I have heard on the forum that the Libre sensors can fall off. Does anyone have any tips on how to keep the sensors attached to your arm. It's a lot of money for me to spend if the sensor falls off and I presume Abbott do not replace in this circumstance. Many thanks for any tips.
Thought I'd try the Libre but .........
- Thread starter CoastGirl
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Celsus
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Hi @CoastGirl, I have used them for more than 2 years and have yet to experience one single one just 'falling off'. And I live a quite wild life as being a 'CoastBoy' myself. Diving, surfing for hours. Rappelling down river streams and trekking in the French Alps, etc etc. Only twice has it come off before the 14 days interval. And every time it was because of my own silly actions:
Paintball gaming in rough muddy terrain where I dived into the ground shoulder first to hide from enemy shooters. And there were less mud thean I expected, so it was a rough landing. ;o) And second time was when I was running through some totally black indoor labyrinth mazes with my sons in internal competition. And it came clean off when I ran through a door frame with the sensor just touching the door frame itself. Boyz will be boyz...
As precaution I always shave the skin first. Removing the hair you might have (and we all do!) makes the attachment very firm and consistent across the sensor's full glue patch surface. And it makes it so much more less painfull to pull it off two weeks later! ;o)
And after shaving, use the supplied mediswabs you find in the sensor box to clean the skin from any fat/sweat/dirt.
Let the skin then dry out 1-2 minutes first.
Then apply the new sensor to your skin while giving it a gently pressure for additional 20 seconds or so to make sure full glue-patch is physically in contact with your curvy arm skin before pulling the applicator back out.
And you are good to go for 2 weeks!
Paintball gaming in rough muddy terrain where I dived into the ground shoulder first to hide from enemy shooters. And there were less mud thean I expected, so it was a rough landing. ;o) And second time was when I was running through some totally black indoor labyrinth mazes with my sons in internal competition. And it came clean off when I ran through a door frame with the sensor just touching the door frame itself. Boyz will be boyz...
As precaution I always shave the skin first. Removing the hair you might have (and we all do!) makes the attachment very firm and consistent across the sensor's full glue patch surface. And it makes it so much more less painfull to pull it off two weeks later! ;o)
And after shaving, use the supplied mediswabs you find in the sensor box to clean the skin from any fat/sweat/dirt.
Let the skin then dry out 1-2 minutes first.
Then apply the new sensor to your skin while giving it a gently pressure for additional 20 seconds or so to make sure full glue-patch is physically in contact with your curvy arm skin before pulling the applicator back out.
And you are good to go for 2 weeks!
Squire Fulwood
Expert
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They don't just "fall off" in my experience. I pulled one off when removing a T shirt once. As I removed my arm from the shirt the shoulder seam got behind the sensor and stripped it off. I am more careful when removing shirts now.
Since then I have read all sorts of safeguards but the one I use is to get a sports elastic tubular bandage and put it on my arm over the sensor. The prototype of this was the leg part of a sock cut off but they don't work too well due to rolling up.
Before you apply the sensor you are instructed to shave any hair from the site and to use the alcohol pad provided. Someone on this site said their son had a problem until he followed procedure.
Since then I have read all sorts of safeguards but the one I use is to get a sports elastic tubular bandage and put it on my arm over the sensor. The prototype of this was the leg part of a sock cut off but they don't work too well due to rolling up.
Before you apply the sensor you are instructed to shave any hair from the site and to use the alcohol pad provided. Someone on this site said their son had a problem until he followed procedure.
charliebarker
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I've had four sensors so far - one didn't work and two 'fell' off (one caught on a shirt - and one just eased itself off over the space of a day. ) I was getting very frustrated !!!! I can't use tape or bandages as I have a pressure allergy (it's not the sticky stuff on the plasters that gets me, but prolonged pressure!) Did everything suggested, used the swab, used skin-tack wipes, let everything dry, didn't shave as I have absolutely no hair on my arms (am a bit freaky that way !) - nothing worked !!! I kept experimenting with one of the sensors that fell off, but to no avail.
Looked around and found body glue https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U7H3454/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Nothing else had worked so I thought what the hell for £3.50. So.....before putting the two sides of the device together I gently spread some of the glue onto the back of the actual sensor - careful to avoid the needle/filament part. Then attached it and bingo - it's been on for 11 days so far and no sign of peeling off ! (the longest I'd managed before was 5 days - and I too was concerned about cost.) It's probably voided any guarantee or whatever, but I'm more concerned about it staying on ! You might be lucky and have no problems, everyone else seems to be doing Herculean feats of sporting adventures and it stays on - but I do gentle walking only, am not hairy, nor do I generally sweat - so I guess I was unlucky! I shall be using the body glue from now on!
Looked around and found body glue https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U7H3454/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Nothing else had worked so I thought what the hell for £3.50. So.....before putting the two sides of the device together I gently spread some of the glue onto the back of the actual sensor - careful to avoid the needle/filament part. Then attached it and bingo - it's been on for 11 days so far and no sign of peeling off ! (the longest I'd managed before was 5 days - and I too was concerned about cost.) It's probably voided any guarantee or whatever, but I'm more concerned about it staying on ! You might be lucky and have no problems, everyone else seems to be doing Herculean feats of sporting adventures and it stays on - but I do gentle walking only, am not hairy, nor do I generally sweat - so I guess I was unlucky! I shall be using the body glue from now on!
Thank you @Celsus, @Squire Fulwood @charliebarker for your responses, all very helpful. I think I will take a punt and give it a go. I am presuming if I have a problem and use tape to keep it in place, you can stick this over the top of the sensor. I am nowhere near as active as you @Celsus but do go in the sea a fair bit. Will just be mindful when taking clothes off as this seems to be the time it may fall off. Again, many thanks for taking the time to respond, greatly appreciated.
Bluetit1802
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I use the Libre part time. I've had 9 so far. Not one has fallen off or been pulled off. I am careful to apply it to the underside of my arm so it won't catch on door frames or something I walk too close to. I also ask my hubby to do the attaching as this seems easier and more secure than trying to do it myself with one hand. I have the opposite problem - I struggle to get them off at the end of the 2 weeks. They are stuck like limpets. I've never used any sort of protection - and they stay on in the bath and shower, although I've never been swimming with one.
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I lost one after soaking for far too long in a hot tub.
And I lost another by scraping it off on a doorframe when I kind off missed the door.
Both entirely my fault.
I now wear Opsite tape over the sensor when hot tubbing, and try to walk though the doorway not the doorframe
Also, as an experiment, I decided to leave one sensor on my arm until it fell off. They are supposed to last 14 days. That one lasted 28 days, and was still stuck like a limpet. At which point a friend pointed out that perhaps it had been on long enough, and the sensor is actually designed to last for just 2 weeks for a good reason... so I pulled it off. And it was still so well attached that it hurt to remove it.
So, from my point of view - with my lifestyle and non-hairy arms - I have no concerns whatsoever about them lasting the full 2 weeks - so long as I treat them with respect.
And I lost another by scraping it off on a doorframe when I kind off missed the door.
Both entirely my fault.
I now wear Opsite tape over the sensor when hot tubbing, and try to walk though the doorway not the doorframe
Also, as an experiment, I decided to leave one sensor on my arm until it fell off. They are supposed to last 14 days. That one lasted 28 days, and was still stuck like a limpet. At which point a friend pointed out that perhaps it had been on long enough, and the sensor is actually designed to last for just 2 weeks for a good reason... so I pulled it off. And it was still so well attached that it hurt to remove it.
So, from my point of view - with my lifestyle and non-hairy arms - I have no concerns whatsoever about them lasting the full 2 weeks - so long as I treat them with respect.
Thank you for your replies @Bluetit1802 & @Brunneria. I am going to give it a try as I think the information will really help. I just hope I don't like it too much as the cost may well end up putting me on an enforced fast
Snapsy
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Awwwww @CoastGirl prepare to get hooked! I've been using the sensors non stop for nearly 2 years and I've had to cut back in several areas to afford them. They've made such a difference to the way I control my type 1 that I feel I can't afford not to, if you see what I mean.I just hope I don't like it too much as the cost may well end up putting me on an enforced fast
Never had one fall off yet. One looked as if it was going to, so I resorted to an arm-wrap of gaffer tape for the last couple of days of its life - after which I found the sensor was even better stuck than the gaffer..........!
Celsus
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Its funny @Bluetit1802 & @Brunneria, we observe all those stories about fellow diabetics who experience and complain about the Libre sensors falling off (though still think we need to understand the circumstances better about when they do?), but we all 3 seem to have experienced and still do experience the complete opposite: That those sensors are so darn well attached to our arm skin that they are both very hard and very painful to pull off again.
In the beginning I didn't care to shave first before applying them. And took them off by simply pulling hard up in one side of the sensor disc. Could almost cry as painful it was, with the hairs that came off at the same time. (certainly increased my respect for the ladies and what they go through of pain for beauty when waxing their legs. OMG. =8-! ) And it always left a circular blue mark on my arm from when twitching that sensor disc off. That is how hard it sits attached. So now I always shave carefully and taking it off by slowly trying to lift it vertically up from the skin surface all at once without using the edge to tear it away.
I am blond myself and appear to have no hairs at all on my upper arms. But when trying to pull off the sensor disc, its especially clear that I do have many if not having shaved first the two weeks earlier when attaching it. The norm for human beings btw is having between 26-32 hair follicles per cm2 on the upper arm skin. So easily 100 hairs or so under the sensor. Reason why it is so important to shave before the application, to ensure it stays well and firmly attached.
In the beginning I didn't care to shave first before applying them. And took them off by simply pulling hard up in one side of the sensor disc. Could almost cry as painful it was, with the hairs that came off at the same time. (certainly increased my respect for the ladies and what they go through of pain for beauty when waxing their legs. OMG. =8-! ) And it always left a circular blue mark on my arm from when twitching that sensor disc off. That is how hard it sits attached. So now I always shave carefully and taking it off by slowly trying to lift it vertically up from the skin surface all at once without using the edge to tear it away.
I am blond myself and appear to have no hairs at all on my upper arms. But when trying to pull off the sensor disc, its especially clear that I do have many if not having shaved first the two weeks earlier when attaching it. The norm for human beings btw is having between 26-32 hair follicles per cm2 on the upper arm skin. So easily 100 hairs or so under the sensor. Reason why it is so important to shave before the application, to ensure it stays well and firmly attached.
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Westley
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Just to add one more user's experience-
Out of about 30 sensors I've had since I started using the Libre, I think maybe 7 or 8 have come off before the full 2 weeks.
Sometimes they just loosened and fell off, particularly during summer with a lot of working out and sweating and frequent showers. Some of them were from brushing against doorways.
Out of about 30 sensors I've had since I started using the Libre, I think maybe 7 or 8 have come off before the full 2 weeks.
Sometimes they just loosened and fell off, particularly during summer with a lot of working out and sweating and frequent showers. Some of them were from brushing against doorways.
charliebarker
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JammyDixon
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I am now on my second sensor, my first one fell off within half an hour, I rang up Abbot and they sent me a replacement, I have very hairy arms, so today I had a close shave on my arm all stuck the sensor on, however within about two hours it started to peel off! I put Tegaderm over the top but that started to peel off as well, so I have DuoDerm slightly on the sides of the sensor and it’s keeping it place, it is very sticky stuff! Except now I’m not getting accurate readings so I’m not sure if the dressing is interfering with the sensor
