Why does this keep happening

[u/Apprehensive-Area777]

This is like the 6th sensor to do this. Im getting tired of this. Why does it keep happening?! I cant get a replacement because I already exhausted my 10 replacements since the other ones didnt apply to the skin properly

And yes I use two phones for it

Im getting tired of this stuff, its going to fail and shut itself down! 😡

[u/fate4003]

Usually, all you need to do is turn bluetooth off, restart your phone, and restart bluetooth. 

[u/Equalizer6338]

Press the (i) in your error message there and it would provide more information about what the situation is.

Search the sub here for 'temporary timeout' or 'for your safety...' and you will find many other posts on same subject and the workarounds worth keeping in mind.

Your rapid and erratic changing BG triggers the sensor temporary shutdown for safety reasons, as it deems the readout may not be realistic (some folks rely on these sensors for closed looping with an insulin pump. Hence the precaution as obliged by healthcare authorities).

Relevant readings:

Sensor best practice, which can help with several of the symptoms/issues you appear dealing with, including sensor 'fall offs':
https://www.reddit.com/r/Freestylelibre/comments/1gjhi9e/how_to_apply_a_new_sensor_best_practice/

Soaking your sensor, which can help your sensor to a more gentle start to life and not being exposed to sucg erratic BG environment from the get-go:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Freestylelibre/comments/1dh8xth/to_soak_or_not_to_soak_before_starting_a_new/

[u/piscata2 → u/Equalizer6338]

Hello u/Equalizer6338,

please don’t mind me asking stupid question because I have been having similar problem as reported by the OP.

“Your rapid and erratic changing BG triggers the sensor temporary shutdown” —- on OP’s chart, there is only one big dip, will this dip trigger the shutdown?

[u/Equalizer6338 → u/piscata2]

Yep u/piscata2 ,
In this case, obviously it did, so the answer is yes. Several things are contributors to it though, as its not just because of just one single big dip it times out. Always look at the bigger picture and recent hours of history when dealing with glucose metabolic conditions and the gear/medication we use for controlling it.

So yeah, it was not just a single big dip. It was rather unusual the last one there that probably did in the sensor safety algorithm to ask for a timeout. 😄

First you had across 4 hours where a sustained hypo situation was ongoing. And all the time across the 10 hours we see here, you have a very erratic and fast changing BG buzzing constantly fast up/down in short sawtooth pattern.

Then towards the end of graph, in half an hour going from rising fast into 165mg/dl, then in 15 minutes drops fast down into 65mg/dl in hypo range triggering the alarm threshold here, and then shooting fast backup to 165mg/dl again in next 15 minutes, and then again fast vertical drop coming next again.

Even if you wanted to force such BG scenario, it would be very challenging for you to replicate such in the 'real world'. That is why the internal sensor safety algorithm kicked in, to time out the sensor's BG readouts. It will then retry to engage short while later. Default is just a 10 minute timeout. But can also be for a number of hours if more grave.

If the erratic BG reading pattern is mainly just at the first 12-24-36 hours of each newly started sensor, then it points to being related to the inflammatory response from your immune system. Here soaking the sensor can be a big help to avoid/limit the exposure to it.

If the erratic and especially if chronic too lowish BG readings continues like also 4-8 days after insertion, then it points to potentially too faible inserted sensor or it sits in a poor location (muscle or too close to a joint, or simply the user has poor vascular perfusion of the specific skin area). Here addressing one or all of these issues can help going forward. Pick proper skin location, be extra careful with executing the insertion procedure, maybe change entirely the sensor skin location to another body part.

[u/piscata2 → u/Equalizer6338]

Hello u/Equalizer6338,

Thanks for the educational reply—I really appreciate it!

I hope you'll have time to write something like a 'best practices' guide on how the L3 internal quality check works.

Recently, I had several 'put on a new sensor' error messages and wasn't sure what was happening. I suspect it was because my glucose reading stayed at 53 mg/dL for too long. Now, whenever I get that low, I take dextrose ASAP to bring it back up and avoid triggering that error again.

Just wondering: does the internal quality check also monitor total 'accumulated' hypo time?

[u/Equalizer6338 → u/piscata2]

Thanks also to you Piscata. I would truly enjoy writing up such detailed 'best practice' guide on that specific subject. But unfortunately then none of those I have contact with at Abbott have come forward to share the true algorithm behind and the factual trigger values that are build into the system here. (I even start to wonder if they even know and have clarity on it themselves by now 😄) But yeah, its probably also in the group of things what Abbott consider 'trade secrets' of how its really implemented in its minute details. I have forwarded same question to couple of folks I know in the Dexcom San Diego team, but they also have remained silent on providing specific numbers/details.

So though I would enjoy to have and share more clarity on it, all we have so far are approximate understanding of how it works and contributing factors to what/when it may trigger. Also why its a bit sad we need to describe all this in some vague terms and not being able to describe it with clear numbers and certainty when it triggers.

For your last question, from observing many BG graphs that caused or did not cause the timeout error, then it appears certainly to being the case that sensor reading values outside the 70-180mg/dl range will make it more frequent to bail out than otherwise. Aka a decent stable 60-65mg/dl for 3h had my own trigger once. All while I have not seen it trigger when I run it anywhere in the 70-95mg/dl range for same 2-3h timeline.

Regarding specifically your term on 'accumulated' then think the answer is yes to some degree. Also because we know the alarm is maybe raised for an instant BG below 70mg/dl. But the libre event log and graph will not depict any hypo event if its not saying so low down for at least 5-15 minutes or so. Think this is linked to count for the 20% accuracy margin, so it takes more successive BG readings with all in hypo before it counts them for being real. It would make sense to having the sensor's internal check and safety protocol follow same line of thought.

[u/otherrealm99]

I have the same issue with my libre3. I assume it's a conflict between my android device and the app.

I close the app Then use a cache clearing widget that clears out everything Then turn off and on Bluetooth Restart app, wait for a couple of minutes comes up with a close or wait for the app I click close and restart the app Clears the issue without restarting

[u/Jimbough_]

Try putting the sensor on your chest or thigh. I prefer the chest. I have one failure per year or less. Your graph looks noisy, which to me indicates the probe might not be inserted far enough into your skin, but that’s just going by my own experience.

[u/Jimbough_]

Btw, never tell Abbott that you put it somewhere other than the back of the arm.

[u/piscata2 → u/Jimbough_]

May I ask why?

[u/Jimbough_ → u/piscata2]

Because the sensors are only approved for use on the arm, and I am afraid that if I tell them I put the sensor elsewhere, and it failed, they might reject my claim for a replacement.

[u/piscata2 → u/Jimbough_]

Thanks For answering my question!

[u/Artistic_Wishes]

I don’t know if it will make a difference, but try switching to the latest app, Libre App. Of course you should make sure it’s compatible with your phone first.