I should be recieving my Dexcom by Fedex tomorrow or the next day. I am so excited! My BGs and A1c's have become progressively worse and harder to control for my whole adult life (15 years or so), and I hope this will help me to actually CATCH my BG before it gets to such awful numbers (415 this morning). Maybe even help me to spot trends I have not yet been able to recognize.
Anyway, I have a couple of question I hope anyone here might be able to answer for me:
I get in the hot tub every day. Will this greatly affect the tape adhesion?
I have a bunch of Polyskin dressing 2" x 2.75". If I have sticking issues, could I use this stuff?
If I want to reuse the sensor longer than the recommended time, do I need to remove and reattach the transmitter, or can I just tell the reciever that I did?
I have read that if you are willing to use the sensor more than a week, that it tends to get more accurate. In your experience, how much does accuracy differ from week one to week two (or even three)?
Anyone who uses alternate sites for the sensor: What kind of pain factor is there with the insertion in different areas? Similar to pump sets? I put my sets in my upper and lower abdomen, back, and hips, but have never tried my arms because I am not that flexible, or my thighs because I remember taking a shot there once as a kid and it HURT A LOT! I do not like the look of the 'inserter' for the dex sensor, but then again I also did not like the look of the set inserter that I use either. I always preferred putting them in manually for some reason.
1. The adhesive holds up pretty well with showering, but I'm not sure about hot tubbing. Some extra tape, maybe like what you mentioned, might help you there.
2. When wearing the sensor longer than 7 days, all you have to do is tell the receiver to "stop sensor", then "start sensor". You don't have to disconnect anything! :)
3. Accuracy varies, but in general (for me) it's most accurate after a few days, up until the 2 to 2 1/2 week mark. YMMV.
4. I feel it when I insert a new sensor, but it doesn't usually hurt any more than a pump site would, in the alternate areas. The Dexcom inserter is still sort-of manual - there is no spring-loaded anything. You pushthe inserter in, then disconnect the inserter portion from the sensor. For a while, it took me a couple of minutes to psych myself up to get it done - but now, I'm pretty used to it.
Good luck with it! We just got approval today from our insurance company for a Dexcom for our 8 year old daughter. She is hypo unaware. It should be here on Tuesday. Did you have a trainer show you how to use it or just read the book? I forgot to ask our supplier if someone would be training us, like they did with the pump, or if we are on our own.
I have trouble with my sticking if I am in the water too long so I use 3M™ Tegaderm coverings (I think it’s the same as the polyskin stuff). I LOVE my Dexcom- think you will too!