Bad skin reaction to Guardian Sensor (3)

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JohnWhi

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Yesterday I made the first real change of sensor for the new Medtronic 780G. The first did not work at all, the second lasted a full seven days and a few hours. I had felt some irritation, but this is cited as a "known issue". I found that 5cm x 4cm of skin under the sensor adhesive (the wider area under the two oval rings being comparatively unaffected) was very red, flaking, and bleeding slightly. Took a close-up photograph and sent it to the nurse at the hospital pump clinic. Her reply was "That looks very nasty" and suggesting Cavalon spray might work as a barrier. "I will add it to your prescription but the GP might not prescribe it." Though I have no known allergies, I often react badly to adhesive dressings. Given the benefit of the sensor, I am inclined to disregard the skin problem. Have others experienced this kind of thing and found an easy solution?
 
Hi John,
try some tegaderm transparent film it's an adhesive clear patch which a lot of people use just cut it to size making sure you make the centre hole is big enough for the sensor to go through. There are other brands available (cheaper) and just as good.
Dexcom actually provide a patch for their sensors if you ask. Perhaps medtronic do as well have you asked them?
 
Hi John

Medtronic sent me a box of 100 adhesives like tegaderm to use when I had a cannula loft off. They also talked about making a sandwich with an alternative adhesive that you know is okay for you, then applying the cannula on top of this. Worth Calling Product support and they can explain in more detail and discuss how this would work with the sensor. I did not follow it up as I was not reacting to the glue just getting my cannula caught on clothing.

Good to read that the benefits you are finding from using the 780 outweigh the discomfort you have from reacting to the glue. After a few failed sensors I have now settled into four days of being between 98% and 100% in rangeland no hypos. Pretty amazed and beginning to trust it to do its job. Happy doing the callibration before each meal and before bed which seems to avoid any alarms through the day.
 
Many thanks to @Pumper_Sue and @SB2015 for those valuable suggestions. One question I will also ask Product Support is how far the adhesive is different from that in the infusion sets, that have caused no problems for four years. Freestyle Libre has been no problem either. Something like that sandwiched in might well be the solution. As I am still a bit vague about the exact position of the insertion needle in relation to the inserter (18mm from the thumb print??) going through the barrier would be easier than finding a cut-out.
 
The video of insertion for the sensor from Medtronic shows the position of the needle in the inserter. That helped us to be clear on the orientation of the connectors for the transmitter. That might help. It would be worth you checking with the Product support people if it is okay to fire the sensor through the patch. As a self funder I would be concerned to avoid it not working, although the Product Support have always been helpful. They even replaced one I wasted when I forgot to pair the transmitter with the pump before inserting and taping it. I won’t forget to do that again, and I wouldn’t normally need to repair. I had just disconnected them to stop the alerts as I was delaying the insertion until the following morning.

Let us know how you get in.
 
I would not recommend that anybody follows the video, as it results in a 90 degree rotation from what is shown as the result. (Look at how the inserter is held.) Better than when the Medtronic trainer was watching, though, as that ended with a 180 degree divergence. The printed starter guide has the orientation correct, so far I have always pointed in the right direction.
 
I had a reaction to the Medtronic overtapes, and also slightly to the sensor, but only manageably so (which was a good job as I restarted my sensors for 10-14 days). I used a variety of different overtapes in the end, some tegaderm style, but more recently hypafix which is more cloth-like.

Hope you find an approach that works for you - integrating a sensor with the pump is so powerful
 
Just remembered, Skin tac that comes in swabs I used them by dabbing the skin tac onto the actual sensor tape and waiting a few moments before applying the sensor. You can buy skin tac on line. Just remember to ask for the VAT back 🙂
 
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