Dexcom v Freestyle Libre?

[gorman100]

Hey

I'm a Libre user, but I've noticed that it's very unreliable when in my left arm for some reason. It basically always shows very low numbers (today, for instance, it has routinely shown LO, whereas my USB Contour says I'm 5.5-6).

I was thinking about moving to Dexcom. Is that any more reliable? What's the running and set up cost? Can you get it in the UK? Also, does Dexcom suffer from the same reliability issues?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Deleted Account]

I have trialled both Dexcom G4 and a Libre.
From what I remember ...
- Dexcom is a CGM: it automatically alerts when you BG is to high , too low or changing fast. Libre only provides data when you swipe. Unless you pimp it.
- Libre is a single sensor/transmitter in one: once it has finished, you throw it all away. Dexcom has a separate reusable transmitter and single use sensor.
- Libre is factory calibrated. Dexcom is calibrated against your finger prick readings twice a day. I preferred the Dexcom approach and trusted it more.
- Libre sensors last 2 weeks with no obvious way to extend the life (unless someone has managed to hack it). Dexcom lasts 7 days and then you can restart it. The longest life I got out of Dexcom was 23 days. Others may have got longer.
- Libre goes on the arm. Dexcom goes on the belly. I am sure you could put them somewhere else but this is not recommended by the manufacturers.
- Dexcom is bulkier than the Libre because of the separate transmitter.
- Dexcom works out more expensive. It used to be available from Animas (because it is integrated with the Vibe) but since Animas announced end of life for the pump, they no longer sell Dexcom.
- I found the Dexcom more accurate but neither were very accurate outside “normal readings”.

Finally, as I said, I trialed the G4. This was because of the pump integration.
Currently, the g5 is the latest.
The G6 is due out soon.

 

[gorman100]

I have trialled both Dexcom G4 and a Libre.
From what I remember ...
- Dexcom is a CGM: it automatically alerts when you BG is to high , too low or changing fast. Libre only provides data when you swipe. Unless you pimp it.
- Libre is a single sensor/transmitter in one: once it has finished, you throw it all away. Dexcom has a separate reusable transmitter and single use sensor.
- Libre is factory calibrated. Dexcom is calibrated against your finger prick readings twice a day. I preferred the Dexcom approach and trusted it more.
- Libre sensors last 2 weeks with no obvious way to extend the life (unless someone has managed to hack it). Dexcom lasts 7 days and then you can restart it. The longest life I got out of Dexcom was 23 days. Others may have got longer.
- Libre goes on the arm. Dexcom goes on the belly. I am sure you could put them somewhere else but this is not recommended by the manufacturers.
- Dexcom is bulkier than the Libre because of the separate transmitter.
- Dexcom works out more expensive. It used to be available from Animas (because it is integrated with the Vibe) but since Animas announced end of life for the pump, they no longer sell Dexcom.
- I found the Dexcom more accurate but neither were very accurate outside “normal readings”.

Finally, as I said, I trialed the G4. This was because of the pump integration.
Currently, the g5 is the latest.
The G6 is due out soon.

Thanks for that analysis - it's very helpful

 

[pinewood]

I have a Dexcom G5 and wouldn't be without it.

If you have an iPhone then it transmits the reading directly to an app so the only costs are for the transmitters (£200 every 3 months) and sensors (£50 each and they last 1 week but can be "re-started" as many times as you like - i.e. until they start to come loose on your skin and lose accuracy. Most people get 2 weeks from each one). Yes, you can get it in the UK directly from Dexcom. They ship free via DPD within 3-4 days. UK customer service is very good and once you're on the system you can even order online in a couple of clicks: very easy.

I switched to Dexcom from Libre primarily because Libre gave me a skin reaction after a while (Dexcom does not and I have been using it for years now) but the alarms are also very handy: with Dexcom, you do not need to "scan" to get your reading; it is automatically sent to your phone and your phone will alert you if your reading gets too high or too low (you set the thresholds and can even choose the alert volume and sounds). This is especially useful at night as it can wake you from your sleep if you drop too low or rise too high.

Dexcom is a bit chunkier than Libre and it requires calibration with a finger prick reading every 12 hours.

Accuracy, from my experience, is exceptionally good: certainly on par, if not better than, Libre. I think the official studies actually show Dexcom is more accurate.

Also, if you have an Apple Watch you can view your readings on there (although currently it can't send directly to the watch so you still need your phone with you).

For what it's worth, Dexcom G6 is due out later this year with a more user-friendly insert mechanism for the sensors, no finger prick calibrations and smaller profile. Not sure on UK costs yet.

 

[Brendon.Dean]

My advice is just use it as a tool and not a replacement for your test strips. The libre is a good indicator of where abouts your blood sugar is and you can make the decision if you should test with your blood for a more accurate reading.

 

[gorman100]

I have a Dexcom G5 and wouldn't be without it.

If you have an iPhone then it transmits the reading directly to an app so the only costs are for the transmitters (£200 every 3 months) and sensors (£50 each and they last 1 week but can be "re-started" as many times as you like - i.e. until they start to come loose on your skin and lose accuracy. Most people get 2 weeks from each one). Yes, you can get it in the UK directly from Dexcom. They ship free via DPD within 3-4 days. UK customer service is very good and once you're on the system you can even order online in a couple of clicks: very easy.

I switched to Dexcom from Libre primarily because Libre gave me a skin reaction after a while (Dexcom does not and I have been using it for years now) but the alarms are also very handy: with Dexcom, you do not need to "scan" to get your reading; it is automatically sent to your phone and your phone will alert you if your reading gets too high or too low (you set the thresholds and can even choose the alert volume and sounds). This is especially useful at night as it can wake you from your sleep if you drop too low or rise too high.

Dexcom is a bit chunkier than Libre and it requires calibration with a finger prick reading every 12 hours.

Accuracy, from my experience, is exceptionally good: certainly on par, if not better than, Libre. I think the official studies actually show Dexcom is more accurate.

Also, if you have an Apple Watch you can view your readings on there (although currently it can't send directly to the watch so you still need your phone with you).

For what it's worth, Dexcom G6 is due out later this year with a more user-friendly insert mechanism for the sensors, no finger prick calibrations and smaller profile. Not sure on UK costs yet.

That's also really helpful. My bizarrely-acted Libre sensor (which has shown LO for the last 12 hours) has suddenly, as of today, started working. It's things like this that annoy me about Libre...

I think I will stick with it until G6 comes out, and then consider my options

 

[gorman100]

My advice is just use it as a tool and not a replacement for your test strips. The libre is a good indicator of where abouts your blood sugar is and you can make the decision if you should test with your blood for a more accurate reading.

Definitely agree with that. I've just read "Sugar Surfing" by Dr Bernstein, and he talks about looking more at the upward or downward curve than the actual numbers. That's many what I try to do; and in that sense it tends to be more useful than establishing the actual glucose level.

 

[Brendon.Dean]

Definitely agree with that. I've just read "Sugar Surfing" by Dr Bernstein, and he talks about looking more at the upward or downward curve than the actual numbers. That's many what I try to do; and in that sense it tends to be more useful than establishing the actual glucose level.

Exactly, that up/down indication compiled with how you are feeling vs how you know your body reacts daily at that specific time all compiled together helps create a big picture for you to make a more accurate decision with minimal effort

 

[annliggins]

Im just 1 week into using the blucon nightrider amazing peice of kit and cheap to get hold of .....just playing around with it at the moment ...its speaking to me every 5 mins with my levels !!!!!!!!! Cool going around the asda ...

 

[Brendon.Dean]

Im just 1 week into using the blucon nightrider amazing peice of kit and cheap to get hold of .....just playing around with it at the moment ...its speaking to me every 5 mins with my levels !!!!!!!!! Cool going around the asda ...

That actually sounds really friggen cool! I'm looking at them online right now because I had no idea what they were. I wonder, is it covered by insurance?

 

[annliggins]

That actually sounds really friggen cool! I'm looking at them online right now because I had no idea what they were. I wonder, is it covered by insurance?

 

[annliggins]

I cant answer that im afraid ! What i do know is that if you go into the xdrip app that i have installed ...( far superior to the Ambrosia , which is the maker of this kit ) ,you can set alerts when callibration is due , set your levels and youll get an alert , send the info to the cloud , set spoken levels every 5 mins ....it is working great and the readings are only slightly behind with my bgl unlike my libre which can lag behind quite a bit understandably i thought the libre changed my game but this ??? Up to now ...fabulous and gobsmacking ! Me and hubby nearly crying this morning
Got appt with DSN on tuesday ... just going to put it into speaking mode and wait for her reaction

 

[Scott-C]

Lol, yeah, @annliggins , the speak mode is funny! It started to spook me out a bit, just having this disembodied voice coming at me from the sideboard...

Don't know if you've found it yet, but the predictive simulations function is really useful. It's in Settings/xDrip+ Predictive Simulations settings. In there, you can personalise some parameters to suit you, like ic ratio and insulin sensitivity.

Then, when you input a carb amount and bolus shot, it'll project purple dots out into the future as a rough idea of where it thinks that dose/amount will take you. It very often rethinks it each time it gets another 5 min reading to compare the prediction to reality, but after using it for a while, it's easier through experience to read it and assess which predictions are likely to hold good.

If I'm in two minds about a dosing decision, say, should this be 6 or 8, I'll often input 6, see what that looks like in the prediction, cancel, then try 8 for comparison. If one takes me wildly out of range, I'll use the other.

The predictions can be surprisingly accurate. Having it show iob is also pretty useful.

Screen shot to give you an idea what it looks

like:

 

[Scott-C]

I wonder, is it covered by insurance?

Don't know about insurance, but it's $110 or $165 for a newer waterproof one they've brought out in the last couple of weeks, although the jury is still out on how waterpoof they actually are.$25 shipping fee too.

I've had mine for almost a year now and it's showing no signs of packing in, so it's been worth the money.

There have been some reports of connectivity problems. It's a small start up company so it's possible that they've pushed out a few bad batches. But some of the connectivity problems have been more to do with people having both linkblucon, their inhouse app, and xdrip+ running at the same time - it just doesn't work in that scenario, deleting linkblucon usually sorts it. Also, Samsung phones can be hit or miss, but that's more to do with the bluetooth implementation on Samsung than the blucon - there's plenty of people reporting Samsung being dubious with any sort of bluetooth situation.

There's also a more recent libre transmitter, miaomiao, bit more expensive, haven't tried it.

Not trying to steer you away from dexcom, I'm sure it's a good system, but I think what blucon brings to the game for libre, quite apart from the hypo alerts, is being able to calibrate - it substantially improves accuracy.

 

[annliggins]

Lol, yeah, @annliggins , the speak mode is funny! It started to spook me out a bit, just having this disembodied voice coming at me from the sideboard...

Don't know if you've found it yet, but the predictive simulations function is really useful. It's in Settings/xDrip+ Predictive Simulations settings. In there, you can personalise some parameters to suit you, like ic ratio and insulin sensitivity.

Then, when you input a carb amount and bolus shot, it'll project purple dots out into the future as a rough idea of where it thinks that dose/amount will take you. It very often rethinks it each time it gets another 5 min reading to compare the prediction to reality, but after using it for a while, it's easier through experience to read it and assess which predictions are likely to hold good.

If I'm in two minds about a dosing decision, say, should this be 6 or 8, I'll often input 6, see what that looks like in the prediction, cancel, then try 8 for comparison. If one takes me wildly out of range, I'll use the other.

The predictions can be surprisingly accurate. Having it show iob is also pretty useful.

Screen shot to give you an idea what it looksView attachment 26734 like:

 

[annliggins]

Thanks for that Scott im going to try it ....im just in awe at the moment i never believed my life could be made so easier and safer by this little motherboard !!!
Its a life changer. Fingers crossed it doesnt let me down...that wouldnt be good i will still back up with an alarm call from my libre ar 4 am if im going to hit a low thats when itll happen . Appt with dsn is going to be so much fun ..

 

[EllieM]

For what it's worth, Dexcom G6 is due out later this year with a more user-friendly insert mechanism for the sensors, no finger prick calibrations and smaller profile.

I've just about given up with libre (just finished my final sensor after a 6 month break - allergic reaction was less but I had days of readings of LO all the time despite normal blood sugars, and the rest of the time with readings randomly under by 2 to 5 mmol/L... ) I obviously have a body where interstial glucose readings aren't that standard, so need to calibrate. I'm concerned that I'll have the same issue with dexcom. Are there any ex-libre users with my issues who've got dexcom to work, or am I just doomed to a life of finger-pricking ? (Don't mind finger pricking, but want the intermediate readings so I can control my blood sugars and avoid hypos. I lose hypo awareness if I run too low, so can't afford to lower my readings further without a cgm.)

 

[Scott-C]

Its a life changer

That's not an exaggeration, Ann! I feel a lot safer with it too.

Here's a couple of screen shots from my first few weeks with it. Slow dip down towards 4 (can't remember if I was adjusting my basal or was just wrecked after a night in the pub!), woke me up at my 4.3 hypo alert, meter read 4.2, few grams of carbs, nudged me back up.

It can be quirky at times, depends a lot on how well you calibrate it, but all in all, it's pretty **** good, I feel a lot safer at night.

 

[annliggins]

Success! Just been alerted to a low. Now ...how to turn it off ???

 

[iHs]

Success! Just been alerted to a low. Now ...how to turn it off ???

On the xDrip menu, scroll down to Snooze and then press it and that will silence the alert for a set amount of minutes. You can adjust the amount of minutes to your liking. I tend to leave an hour go because it takes about 25 minutes for anything sugary to start making bg levels rise and being alerted every 15mins isn't necessary if treatment has been given.