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Dexcom G6 consistently wrong- ideas?

C

CharlotteScr

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Ongoing issues with G6 not picking up hypos/ reading wrong. My daughter is hypo unaware, without the Dexcom she doesn;t know she is low until she is through the floor and feeling really dreadful. This has happened with 3 sensors now, and recalibration doesn't seem to fix it. Dexcom customer services were not much help.
She uses the tops of her arms which has been fine for 2 years, they are not especially scarred and her arms haven't got skinnier lately! We are at our wits' end as not only is she feeling ill because of these frequent unchecked lows, but she has also to override her pump frequently. I am very worried about nighttime hypos.
Any thoughts??? she is going to try some different sites and i've also got a G7 pack to try in case thats better. She recently increased her dose of SSRI which exactly coincided with all this but Dexcom Customer Services says there is no known interaction so it's (probably?) not that. Appreciate any suggestions- thanks!
 
Hopefully different sites or switching to Dex7 will resolve matters for her.

I'm Dex6 user & not had any issues lately or in past, find it incredibly accurate when compared to bg readings & hypos are nearly non existence now thanks to this device.

Keep pressing Dex customer support for suggestions, suggest you also keep a log of all these discrepancies for her care team, really hope things improve soon.
 
We found the G7 more accurate than the G6 (but it has a tendency to get stuck on a low if he has a hypo in the first 12 hours or so).

Have you set the low alarms higher so there’s more chance of catching it sooner? It’s also worth running a little higher for a few weeks as that can help with hypo awareness.

She can try the sensors on her abdomen (depending where she’s putting her pump). And make sure she’s hydrating.
 
CharlotteScr said:
Ongoing issues with G6 not picking up hypos/ reading wrong. My daughter is hypo unaware, without the Dexcom she doesn;t know she is low until she is through the floor and feeling really dreadful. This has happened with 3 sensors now, and recalibration doesn't seem to fix it. Dexcom customer services were not much help.
She uses the tops of her arms which has been fine for 2 years, they are not especially scarred and her arms haven't got skinnier lately! We are at our wits' end as not only is she feeling ill because of these frequent unchecked lows, but she has also to override her pump frequently. I am very worried about nighttime hypos.
Any thoughts??? she is going to try some different sites and i've also got a G7 pack to try in case thats better. She recently increased her dose of SSRI which exactly coincided with all this but Dexcom Customer Services says there is no known interaction so it's (probably?) not that. Appreciate any suggestions- thanks!
Click to expand...
I had an alert come through from Dexcom to say the reader had a fault. So if you are using the reader then check for the alert.
Unfortunately can't tell you what it said as don't have the G6 so binned the email.
 
Hello @CharlotteScr. I think some calls to Dexcom Customer Services can be too shallow, representatives working from a script.

At their Camberley Office there is a DSN whose job description is "Supervisor Patient Care Specialist Team UK/IRE (RGN/DSN) | Dexcom". She contacted me in April '24, following up on why I needed 3 replacement sensors in rapid succession [long story!]. Her remit felt far wider than simple customer services and she seemed closely involved in the writing and scrutinising of their FAQs amongst other things. I’ll PM you her details.

I suggest you reach out to her and see if she can help. Also, since your daughter is hypo unaware perhaps you could persuade your Hospital Team to prescribe the Dexcom G7. I find this significantly more reliable than the few weeks I had Dexcom One. I appreciate your daughter no longer comes under paediatrics and indeed she probably now has to argue her own corner, so by "you" I really mean your daughter needs to make an eloquent business case for help.

Good luck.
 
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General comment - may depend on what HCL system the young lady uses on whether she can swap to G7 as easily as some on here suggest.
 
Perhaps dex doesn't work well with her body chemistry...maybe a different brand eg libre etc dep on what works with pump
 
Is she keeping well hydrated @CharlotteScr ?

I found G6 more stubbornly laggy when I’d not had enough to drink during the day.

That said, I found I needed to set my G6 low alarm at 5.2, so that I could treat any dropping numbers early, as by the time G6 was reading 5.2 my fingerstick BG would often be 4.2 so in need of prompt action.

There was a bit of alarm fatigue with that if I was just pootling along in the 5s, but often I found the Dex showed level-level-level-level-DROP which kept me on my toes!
 
Tdm said:
Perhaps dex doesn't work well with her body chemistry...maybe a different brand eg libre etc dep on what works with pump
Click to expand...
That certainly is a possibility. I struggled for 12 months with Libre 2, concluding my body was not compatible with L2 and I was able to change to Dexcom One after the revise to NICE Guidelines provided alternative CGMs. Dex One was better, but not brilliant and I self-funded their G7 for 3+ months; I then persuaded my Hospital to prescribe G7 - supported by my visible improvement in BG management with G7 working well for me (I was sharing my self-funded G7 Clarity a/c with the Hospital).
 
Hi everyone- thanks so much for all your help and suggestions! Quick update: fingers crossed- we seem to be over the issue for now- these tips she picked up seem to have helped her, especially the first one:
1. only calibrate twice per day and don't do it in big increments especially on days 1 and 2 ie if it's reading 2 and you are actually 10 according to finger prick- calibrate up +2 or 3 only. If you do more than 2 calibrations and/or big ones, that seems to push the sensor over the edge and it's never accurate after that. On all her failed sensors she had readings waaaaaay out during the first 24 hours and tried to calibrate them exactly multiple times
2. Basically- write off the first day of a new sensor and be careful with ControlIQ so that you are not constantly getting extra boluses you don't need because of false high readings
2. Propranalol- she has stopped this and seems to make a BIG difference to accuracy..... Dexcom say no known interaction but seems unlikely that paracetamol is the only thing that can affect reading accuracy....
3. G7 seems better than G6 although not not available to us on NHS yet ( i bought a couple of packs to try)- quicker to calibrate and if you put it on a day early, starts immediately without the 24 hours of wonky readings. She will keep up the requests with the hospital to change to G7, as not being able to drive is obviously far from ideal

Let me know if any comments on any of this. Thanks!
 
Sometimes massaging the sensor can fix instability issues especially if the sensor is near muscle. Also, as already noted, it is best to keep well hydrated.
 
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