Hello,
I hope everyone’s day and weekend is a relaxing one. Has anyone else who has a Dexcom g6 with the omnipod pump, had the same situation I’m going through? And if so, please explain what exactly is happening here, so that I can better understand the situation better. For better context, I noticed that my numbers started jumping after I gave insulin for breakfast. After around the last hour of insulin, my Dexcom gave me the alert to wait 3 hours to snap back. So I did so, after I waited the 3 hours, the same thing happened again. So in result to that, I talked to my doctor in which she had told me to change the sensor out. I changed the sensor and it worked fine, but now this is my 3rd day on my new sensor and I’m dealing with the same situation as before… which in turn is incredibly frustrating.
Hi Karina. Sensor Error is due to either readings that exceed limits or the transmitter connections not making contact with the sensor. Here’s a quick checklist:
Transmitter - sensor connection
Did you wipe the gold contacts on the transmitter with alcohol before inserting it in the sensors?
When you inserted the transmitter in the sensor did you hear or feel the two clicks that lock the sensor in?
When you inserted the sensor was the little piece in the middle with the two black dots (sensor contacts) sitting below the top edge of sensor? (rare for the sensor to not insert all the way causing the little block with contacts to stick up)
Exceeding limits aka bad readings
Is there blood or bruising at the insertion site? The sensor in blood won’t work.
Compression problems. Are you wearing your sensor where something is pushing on it?
Adhesion problems. Is the adhesive pad on the sensor stuck down all the way around? Was the site dry? The sensor wire moving around will cause errors.
Readings that don’t follow the trend line. Using your screen shot I think the graph is missing two readings. The last reading shown was increasing, if the Dexcom measured a lower value then measured a higher value and the difference between those exceeds some limit your Dexcom throws up its hands and says can’t trust me, come back later
Are your sensors close the edge of where sensors don’t work will for you?
If its is none of the above call or use the dexcom website to contact support and ask for a replacement transmitter. The contacts might have a problem.
I get the frustration. I take comfort in having a plan B, same as if my car won’t start or my laptop reboots in the middle of my presentation. I’ll also spend a couple minutes looking for an explanation. Hope this helps.
Hi @Karii0907 . Did you get three dashes - - - before you got the error message? It’s been a while since I’ve seen that but my notes I took from Dexcom.support said If — comes up it means transmitter is having issues communicating with sensor. It could resolve in a few minutes or could take up to 3 hours. I’ve called before the 3 hour time period passed only to be told to wait until it has.
It’s possible you got a bad batch of sensors - that happens occasionally although not often. I would say wait until the 3 hours have passed and then contact Dexcom. Again. They might send you a box of replacements.
I’ve had that message a few times with G7. It typically goes away after 10-30min. Once it did not recover and Dexcom sent me a replacement sensor. Believe it has to do with an internal product test.
It’s happened to me many times. Generally seems to happen more often if I put the sensor somewhere with not as much fatty tissue, or if its been on for several days already. If it doesn’t resolve after a few hours or keeps happening, I’d recommend calling Dexcom to replace the sensor.