CGMS Sensor Life
DexCom says to use a sensor no longer than 3 days, and that they're working on getting FDA approval for a 7-day sensor. I've been browsing the internet to find out what others are experiencing for sensor life. One CGMS user I know seems to get a couple of weeks out of one sensor. That seemed a little extreme to me, and when I mentioned it to my DexCom rep, she said that 2 weeks was way to long to leave a sensor in.
I decided to see how long I could go with one sensor, and to date, my current sensor has been in for 10 days. I'm sure I could go longer, but I'm going to pull the plug on it tonight. The sensor seems to get more accurate after a couple of days, and the past few days, this sensor has been right on target, except of course, for rapidly changing BGs.
Went to the eye doctor for my annual dialated pupil exam last night, and got some good news; no sign of any retinopathy or other damage. I'm concerned about that, as my sister has severe diabetic retinopathy, as did my father. After the eye exam, I played softball in our backyard with my 3 girls: boy did I look like a real geek with those wrap-around glasses on, or so my daughters tell me.
So far it has been about 4 weeks on the DexCom CGMS, and I'm finally getting used to it, and also getting used to the fact that I don't need to look at all of the time! Still no word from DexCom on when they're sending me my software. They said I would get an email when it shipped, but nothing yet.
BTW, tried to wear the shower cover for an extra day on the suggestion of a CGMS user friend, and it worked! She suggested that since I was male, I might try to get three days out of a cover. I'll give that a shot, too.
On another blog technical note, I've been trying to post to other OC blogs, but since I switched to the *beta* template, I'm not allowed to. Once again, I pay the price for being an early adopter
5 comments:
Great news on the eye exam - AND on stretching the life of your sensors (every little bit helps right?)!
I typically try for 7-9 days per sensor. If it's flaking out a lot I may take it out early (sometimes happens around 6 days). Twice I went over 10 days with a sensor and had no issues at the site -- it looked better than my infusion set site, which I change religously every three days. I only once changed the sensor after 3 days, and that was in a bad (ouchie!) spot that never really synched up with my meter.
I also see some less fingersticks. I was a 10-12x a day tester, now I seem to get around 8 -- but more on bad days, where I'm doing a lot of corrections and don't want to trust the sensor - then it may be up to 15 or more...
Well, Gary, I don't REALLY get a full two weeks. It's better than that. I get 17-19 days, almost always. :))
I'm guessing that I am the person you were referring to, right?
I get on average 14 days. I just pulled one last night that was in for 21 days. My biggest issue is getting it taped down well enough to not fall out.
As a type 1 on a CGMS and a RN, to those of you who where your sensor longer than 4 or 5 days, please be careful about infections! The reason they're recommended for only 3 days is to prevent infections. Also, wearing it for less time prevents scarring as well as scar tissue to form. The longest I ever go is about 6 days. Being diabetic, we are at risk for infections and it takes wounds faster to heal b/c of our ups and downs in blood sugars. Just something to consider...
Post a Comment