CGM and accuracy of numbers (butt vs. other sites)

[Lizzy731]

I usually find Bethany within 10-20 points of her sensor reading and her actual BG. She is young so it is sometimes difficult to get a "perfect" time to callibrate. I have been using her butt for the sensor sites which I have read has been a problem for some in regards to accuracy of numbers. I am wondering if my findings are normal? I usually find her off by 20 points more often than 10 (and this is readings at all different numbers...high or low).

Is this what other people find? I am especially interested in those that favor the arm over the butt. What was the discrepancy with the numbers in the butt as opposed to the arm?

Thanks alot.

[jonsmom]

I can't speak to the arm as my son won't try it but we find he has better accuracy on the butt than the abdomen - especially at night. He sleeps on his stomach and that seems to compress the fluid I think and he frequently has false lows which keep him awake much of the night if he has it on his stomach.

When he's in his target range and his numbers aren't moving a lot we find it's generally pretty accurate (well recently we are either having bad sensor issues or a failing transmittor but other than that..) - within 10-15 points usually and often closer than that.

[Mama2H]

With the arm we are usually within 10-20 points unless bg is rapidly rising or falling. On the bottom/stomach we got nothing accurate, it was a nightmare for us. With the 20% allowable inaccuracy with meters I find 20 points on a high number more than acceptable and 10 on a low also acceptable. For us, only the arm was even close to accurate.

[thebestnest5]

I calculate Liv's sensor accuracy by percentage difference from her BG meter (unless there are arrows). Liv's "great reading" arms sensors can maintain a 3% -5% accuracy from her meter in numbers under 200 and over 250 with 5-10%. Yesterday, she was 105 BG and CGM 106. We haven't used a bum site in a while; but I remember "good" bum sites were around the 5% accuracy. I just could get bum sites to last more than 6 or 7 days.

I notice that if Liv does not drink enough fluid throughout the day that he sensor just doesn't read as well. It's day when she just "can't find anything good to drink" and water is just tasting blah. I have those days myself; so I know where she's coming from.

[Jensmami]

We did the butt first, we had some decent numbers, between 5 to 20 % difference, but it never lasted past 7 days. I liked it a lot because the trends were correct and I always knew in what area her numbers were, which was good enough for me.

Then I became greedy:p, I read all the posts about how long the sensor lasts in the arm and how accurate the numbers are. After talking Jenny into letting me put a sensor in her arm, I was so excited, but her numbers were terrible. Sometimes they were off over 200 points. She got alarms saying she is low, she measured and was 250. The trend showed she is going down, but she went up and this was not short term trends, but they were 2 to 3 hours.

I left it in more then 12 days:eek:, always hoping for better numbers to come, they didn't. We tried 2 more sensors in the arm and it never worked for us. So we are back to the butt.:D

[WestinsMom]

We moved to the arm simply because the sensors weren't lasting more than 4 days in the butt, after a few months of them working wonderfully in the butt. I don't know that I think they are any more accurate in the arm.

[Lizzy731]

Thanks for the replies...btw, by not "lasting in the butt", does that mean that the numbers became increasingly not accurate or "lost sensor" was happening? On day 6 or 7, I am finding that I am getting lost sensors but I am going to charge it on day 5 to see what happens.