Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by tammy galligher on July 17, 2009 at 9:28am

I haven't tried to restart it after 7 days. When it says change sensor soon I go ahead and change it and so far so good. Mine have all lasted the full 7 days. Except for 2 sensor failures which they say were caused because I took tylenol.

Permalink Reply by Mommy of Three on July 17, 2009 at 9:51am

Rickst29 can answer this question far (FAR) better than me. I have the Dexcom Seven Plus system.

I change mine when the readings aren't as good at being on track as it was the first week. For example you have a reading of 100 and it says 150+, etc. I think I've had some of mine last for 14 days but I've heard of some pretty amazing record living sensors! If a sensor causes me problems in the second week I pitch it (which you already know) and don't call Dexcom to complain about sensor. I only call and have Dexcom replace sensors if they act up within the first week.

Rickst29 gave me some great advice about the ???... I hope he doesn't mind that I copy and paste this as it is very helpful info...

??? means that Dexcom (the receiver) finds the data it's getting to be "outlandish, not to be trusted". The OLD Seven did it a lot more than the 7Plus does, and that declaration was often a bad mistake: I've reviewed a few graphs of raw readings (Dexcom's ISIG) versus reported data and non-reported "???" situations with support; we concluded that the readings would have been just about perfect if only Dexcom had been willing to show them. (Those discussions may have played a role in the Development of software changes in that area.)

So first thing: if you're still on the old Seven, upgrade immediately.

I feel that you should NEVER allow "???" to continue for more than about 1/2 hour of normal wake-time activity. Rather than feeding it vast numbers of calibration attempts (over several hours), I do this:

First: remove the Transmitter from the clip housing and wipe it clean. Although "water tight" from outside, I've seen mine get just a bit grungy over time. (Probably from sweat underneath.) Sweaty "grunge" can create a bit of a short circuit between the contacts, causing data readings of "zero". It can also create insulation resistance between the contacts, reducing the current capability.

Second: Stop the Sensor. All of those calibrations which you entered during the period of "???", trying to get it going, WILL be used (with raw data of "???" quality) to try and create a valid calibration. It won't work, because those numbers are no good!

To get rid of calibration attempts entered during "???", you have to RESTART the Sensor and wait the full two hours. Do the double-finger pokes, and if it's still good, it should come up within a few minutes. (Maybe just one "extra poke at +15 minutes). If it doesn't come up within about 20 minutes, immediately declare it "gone bad" and throw it away.

A Sensor which has already had plenty of time to "warm up" in the body should be given just ONE chance to start working right after a restart. If it's not showing a graph right after that 3rd poke, it's done.

==================

Good Luck!
Gina

Permalink Reply by Marcus on July 17, 2009 at 10:16am

RE: Does it just stop working?

It just stops working less well.... more ??? signs... more readings that don't synch up as well with your meter. When you don't have faith in the readings or are annoyed by the ???'s, swap out.

Permalink Reply by Adam Thompson on July 17, 2009 at 10:23am

Thanks for the responses.

Permalink Reply by Rickst29 on July 17, 2009 at 12:29pm

HERE'S HOW TO TELL

And thanks for the Kudos, Mommy-of-3 :)) But that posting was mostly about repeated "???" incidents, and that's usually not the first, or most likely, symptom of "worn out, unreliable" Sensor data. Here's the indication which usually happens instead, quite a bit before the extended "???" stuff begins:

The line of the graph becomes "jumpy" on the one-hour and 3-hour displays. And, on the 6 and 12 hour displays, it looks kind of "fuzzy".

Game over, that Sensor is done.
- - - -

Why? well, glucose in your blood (and in your ISF, too) constitutes what your high school math teachers called a "Continuous Function". There are no sudden leaps of +20 mg/dL up, followed by another leap -10 mg/dL below the one BEFORE "+20 higher". The line needs to be smooth-- If you're in a change from rising bG to dropping bG, it will show the uphill flattening off, then becoming level, then dropping slowly, then dropping quicker. No jagged cliffs!

So a lot of "fuzziness" in the line, where it went up 5 points, then DOWN 10 points, the UP 8 points, then up 2 points, then DOWN 7 points -- it's physically impossible for ISF Glucose to behave that way, and the raw readings from your Sensor are going bad (unreliable) if Dex shows this on the graphs. The line on the graphs should be smooth, razor sharp, with no more than just a couple of outlying bogus numbers from time to time.

Permalink Reply by Kenneth Kellner on August 31, 2009 at 11:43am

How do you acctually restart the sensor after the 7 days? just hit start sensor again?

Permalink Reply by Rickst29 on September 1, 2009 at 9:46am

Yes. If you would prefer to have the two-hour wait occur at a different time, or dislike Dexcom's nagging countdown, you can perform the "Stop Sensor" at an earlier time. You don't need to remove the Transmitter or touch the Sensor at all-- just "Start Sensor" on the receiver, wait for the two-hour warm-up to complete, and enter your startup bG readings.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on September 9, 2009 at 4:09pm

Rick, I am now on day 13 and the readings are still good. Do you use a sensor until the readings are off or do you have an upper limit for the number of days?

Permalink Reply by Rickst29 on September 10, 2009 at 6:00pm

No upper limit for me. If the line of the graphs is razor sharp (per above), and moderately high/moderately low glucose levels are still being reported correctly, I keep going.

On the original STS, I frequently got over 20 days. The original 'Seven' never got anywhere near that. The calibration logic kept trying to use really old data (obtained from near-new Sensors) as factor, even when Sensors where actually getting quite old and showing much lower raw data. So, they just wouldn't calibrate decently, even when the line of the graph WAS sharp. The 'Seven+' solves that problem, I often get 15-18 days, hardly ever less than 12-13.

In fact, I'm waiting for my two hours on a 14th day restart to complete right now, as I'm typing this. Still working great. :))

Permalink Reply by Helmut on September 10, 2009 at 6:43pm

Thanks. The line of the graph became "jumpy" today. I used the sensor for 14 days but did not continue with a restart. I am so glad that I now use the sensors past 7 days. On day 7 my sensors were always really good and I was dreading the not so good readings of day 1.

Permalink Reply by daniel billings on September 17, 2009 at 9:40pm

i am on my 10day.all of my readings are good . the only problem i having is it try to come off.so how to you kept on for 15 days

Permalink Reply by Helmut on September 18, 2009 at 4:14pm

Daniel, this issue has been recently discussed in

http://tudiabetes.com/group/dexcomusers/forum/topics/underwhelmed-w...

Search in the middle of the second page.

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