That’s part of the problem with CGM. The times when we need it most are when we are not stable!
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Precisely!!!
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Case in point - just got interrupted by an urgent low glucose warning from my Libre3.
Ignore the time and date on the freestyle lite, it needs to be reset, I assure you these are concurrent readings.
Just what I needed to interrupt my Friday night jazz session.
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I have a non diabetic friend at work who is doing that. She’s always telling me her numbers and obsessing over them to me. I can’t engage with her on that level. I just say things like, “Oh wow. Interesting.”
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I place
New Dexcom a day before I change. If I forget I get crazy numbers for 24 hours. If I place new sensor no problems.
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@Jane17 I do the same. Even if I have a Dexcom sensor fail and have to remove it, I will put a new sensor on and not start it (just let it sit without a transmitter in it) for at least 12 hours. If I try to start it without letting it sit on my arm for at least 12 hours, I will get wildly inaccurate numbers and LOW alarms and often sensor errors that make me nuts. For me, it’s worth the hassle of fingersticks for that amount of time.
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I don’t understand. If you insert the new sensor 12 hours before the current sensor session ends, wouldn’t there only be the 2-hour warmup time after you move the transmitter? Why 12 hours of fingersticks?
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@bkh b/c I let the sensor sit and settle, even if I have a sensor error and have to remove the sensor that was active. I’m saying that I let the new one sit for 12 hours and do fingersticks for those 12 hours. This is only when I have the bad luck of a sensor erroring out.
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@bkh It’s called soaking. You insert the sensor but you don’t start/activate it. You just let it stay wherever you put it while you are in the last hours of your old one still going or even if you have a failure, you insert it and let it sit, but still don’t activate it. I think most insert it and let it soak for 24 hours before they activate it.
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I soak the sensor 6-8 hours. That seems to be enough for me.
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Does anyone know if ‘soaking’ works for Libre3? Although, for me, they seem to start fine and get wonky in the last 2 or 3 days. For example, it’s day 12 (out of 14) and the CGM says I’ve been low all day, most recently an alarm at 54, when a ‘corroborating’ finger-stick said 107. A 53(!) point difference. Not quite as much as @Eric’s, but still a LOT!
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Had FSL for awhile and did the same thing. Never accurate the last few days. Did not like calling their customer service. Not very friendly. Maybe the 14 day wear is a myth.
Jane Cerullo
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And as predicted, after 3 days of steadily more inaccurate readings and finger-sticks, the Libre3 failed completely, loudly and with lots of fanfare at 1:30am - 2 days early. Looks like another morning on the phone with Abbott CS. Shoot me.
Wish I had a camera handy - new sensor and finger stick BOTH read 182 (not good, but I haven’t taken my Metformin yet and DP still comes into play at this hour of the morning …)
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I have the DC6 i have not liked it from day 1. I have had it for about 9 months, and found it to be more annoying than helpful.
I was told it would be off for the girst couple day, double check with finger stick. Ok i did fining it as much as 40pts different.
Looking on the DC6 website about possible reasons for sleep time inaccuracies. It simpley stated to place the sensor in a place it would not be bumped, hit, or laid on while sleeping. Huh, ok the top of my head?
I made the mistake recently of leaving my meter at home when out for the day. Carried my insulin of course. Started getting readings of 150s i take a unit, next reading was 180. I took two more units. It kept rising. Stopped at 230, which is not common for me. Took 2 more units. By the time i was able to finger stick my DC6 said 176, my meter read 133. 20 pts is one thing, 40?
I cannot imagine if it was reading 80, which i feel great at and being 40 pts higher or lower. Even 20. 20 pts at a stick reading of 90? 110 is ok. 70, its a quick slide to tge 50s for me.
I still use it because my insurance pays for one or the other, the DC6 or test strips. I still test 3 times a day. But at my expense. Not currently working, so its a bit of a pain in the bank account.
Thats my story… if it works for others thats great, i am not, nor would I ever, tell someone NOT to use it. It works great for a friend who is also on an insulin pump.
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Agreed, and I don’t care what anyone says, I’ve rarely switched sensors and had them be accurate without at least one calibration–usually after 12 hours of wearing it…
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I have to calibrate mine nearly daily.
It can randomly become 20, 30, 40 pts off… annoying
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@Marie I am just curious, when you calibrate, do you just calibrate one time per finger stick (which for me means Dexcom adjusts itself about 1/2 way (maybe compensating for the time delay of interstitial?) or do you enter same number again to get it to match? I have done both, but wondered if I am working against myself by forcing it to be the same (calibrating twice for the price of one). I am interested in your methods. Thanks!
@Quadgirl Usually at first, I will calibrate it with the right number so it goes half way. Then I try to wait for about 2 hours before I calibrate it again. It has an algorithm it follows and usually closes the gap more after time on me. So then the next calibration will be 5 points over my accurate number. A new sensor takes 3-6 calibrations over the first 24 hours to get it to reading within 5 points. A restarted one takes 2-4. That can always vary and needs to be checked periodically. A new sensor will be more likely to go askew after a few days, a restarted one can stay pretty accurate once it gets it right.
I say usually because I’m pretty sure Dexcom has changed some of it algorithm adjustments or something in the programming on the sensors? I have noticed differences lately. For instance if you put in the number twice, it takes it as gold, but then followed it’s algorithm and slowly changed so you would still have to calibrate later. It’s just that would get rid of a huge wrong amount. But now sometimes 15 minutes later it’s back to the wrong number, like it ignored the calibration. But it does that even with a “normal” calibration too. So I think they have changed their algorithm programming.
I just started a new one 2 days ago and it started out fairly close in accuracy so I left it alone, but I know that doesn’t last. It kept being under my BG level after a couple of hours by 15-30 points and I kept calibrating it throughout the day. I can’t leave it be because it will say I’m low, when I’m not.
I really really want Dexcom to have some competition with as good of a product, Libre would be, if they allowed you to calibrate it. If they had competition they might listen to the consumer more. I realize they have to follow certain guidelines, but they pretty much ignore us. Unless massive amounts of people complain like they did with the critical alerts. Gee, funny how they have managed for us to be able to mute them again on the G7, but have been blaming it all along on Apple’s system.
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@Marie, Thanks! I, too believe something is very different with my dexcoms lately. Glad it is not just in my head. I appreciate your regime for calibrating and will try to do similar for myself. I have not been re-using them - wanted to get the tool thingy on ETSY for removal since it will be hard to do it right myself, figuring the g7 would be here and tool useless, but now re-thinking that. I am sort of waiting for Libre 3 to work with pump and to hopefully add calibration, so still have many g6’s making that tool worth it. Anyway, thanks for the help and much to ponder. Take care.
Laura
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@Quadgirl A guitar pick works wonderful, $5.00 for a variety pack, generally you want the thinner ones.
Plus a contour strip stuck in the end blocks the signal without removal.
- Let sensor expire or stop sensor.
- Remove transmitter while sensor is still on your arm, you can use
a test strip or thin card, but a guitar pick works really good… - there
is a hidden clip in middle of the sides of sensor - try to get it to raise up slightly
on both sides and the transmitter will pop up. - Wait at least 15 minutes
longer is okay - Snap Transmitter back into the sensor
- Start new sensor session using your original code
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