Should I buy a Freestyle Libre?

[jim1951]

I posted a week ago that I was disappointed with my latest HBAIC of 48. Whilst although not a bad reading in the scale of things it was higher than my extensive finger prick tests were suggesting.

@Brunneria gave some very good advice about concentrating my tests around one particular time and I chose to extensively test my DP problem.

My evening meal, which is low carb, will normally give me a pre reading of 4.x and post 5.x/6. Nothing else eaten after that.

So I was very surprised when I set my alarm for 0400 and got a reading of 10.4 and it slowly reduced to 7.x by lunchtime.

I have repeated this for 5 days with very similar readings. I would add that I never have breakfast apart from normal tea/coffee.

I am thinking of buying the Freestyle Libre Starter Pack for £133 which will give me 2 x14 day continuous readings plus the reader.

My plan would be to monitor for 14 days whilst watching the continuous trends and adjusting my eating timings as I go. Continue with my new routine for a month and then use the second 14 day monitor to ensure any changes I have made are working. After that I would probably use a monitor every 3 or 4 months but this would be backed up by my HBA1C.

Does this sound like a good way to go?

 

[jim1951]

I agree that the Libre is a great way to see the trends that you don't usually see between finger pricks.
It is easy to be disillusioned by them if you expect them to be 100% accurate or if you expect your Hb1AC to be exactly what the sensors predict.
.

Thanks for that.

I do not expect it to be 100% accurate or to mirror an HBA1C. What I am trying to fathom out is what I need to do to bring my numbers down when my post meal readings are very good. As mentioned I have discovered an extensive DP problem and hope that the Libre will help me recognise and analyse the trends and take action.

What limitations are you alluding to? I recognise it is not testing the bloods but instead picking up readings from the fluids that the glucose sits in but there should be a correlation between this and blood readings.

 

[jim1951]

Off the top of my head .. but please read around as I may have forgotten some
- 15 minutes behind finger prick reading
- inaccurate for high (typically, above 9mmol/l) and low (below 4mmol/l) readings
- unreliable for the first 24 to 48 hours as your body gets used to having an alien object inserted into it
- false lows at night if you lie on it
- some people/skin struggle to get their sensor to stick to them and need assistance
- a higher "failure rate" than finger pricks/test strips (although Abbott will replace them)

Don't get me wrong, I really like my Libre but I expect inaccuracies and try to cater for other limitations.

Thanks for that!

 

[becca59]

I would be interested to know how you plan to deal with DP without medication. It is basically your bodies response to waking you up. Are you an early riser?
Certainly a Freestyle Libre would be a big help on seeing this occur. I say go for it.

 

[jim1951]

I would be interested to know how you plan to deal with DP without medication. It is basically your bodies response to waking you up. Are you an early riser?
Certainly a Freestyle Libre would be a big help on seeing this occur. I say go for it.

I plan to deal with DP by trial and error!

5 years ago I discovered if I ate a teaspoon of peanut butter just before I went to bed it dramatically reduced my morning reading, but not working this time.

I just want to check what "funnies" there are in a 24 hour period and deal with them. Eating something as soon as I get up might help, but it will be breaking the habit of the last 40 years! But I would rather reduce the impact of DP being so high at 0400 by perhaps tinkering with the previous day. I dont want to eat breakfast in the middle of the night!!

 

[shelley262]

Hi I use a sensor periodically and despite several past sensors not being accurate - fluctuating very high and very low, but when you get very odd readings you can double check by using a standard bg strip and Abbott have always replaced ones provided they have a few contrast readings to see the error. Just keep records and ring them up if probs.
I bought a reader pack to start with as my phone wasn’t compatible at the time but now use my new compatible phone as well as the reader. if buying now I would probably try it just by buying a sensor and using the free app on my phone. This would involve much less initial cost.
I’d really recommend trying it - I’ve had loads of surprises and learnt a lot. For me stress is my biggest bg riser and has helped me to think through how I can manage my stress better and lower the rise! The ups and downs are really informative and it’s easy to do a quick scan to check at any time. I just tend now to put one on every 4-6 weeks to see how things are going but it’s a brilliant learning tool.
Good luck hope if you go ahead it gives you an insight into how your body and bgs work - for me my overnight readings often go into the 2s but stress can make me shoot up........

 

[Ajax]

There are parallels with my diabetes story ..at the end of last month, my lab test results showed my HbA1c had doubled to 108 mmol/mol ..so I spent my ✻reward points✻ on a super-duper glucometer ..so I can do 'spot checks' to find out if Dapagliflozin is helping me move in the right direction ..until my 3 month trial on the new medication is up ..and I have a fresh HbA1c

The original poster is right to float the idea of buying the Freestyle Libre Starter Pack ..but £133 is a lot of money to me.

 

[LaoDan]

I posted a week ago that I was disappointed with my latest HBAIC of 48. Whilst although not a bad reading in the scale of things it was higher than my extensive finger prick tests were suggesting.

@Brunneria gave some very good advice about concentrating my tests around one particular time and I chose to extensively test my DP problem.

My evening meal, which is low carb, will normally give me a pre reading of 4.x and post 5.x/6. Nothing else eaten after that.

So I was very surprised when I set my alarm for 0400 and got a reading of 10.4 and it slowly reduced to 7.x by lunchtime.

I have repeated this for 5 days with very similar readings. I would add that I never have breakfast apart from normal tea/coffee.

I am thinking of buying the Freestyle Libre Starter Pack for £133 which will give me 2 x14 day continuous readings plus the reader.

My plan would be to monitor for 14 days whilst watching the continuous trends and adjusting my eating timings as I go. Continue with my new routine for a month and then use the second 14 day monitor to ensure any changes I have made are working. After that I would probably use a monitor every 3 or 4 months but this would be backed up by my HBA1C.

Does this sound like a good way to go?

I did this, bought a couple sensors and measured pretty much everything. Some unexpected things for me were how much my BG spikes with exercise, and what happens when I wake up,

I think I was able to optimize some stuff, I eat my hearty meals and hit the gym in the morning/ lunch. I hit the mid 4s in the early afternoon and stay there until the next morning, protein shake for dinner... rinse and repeat.

I recommend this to everyone newly diagnosed, or just trying to get a handle on what’s going on. I’m thinking about sticking myself with another, maybe twice a year...

edit, I just bought the sensors and used my phone

 

[VR6 Nut]

Hi, just had my diagnosis changed from T2 to T1. In one of the many recent GP appointments he suggested I paid for a 3 month trial of a libre or a Dexcom. I went for Dexcom more expensive, my reasons were as follows Dexcom I could get next day libre 7 days. Dexcom G6 updates your phone every 5 minutes the app running on your phone monitors results and will alert you of low or high blood glucose levels. I do not think the libre can do this. I have had the Dexcom since Thursday. I figured I needed some thing as I have just been given 2 syringes long and fast acting insulin and advised the doses. I have repeatedly asked to see a DSN to discuss what factors to take into account if needing to change fast acting insulin dose but not been given an appointment. Very quicly I have a much better idea of what the insulin is doing and what happens when you do exercise, have disagreement with stroppy teenagers etc. It has given me the confidence to make changes as I can see the effect in real time and will alert me if getting near a hypo. With the Dexcom I needed to calibrate it, I spoke to Dexcom who advised that you should wait 24 hours before calibrating a new sensor. Also I have found results can be 2 - 3 minutes behind a finger prick if results are changing quicly. As it dose not monitor blood but other body fluids. Last night I did a 3 mile walk with the dog straight after evening meal a ready meal curry, I thought I could get away with out taking my fast acting insulin from checking premeal levels. I had the confidence to try it with continous monitoring when taking syringe plus glucose with me. Glucose peaked at 6.3 with no intervention from me. I needed more carbs at bed time. I would certainly try one it will give you more confidence as your testing is just looking at your phone or monitor.