New Flash Glucose Monitoring from Abbott - Bloodless Testing

AlexMBrennan

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No, I was never under the impression it was.

"A finger pricker test using a blood glucose meter is required during times of rapidly changing glucose levels when interstitial fluid glucose levels may not accurately reflect blood glucose levels"
The tagline is "Why prick when you can scan"...
 

hale710

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The tagline is "Why prick when you can scan"...

Yes, but for some reason I've never assumed it is a substitute for finger pricks. Maybe because I've been following it for a few months now so have read as much as possible. It's a shame it seems to be raising false hope
 
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hale710

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http://vimeo.com/m/105752713

Ahh **** it - looks like a fun toy and with it being NFC and iPhone 6 having the right gear (and watch!) I might get one just so I'll be set when 'that' app comes along :p

Yeah if it's affordable long term then I'm definitely in. I was going to self fund CGM from summer next year, but it was only going to be temporary for pre and during pregnancy, I couldn't sustain it forever. I'm hoping the libre will be cheaper so I can get it now and keep using it!
 
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Julie1471

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Having high blood sugars!!!!!
Start up price is £138 for 2 sensors and the monitor, then £40 each sensor, this price was given to my DSN today at Kings from the Abbott rep, that gave a presentation. And it can be used for bolsus and corrections for pump use, if you are under Kings, the team is happy with this. But for hypo's and driving still finger tests. DVLA are in conversation with a panel of experts, re the use before driving. Also been told available mid October here. But I'm getting one to use for 4 weeks starting 25/9.
 
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Ali H

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Great blog, I really wish I was still working full time so that I could afford to do this. I care for my parents so only work part time, £60 carers' allowance doesn't go far. :-(
 

Spiker

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Someone should point that out to Abbott, saying as they tout it as cheaper than CGM!
On official prices and official sensor lifetimes, Libre is half the cost to run as Dexcom, and a tiny fraction of the up front cost. Only if you take into account unauthorised sensor "stretching" - reusing a sensor 4 times say - do you get to the opposite conclusion on running costs.
 
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hale710

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Someone should point that out to Abbott, saying as they tout it as cheaper than CGM!

No it doesn't, you have to but the transmitter for dex, and it's still more expensive if you don't have the animas pump
 
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Spiker

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No it doesn't, you have to but the transmitter for dex, and it's still more expensive if you don't have the animas pump
If you get a Vibe for free you will have saved the transmitter cost in 4 months. Including the cost of the Libre base unit, the Vibe + Dexcom G4 is cheaper overall, from the third month onward (assuming 4 sessions per G4 sensor which might be a bit high). Also, G4 actually is a CGM, whereas Libre is "only" flash monitoring.

And Animas have a habit of dropping prices to kill competition.
 
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Spiker

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Putting it another way, unless you can consistently average more than 2 sessions from a Dexcom G4 sensor, you will not see a running cost advantage with G4. If you can average 3 or more sessions the G4 will be cheaper to run, and at some point will be cheaper to own, even if you are not using a free Animas Vibe pump as the receiver.

Abbot probably won't need to drop their prices for Libre sensors because the need to wait for a free pump or buy an expensive receiver will be a barrier to most people. The Libre has such a low startup cost - it's incredible.
 
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Julie1471

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Type 1
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Having high blood sugars!!!!!
@Spiker , what is the start up cost of the G4, I thought it was £500, if you bought through Animas??