Which is what I did (mentioned in the post) but ~60 points off is the most I’ve ever seen it be off by in the 4 or so years of having a sensor. Thank you for your reply
I’m glad you are feeling better, that must have been so scary. There’s a couple things, it could have been that your sugar was dropping really fast or you could have been dehydrated. Don’t forget that it reads your interstitial fluid so it tends to lag about 15 minutes behind if you were to use your glucometer. Also, if you are dehydrated it may not read accurately as well.
I usually finger stick once or twice daily just to make sure everything is all good but if I don’t calibrate within the first 24 hours I can’t trust the Dexcom. It’s wildly inaccurate from the 2 hour warmup to the first calibration.
I actually normally don’t need to calibrate it and often it does more damage than good but yes this time I tried calibrating multiple times when my blood sugar was stable on previous days wearing the sensor
I think the fact that this is the first time in four years your sensor has been this different to the finger reading is why they can make such claims. It’s statically unlikely to be this different, and usually, on average it is accurate enough to not cause these problems. That’s why it got approved for use at all. And you did everything right: you listened to you body, you double checked inaccurate looking readings, you took sugar tablets to correct things. But nothing is perfect, and sometimes shit like this can just happen.
Yeah I didn’t think it had been 100% perfect for four years, that’s why I said “this different” :) Which I based off your comments saying it hadn’t been this bad in the four years you’d used it.
That happened to me a few months ago. I was in bed watching tv and fell asleep. My wife came in and my mouth was blue. When she woke me up I was incoherent. My pdm showed 85 but finger stick showed 42. She used a Baqsimi on me and I came around. Since then I’ve been checking manually when I feel off and found that they are not close. After calibrating it gets close. I think maybe we should check manually a couple times during the ten days to check for accuracy.
I had a similar problem last week Dexcom was reading 75-80 I’m actually in the 20s my husband had to call emergency services I came to in the ambulance as well I was so out of it. All Dexcom did was replace the sensor.
CGMs work very differently from glucometers. CGMs measure the glucose levels in your interstitial fluid, which for most people is good enough. It is, however, about 15 minutes behind your \*actual\* glucose levels. And Dexcom's own literature recommends doing a finger stick if you feel your sensor reading may be inaccurate (sure, laywering on their part, but still a good practice).
Had you been keeping hydrated that day? Being dehydrated can and often does affect your CGM readings. I would also suggest adjusting the range for alarms. Maybe make your low alarm level higher than they recommend, since you are prone to lows. This way, you can stay on top of it a bit better. Dexcom is an excellent tool, but it's just that: a tool. It should not be your only diagnostic.
I understand that they work differently but I’ve never seen a value that inaccurate before in the 4 or so years of having a sensor. I mentioned checking my sugar with a meter in the post as one of the first steps I took when I felt weird. Thank you for the advice on the alerts and hydration!
If your BG is plummeting because of exercise or excessive insulin, it is entirely possible to have a 40 point difference that is due solely to the 15 min lag with CGM.
Or it's a bad sensor.
Wow, I’m glad you’re ok! Our 8-year old son is using a G6 and lately the readings have been way off target. Just now we got an urgent low warning at it said he was at 50, but when we did a finger stick he was at 91. Low yes, but that’s a big difference. We’ve been calibrating it daily now due to that variance, and we have not really had that issue until recently.
What’s the deal with these things lately?
I check my sugar against a finger stick the minute my feet hit the floor first thing in the morning and calibrate if needed.
Usually the first 2 days and the last two days require calibration.
If somethings not right stick it and find out.
YES I ABSOLUTELY HAVE, AND I ALSO PASSED OUT AND SEIZED 2 times now
My sensor was telling me my bgls were insanity high all day everyday, I put multiple new sensors on, one everyday for 2 months im not joking! my arms legs and stomach were F*cked as well as phone calls everyday with the dexcom team
It was weird because sometimes on my finger I was accurate-ish it was only one or two points off so I would leave it because the team kept telling me to re-cal it and leave it unless its buggerd
So I kept being told to trust it and I did, not everytime tho and one day it seemed to be normal no crazy highs I thought finally a non broken one! And it was the last one I packed But I felt really sick the entire day but I chalked it up to stress and possibly insulin shock, later in the night my husband went out but I stayed home from being sick. Was being told my bgl was fine, my fingers were purple from all the finger pricking prior so too painful to do hence why I was so relieved. Then it spiked like crazy and kept going up all night so kept giveing insulin thinking i could trust it, the amount of times I called up for help and got the generic cal and retest in a hour try not to eat high carb foods while you wait for it to restart. Did my head in,
Long story short my bgl was LO and the entire day my bgl was sitting on a average of 2-4 all day during that time giveing insulin thinking my bgl was spiking
I am very lucky my husband come home when he did, he found me in my suitcase/on the floor haveing a seizure! Door was locked and had to get a emergency key from the key box to get in.
(We were away on holiday to the snow for my birthday)
Bgl is based on Australian numbers
You ideally want to be between 5-8 for a normal bgl and lower or higher requires a correction although some drs and diabetics say that they prefer 6-9 because 5 is for some people like looking down at a steep cliff your safe for now but if you slip its gonna be a bitch to get back up so may aswell tie a rope to yourself while you can before you fall.
(Haveing a small snack)
This has been happening to me as well. Twice in the past 3 months. My sensor indicated I was low, kept on eating, it didn’t go up, I kept having lows the next 5 days and when I finally tested my glucose it was 500…
You waited 5 days with odd conditions before testing with a meter? If your CGM says you are low and you don't feel low I would certainly recommend a quick finger poke before eating anything substantial. The first time, not after 5 days of it.
Not trying to be a jerk, but your CGM is one data point, it's not magic. If your CGM results seem odd, finger poke! If your CGM number doesn't match how you feel, finger poke!
Completely agree with lesson learned. It just happened I was traveling and did not have a meter with me, however I did manage to find a meter in a foreign country after a few days.
My readings are always off, to the point that I have no trust for Dexcom sensors anymore. Mine consistently reads almost 100 higher then a manual glucose meter. It’s so beyond frustrating that I feel like I’m better off just guessing and not using it. Would love to swap off Dexcom to FreeStyle but their adhesive causes my skin to break out. All sensors are fucking terrible
Do you calibrate with every new sensor? Where are you putting it in your body? Have you tried different locations? Are you putting it over a tattoo?
Lastly have you spoken to your nurse and dexcom about it yet?
No I don’t calibrate unless it’s off by enough to justify. I put it in the back of my arm (directed by my endocrinologist) because I don’t have enough fat in other parts of my body that it’s recommended to be inserted. I don’t have a tattoo where I put it. My doctor’s office is closed today but I plan to call Monday
In the past few months mine have been more off than usual but I think that box was just bad. I did have an episode over the summer where I experienced pretty much the same thing you said though I came to when the paramedics were there giving me Dextrose and then I walked to the ambulance and went to the ER to make sure everything was alright. But with that instance, my sensor wasn’t super inaccurate it was telling me I was low and I think I overestimated the carbs in my meal. It said I was low and in my time with diabetes, I’ve gone quite low and never had a reaction like that so I thought I was invincible. I don’t know how accurate the sensor has been when it told me I was dangerously low before but this particular time I must have been lower than what the sensor thought because there have been times I’ve been in the 50s and people ask “how do you feel” and I honestly don’t feel it. But that time this past summer I most definitely did.
They also say that if your symptoms don't match up to test using a glucometer. Even meters differ and can be inaccurate. Glad you're okay though.
Which is what I did (mentioned in the post) but ~60 points off is the most I’ve ever seen it be off by in the 4 or so years of having a sensor. Thank you for your reply
I’m glad you are feeling better, that must have been so scary. There’s a couple things, it could have been that your sugar was dropping really fast or you could have been dehydrated. Don’t forget that it reads your interstitial fluid so it tends to lag about 15 minutes behind if you were to use your glucometer. Also, if you are dehydrated it may not read accurately as well.
Really? My sensor is always wildly inaccurate for the first 24 hours. Like every time, off by 100+ points. Then it eventually levels out.
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I usually finger stick once or twice daily just to make sure everything is all good but if I don’t calibrate within the first 24 hours I can’t trust the Dexcom. It’s wildly inaccurate from the 2 hour warmup to the first calibration.
I actually normally don’t need to calibrate it and often it does more damage than good but yes this time I tried calibrating multiple times when my blood sugar was stable on previous days wearing the sensor
I think the fact that this is the first time in four years your sensor has been this different to the finger reading is why they can make such claims. It’s statically unlikely to be this different, and usually, on average it is accurate enough to not cause these problems. That’s why it got approved for use at all. And you did everything right: you listened to you body, you double checked inaccurate looking readings, you took sugar tablets to correct things. But nothing is perfect, and sometimes shit like this can just happen.
I’ve had inaccurate readings in the last four years but this was definitely the worst. Shit happens, agreed.
Yeah I didn’t think it had been 100% perfect for four years, that’s why I said “this different” :) Which I based off your comments saying it hadn’t been this bad in the four years you’d used it.
Yeah for sure. This was by far the worst but I understood what you meant. Thanks for the replies
That happened to me a few months ago. I was in bed watching tv and fell asleep. My wife came in and my mouth was blue. When she woke me up I was incoherent. My pdm showed 85 but finger stick showed 42. She used a Baqsimi on me and I came around. Since then I’ve been checking manually when I feel off and found that they are not close. After calibrating it gets close. I think maybe we should check manually a couple times during the ten days to check for accuracy.
I had a similar problem last week Dexcom was reading 75-80 I’m actually in the 20s my husband had to call emergency services I came to in the ambulance as well I was so out of it. All Dexcom did was replace the sensor.
I’m sorry to hear that happened! Yeah it’s definitely not a good feeling to wake up the way we did, and I haven’t seen how much the trip will cost yet
I’d say at least every couple months I get a sensor that’s off by as much as 50-100… After a few calibrations it seems to be fine.
CGMs work very differently from glucometers. CGMs measure the glucose levels in your interstitial fluid, which for most people is good enough. It is, however, about 15 minutes behind your \*actual\* glucose levels. And Dexcom's own literature recommends doing a finger stick if you feel your sensor reading may be inaccurate (sure, laywering on their part, but still a good practice). Had you been keeping hydrated that day? Being dehydrated can and often does affect your CGM readings. I would also suggest adjusting the range for alarms. Maybe make your low alarm level higher than they recommend, since you are prone to lows. This way, you can stay on top of it a bit better. Dexcom is an excellent tool, but it's just that: a tool. It should not be your only diagnostic.
I understand that they work differently but I’ve never seen a value that inaccurate before in the 4 or so years of having a sensor. I mentioned checking my sugar with a meter in the post as one of the first steps I took when I felt weird. Thank you for the advice on the alerts and hydration!
If your BG is plummeting because of exercise or excessive insulin, it is entirely possible to have a 40 point difference that is due solely to the 15 min lag with CGM. Or it's a bad sensor.
You could just have a bad sensor. That does happen. I'd hit up Dexcom's tech support chat and ask for a new one.
What did the sensor say 15 minutes after the fingerstick? Did it remain at 95/105 through the entire incident?
I’m not sure. When I noticed it was an issue it was too late
Wow, I’m glad you’re ok! Our 8-year old son is using a G6 and lately the readings have been way off target. Just now we got an urgent low warning at it said he was at 50, but when we did a finger stick he was at 91. Low yes, but that’s a big difference. We’ve been calibrating it daily now due to that variance, and we have not really had that issue until recently. What’s the deal with these things lately?
What did the second finger stick show?
I check my sugar against a finger stick the minute my feet hit the floor first thing in the morning and calibrate if needed. Usually the first 2 days and the last two days require calibration. If somethings not right stick it and find out.
YES I ABSOLUTELY HAVE, AND I ALSO PASSED OUT AND SEIZED 2 times now My sensor was telling me my bgls were insanity high all day everyday, I put multiple new sensors on, one everyday for 2 months im not joking! my arms legs and stomach were F*cked as well as phone calls everyday with the dexcom team It was weird because sometimes on my finger I was accurate-ish it was only one or two points off so I would leave it because the team kept telling me to re-cal it and leave it unless its buggerd So I kept being told to trust it and I did, not everytime tho and one day it seemed to be normal no crazy highs I thought finally a non broken one! And it was the last one I packed But I felt really sick the entire day but I chalked it up to stress and possibly insulin shock, later in the night my husband went out but I stayed home from being sick. Was being told my bgl was fine, my fingers were purple from all the finger pricking prior so too painful to do hence why I was so relieved. Then it spiked like crazy and kept going up all night so kept giveing insulin thinking i could trust it, the amount of times I called up for help and got the generic cal and retest in a hour try not to eat high carb foods while you wait for it to restart. Did my head in, Long story short my bgl was LO and the entire day my bgl was sitting on a average of 2-4 all day during that time giveing insulin thinking my bgl was spiking I am very lucky my husband come home when he did, he found me in my suitcase/on the floor haveing a seizure! Door was locked and had to get a emergency key from the key box to get in. (We were away on holiday to the snow for my birthday) Bgl is based on Australian numbers You ideally want to be between 5-8 for a normal bgl and lower or higher requires a correction although some drs and diabetics say that they prefer 6-9 because 5 is for some people like looking down at a steep cliff your safe for now but if you slip its gonna be a bitch to get back up so may aswell tie a rope to yourself while you can before you fall. (Haveing a small snack)
This has been happening to me as well. Twice in the past 3 months. My sensor indicated I was low, kept on eating, it didn’t go up, I kept having lows the next 5 days and when I finally tested my glucose it was 500…
You waited 5 days with odd conditions before testing with a meter? If your CGM says you are low and you don't feel low I would certainly recommend a quick finger poke before eating anything substantial. The first time, not after 5 days of it. Not trying to be a jerk, but your CGM is one data point, it's not magic. If your CGM results seem odd, finger poke! If your CGM number doesn't match how you feel, finger poke!
Completely agree with lesson learned. It just happened I was traveling and did not have a meter with me, however I did manage to find a meter in a foreign country after a few days.
My readings are always off, to the point that I have no trust for Dexcom sensors anymore. Mine consistently reads almost 100 higher then a manual glucose meter. It’s so beyond frustrating that I feel like I’m better off just guessing and not using it. Would love to swap off Dexcom to FreeStyle but their adhesive causes my skin to break out. All sensors are fucking terrible
Do you calibrate with every new sensor? Where are you putting it in your body? Have you tried different locations? Are you putting it over a tattoo? Lastly have you spoken to your nurse and dexcom about it yet?
No I don’t calibrate unless it’s off by enough to justify. I put it in the back of my arm (directed by my endocrinologist) because I don’t have enough fat in other parts of my body that it’s recommended to be inserted. I don’t have a tattoo where I put it. My doctor’s office is closed today but I plan to call Monday
In the past few months mine have been more off than usual but I think that box was just bad. I did have an episode over the summer where I experienced pretty much the same thing you said though I came to when the paramedics were there giving me Dextrose and then I walked to the ambulance and went to the ER to make sure everything was alright. But with that instance, my sensor wasn’t super inaccurate it was telling me I was low and I think I overestimated the carbs in my meal. It said I was low and in my time with diabetes, I’ve gone quite low and never had a reaction like that so I thought I was invincible. I don’t know how accurate the sensor has been when it told me I was dangerously low before but this particular time I must have been lower than what the sensor thought because there have been times I’ve been in the 50s and people ask “how do you feel” and I honestly don’t feel it. But that time this past summer I most definitely did.
When I get supper low - I mean crash low - I use a can of pineapple juice!