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Dexcom sensors how long do they last?

MoonSpirit

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
If anyone interested how long I'm getting from each Dexcom (£65) sensor,
how does this compare with other users?

Sensor 1 lasted 22 days
Sensor 2 lasted 25 days (skin inflamed)
Sensor 3 lasted 20 days
Sensor 4 lasted 17 days
Sensor 5 lasted 20 days (ripped out, caught on jumper)
Sensor 6 lasted 13 days
Sensor 7 the best 35 days so far (and undelieavably still working) ok spoke to soon it's now stopped working but I'm happy with 35 days.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi moonspirit,
The most I have had is 47 days
average is 5 weeks now.
Last sensor I had to remove at 33 days due to an MRI scan. For some reason the staff didn't want a exploding transmitter in the scanner
Oh and my sensors come from Animas so £46 each
 

Hi CarbsRock
That's big improvement over my three weeks average, hopefully things will improve.
I was hoping to get my Sensors from Animas but when I recieved my Dexcom G4Platinum Meter in October there were several articles on the Internet saying that Animas would no longer supply them unless you had an Animas pump?
Has this changed?

I don't currently Have a pump as I hate the idea of a pump with attached pipes,
I will be very interested and pestering my Diabetic centre to put me on a pump as soon as a patch pump with integrated CGM meter (Dexcom or other) becomes available.
I'm Expecting that an integrated patch pump will become available in about a years time?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hiya,
I suspect Animas are not allowed to sell the Dexcom sensors in the uk unless it's to the vibe users as AT have sole rights to them. In all honesty having a tubed pump isn't noticeable. I had to actually keep checking to see if the pump was still attached to me as just didn't notice it there after about 12 hours, and that's coming from someone who had been on injections for 42 years before starting to pump. In Sept it will have been 8 years on a pump for me and it has been life changing.
The tubing comes in different lengths which is ideal for different cannula settings
 
Hi Cards

Hi CarbsRock

Thank you for that,
i have been thinking about a pump for a couple of years now, been holding out as I like the idea of a linked patch pump.
They have been longer coming than I hoped to appear.
I'm still resonably active and worry about attatched things with tubing getting caught and ripped out.
I am aware I'm catching the small Dexcom sensor on things, door frames, car doors, boat engine bay crawl spaces etc, doesn't usually pull out but it's disconcerting.

Maybe your right and I should go for a tubed one, I need to do something.
i will look at the options again in November. ( probabally not but maybe a patch will be available by then)

(I have now left to spend the summer living on a boat in France/Spain, won't have access to my Diabetic centre until I return in November)
 
I only had one cannula pulled out and that was my fault I didn't take the simple precaution of putting a bit of tape across the tubing to take the strain if tube became caught. I worked with horses, sheep, cattle and dogs plus other general farm work so classed as fairly active I place my sensor about one hand width above elbow bend. This then is almost impossible to dislodge
Enjoy your holiday.
 

Hi carbsRok
That sounds good, I was expecting it would dislodge a lot more often.
You say you have he cannula above your elbow line, what about the Dexcom sensor, have you tried using that at a similar height?
I'm a big fat sod, 6'4" and 20+ stone, can't seem to shake the weight while on pen injections, hoping I will have better luck once on a pump.
The Dexcom sensors down by the waste line tend to catch on door frames etc (living on my boat with smaller boat sized doors doesn't help)
I know it's not recommended for the sensors to be high up but Would it be worth giving it a go?

After the reassurance you have given me about pumps I will definatly have a go at my Diabetes Centre about moving onto a pump. They wanted to put me on a pump about 20 years ago, at the time being young an active (scuba diving, motorcycles etc) I was horrified at the idea and refused point blank, they have never mentioned it again.

I'm assuming I'd still be eligible for a pump. Suspect the only fly in the ointment would be that I have never counted carbs, stuck to a set diet structure, eating times etc, apart from breakfast I eat what I want when I want and inject whatever I considder to be an appropriate amont to cover whatever I'm eating. My yearly visit to the Diabetic centre usuly results in the Consultants tending to roll their eyes, but then say something like, you must be doing something right, apart from being overweight your still in remarkably good condition. (I know I cant go on like this for ever, now I'm retired it is probably time to try and change)
 
MoonSpirit said:
Hi carbsRok
That sounds good, I was expecting it would dislodge a lot more often.
You say you have he cannula above your elbow line, what about the Dexcom sensor, have you tried using that at a similar height?
Click to expand...
Hiya sorry wrote that a bit wrong, cannula is in belly and dexcom sensor is on my arm. Results are very good
You do need to carb count and inject the correct amount of insulin for the carbs with adjustment for blood sugar reading as well. So if you can prove that you can do that and still not getting the required results then yes there's no reason not to have a pump If on MDI then no reason to have set meal times
 
@MoonSpirit, hate to say it, but the only way you're going to lose that weight is by managing what you eat properly. A pump is not going to make that any easier.
 
tim2000s said:
@MoonSpirit, hate to say it, but the only way you're going to lose that weight is by managing what you eat properly. A pump is not going to make that any easier.
Click to expand...

Im afraid I have to agree. Having a pump makes the counting of carb essential and paying more attention to diabetes and getting the settings correct for the day ahead. Sometimes bg changes happen and then its time to get going and adjust the settings again. There are loads of pros in having a pump but there are also some hidden cons as well.
 
I always get at least 28 days, then normally change them.
 
In the Dexcom manual they show a picture of strips of tape being used to hold the sensor in place, after the original tape is no longer sticky. I have a roll of that tape and it works great. Dexcom is supposed to last 7 days, according to the manual. I think that means that you cannot always depend pn the accuracy to be as great after 7 days. I started using the Dexcom on Thursday. If it is still doing well after 10-12 days I think I am going to srap the old sensor. I am concerned about the needle in my skin, in the same place, for so long. That does not sound like a good idea.
 
Hi David, no problem with the needle, it's very thin more like a bit of catgut than a needle, it's a needle that inserts it but that withdraws once you pull the plunger back, never had a problem with infection.
Personally I have a roll of 4" hyper fix tape (Almost identical to the original sencor tape) cut an appropriate sized bit, cut a small hole in the centre a bit smaller than the sencor (as it will stretch once you remove the backing) it will be a bit bigger than the original sencor tape so hold it all in position and stop the original sencor sticky tape from rolling up, I replace this additional tape once a week.
 
My sensor durations were like yours @MoonSpirit, around 3 weeks typically. But, it does improve consistently with practice. We can all aspire to the level of reuse that @CarbsRok achieves.
 
Spiker said:
My sensor durations were like yours @MoonSpirit, around 3 weeks typically. But, it does improve consistently with practice. We can all aspire to the level of reuse that @CarbsRok achieves.
Click to expand...
Not getting long from my sensor, first one, nearly two weeks, second one just over one week and then I get the egg timer and ??? so I have to remove it after waiting over two hours hoping it goes back to numbers.
 
I have only just got on my Dexcom, but so far I am on sensor #4, and i have voluntarily removed all 3 previous sensors at the 21 day mark.

I have noticed like clockwork at around day 17 i start to get '???' for hours at a time, and the sensors react VERY slowly to changes in my BS to the point where i notice they miss short spikes entirely. For this reason, although i could go longer, i have removed all at day 21.

Also there is thread floating around that explains exactly what happens during that 2 hour start up window, and its not something i would want to do 3+ times, as it shifts the accuracy of the sensors every time you restart them in addition to the enzyme reaction slowing.

So,
Sensor #1 - 21 Days
Sensor #2 - 21 Days
Sensor #3 - 21 Days
Sensor #4 - 11 Days and counting

EDIT -
Casper60 said:
Not getting long from my sensor, first one, nearly two weeks, second one just over one week and then I get the egg timer and ??? so I have to remove it after waiting over two hours hoping it goes back to numbers.
Click to expand...

It always goes back to numbers, typically it can take a few hours - which is a pain. What do you mean 'egg timer'?
 
Hi everybody
First of all I apologize for my english level, as english is not my native langage.
I'm going to buy a dexcom G4 in France and I have a concern about the sensor price.
In G4 manual it's said that sensor lasts 7 days and I understand that after 7 days the session stops and it was mandatory to change sensor. Is there any thing to do to reactivate sensor ?
Thanks for your answer.
Christian
 
To reactivate a sensor you just have to go through the 2-hour "sensor warm-up"

I have a G5 but the G4/G5 sensors are the same. I actually just deactivated my current sensor last night.

No need to unplug or remove the transmitter. For me, it was literally as simple as pressing the "sensor warm-up" button on my phone, waiting two hours, and then performing two manual glucose tests to calibrate the sensor again.
 
Hi Christian,
Yes you leave the sensor in. Select "Stop Sensor" on the receiver (or wait for it to stop automatically), wait a few seconds then select "Start Sensor". You then wait 2 hours as you did when you actually inserted the sensor, & when prompted enter 2 blood test readings to calibrate.
 
Thanks TorqPenderloin and DunePlodder !
Does anybody know why it's not possible to change battery's transmitter ? transmitter's price in France is around 350 €...
 
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