Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stacey on September 15, 2009 at 5:54am

I've actually never put the sensor in my abdomen - as far as I'm concerned that real estate is only for my pump! :p
I always have Dex in my thigh...I've tried my arm but Dex didnt work well there at all.

Permalink Reply by Carolyn Deans on September 15, 2009 at 7:14am

I've tried on my lower back (just below my waist), my outer thigh, and upper arm (the spot on my arm where I would take shots back in the day) and all of those locations work better for me than the abdomen. My arm is actually my favorite spot now, b/c it's out of the way and generally works pretty well. I have a hard time getting it on myself, since I use extra adhesive, but I get my boyfriend to help with putting the sensor on.

Permalink Reply by Mommy of Three on September 15, 2009 at 9:02pm

During the month of June when it was stinking hot in the Midwest, I used my arm. It worked really well during that month as I kept having sensors die on me (Dexcom replaced the sensors but I don't know if it was that I was sweating big time? and it was hot and very humid and I was tenting). While I wore the sensor on my arm, my Hubby called me Seven of Nine (I believe?) from Star Trek and sometimes a Borg - but yet with the insulin pump and Dex, he jokes that I have several Borg implants (but hey, the Dex Borg has helped me many many times).

One of my favorite places to put the sensor is right underneath my boobs but in the middle - it's right underneath the bra - not so much of in the belly. The sensor doesn't show on my silhouette fitting dresses and doesn't give the appearance of a second belly button (even though I've been losing weight big time, I don't need people to think I got pregnant again and have an outie! LOL!).

I have problems with the sensor being below my waistband or near the waistband (even when the waistband doesn't touch the sensor sticky stuff).

I haven't tried my backside yet but plan to someday.

Thanks for posting this question, I was hoping to see a more current thread of sensor placement.

Permalink Reply by Jaybear on September 20, 2009 at 10:37am

Thanks for the responses. I put the sensor in my thigh on Thursday, and it's been working just the same.

Permalink Reply by BriGuy on September 25, 2009 at 2:14pm

Jaybear - so where did you put it on your thigh? The inside of the thigh?

For what it's worth, during summer "shirt's off" weather (though with my scrawny chest I should really keep my shirt on), I put the sensor in on my hip/buttock area - more on the side of the buttock than the back, if that makes sense. It usually works pretty well, though I do notice the edges curling up more there than when I have it on my abdomen.

Permalink Reply by Jaybear on September 25, 2009 at 7:31pm

I put it on the outside of my thigh -- it would be underneath where your pants pocket would be. So far, so good, but it seems like I'm getting a bit more of the ???. When I get the ???, I refer to the Dexcom as "The Mystery Machine."

Permalink Reply by etta amy on September 28, 2009 at 8:41am

I'd also like to hear more about alternate sensor placement. The instructions say to make sure it is horizontally placed, but I noted that on Six Until Me blog, she's got it vertical on her upper arm. Anyone have an opinion on whether the vertical placement doesn't work as well? Or other suggestions about good place to stick the sensor?

Permalink Reply by Helmut on September 28, 2009 at 4:03pm

If she stretches out the arm the sensor is horizontal. Just kidding. I think that the important aspect is how the skin contracts and expands at the site. I just pinched my abdomen. It is way easier to pinch my abdomen horizontally. My upper arm is way easier to pinch vertically. This is what I would go by.

Permalink Reply by etta amy on September 28, 2009 at 4:12pm

That makes sense...the Dexcom instructions make it seem like the abdomen is the only place you can put it.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on September 28, 2009 at 4:26pm

Etta, DexCom has FDA approval for abdomen only. DexCom is not allowed to recommend unapproved sites. DexCom would need to go through another FDA approval process for alternate sites. I have read many posts which state that abdomen is the worst possible site. For me abdomen works the best so far. As alternate sites I have only tried left and right love handle which turned out to be worse than abdomen because I sleep on my sides. I have no idea how I would attach the sensor to my back. I am not very flexible. Even arms seem challenging because I would need to do everything with one hand only. Keep me posted about the results of your experiments.

Permalink Reply by etta amy on September 28, 2009 at 4:34pm

Ahhh...that explains the abdominal focus.

I will provide info on alternate sites--thanks to yoga, I can twist around pretty easily--but hope to successfully restart the current location later this week.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on September 28, 2009 at 4:38pm

I know that yoga would be beneficial to me. It would be too funny if I got into yoga so that I can attach a sensor to my back.

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