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Dexcom CGM sensors have just gone from expensive to ridiculous!

P

Platinum

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
Location
Cornwall
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Animas has just told me that I can no longer buy my Dexcom G4 sensors from them as I do not use an Animas pump (I use an Accu-Chek combo).

This means my cost for four sensors has just gone up from £186 to £257.50 as I will have to go back to Advanced Therapeutics.

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on where I could get some lower cost sensors?

Thanks.
 
Sounds as if Animas have been stopped by Dexcom from selling at a loss then. I did wonder if something would happen as AT were given the sole Dexcom rights in the UK. Worth asking AT if they can lower their prices. OR more to the point Dexcom can lower it's prices to AT so the reduction can be passed on.
Only other option is someone with an Animas pump can get them for you but then you open a mine field esp if a sensor goes wrong and you need it replacing.
 
Well Animas are still passing on a lower price but only for Animas pump users. That sounds like a shrewd deliberate commercial decision and I doubt Animas will reverse it. The ball is in Dexcom and AT's court I fear.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
How much sensor reuse are you getting?

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I asked an Animas rep at a recent publicity event for the Vibe pump, the rep claimed it was because they were being overwhelmed by Dexcom Receiver issues that they were unqualified to deal with, as their pump is their receiver (not the Dexcom one), so now they are only supplying sensors to Animas users.

I mentioned to the Rep that some Animas users do not have the vibe pump and are using other Animas pumps therefore also use the Dexcom receiver, she smiled and said she could not comment.
 
It does seem fair enough that Animas only support their own customers. And it just makes commercial sense. Animas are not a public service. Any upset about this should be directed at Dexcom, not Animas.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Not to sure which country it is pos Canada, is the only other country with the VIBE, thus no staff to deal with any issues with the sensors. I ran into this problem when I had a query about one of my sensors. They had to find a staff member who knew anything about the dexcom. The lady in question knew very little but was as helpful as she could be.
 
Well that is where John at Advanced Therapeutics earns his markup. He is always available at the end of the phone and knows the product well. And if not he will go straight through to Dexcom technical support.
 
Spiker said:
Well that is where John at Advanced Therapeutics earns his markup. He is always available at the end of the phone and knows the product well. And if not he will go straight through to Dexcom technical support.
Click to expand...

John has no mark up. Animas sell at a loss.
Agreed though, what John doesn't know isn't worth knowing.
 
Sounds like price fixing?
If the manufacturer has leant on Animas to stop supply to maintain a high prices there is a case to answer.
Competition is always good.

Why hasn't someone referred it to the competition commission?
(Not a UK resident so not something I could do)
 

There is no price fixing at all Animas have stopped supplying to none Vibe users because their staff do not have the knowledge or the resources to deal with the extra work load. Their priority is the insulin pumps.
 
anyone having a problem with advanced Theraputics? We received a box of sensors and each sensor lasted no longer than three days, Amanda replaced a box me thinking under warranty as they should last 7 days, to pay again in December but to be told that it was from the last box they sent, which we were under the impression it was replaced under warranty. My daughter is stuck without a dexcom now, we still only getting 5 days max before ??? Shows on screen
 
You can often restart after you get ? ? ? on the screen. But any failure under 7 days they should replace for free. Whether the failed sensor was itself a replacement should not matter. What are ATP saying to you?
 
I had no idea you can restart will give it a go, they have actually just email me and have sorted it but we not getting more than 5 days from her sensors to keep asking for replacements starts to cause confusion!​
 
Wait at least an hour to se if the sensor will start again if you have the ??? at 5 days they should replace and as far as I know are very good at doing this.
To restart your sensor though just stop sensor and restart it.
As you seem to be having problems are you 100% sure it's not user error on insertion of the sensor in the 1st place? Mine are lasting almost 4 weeks now without a problem and have had 1 last 5 weeks.
 
I'd doubt its the insertion technique, there are many things that can cause ???.

Water - after bath or shower, fixed by removing transmitter and drying, or using hair dryer. (get this maybe once every 6 months).
Dehydration - drink a litre of water and see if it fixes it after 5-10 mins. (get this at least once a month)
Clothing - have heard of people having issues with static (not had this myself).
Fast rising or falling BG's and sensor cannot cope with it - wait until BG has stabilised and then reenter BG levels a few times (get this very occasionally).
Lastly - have heard of few people who just cannot get them to last more than few days with none of the above, maybe chemical reaction to the sensor (just a guess).

Others may add more ? hope this helps.

FWIW I get over 4 wks normally.
 
schreis said:
I had no idea you can restart will give it a go,​
Click to expand...
The ability to stop and start is not documented, but this is how you can extend sensor life past 7 days, since the sensor session automatically stops at the end of 7 days. But you can just start a new session on the same sensor.
 

Is it necessary to take the transmitter off when having a shower or can you leave it attached? If you do take it off, how do you go about re starting the transmission again?
 
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