Serious problems with Dexcom ONE+

[johnrubinstein]

I'd really appreciate any feedback from anyone who's been using Dexcom ONE+, because my own experience with the product has been abysmal.

I'd been self funding Dexcom ONE since March 2023 and was on the whole quite happy with the product. Then came the recent launch of Dexcom ONE+ and I immediately went for a subscription -- for the following reasons:

a) Cost - A three-month bundle is around £80 cheaper. That's a big deal.
b) The warm up period is just 30 min (as opposed to Dexcom ONE, which has a 2 hr warm up period).
c) A grace period of 24 hours after the 10-day life of the sensor expires.
d) The fact that the sensor and transmitter are merged into one form factor (as opposed to Dexcom ONE where the transmitter is a separate component which has to be inserted into the sensor)

That said, my experience with Dexcom ONE+ has been abysmal. With my three-month bundle almost at an end I can report that I've had 3! sensor failures out of the first 8 sensors used. My very first Dexcom ONE + sensor failed after only 2 days. The second failure occurred when the sensor/transmitter simply fell off.It detached from the adhesive (that never happened with Dexcom ONE). The third failure occurred this morning during my daily 6-mile power walk. Half-way through the walk, I got a sensor failure alert on my iWatch. Come to think of it, my first failure also occurred during my morning walk.

Over and above, I've also had problems with calibration: on three occasions calibrations got stuck for two days at a time (i.e. when going for my daily morning calibration I was prevented from doing so on account of a calibration still in process alert. Calibrations should ordinarily not take more than 5 or so minutes to complete). And while I'm on the topic of calibration my sense is that calibration on Dexcom ONE+ is not nearly as responsive as calibrating with Dexcom ONE -- particularly when the discrepancies are significant. But this latter observation is kind of anecdotal. Just my sense of things.

Just to be clear, I'm meticulous in following instructions for the application and use of the sensors. So, please, no questions about are you cleaning the area before applying the sensor, are you shaving a hairy tummy, are you applying overlays, etc. As I said, I'm careful.

Fortunately, I'm a T2 who controls his diabetes through daily exercise and a low-carb diet -- all of which enables me to avoid medication, avoid hypos or hypers and generally stay 99% in range. So, in my case, these failures and problems do not carry a level of risk. Just bloody annoying.

At any rate, I've cancelled my Dexcom ONE+ subscription (For me, it's just not fit for purpose.) and gone back to Dexcom ONE. Dexcom will have to do better (at least for me) before I'm willing to go back to Dexcom ONE +.

 

[victorhamesse]

Well, I'm not surprised at you cancelling this. I switched from Libre2 to Dexcom1+ and am 2 sensors in to a 9 sensor pack. I've only had some 24 hour settling-in issues and one inaccurate reading (I mean really inaccurate - 3.7 vs a finger test of 6!). Dexcom offered to replace it if the problem persisted - it didn't.

No problems with adhesion - in fact they are annoyingly hard to dislodge after the 10 days. Are you using the add-on doughnut ring ? I'm using the upper back of alternate arms for a location.

So far I'm minded to continue and arm wrestle the NHS into a prescription.

 

[johnrubinstein]

Well, I'm not surprised at you cancelling this. I switched from Libre2 to Dexcom1+ and am 2 sensors in to a 9 sensor pack. I've only had some 24 hour settling-in issues and one inaccurate reading (I mean really inaccurate - 3.7 vs a finger test of 6!). Dexcom offered to replace it if the problem persisted - it didn't.

No problems with adhesion - in fact they are annoyingly hard to dislodge after the 10 days. Are you using the add-on doughnut ring ? I'm using the upper back of alternate arms for a location.

So far I'm minded to continue and arm wrestle the NHS into a prescription.

I agree about with the adhesion. They are much harder to dislodge than Dexcom ONE. However, if the sensor body itself becomes separated from the adhesive (while the adhesive itself is still firmly in place) and falls off then you have another problem - the adhesive is not securely attached to the plastic form factor of the sensor/transmitter. And, yes, I am using the add-on doughnut ring.

In the past, I've tried the upper back of the arm as a location, but it really doesn't work for me.

I always discount the first 24 hours for any degree of accuracy: I did so for Dexcom ONE and have done so for Dexcome ONE+.

The literature states that for Dexcom a disparity of up to 20% between the sensor and a finger test is acceptable. Given that, they should have replaced your sensor. No question. The disparity was way over 20%.

Good luck with the NHS. Right now they will only fund sensors for T1. That's my understanding.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[johnrubinstein]

I agree about with the adhesion. They are much harder to dislodge than Dexcom ONE. However, if the sensor body itself becomes separated from the adhesive (while the adhesive itself is still firmly in place) and falls off then you have another problem - the adhesive is not securely attached to the plastic form factor of the sensor/transmitter. And, yes, I am using the add-on doughnut ring.

In the past, I've tried the upper back of the arm as a location, but it really doesn't work for me.

I always discount the first 24 hours for any degree of accuracy: I did so for Dexcom ONE and have done so for Dexcome ONE+.

The literature states that for Dexcom a disparity of up to 20% between the sensor and a finger test is acceptable. Given that, they should have replaced your sensor. No question. The disparity was way over 20%.

Good luck with the NHS. Right now they will only fund sensors for T1. That's my understanding.

Thanks for your feedback!

Oh, I now see. You only had a one time disparity. Understand why the sensor did not require replacement.

 

[Taighnamona]

I self funded the Libre 2, had a free trial of Dexcom 1 and preferred its accuracy but hated the separate transmitter which didn’t suit my plan of wearing for a few weeks then off for a few weeks to save on costs.
I’m now self funding the dexcom1+ and liking its accuracy and I’m on my fifth of nine sensors without any problems.
I’m not using the additional adhesive patch and agree it’s hard to peel off at the end of the 10 days.
So far it’s working for me and i will continue using unless I run into problems like you’ve described above.
I think it’s very shortsighted of the nhs not to fund for T2 as greater awareness could nip serious complications in the bud before they become costly.

 

[johnrubinstein]

I self funded the Libre 2, had a free trial of Dexcom 1 and preferred its accuracy but hated the separate transmitter which didn’t suit my plan of wearing for a few weeks then off for a few weeks to save on costs.
I’m now self funding the dexcom1+ and liking its accuracy and I’m on my fifth of nine sensors without any problems.
I’m not using the additional adhesive patch and agree it’s hard to peel off at the end of the 10 days.
So far it’s working for me and i will continue using unless I run into problems like you’ve described above.
I think it’s very shortsighted of the nhs not to fund for T2 as greater awareness could nip serious complications in the bud before they become costly.Could no

Could not agree more on the question of the NHS funding T2 diabetes. 90% of all diabetes is T2 and 10% of the NHS budget goes on diabetes. Funding CGMs As part of an overall preventative strategy would in my opinion be very cost-effective in the long run.

Good to know that your experience with Dexcom ONE + has been a positive one. Wish I could say as much for my own with the product.

 

[helli]

However, if the sensor body itself becomes separated from the adhesive (while the adhesive itself is still firmly in place) and falls off then you have another problem - the adhesive is not securely attached to the plastic form factor of the sensor/transmitter.

I experienced this a couple of times in my early days of Libre 2.
I realised my problem was with placement. I placed it on a curved part of arm or an area that i flexed. In hindsight, the problem was obvious: the sensor is flat so could not bend with my arm.
I now ensure I use a flat part of my arm and lost no more sensors.
As you are losing your Dexcoms this way while you are doing your power walks, I wonder if your arm swings are flexing your arms and causing the sensor to "fail to bend".

It is just a hypothesis based on my experience with little knowledge of you so maybe I am wrong. It could be a Dexcom One + issue

 

[johnrubinstein]

I experienced this a couple of times in my early days of Libre 2.
I realised my problem was with placement. I placed it on a curved part of arm or an area that i flexed. In hindsight, the problem was obvious: the sensor is flat so could not bend with my arm.
I now ensure I use a flat part of my arm and lost no more sensors.
As you are losing your Dexcoms this way while you are doing your power walks, I wonder if your arm swings are flexing your arms and causing the sensor to "fail to bend".

It is just a hypothesis based on my experience with little knowledge of you so maybe I am wrong. It could be a Dexcom One + issue

Thanks. That’s a good point. Except that the location of my sensor is on my stomach. I should’ve made that clear in my post. Additionally, the latest failure occurred while the sensor was well secured. There seemed no obvious physical reason for the failure. It just failed after two days.

 

[goodybags]

I'd really appreciate any feedback from anyone who's been using Dexcom ONE+, because my own experience with the product has been abysmal.

I'd been self funding Dexcom ONE since March 2023 and was on the whole quite happy with the product. Then came the recent launch of Dexcom ONE+ and I immediately went for a subscription -- for the following reasons:

a) Cost - A three-month bundle is around £80 cheaper. That's a big deal.
b) The warm up period is just 30 min (as opposed to Dexcom ONE, which has a 2 hr warm up period).
c) A grace period of 24 hours after the 10-day life of the sensor expires.
d) The fact that the sensor and transmitter are merged into one form factor (as opposed to Dexcom ONE where the transmitter is a separate component which has to be inserted into the sensor)

That said, my experience with Dexcom ONE+ has been abysmal. With my three-month bundle almost at an end I can report that I've had 3! sensor failures out of the first 8 sensors used. My very first Dexcom ONE + sensor failed after only 2 days. The second failure occurred when the sensor/transmitter simply fell off.It detached from the adhesive (that never happened with Dexcom ONE). The third failure occurred this morning during my daily 6-mile power walk. Half-way through the walk, I got a sensor failure alert on my iWatch. Come to think of it, my first failure also occurred during my morning walk.

Over and above, I've also had problems with calibration: on three occasions calibrations got stuck for two days at a time (i.e. when going for my daily morning calibration I was prevented from doing so on account of a calibration still in process alert. Calibrations should ordinarily not take more than 5 or so minutes to complete). And while I'm on the topic of calibration my sense is that calibration on Dexcom ONE+ is not nearly as responsive as calibrating with Dexcom ONE -- particularly when the discrepancies are significant. But this latter observation is kind of anecdotal. Just my sense of things.

Just to be clear, I'm meticulous in following instructions for the application and use of the sensors. So, please, no questions about are you cleaning the area before applying the sensor, are you shaving a hairy tummy, are you applying overlays, etc. As I said, I'm careful.

Fortunately, I'm a T2 who controls his diabetes through daily exercise and a low-carb diet -- all of which enables me to avoid medication, avoid hypos or hypers and generally stay 99% in range. So, in my case, these failures and problems do not carry a level of risk. Just bloody annoying.

At any rate, I've cancelled my Dexcom ONE+ subscription (For me, it's just not fit for purpose.) and gone back to Dexcom ONE. Dexcom will have to do better (at least for me) before I'm willing to go back to Dexcom ONE +.

Hi @johnrubinstein
out of interest can you tell me, did Dexcom replace any of the faulty sensors
I ask as I’m trialling the DexcomOne+, so I am still not 100% sure if going down the route of the Dexcom or Freestyle Libra,
Like you it looks like I will need to be self funding, if I continue using CGM to help me both improve my health and save the NHS a fortune in care of then many complications that develop due to poor control

said the guy who previously has had amongst other complications inc’ foot ulcers & still receiving treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy (on-going treatment for about the last 7 years now)

 

[MikeyF]

I'd really appreciate any feedback from anyone who's been using Dexcom ONE+, because my own experience with the product has been abysmal.

I'd been self funding Dexcom ONE since March 2023 and was on the whole quite happy with the product. Then came the recent launch of Dexcom ONE+ and I immediately went for a subscription -- for the following reasons:

a) Cost - A three-month bundle is around £80 cheaper. That's a big deal.
b) The warm up period is just 30 min (as opposed to Dexcom ONE, which has a 2 hr warm up period).
c) A grace period of 24 hours after the 10-day life of the sensor expires.
d) The fact that the sensor and transmitter are merged into one form factor (as opposed to Dexcom ONE where the transmitter is a separate component which has to be inserted into the sensor)

That said, my experience with Dexcom ONE+ has been abysmal. With my three-month bundle almost at an end I can report that I've had 3! sensor failures out of the first 8 sensors used. My very first Dexcom ONE + sensor failed after only 2 days. The second failure occurred when the sensor/transmitter simply fell off.It detached from the adhesive (that never happened with Dexcom ONE). The third failure occurred this morning during my daily 6-mile power walk. Half-way through the walk, I got a sensor failure alert on my iWatch. Come to think of it, my first failure also occurred during my morning walk.

Over and above, I've also had problems with calibration: on three occasions calibrations got stuck for two days at a time (i.e. when going for my daily morning calibration I was prevented from doing so on account of a calibration still in process alert. Calibrations should ordinarily not take more than 5 or so minutes to complete). And while I'm on the topic of calibration my sense is that calibration on Dexcom ONE+ is not nearly as responsive as calibrating with Dexcom ONE -- particularly when the discrepancies are significant. But this latter observation is kind of anecdotal. Just my sense of things.

Just to be clear, I'm meticulous in following instructions for the application and use of the sensors. So, please, no questions about are you cleaning the area before applying the sensor, are you shaving a hairy tummy, are you applying overlays, etc. As I said, I'm careful.

Fortunately, I'm a T2 who controls his diabetes through daily exercise and a low-carb diet -- all of which enables me to avoid medication, avoid hypos or hypers and generally stay 99% in range. So, in my case, these failures and problems do not carry a level of risk. Just bloody annoying.

At any rate, I've cancelled my Dexcom ONE+ subscription (For me, it's just not fit for purpose.) and gone back to Dexcom ONE. Dexcom will have to do better (at least for me) before I'm willing to go back to Dexcom ONE +.

Hi like you John I signed up to a subscription I am T2 and self funding, previously I had been using the sibionics but you cant get in UK now, the reading I got from that we pretty good never had a problem , now this one+. The first one I applied I have got high readings, which I was not expecting, I thought to myself I kind to need to do something here, I later discovered I had a bout of Covid which pushed my figures up so the first one I could not really validate. My second went badly in that the sensor failed after about 3 hours and just said replace it was still well stuck to my arm, I complained to Dexcom and they replaced. The next one I have applied seemed to take time before it registered more accurate figures but I ran out of blood test strips to confirm accuracy and did not replace because I had this device, then I seem to have way too high readings and then at night if I slept on it would start failing or register super low figures (which kind of mucks up the averages), this was light pressure on the device. The Next one I placed a little further round my arm but still getting high readings again I did not confirm with blood test as I had not replaced my strips, I was hovering between 9.1 - 10.2 at night when I have not eaten anything. Today I put a new one on so the figure dropped from 11.1 to 30 mins later 5.6 and the best thing I had just eaten my lunch so should see it rising, it latest reading is 3.4 I have eaten an orange just in case but it has not increased. I think for first couple of hours these seem inaccurate, I have ordered a new blood test kit so I fully check this out. But not impressed so far Im not sure I can rely on it, I did notice it has a calibrate function but not sure exactly how this works. Like you I do manage my diet so not too much of a issue but I want to be informed and understand any additioanl foods I eat and their effects

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

out of interest can you tell me, did Dexcom replace any of the faulty sensors

That was my thought too. I only had one or two Dex G6s that failed within the 10 period in 4 years of use (and I stretched almost all of them to 20 days with excellent reliability of results).

Dexcom were very good at replacing failures with no quibbles.

I use back of arm for sensors - seems far less subject to bending, dislodging, and errors than Enlites on my tum.

 

[MikeyF]

OK as I thought they were recording on the high side after I got my new blood test kit I was able to confirm. I used by blood readings to calibrate. That now gives me a more accurate figure and the silly readings I was getting off 2 and 1.5 have gone. I think the calibration must have messed up, it either corrected or the figure I entered sorted it. Now happy as re tested with blood kit and it was a close match (it is about 5 mins behind but that's normal) all good I think I will calibrate each time now. I put on back of arm best place by far.

 

[Robin]

I'd really appreciate any feedback from anyone who's been using Dexcom ONE+, because my own experience with the product has been abysmal

Earlier in the week, I might have replied that I was currently trialling the Dexcom One + and I was very happy with it. However, it ground to a halt on day 6, yesterday. First it lost Bluetooth connectivity, and wouldn’t reconnect. I managed to get it going again by turning my phone off and on again. But then a couple of hours later, I started getting silly readings (2.7 at one point, against a fingerprick of 6.1, and just 'LOW' when I definitely wasn’t hypo!) interspersed with 'Brief sensor issue' messages. This carried on overnight, so I rang them this morning, and after going through the usual long screens of questions, they are sending a replacement, so we’ll see how the next one behaves. She;I removed the Dexcom sensor, the filament was bent, I don’t know if it’s supposed to be or not, nor do I see how it wouldn have worked well for 6 days and then failed, if that was an issue. I had mine in my abdomen. Meanwhile I’ve put a Libre sensor on, touch wood, I seem to be successful with the libre, (I know many people aren’t.)

 

[goodybags]

OK I might’ve only been wearing the Dex for a 10 day trial, but I’ve got on really well with the DexcomOne+
up until yesterdays (day 9) when it lost connection to my phone, as I was within the kind of distance where it shouldn’t really disconnect but I was in the shower,
however I’m sure it was within 5 minutes of having my phone next to me it seamlessly re-connected, a very different experience I found from the Libra2plus that was demanding up to re scans and sometimes app be closed re-opened plus giving me alerts un-necessarily, I would’ve gone with the freestyle Libra2Plus, and actually ordered some, they have been delivered but not un-packed yet

I was so impressed with my Dex’ I was about to send back my order to Abbott, and place an order for 3 months supply
however due to two peoples generosity in gifting me something they can no longer make use of (both pumpers) so now using CGM’ that connect to their pumps, also somebody else offered to sell me some they no longer use, until my mind is finally made up I will use those

plus there is a very very small chance, I still might get something funded by NHS under under a scheme a DSN has put me forward for, although I’m sure I will end up self funding as when the GP tried ICB funding that was declined.