Day three was a little rough. I woke up having been in the low 200s all night, got more stable throughout the day and then changed my infusion set around 6:00 p.m.
I experienced the same lows beginning at 8:00 p.m. I did the night before and the warning system seems to be off in terms of time. Who can predict the exact rate a blood sugar will drop; the Navigator does provide a warning and I have it set to give me 30 minute notice, but I drop really quickly and the High sensitivity setting really only gives me about 10-15 minutes.
I got another warning around 9:00 p.m. that I was going to be low and my blood sugar was 105. I immediately drank some milk and it dropped to the 60's before it began to climb.
I am making an adjustment on my pump today to reduce my meal bolus for dinner time and we'll see what happens. My night was interesting as I hit about 180 at 2:00 a.m. and dropped very slowly all night to 64 at 7:00 a.m. Interestingly, the Projected Low Alarm does not sound if the blood sugar falls very slowly and the arrow is ->. It only sounds if it sees a noticeable downward drop, so I was awakened this morning with a 64, but at least it woke me up. It is thrilling to think I would get an alarm while I sleep if things get dangerous.
Had significant problems with the adhesive on day three. The tape is slowly lifting all around the transmitter site, so I put some IV 3000 adhesive film over the whole site. Within an hour it was itching, so I peeled it off to find a red rash around the edge of the adhesive and the glue stuck tot he transmitter and is now sticking to my clothes.
I have different adhesives to try to keep this thing on, but am apprehensive about trying another one. I have used IV 3000 before with no reaction, but I guess if I want to keep the thing on, I'll have to give another one a try.
I experienced the same lows beginning at 8:00 p.m. I did the night before and the warning system seems to be off in terms of time. Who can predict the exact rate a blood sugar will drop; the Navigator does provide a warning and I have it set to give me 30 minute notice, but I drop really quickly and the High sensitivity setting really only gives me about 10-15 minutes.
I got another warning around 9:00 p.m. that I was going to be low and my blood sugar was 105. I immediately drank some milk and it dropped to the 60's before it began to climb.
I am making an adjustment on my pump today to reduce my meal bolus for dinner time and we'll see what happens. My night was interesting as I hit about 180 at 2:00 a.m. and dropped very slowly all night to 64 at 7:00 a.m. Interestingly, the Projected Low Alarm does not sound if the blood sugar falls very slowly and the arrow is ->. It only sounds if it sees a noticeable downward drop, so I was awakened this morning with a 64, but at least it woke me up. It is thrilling to think I would get an alarm while I sleep if things get dangerous.
Had significant problems with the adhesive on day three. The tape is slowly lifting all around the transmitter site, so I put some IV 3000 adhesive film over the whole site. Within an hour it was itching, so I peeled it off to find a red rash around the edge of the adhesive and the glue stuck tot he transmitter and is now sticking to my clothes.
I have different adhesives to try to keep this thing on, but am apprehensive about trying another one. I have used IV 3000 before with no reaction, but I guess if I want to keep the thing on, I'll have to give another one a try.
© 2007 Photo by Wendy L. Morgan
2 comments:
The adhesive pad on my Dexcom Sensors begins to fail and "flip up" around the edges after about a week, and this is a very common problem.
We've found two solutions for you to consider: #1, since you've got IV3000 on hand and say that it doesn't bother you, put the IV3000 down *FIRST* and punch the whole Sensor through the IV3000. (That's backwards from your usage with the Sensor down on your skin first, with the IV3000 on top).
And #2, becoming very popular on the yahoo 'diabetescgms' group, is to re-paste the flipped up edges of failing adhesive pads with the powerful adhesive "Mastisol". This is what I do, after it's flipped up by about 1/4 inch I apply Mastisol on my skin and then paste the pad fabric back down.
You have to be sure to let Mastisol dry COMPLETELY before you stick the fabric back down, it's like contact cement for woodworking: if you stick the parts together before it's dried, it won't work.
IV Prep in advance of pasting down the Sensor the first time is also important, it keep the failed adhesive stuck firmly to your skin instead of becoming a gooey mess. By using IV prep, I can put the Mastisol on top the the 'failed' adhesive without removing it: without IV prep, I'd have to clean the existing adhesive mess off my skin BEFORE painting on the Mastisol.
My Sensors usually last a bit less than 3 weeks (yeah, that's definitely "off-label" usage of the "3-day" Sensors!) and I only need to paint the Mastisol once. But it doesn't work to "paint" Mastisol on the Sensor before it flips up: The failure occurs between the Sensor pad fabric and the adhesive, and the Mastisol won't penetrate the Dexcom adhesive and reach the Pad until the adhesive has failed, exposing the actual pad fabric.
I just found your blog when searching for info about the Navigator! Thank you for sharing you experience and the pictures. I have a daughter and husband with Type 1. My daughter will be so tickled when she sees the clothing for kids with pumps page that you have a link to!
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