I am having a hard time finding a good spot on my body to insert the dexcom g6 sensors. I have bled through the sensor upon insertion on the last three sensors. I tried my arms, my stomach, and my lower back. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it possible that my body is not able to make these work properly?
I’ve only had the issue when I’ve used my upper abdomen - above the belly button. Otherwise my sites have worked fine. I’m sure you’ll find some suggestions from users on the forum so I wanted to remind you to call Dexcom and get replacements (those things are gold after all!). Your Dexcom rep might be able to help too.
I had some blood drawn the other morning and the tech asked if I had taken any aspirin. Aspirin thins the blood and may cause more bleeding than usual; so if you take it regularly (I take 81mg every morning) maybe timing your insertion so it’s not too close to when you took the aspirin, could help.
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Dear 6boys, First suggestion: call Dexcom for Tech Support. In last year I have noticed Dexcom & Tandem support improve 100% from what it was in past. I’m sure that you are not only person who has had problem with bleeding. Do not assume you are doing something wrong. Just say you’re following procedure but having frequent bleeds at sites. Let them do the troubleshooting.
I have had more problems with Dexcom G6 sites than previous 5.5 yrs using G Sensors. At times have bleeds. When I bleed at placement site it is never profuse. How would you describe your bleeds? How well do you clot? Do you bleed so much that the sensor comes out after placement? Are you losing sensors due to bleeding? Dexcom will replace those at no charge.
I use sticky skin prep before setting sensor. IDK but that might help hold sensor even if I bleed. If I do bleed then I use a donut hole adhesive ring over sensor adhesive. Blood under adhesive has never caused sensor to come out on its own. I don’t remove sensor even with bleed. If it stays in site I wait to see if it works. Have never had one fail.
Best wishes for solving your issue.
I am on anticoagulant therapy. I only use my belly. They bleed, but so what. I let them ooze and continue to get readings for the full 10 days. I do use the Dexcom overpatchs (FREE upon request from Dexcom).
Hope this helps. Please share what you learn. It helps us all.
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@sixboys, I’ve had a couple of sensors that drew blood, but the sensors continued to work accurately for the full. intended duration; 7 days with G5 and 10 days with G6. What has been your experience with the sensor readings for the sensors which draw blood?
Granted, your experience is unusual, and needs investigation; and don’t necessarily blame the Dexcom sensors. IMHO, I believe this is something that you should be discussing right away with a medical professional, not with a manufacturer; possibly a doctor trained in hematology.
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Thank you to everyone that responded. I did live chat today with someone from dexcom. They are replacing the sensors, and she told me to try the upper buttocks. I am very thin so she said to try that first. Mine wouldn’t quit bleeding without pressure. I wasn’t going to let it continue to bleed down my arm. One soaked through my sleeve.
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Hi again. I remembered seeing another topic where someone in a response referenced bleeding. The response from @jdiesel might help - “Hi, I just thought I would share my experiences. I have been pumping for 16 yrs now and using cgm for just over 4. I was experiencing the bleeding issue on a regular basis like you. My endo suggested that I use a reusable ice pack on the area where I was going to insert my site for several minutes prior to insertion. I have adopted this practice as my normal routine even with my cgm sensors. I have found a massive reduction in bleeding issues and even a slight reduction in the painful sites. I only had painful sites maybe every couple of months but since starting the ice pack I have reduced even those. Just a tidbit that saved me a ton of wasted sites and sensors.”
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Thank you wadawabbit. I will have to try that. I just inserted a brand new sensor this evening at the suggested place and it is reading way off already. I think it must just be my body. I will probably discontinue using them. I really wanted it to work, but it is a waste of money if they do not work on me. Thank you again for your suggestions.
That would be a shame. I hope your able to exhaust all possibilities with a Dexcom rep or (as @Dennis suggested) your doctor or other medical pro. Keep us posted.
I often have bleeding with the Dexcom g6and unless it’s a real gusher, it works. I live in Florida and did find I have most of this trouble during the hot, hot summer. An icepack can be helpful. Their support people said a little bleeding is not unusual and usually not a problem. I used to use the Medtronic CGM and that bled almost all the time and would not work if it did.
I know this is not an approved site but I use my upper thighs and rotate from one to the other every 10 days. I have been using the Dexcom G6 for about six months and have never put it anywhere but my upper thighs. It works great and is out of the way. Since I sleep on my sides, I don’t put them off to the outside of my thigh, just towards the middle and move up and down a bit. My readings are always very accurate after the first day.
I use that area as well. I checked Dexcom’s guide for approved sites and found this: People from 2 to 17 years old can use either their upper buttocks or bellies (abdomens). Those 18 years and older can only use their belly.
I understand that some sites are less affected by activity than others, but it can be surprisingly challenging not to hit the same spot when inserting in the abdomen (I hit scar tissue from time to time) so I wish there were a way to “approve with caution” or “approve with doctor’s okay” or something along those lines.
I think many of us have figured out how to manage when using those areas so it would be nice to make it more official. Sorry, just venting .
I’m using a Medtronics 670G, so I don’t know anything that’s specifically about Dexcom. But I had a lot of bleeding trouble on sensor insertion before I started doing two things: (1) icing the spot before insertion, which has been mentioned here, and (2) pinching my skin very gently to form a little mound before sensor insertion. My thought with this second step is to prevent the needle from unnecessarily penetrating deeper than needed. I continue to hold the pinch while removing the serter (insertion device; terminology may vary), and then continue to hold the little needle tower up gently until I actually remove the needle. This may be superstitious behavior, or it may be helping, but I very rarely get bleeding now, and I previously had two separate instances in which I went through three sensors before I got one that had either no bleeding or sufficiently minor bleeding that I was willing to leave it in.
One other comment. I’m pretty thin, too, these days, partly thanks to T1d. One of the symptoms that caused me to self-diagnose as diabetic at age 72 was weight loss. I was trying to lose weight, but after a bit I noticed that it was way too easy. It finally stopped with my diagnosis, after a loss of 30 pounds in about two months. Anyway, I’m thin now, and don’t have enough fat around my middle to do a significant site rotation plan. I’ve wound up using upper thighs, and am very happy with that choice. Lots more real estate there. Just thought I’d mention it.
Rudy
Thank you for all of your suggestions. I have it in my upper buttocks right now and it seems to be pretty accurate. I may try my thighs again for the next sensor. I will have to try the ice thing also. Dexcom did replace both sensors that bled. Im thankful for that! Thank you again.
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When I had bleeding, the Tandem rep asked whether I could “pinch an inch” of fat where I was inserting the sensor, which I could. He then said not to press the mechanism into my skin when pressing the inserter button. Pressing it makes the insertion go deeper. I am skinny like you, and have limited areas to insert the sensors. But the 3 times I had bleeding (one site went on for several hours, and I had to cover it with a bandage to keep from staining my clothes) the sensors continued to give accurate readings.