any suggestions......

[planetsunshine]

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year.
I was diagnosed with type 2 in January 2017, exhausted all the normal meds as they were giving me dreadful problems, and eventually ended up on Liraglutide injectable which i take daily. However I have problems with my sight, not caused by the diabetes, but by eye cancer in 2015. In October last year at a routine check with the opthamologist which i have every 6 months for the rest of my life, it was discovered that the pressure in my cancer eye had risen to 65, and needed urgent intervention. Although they were able to bring it down with heavy steroids and laser treatment, it has not gone down far enough. The result is though that I am now registered severely sight impaired, blind in cancer eye, and a cataract in the good one. This is really making it difficult for me with blood testing, which i am having to do several times a day now as the steroids are playing hell with my blood levels and my hba1c. I have thought about one of the new monitors which i will have to fund myself, but my fingers are dreadful now and i am having such problems i keep spearing myself. Does anyone know if there are any alternatives to the Libre freestyle, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have tried to discuss it with my dsn but they dont get how difficult it is for me, they fail to understand that so many everyday jobs etc i can only do as i have tech that helps (i have talking tech etc on my phone and computer) aids for using when making drinks etc. Thanks in advance

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi planetsunshine, sorry to hear of your sight loss but wondered why you need an alternative to the fsl unless you can't read the numbers on screen? I am classed as partially sighted but can read my fsl reader though I appreciate your sight loss may be a lot more serious than mine if youc can't use strips easily.
There are alternatives but all involve reading numbers from screens. From my brief google search it seems that non of the options offer an acoutstic read out though DexCom and FSl connect to phone apps which may enable you to increase screen size of the reading and at least they are not fiddly to take a reading.
The bottom line is that you will need to pay for that kit because in spite of your sight impairment you are type 2 and so don't qualify under the current guidelines. FSl will cost you around £50 but you may consider that investment worth it at least whilst you are taking steroids.

 

[Deleted Account]

@planetsunshine sorry to read about your sight problems.
Can you clarify the problems you are having taking your blood sugar levels?
Is it with the finger pricking, putting the blood on the test strip or reading the meter?

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Yes, something like the Dexcom might help but as a T2 it won't be prescribed and you would have to fund it. Can I assume you are having a low-carb diet to help with BS? If weight reduction happens then the Liraglutide might be reduced or even stopped. Did you try Metformin Slow Release which is much kinder than the standard version? Obviously I don't know the impact of you eye condition on diabetes medication and being on steroids is always a BS problem.

 

[Scott-C]

From my brief google search it seems that non of the options offer an acoutstic read out though DexCom and FSl connect to phone apps which may enable you to increase screen size of the reading and at least they are not fiddly to take a reading.

xDrip+ takes data from dexcom, medtrum A6, libre/blucon/miaomiao, and has an acoustic option which can be set up to read out at variable numbers of minutes or change rates:

 

[Scott-C]

Does anyone know if there are any alternatives to the Libre freestyle,

As well as dexcom (which, on the face of it is more expensive than libre, but can work out about the same as libre if used "off plan" with an app called xDrip+), there's a more recent one, launched in the last few months, Medtrum A6, which is reportedly about £35 per sensor. There's a thread discussing it:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...-low-cost-cgm-solution-now-being-sold.146058/

On the funding question, if you have additional needs, some areas can be quite accomodating, so there would be no harm in asking the various teams treating your diabetes, cancer and sight to have a chat together to see if funding would be an option. You might be in with a shout if your sight is making it extremely difficult to test, but funding is always a tough gig so I wouldn't get your hopes up to much. Still, no harm in asking!

As per my post above, all the cgm systems can be run through an android app xDrip+ which can be set up to speak the readings, although libre needs a third party transmitter to do that, either blucon (about £100 one off cost) or miaomiao (about £160).