Freestyle Libre

[eeb123]

Hi all,

I have seen so many mixed reviews for the Libre, when I was offered the trial it seemed the perfect opportunity to see what was going on with my blood sugars all of the time and to see what I really thought of the Libre.

As it happens sadly I'm still not much further forward, the first sensor didn't work and was consistently reading 4-5mmols lower than finger prick tests (even with the 10 minute lag time). Due to this I was issued with a new sensor which was brilliant, particularly with indicating how quickly or slowly your blood sugars were going up or down. As such I purchased one and now find this sensor is like the first problematic one - about 4 mmols lower than my finger prick tests all the time.

So my question is this a common problem? Has anyone else experienced this? I'm just not sure I want to go through the hassle every time I have a new sensor of waiting to see it it works and then having to wait for a new working sensor and sending the problem one back-especially given how much they are!

 

[himtoo]

I have used a total of 7 sensors in the last 15 months and never experienced the sort of issues you describe.

1 sensor I had measured consistently about 1.4 - 1.5 mmol out from finger pricks , but the other 6 were all easily within
< 1mmol compared to finger pricks.

I would certainly ring Abbott to discuss.

 

[Fleegle]

Yes I have experienced all of the problems you describe.

Hi all,

I have seen so many mixed reviews for the Libre, when I was offered the trial it seemed the perfect opportunity to see what was going on with my blood sugars all of the time and to see what I really thought of the Libre.

As it happens sadly I'm still not much further forward, the first sensor didn't work and was consistently reading 4-5mmols lower than finger prick tests (even with the 10 minute lag time). Due to this I was issued with a new sensor which was brilliant, particularly with indicating how quickly or slowly your blood sugars were going up or down. As such I purchased one and now find this sensor is like the first problematic one - about 4 mmols lower than my finger prick tests all the time.

So my question is this a common problem? Has anyone else experienced this? I'm just not sure I want to go through the hassle every time I have a new sensor of waiting to see it it works and then having to wait for a new working sensor and sending the problem one back-especially given how much they are!

Yes - I have experienced all of the problems you describe.
I bought the monitor starter kit which came with two sensors and an additional two sensors. My plan was to do three months, find everything I needed to know about my spikes etc and then give it up.
Of the four sensors I have had four replacements.
One just fell off - it was my third one and for some reason, even though the others need a block and tackle to remove this one just fell off after about 7 hours.
One failed to ever start - it came up with a check again in 10mins after the warm up hour. Repeated this for about and hour then said then said sensor has ended.
The other two both gave ridiculous low readings.

BUT.
I got some really good advice from the forum and I have found that for me sensors take around 3-4 days to warm up. I therefore now put my replacement on at least two days before I need it. So for a couple of days I am running the old sensor and warming the new sensor up. Even after that I have a day of really low readings but then day 2 - 14 are great - within .2 of what the meter says.

Someone was really kind and posted me a research paper on why this was and I think I would summarise it as some people reject the sensor for a little while to some degree but in time it works.

I would carry on. Every time they have replaced a sensor with no qualms at all and been really patient with me - even sent me a separate meter to compare blood tests on & test strips.

I do find the first couple of days really frustrating but boy is it worth it when you can find out things you never would unless you pricked your fingers a 60 times an hour. I do wish the sensors were a little cheaper - but if the cost is inflated to allow multiple replacements I would rather that. Hope that helps.

 

[4ratbags]

It's great to hear feedback about the Libre as it will be available in New Zealand soon and I can't wait to get one so it is good to hear the pros and cons before I purchase one.

 

[Scott-C]

It's a shame you're having so much bad luck with it. I'm on my 25th sensor and have only had problems with a couple which went a bit rogue and they were replaced ok.

I wonder whether you've just been unlucky in getting a couple from a bad batch - they're calibrated in factory, have no idea what that actually involves from a process point of view, but I suppose with all high tech production like this, no process will ever be 100% all the time.

 

[Scott-C]

It's great to hear feedback about the Libre as it will be available in New Zealand soon and I can't wait to get one so it is good to hear the pros and cons before I purchase one.

Congrats to you Kiwis on winning the America's Cup! Sailing boats flying on hydrofoils at 35 knots! ***! Used to mess about in boats years ago, kinda wish I was still young enough to get on a foiler Moth!

Anyway, enough of that technology! Libre is a brilliant gadget. Instead of getting a few snapshots from strips, which is just a number at one point in time, it makes such a difference getting a number and a full 8 or 24 hour graph and up and down arrows so you can tell where the number has been and where it might be going. It adds so much more - you can see things move.

For T1s and T2s on insulin or meds, it makes such a huge difference in anticipating hypos, and guaging responses to food.

But you need to appreciate that it will rarely read the same as your meter, because of the lag. Takes a while to get used to, but once you do, it's a game changer.

The analytical software which comes with it is pretty good too - you can see individual days for detail, showing peak post-prandial levels if you want, and also create AGP graphs which kind of overlay daily graphs from, say, a week, month, two months etc. to give you a good idea of general recurring patterns, so you can see which bits of the day might need attention.

Best of luck, when it arrives!

 

[eeb123]

@himtoo @Fleegle @4ratbags @Scott-C Thank you all for your comments and positivity - I shall certainly leave it in and see...maybe it's a period of bad luck on the sensor front, since the one I had that did work was brilliant and I would recommend to everyone and anyone! X

 

[tim2000s]

I like to use these graphs to give some idea of the differences between sensors and also between a sensor and blood glucose levels. I wore two sensors for a short period when my reader test strip device broke (this is about a year ago now) and it was very interesting to see the differences.

This first image is the difference between the two sensors and blood:

As you can see, there is not a consistent variance showing. This second shows the difference between the two sensors. Once again you see a similar pattern:

In terms of percentage deviation from blood, the numbers are quite interesting, as in both the cases, there was quite a bit and it was fairly variable:

So this is just some real world behaviour to be aware of when looking at the Libre.