Hi team, i’m a parent of a newly diagnosed 13 year old with T1. We just started using the Dexcom G6 unit which is placed on his thigh. Overall it’s giving accurate readings, but for some reason when ever he’s at hockey practice or game we’ve had readings as high as over 400. Tested with finger prick and shows that it was off by over 300 points. After after 30 minutes of him stopping the reading return back to being normal. Has anyone experienced this and know what might be causing it? I tried calling Dexcom, but they didn’t seem to have a good answer for me and just send new sensors (which is great), but we’re on sensor 3 with the same issue. Thank you in advance for your support.
When my daughter (10 years old) sleeps on her stomach her readings can become inaccurate. Not sure if it’s the pressure she’s putting on it. Not sure of hockey equipment but wondering if the gear is putting pressure on it…
1 Like
Was thinking that might be it as well. Will have to test out at home with him just wearing his equipment around :). Thank you
Hi @mppolo9 welcome to Type One Nation. CGM measures interstitial fluid, and not blood, so any fluid issue: dehydration, possibly fluid retention or depletion and direct pressure can all affect the readings. The most common is reading low when sleeping on the sensor we all call that a “compression low”.
Reading super high compared to finger stick I think is less common, but if you know what the sensor does by observations then you know not to add insulin until you corroborate the CGM with a finger stick.
My g6 reads very low compared to finger stick for the first 24 hours and then it is “accurate” after that. By accurate I mean I trust the reading to be close to finger stick when my blood sugar isn’t changing rapidly, such as due to eating or exercise. Cheers and good luck 
I’d guess it likely has more to do with hydration and temperature than anything else.
1 Like
Hi Marco @mppolo9! I don’t have the dexcom, (I use the Freestyle Libre) but I have found that heat or dehydration will give me false high numbers. Either one might apply when playing hockey!
1 Like