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Freestyle Libre Trail - tips and advice

C

Catherine4188

Well-Known Member
Messages
124
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hello,

I will be starting a Freestyle Libre Trail today. I was wondering if any current users have any tips and advice for how to use the device more effectively and any issues etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Catherine4188 said:
Hello,

I will be starting a Freestyle Libre Trail today. I was wondering if any current users have any tips and advice for how to use the device more effectively and any issues etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...

Hi, it's a great device but it's got a few quirks which take a bit of getting used to before appreciating how useful it really is, so don't be put off to begin with.

It won't read the same as your meter. But after using it for a while, you'll generally get an idea of how close to or far from the meter it is and why and then make adjustments for it. First couple of weeks I used it I ended up meter testing a lot more than I normally did just to get a sense of the differences and how the two things worked together. Now that I'm further down the line with it, it's much easier to say libre says X so meter probably says Y.

First week, I really just used it for keeping an eye on hypos. If I saw it reading, say, 5 I wouldn't be bothering about a hypo but uf the 5 also had a downward pointing arrow, that's a stong indicator that I'm dropping hard and there might be a hypo on it's way so I would cross check with meter test and maybe have 5g just to tweak it up.

That's the big difference between libre and meter. Meter is just a snapshot, but libre gives way more clues about where it's been and where it might be going, even if the numbers might not be exactly correct. So it's worthwhile in the first couple of weeks figuring out what the graph and directional arrows are telling you.

Best of luck!
 
Scott-C said:
Hi, it's a great device but it's got a few quirks which take a bit of getting used to before appreciating how useful it really is, so don't be put off to begin with.

It won't read the same as your meter. But after using it for a while, you'll generally get an idea of how close to or far from the meter it is and why and then make adjustments for it. First couple of weeks I used it I ended up meter testing a lot more than I normally did just to get a sense of the differences and how the two things worked together. Now that I'm further down the line with it, it's much easier to say libre says X so meter probably says Y.

First week, I really just used it for keeping an eye on hypos. If I saw it reading, say, 5 I wouldn't be bothering about a hypo but uf the 5 also had a downward pointing arrow, that's a stong indicator that I'm dropping hard and there might be a hypo on it's way so I would cross check with meter test and maybe have 5g just to tweak it up.

That's the big difference between libre and meter. Meter is just a snapshot, but libre gives way more clues about where it's been and where it might be going, even if the numbers might not be exactly correct. So it's worthwhile in the first couple of weeks figuring out what the graph and directional arrows are telling you.

Best of luck!
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Thank you for that info. They made me activate the patch at the trial and it's been an odd day for readings. I know people say it takes 24 hours to settle. When I first took a reading my blood meter and Libre were just 0.4mmol apart. I then ate and injected and after 1 hour or so my Libre said I was 2.2mmol and decreasing but my blood meter said 5.9mmol. In 10 minutes the Libre then told me I was LOW which is guessing meant so low it couldn't measure???
 
Catherine4188 said:
Thank you for that info. They made me activate the patch at the trial and it's been an odd day for readings. I know people say it takes 24 hours to settle. When I first took a reading my blood meter and Libre were just 0.4mmol apart. I then ate and injected and after 1 hour or so my Libre said I was 2.2mmol and decreasing but my blood meter said 5.9mmol. In 10 minutes the Libre then told me I was LOW which is guessing meant so low it couldn't measure???
Click to expand...

Hi, should have mentioned that in my earlier post.

When you insert, the needle causes some local damage and the bodily repair/defence mechanisms come along and the cells involved in that chew up a lot of glucose, so glucose in that area is actually low even though fine elsewhere. So if you activate just after insertion you're going to get whing-ding readings until the damage settles down.

That's why a lot of users insert and wait 24 hours before activating it, to give it time to settle without wasting a days use. It seems that end-users have figured out a trick which Abbott hasn't!

Stick with it and it ought to settle after a day or so. Some sensors can be, though, be a bit sketchy after that.

I had a few frustrations like that with my first few sensors when I didn't know about the settling in period. It's just biology: if you go sticking a needle in your arm, it's bound to screw up what's happening in that area until it settles down a bit.

If the readings don't tighten up after a couple of days, there's a chance you've got a plain duff sensor, happens from time to time, and some people just don't seem to take to them.

Like I said in my earlier post, they've got their quirks, first day response being one if them, but be patient, see how it pans out over the next few days.

There's been a lot of posts from people exasperated about it on first trying it, but they usually change their minds completely after a few days once it's settled.
 
Hopefully it will settle down. With making sure you are well hydrated as this can have a dramatic effect. I've found it brilliant had helped me reduce my hba1c a lot, hope it works for you.
 
Just looked at my patch in the mirror after having a long sleeve top on all day and the edges of the sticky bit are already lifted. Does this mean it's going to fall off over night or in the shower?
 
Catherine4188 said:
Just looked at my patch in the mirror after having a long sleeve top on all day and the edges of the sticky bit are already lifted. Does this mean it's going to fall off over night or in the shower?
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Depends. There's a few practical details which the glossy libre website doesn't get across! You said "they" made you activate it at the trial, so I'm assuming you went along to DSN/gp/hospital or whatever, without being told about setting up your arm first.

We're talking about sticking something to your arm for two weeks and making sure it stays there.

You'd be surprised by the number of people who've put some moisturiser or emollient on their arm and then put the sensor on. NASA have flown to the moon, but couldn't solve that sort of adherence problem.

I've not got particularly hairy arms, and I would never suggest a lady has, but most of us do have a bit of peach fuzz or random whisps, none of which helps stuff stick.

Finally, some people are just a bit greasy.

So, my usual play is to shave the back of my arm, have a shower, use the alcohol wipes. That way, it's as clean as it can be, and I've had no problems with it falling off.

It'll likely last till tomorrow, but see if you can nip out to a chemist early doors, ask if they've got a big 6 x 7 plaster like a Molnycke Mepore (omnicare have them for 17p) buy a few of those and stick on on top, it smoothes out the edges to stop snagging.

I'm going to take the liberty of tagging @maglil55 .She's been running an interesting thread about her first two weeks with libre:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/life-with-libre.118450/page-4#post-1438486

She's done some wonderfully geeky analysis of her experiences of this new toy which you might find helpful, so she'll hopefully chip in with a few pointers for you.

I could almost feel the pain when her Libre 1 expired: @maglil55 was grieving, man, she was grieving!
 
Scott-C said:
Depends. There's a few practical details which the glossy libre website doesn't get across! You said "they" made you activate it at the trial, so I'm assuming you went along to DSN/gp/hospital or whatever, without being told about setting up your arm first.

We're talking about sticking something to your arm for two weeks and making sure it stays there.

You'd be surprised by the number of people who've put some moisturiser or emollient on their arm and then put the sensor on. NASA have flown to the moon, but couldn't solve that sort of adherence problem.

I've not got particularly hairy arms, and I would never suggest a lady has, but most of us do have a bit of peach fuzz or random whisps, none of which helps stuff stick.

Finally, some people are just a bit greasy.

So, my usual play is to shave the back of my arm, have a shower, use the alcohol wipes. That way, it's as clean as it can be, and I've had no problems with it falling off.

It'll likely last till tomorrow, but see if you can nip out to a chemist early doors, ask if they've got a big 6 x 7 plaster like a Molnycke Mepore (omnicare have them for 17p) buy a few of those and stick on on top, it smoothes out the edges to stop snagging.

I'm going to take the liberty of tagging @maglil55 .She's been running an interesting thread about her first two weeks with libre:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/life-with-libre.118450/page-4#post-1438486

She's done some wonderfully geeky analysis of her experiences of this new toy which you might find helpful, so she'll hopefully chip in with a few pointers for you.

I could almost feel the pain when her Libre 1 expired: @maglil55 was grieving, man, she was grieving!
Click to expand...

Thank you!

I didn't know I needed to start it today no. But I did have a shower before going and I haven't moisturised for ages. However, when we did apply the patch the applicator didn't let go and we needed to really pull it off. I think this may have caused it. I'm going to call the freestyle helpline tomorrow or Tuesday if it isn't open tomorrow. See if they will maybe send me another. Fingers crossed because I really want to give it a go, but don't want to spend £48 if it isn't for me. The lady at the trial said we could call if things went wrong, and hinted that if it fell if early that they might help out.
 
Catherine4188 said:
Thank you!

I didn't know I needed to start it today no. But I did have a shower before going and I haven't moisturised for ages. However, when we did apply the patch the applicator didn't let go and we needed to really pull it off. I think this may have caused it. I'm going to call the freestyle helpline tomorrow or Tuesday if it isn't open tomorrow. See if they will maybe send me another. Fingers crossed because I really want to give it a go, but don't want to spend £48 if it isn't for me. The lady at the trial said we could call if things went wrong, and hinted that if it fell if early that they might help out.
Click to expand...


Abbott are normally pretty good at sending replacement sensors when they're really out of order, but don't assume that just because it's unsticking a bit at the edges means it's a dud.

If you're still getting readings from it, it's still good to go, even if the readings might be out till it settles down.

The Abbott phone line will normally expect you to run a few strips on the meter (libre works as a meter too, the trial people should have given you a few strips for it) and compare them against a few scans. They'll then do some sums and decide whether it's out or not.

When you say that you needed to use a bit of force to pull the applicator off, it might just be that it's your first experience of it. It can be "tuggy" at times, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.
 
Day 3 - my Libre is working very very well. Within 0.2mmol on most readings.

The over night graph is the most interesting for me. It seems that about 2 hours after I go to sleep I have a huge spike from 5ish mmols up over 10 and then a sliding scale down to 5 again for the morning.

Any ideas how to prevent this?
 
Hmm, I'm hesitant to offer suggestions, seeing as I often have difficulty figuring out my own insulin requirements, never mind anyone elses!

If it recurs as a pattern regularly over several nights, maybe it's a very early Dawn Phenomenon, but the coming back down doesn't really fit with that. Maybe try setting your alarm clock for the time when the 10 normally shows up to see if a meter confirms it. Like I say, libre provides useful clues, but often requires corroboration with a meter.

If it only happens now and then, it's maybe just the basic randomness of T1.

If you had a late supper, maybe just the usual post-meal rise and fall?

Some people also find that if they lie on the sensor and compress it, it affects the reading, presumably through affecting the amount of interstitial fluid flowing through the sensor area, a bit like when you pinch some skin and it goes white. So maybe you've rolled over in your sleep and leant on the sensor?
 
All sounds very logical. I'll keep a watch on it and if it keep happening around 2 hours after sleep starts I'll call my diabetic nurse and see if she has any suggestions. Thanks again!!
 
One thing I've found really useful is the Active Insulin Symbol. I don't know if they've set that up for you. It's meant to be done by a DSN, but let's face it, T1s are a resourceful bunch and it's usually easier to cheat!

Click the settings icon at top right, the cogwheel icon. Scroll down to Professional options, lie and tell it you're a health carr professional (actually that's not a lie, T1 is a full time job!).Enter the "secret" code CAA1C, then Insulin Calculator, then Change Calculator Settings, go through the various carb/dose parameter settings, then when you get to the page about displaying the symbol, choose yes.

Once that's done, next time you bolus, scan, and if you add a note about the amount of insulin you've just taken, it'll show a little gingerbread man on the home screen (I'm not sure they thought about the symbolism of using a sweet!). If you click it, it guestimates the amount of active insulin still on board and for how long based on the parameters you entered earlier.

Again, it's just a rough guide, but every clue helps.

I love it for two reasons.

First, I often get a bit frustrated when I'm higher than I want to be a few hours after a meal, and I've often taken a correction for that. The symbol, though, serves as a useful reminder that I've still got X units in me doing it's stuff, so very often, I'll just bide my time till it does its stuff instead of doing a correction which would drop me when the tail end of the last bolus is still working.

Second, I often snack between meals, and go out for a few beers at the weekend, so if I ever get into an insulin stacking situation (it's not necessarily a bad thing if you snack between meals and, indeed might be necessary depending on the size of the snack), the symbol updates to show what's on board from the multiple shots, way easier than doing it in my head. It's useful for making sure I don't overstack.

Glad to see your sensor has settled down! You'll find more and more uses for it as time goes by. One of mine broke at work. The rest of that day felt like going back to the Stone Age with strips alone!
 
I was given a freestyle libre today and have just applied it to my inner arm. I would be interested in any feedback from people who have been using it. I'm also on the waiting list for an insulin pump, which I was told this morning shouldn't be long. I've been a type 1 diabetic for 46 years, I have no complications and am well controlled (although not perfect ). Any replies and info much appreciated. Thanks !
 
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