adhesive issues – which we’ve never had with the G5 or the G4. I’ve also tried site prep wipes, alcohol, showering, not showering – the adhesive just sucks.
They are shipping us some free site covers as we speak. So call them, and ask them about it! And I really hope you get this sorted out. I’m so sorry, I know what an important the Dexcom is to your family.
Also, I am recovering from foot surgery, and at some point while it was infected – the ER doc wanted me to keep it dry. The solution that I found best was to put my foot in a plastic bag with a paper towel underneath and use Coban, that stretchy adhesive stuff (they have it at the dollar store) that labs use to cover your blood draw site, around the plastic bag a few times. I thought that might work with plastic wrap for your showering excitement!
Holy cow @stevekrueger I am so sorry that you’re having this problem at scale! And also fascinated, because you have a lot of data points in your house. I think your plan to escalate and keep on top of them is wise!
Also,welcome to FUD! We like data here! There’s many parents of T1D kids here, and lots of acquired knowledge about T1 in general. I’m glad you found your way here!
My partner is the diabetic in our house and he’s 39, and uses the G6. He’s had some issues with longevity of the sensors, but our life is a tad nuts right now, so diabetes has taken a bit of a back burner. Dexcom had said that they will send replacement sensors when we’ve called, but we haven’t really been tracking how quickly they failed lately or how quickly they arrive.
I hope that they come up with a solution for all of us soon, because having the Dexcom certainly is handy. I have noticed that the Dexcom share option also goes off-line fairly frequently, and I have to contact Eric to get him to share the data again.
Again, welcome, and thanks for joining us!! We look forward to learning from your family and hopefully FUD can help you too.
Hi there. We are in the 2nd month of G6 with our 5 year old and the first month went well. Now we are seeing dropouts and readings that are not consistent with the glucometer for the 7 to 10 day range. We were calibrating constantly and by Halloween it was totally unreliable. We let it go and relied on the glucometer checks as though she wasn’t wearing her dexcom until the sensor stopped on day 10 in order to fully document the issues for when we talk with her endocrinologist and the dexcom folks. The adhesive was never an issue and stayed put because we trim our Simpatch slightly upon application and then cover it with a new one at the halfway point so there’s a new edge when the edges on the first patch start to peel.
we’ve gone back to the G5 because we’ve been having so many problems. I wonder if it has to do with geometry. Most of the people I’ve heard having problems are wee little ones; maybe there’s just something about the sensor that is more finicky when there’s not as much tissue to insert into.
@TiaG, sensor problems like that are a pain. I have also been having sensor problems with the G5 for about 6 months: before, I could make them last 10-14 days, but in the past 6 months I have been having a hard time getting them to last just 7 days: we have to ask for a lot of replacements. This is weird because I am not any thinner than I was (although I don’t have a lot of fat).
What I do to avoid problems: I look for the perfect spot every time: as fat as possible. I really pay a lot of attention to exactly where the sensor will go. It helps me not have as many failures. But I still have frequent failures, just not as many as I did for a while. Maybe that can help Samson a little?
I worry about your problem for myself too: if I can’t keep my sensor going for 7 days everytime I think it will be harder for me to keep the G6 going for 10 days. But right now we are stuck with the G5 anyway because we are far from home for many months still. So I hope you will figure out how to deal with it before we get back to the US
I’ve had similar issues with the G6, especially after doing exceptionally sweaty exercise or having the transmitter/sensor combo get wet repeatedly. It doesn’t seem to always immediately effect the readings, but it absolutely seems to be directly correlated to early sensor failure for me. One thing I’ve started trying is using compressed air to blow into the gaps between the sensor and transmitter after a shower, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference yet on overall sensor life, but it has prevented losing readings immediately after (still only getting about 7-8 days on a sensor vs 10+ with limited immersion and exercise). I’m thinking about trying throwing a tegaderm over the top of a sensor (and the simpatch) next time to see what happens.
Hello!
I honestly just created my account so I could chime in. I am also having issues with my g6 sensors failing! I switched from the g5 to the g6 around September, and wasn’t having issues at the start. However, recently I’ve been going through sensors more and more often. I can’t be sure what makes them fail, but I notice they often fail when my number goes off the scale (#>400) Which is bad I know… but I’m working on it. Anyway that is the only real correlation I’ve seen. Could just be bugs in the new product. But either way, you’re not alone in your frustration!
Hello, I only signed up to offer our experience. Our son is nearly 4 and we were so excited about the G6 yet the reality of using it for the last 4 weeks has us desperate to move back to the G5. With the G5 we had compression lows to deal with at night that would sometimes knock the sensor out for an hour or so. But the G6 takes it to a whole new level of frustration. Our son’s G6 sensors last no more than 2 to 3 days at best. During that period we get several sensor failures, which last around 2 to 3 hours each and every time, very inaccurate readings which verge on dangerous, and the compression lows are very volatile. To the extent that he only has to touch the sensor, which is inserted into his arm or his upper buttock, for it to fail and resolve into a 2 or 3 hour hibernation. We have requested immediate referral back to the G5 and what is more we are now looking for an alternative to Dexcom products as we have totally lost faith in their research and development capabilities. My personal theory is that Dexcom rushed this product out so as to spike their share price and short term profit margins, at the expense of long term custom and patient wellbeing. I cannot over emphasise how much distress and time the usage of the G6 has cost us as a family. Sleepless nights, aborted school days, cancelled arrangements to mention but a few. The share functionality often goes offline which results in BG rises or lows, or even compression lows being missed by us. I’m researching alternatives to Dexcom products as I type. Not good enough!
There is a pattern beginning to form of the G6 errors in toddlers.
If you can go back to the G5, you should. @TiaG went through hell with her 4 year old son, Samson, and the G6s and I never upgraded our 4 year old from the G5s because my motto is… If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
Thank you for signing up to offer your experience. It is very valuable. My older teenage son uses the G6 without any issues, but Toddlers and some others have had problems with them. I am not sure we have seen enough reports to know who the “others” are, i.e. a pattern isn’t yet visible, but there have been a number of toddler parents that have reported issues. Enough, that it seems prudent to get back on the G5 until these things get figured out.
Additionally, it appears Dexcom is having trouble keeping up with manufacturing.
@sensormentor, it is supernice of you to sign up to share your experience: this is such a valuable knowledge base we get from all of us!
There is no doubt that we are starting to see a pattern with young kids (and some others).
I am wondering if these G6 failures are somehow connected with the recent early failure patterns we have seen with new G5 sensor batches - although some people who see G6 failures don’t see G5 failures, and vice versa (@Thomas for instance).
I just had the G6 nightmare of nightmares failure. Woken by a middle of the night full on hypo… moved like lightening & used glucagon etc… While waiting for recovery wondering why we didn’t hear alerts - and when I looked it was showing a stable 6.8. No hint of a drop or low. Am literally devastated. We pay £160 a month so I can sleep at night (long history of nighttime hypoglycaemia) and now I can never trust it again. Literally no point having it. It’s 2am now & I can’t sleep, I will be so so angry when I phone Dexcom in the morning… I am very upset.
That is a bad experience. How long had the sensor been inserted? Was it reliable/accurate up to that point? Did you have a chance to fingerstick during recovery to see what the BG level was? Thanks for your post. For me with a G4, the rare time something like that happened was when I had a bleeder on insertion, and the sensor never was that accurate. Just a stable, flat line when it should have shown ups and downs.
@wife, what a shocking experience Truly astounding that there was no sign in the G6. Did the G6 signal go down later? Can you describe in more detail what happened?
I would love to see the track if that is available.
It was going down slowly until it “levelled out” at around 6.8 and stayed more or less flat for half an hour or so during which time he obviously carried on descending… he had the hypo while it still said 6.8 and 20minutes later it began to rise. When I managed to get him to take a test at 14.7 it was spot on and then continued to be accurate as he went up to 18 (confirmed with finger pricks). It was like it just stopped tracking and said he was level & then picked him up as he rose? I marked it as an event on the timeline at the time, can take a screen shot before it drops off shortly. We are on holiday atm returning tonight which made it doubly scary.
I think your plan to escalate and keep on top of them is wise!
Truly astounding that there was no sign in the G6. Did the G6 signal go down later? Can you describe in more detail what happened?