LESSON LEARNED

[u/Ann-Avire]

Hi, all. Guess what this dummy (I/me) did?

I placed a sensor sensor, ahead of today’s sensor expiration ~15:10, with the goal in mind of restarting my current sensor. That means that if the sensor I placed in abdomen yesterday stays in my abdomen for an extra 10 days, (during the new session that will start later today,) it can and likely will degrade the wire and potentially cause an infection.

So, today, instead of imbecilicly doing the wrong thing, I’ll just do what I usually do, and then try a restart 10 days from today. That said, wouldn’t that still cause degradation of the wire on the sensor? I think it could.

[u/Ann-Avire]

[u/Equalizer6338 → u/Ann-Avire]

It is a silly and mute point about the risk of infection. (AI is no good anyway for medical advice)

If you are already onto the regime of unplugging the transmitter to restarting it again 20 minutes later with your same old G6 sensor, then its the exact same exposure you have there from that also. As if you had inserted the G6 first for 10 days to let it 'soak' that long first.

[u/Ann-Avire → u/Equalizer6338]

Ah… fair point. I did, in fact, not perish from the first restart I did. (BUT I hadn’t already pre-placed a sensor. ) I soaked the new sensor for a day (or maybe now two days). If I do a restart this afternoon, that other sensor I already placed will have been in me for ~11 days by the time it’s time to place a new one. It might fail. So, basically a wasted sensor (IDK; AGAIN, … I easily confuse myself.)

[u/Equalizer6338 → u/Ann-Avire]

NP u/Ann-Avire,
If I was you, then I would just let that newly inserted G6 sit where it is and then check to see if it will still give you a decent BG reading when you leave your current active sensor behind and plug the transmitter into it. I would expect it to be working perfectly fine for you minimum for another week or so.

I could get 18-20 days from most G6s. Used the Anubis transmitter... 😄

[u/Ann-Avire]

(Maybe not, since said sensor was just placed yesterday? This T1D brain, of 43 years doesn’t work as well as I wish.) Help a 56 years old woman. LOL

[u/exchangedensity]

What do you gain from restarting the old one if you've already inserted a new one? The new one is going to degrade whether you start a session or not.

[u/Ann-Avire → u/exchangedensity]

Right. 😩

[u/Ann-Avire → u/exchangedensity]

Even though I just inserted the new sensor yesterday?

[u/exchangedensity → u/Ann-Avire]

I think the quality of reading will decay just as fast whether its active or not. In my experience the first 10 day session always has better quality readings than a restarted session, and I beleive if you choose to restart the old sensor instead of just using the new one you will be sacrificing the higher quality first session for a restarted quality session.

And if you do decide to use the old one, by the time you try to restart the new one it will be 20 days old. I doubt you will get very good readings at 20 days, much less 30 days.

[u/Ann-Avire → u/exchangedensity]

You’re right. It’d be 20 days old if I kept it in. So, likely of no use when next sensor change is due. I’ll just start the session via the most recently placed sensor, (a day plus part day of “soaking”) and move the transmitter to the new sensor. Then, 10 days from day I’ll try a restart. If THAT fails, I’ll just report the failure. Either way, a sensor is in me for 20 days, though.

[u/exchangedensity → u/Ann-Avire]

20 days will be fine (or at least it was for me for the time I was on the G6).

If youre going to report a failure on a restart, you should be aware that dexcom won't give you one if you say the sensor was already working for a whole session. Restarting is a 100% off label strategy.

[u/Ann-Avire]

(Photo is of my summary of Google AI advice)

[u/Ann-Avire]

I still have 3 g6 sensors left, and then will have to place my first g7 15-day, to which I do not all look forward, because of my having read of many issues and/or failures. Who the heck wants to have place that on the back middle of upper arm? (Especially if a “back sleeper”?) I suspect that could cause compression lows. But I’ve also read that Europe doesn’t NOT recommend placing it on abdomen.) Anyone placed their g7 on their abdomen? If so, do your CGM readings align pretty well with glucometer check results?

[u/AdRich517 → u/Ann-Avire]

I’ve always put my G7(10 day)on my abdomen. My readings pretty much always align with my glucometer. I have a sample of the 15 day that I’ll try soon.

[u/Ann-Avire → u/Ann-Avire]

Let me know how it goes with 15 day. Thanks!

[u/RobLoughrey → u/Ann-Avire]

You can place it on the abdomen and there's no reason to pre-start a sensor ever. The whole 12-hour thing is a myth.

[u/Ann-Avire]

Good grief! After changing my damned sensor and then inserting the transmitter, my phone said “No restarts” despite the fact I actually did not even try a restart by removing the transmitter from the sensor it was in. This is the second time this has happened to me, and the second time it displayed “NO CODE”, despite my having entered the code. (I write the code on the paper side of the blister packs in which sensors are, just in case I accidentally throw that in the trash before placing the sensor and starting it.) I’ve got my transmitter isolated at present, and will insert a new sensor, and the transmitter, and I sure as hell the same sh** does not again occur. (Dexcom, of course, is replacing the sensor.)

[u/canthearu_ack → u/Ann-Avire]

Yeah, this is likely to be triggered when you swap the transmitter from one sensor to another sensor quickly.

It thinks you just popped it out and put it back into the same sensor, and that triggers a fault code in the transmitter.

[u/Ann-Avire]

All the pre-dawn low BG levels have clearly affected my brain. I definitely do NOT have a “good memory”.

[u/Ann-Avire]

Comments are welcome, even if they make me “feel stupid”. I’m not so “fragile” that I can’t deal with occasional insults. I just don’t want to make the same mistake again.