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Medtronic guardian sensor calibration

Justin04

Justin04

Well-Known Member
Messages
57
Hi all. Having troubles with my guardian 3 sensors recently. 6 hourly calibration requests. For the 5 or so days they last. (Actually a lot last 3….) No one knows why. I began CGM in June and it’s been a fiasco ever since. It slightly improved when I started using them in the back of arm but since the beginning of the year I’ve have to calibrate almost every sensor 4 times a day, exactly 6 hours apart. My endo team don’t know, Medtronic don’t know, and guardian 4 isn’t in Australia. Yet. Wishing I knew about Tandem T Slim as it would’ve been a better match I think. But stuck with Medtronic as my 640 was a dream! The wife is now as unhappy as I am being woken up every night. Anyone else having this problem? Maybe a sensor is last resort? Cheers!
 
Justin04 said:
Hi all. Having troubles with my guardian 3 sensors recently. 6 hourly calibration requests. For the 5 or so days they last. (Actually a lot last 3….) No one knows why. I began CGM in June and it’s been a fiasco ever since. It slightly improved when I started using them in the back of arm but since the beginning of the year I’ve have to calibrate almost every sensor 4 times a day, exactly 6 hours apart. My endo team don’t know, Medtronic don’t know, and guardian 4 isn’t in Australia. Yet. Wishing I knew about Tandem T Slim as it would’ve been a better match I think. But stuck with Medtronic as my 640 was a dream! The wife is now as unhappy as I am being woken up every night. Anyone else having this problem? Maybe a sensor is last resort? Cheers!
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Possibly your transmitter is faulty.
 
I had another thought. Have you tried "marinating" the new sensor? This is letting the new sensor "soak" in the fluid under the skin for a few hours before attaching the transmitter. Marinate while the old sensor is still working, so that you don't go without your cgm for more than the recharge and warm up period. This might help but, if not, I would say it's a transmitter problem.
 
Sorry guys, meant to get back earlier. I use a patch over top of my CGM rather that the two tapes they provide. It makes it easier when putting on the back of the arm. I think it would fall out of me before I got the chance to charge the transmitter and attach it if I let I marinate. I clean the transmitter before charging each time, it only takes a minute. Following up, I was working night shift over the weekend and decided to try a new sensor early in the night to give me time to calibrate before I went to bed that morning. Removed, charged, attached, and the sensor wouldn’t talk to the pump. Called help line, they got me to test with the green lobe, nothing. No lights. So they have another transmitter on order for me, they say 2-3 weeks back order. Thinking now it would be good to have a spare….
 
It is possible that your transmitter has been faulty all along which is why its never stayed calibrated for more than 6 hours.

I tend to keep my old (properly working) ones as spares just in case (as they should be replaced every year anyway), but I suspect you wont get a spare just to have for just-in-case, I think they're pretty pricy, I know my hospital have had to send an email detailing that they would fund it when it has gotten to the one year point for said transmitter
Luckily when my second year one failed I still had my first year one around to use for about a week or so whilst the new replacement was on the way
 
Yeah they want the old one back when I receive the new one they said. Not that it’s worth keeping. I should look into getting a back up, now I know what can happen, I would have changed it out a lot earlier.
 
Justin04 said:
Yeah they want the old one back when I receive the new one they said. Not that it’s worth keeping. I should look into getting a back up, now I know what can happen, I would have changed it out a lot earlier.
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I’ve had the repeated, frequent demands to calibrate with working transmitter. I’ll be anxious to see how things go when you get your new one. Do you have 670?
 
Hey Prancy. On the 780. I got a new transmitter expressed and a few nights in …. 6 hourly calibrations. Oh and my sensor has just clapped out when I have to be up in 6 hours. Yeah I’m sure the smarts are there, they just ain’t working for me. I’m saying, there are a lot of people that it’s doing wonders for, and with time it would make a huge difference to control. I just have to limp it out until I can change to a setup better suited to me. No hard feelings though, you win some, you lose some.
 
Justin04 said:
Hey Prancy. On the 780. I got a new transmitter expressed and a few nights in …. 6 hourly calibrations. Oh and my sensor has just clapped out when I have to be up in 6 hours. Yeah I’m sure the smarts are there, they just ain’t working for me. I’m saying, there are a lot of people that it’s doing wonders for, and with time it would make a huge difference to control. I just have to limp it out until I can change to a setup better suited to me. No hard feelings though, you win some, you lose some.
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I hope you do get something sorted out that does work for you, hopefully your hospital clinic can do something sooner rather than later - I would make a list of the problems you've had with it before talking to them though :) (mainly cos its dead easy to forget something)

Unfortunately these things can never be guaranteed to work for everyone :(
 
Thanks. Yeah they know. We’ve had a continuous communication going since I changed up to the 780 in June last year. There has been a lot of attempt made to help, and I admit I did get very frustrated, but now I’m resigned to the fact that it’s not going to work. My only frustration now is having to wait for 3.5 years before I get a chance to trade to a Tandem….
 
Hi Justin04
You mentioned in an earlier post that you use a patch to cover the CGM rather than the standard stickers. If so could it be that’s blocking the transmission?
Maybe clutching at straws…..
 
Could be. But then I don’t have a choice on the back of arm. Be some training in going back to the tapes.
 
Justin04 said:
Thanks. Yeah they know. We’ve had a continuous communication going since I changed up to the 780 in June last year. There has been a lot of attempt made to help, and I admit I did get very frustrated, but now I’m resigned to the fact that it’s not going to work. My only frustration now is having to wait for 3.5 years before I get a chance to trade to a Tandem….
Click to expand...
I get it. I feel that way about my 67O G. My warranty is now up, but I just found out how much the Tandem would cost! Omg….I don’t think I can get it right now. I’m on hold. When I got my 670 G, I didn’t have to pay that much out of pocket. I think it cost like $8000.

I’ll keep watching your progress though,
 
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