Buy Freestyle Libre

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
Hi,
I need your help again. We are international customers from Georgia, Libre is not presented here and we bought it from Germany using freight forwarder.
Unfortunately We found out that the reader doesn't have an English language. Now started looking to buy the readers and sensors with the specs we want.
What we want is:
1) English Language
2) Mg/dl measuring (not MMol//)
3) Available freight forwarder from there to our country (of Course you can't help here).
We reviewed several opportunity but no success.
USA - can't buy without prescription.
Germany, Italy, France - does't have English.
UK - expensive, doesn't have Mg/dl (unconfirmed)
Canada - doesn't have Mg/dl (unconfirmed)

can somebody help?
 

Guzzler

Master
Messages
10,577
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
Forgive my ignorance but there are ways to convert values and to translate one language into another. I am confused as to why this cannot be done in the interim considering the boon Libre has shown itself to be.
As to cost, it seems that that is a problem everywhere and to the problem of Libre being prescription only in some areas, this is down to rules set in those areas and there's no way around it.
 

Antje77

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
19,413
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Can you use your phone instead of the reader? On the app you can choose mg/dl or mmol/l.
 

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
Forgive my ignorance but there are ways to convert values and to translate one language into another. I am confused as to why this cannot be done in the interim considering the boon Libre has shown itself to be.
As to cost, it seems that that is a problem everywhere and to the problem of Libre being prescription only in some areas, this is down to rules set in those areas and there's no way around it.
Hi,
Everything can be done, but why somebody has to learn German when there might be English available.
The same with mmol/l . We are not asking much.

Can you use your phone instead of the reader? On the app you can choose mg/dl or mmol/l.
Unfortunately We don't have NFC phone.
 

LooperCat

Expert
Messages
5,223
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
My English scanner will only operate in mmol/l - I’ve run through all the settings options, plus the locked healthcare professional ones.

Pretty sure you don’t need a prescription to buy the system in America, it varies from state to state though. Ask in the Libre groups on Facebook, there is one for US users.
 

Guzzler

Master
Messages
10,577
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
Hi,
Everything can be done, but why somebody has to learn German when there might be English available.
The same with mmol/l . We are not asking much.


Unfortunately We don't have NFC phone.

So which Georgia are you speaking of?
 

Guzzler

Master
Messages
10,577
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
Obviously Georgia in Europe, as the Libre is available in the USA.

Wouldn't it be easier to buy a second hand samsung S3 or so than to try to get a reader? I don't think the cost would be much higher.

With the ref to Germany I thought Georgia in Northern Europe too but the OP requests English so thought they might be referring to one of the other Georgia's.
 

Antje77

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
19,413
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
referring to one of the other Georgia's.
How many are there? I was supposing they need English because there are no readers available in Georgian, but I could be completely wrong :)
 

Guzzler

Master
Messages
10,577
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
How many are there? I was supposing they need English because there are no readers available in Georgian, but I could be completely wrong :)

Geography isn't my strong suit but I know of three. A country, a state and an Island. Sorry, I seemed to have muddied the waters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: porl69

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
My English scanner will only operate in mmol/l - I’ve run through all the settings options, plus the locked healthcare professional ones.

Pretty sure you don’t need a prescription to buy the system in America, it varies from state to state though. Ask in the Libre groups on Facebook, there is one for US users.
Thanks, I'll ask.

So which Georgia are you speaking of?
European Georgia.

Of course Georgian is now available in reader, because of this we wanted English.
We bought from Germany because of price and fast shipping from there, I thought English was available there.
 

SaladDaze

Well-Known Member
Messages
107
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Mine is bought in Spain. I don't have it with me but can check later what languages it has. I also think you can switch the units of measurement to match your preference, but I'm not certain.

Note that I couldn't buy mine immediately from Abbott Spain. I had to register then wait a month or two until they emailed me with a code that allowed me to go ahead and purchase the starter pack.

I soon stopped using my reader however because it constantly gave readings that were way under readings using strips with three different strip readers, one of which was the Libre reader itself. I discovered the Android app ''Glimp'.

This app reads the sensor using the phones NFC wireless and also allows you to enter the result of finger pricks. It then adjusts the sensor readings to put them in sync them with the finger pricks. It has lots of other advantages as will such, as automatically saving results to Dropbox so you can view the readings on other devices such as a tablet with the app also installed.

The app itself lists all the phone models that it work with (a lot). I'm guessing that the app sends back the phones make and model when it's working correctly so it gets added to the list. My phone is not a very common model but it's in the list. You could always install the app and go to Menu > Options > Info > List of Compatible Devices.

You might be able to find a really cheap compatible second hand NFC phone just to do the readings, then examine the results on your main phone, the results being shared via Dropbox.

One thing you may need the Libre Reader for is to activate a newly fitted sensor. I've only used one sensor so far but will be fitting another soon.
 

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
Mine is bought in Spain. I don't have it with me but can check later what languages it has. I also think you can switch the units of measurement to match your preference, but I'm not certain.

Note that I couldn't buy mine immediately from Abbott Spain. I had to register then wait a month or two until they emailed me with a code that allowed me to go ahead and purchase the starter pack.

I soon stopped using my reader however because it constantly gave readings that were way under readings using strips with three different strip readers, one of which was the Libre reader itself. I discovered the Android app ''Glimp'.

This app reads the sensor using the phones NFC wireless and also allows you to enter the result of finger pricks. It then adjusts the sensor readings to put them in sync them with the finger pricks. It has lots of other advantages as will such, as automatically saving results to Dropbox so you can view the readings on other devices such as a tablet with the app also installed.

The app itself lists all the phone models that it work with (a lot). I'm guessing that the app sends back the phones make and model when it's working correctly so it gets added to the list. My phone is not a very common model but it's in the list. You could always install the app and go to Menu > Options > Info > List of Compatible Devices.

You might be able to find a really cheap compatible second hand NFC phone just to do the readings, then examine the results on your main phone, the results being shared via Dropbox.

One thing you may need the Libre Reader for is to activate a newly fitted sensor. I've only used one sensor so far but will be fitting another soon.
That is also very interesting, our reader olso goes 30-40 lower almost always, I thought it was a sensors fault.
 

SaladDaze

Well-Known Member
Messages
107
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
That is also very interesting, our reader olso goes 30-40 lower almost always, I thought it was a sensors fault.

I think it is the sensor that reads low (I'm aware of the 10-15 minute lag between blood and intersticial).

The thing is that the Glimp will adjust the readings automatically after you've keyed in some finger prick readings. The original un-adjusted sensor readings are still stored in Glimp's data file I think.

The Libre Reader does not seem to adjust the results even if you take the finger prick readings with the Libre reader itself, which is a bit surprising. I had to buy the Libre reader strips separateley of EBay by the way. I bought them in the hope that they would cause the reader to adjust the sensor measurements to the finger pricks, but they didn't.

Just a tip. I really recommend the "3M Tegaderm Transparent Film Dressing 2.375" x 2.75"/Picture Frame Style" clear bandages to reduce the risk of the sensor getting knocked / falling off and give peace of mind. I learned about them on YouTube here. Sadly they don't come with a ticket to Bali ;).
 

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
I think it is the sensor that reads low (I'm aware of the 10-15 minute lag between blood and intersticial).

The thing is that the Glimp will adjust the readings automatically after you've keyed in some finger prick readings. The original un-adjusted sensor readings are still stored in Glimp's data file I think.

The Libre Reader does not seem to adjust the results even if you take the finger prick readings with the Libre reader itself, which is a bit surprising. I had to buy the Libre reader strips separateley of EBay by the way. I bought them in the hope that they would cause the reader to adjust the sensor measurements to the finger pricks, but they didn't.

Just a tip. I really recommend the "3M Tegaderm Transparent Film Dressing 2.375" x 2.75"/Picture Frame Style" clear bandages to reduce the risk of the sensor getting knocked / falling off and give peace of mind. I learned about them on YouTube here. Sadly they don't come with a ticket to Bali ;).
Thanks.

As I'm looking, it is impossible to buy in USA without prescription, at the same time US sellers are selling on Ebay, why this is happening.
I just haven't managed yet to choose correct seller, as they are selling the different versions.
 

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
Canada confirmed that they only have mmol/l.
I simply can't understand why Abbot can't offer such an ease option to choose Language and unit of measure.
 

SaladDaze

Well-Known Member
Messages
107
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Canada confirmed that they only have mmol/l.
I simply can't understand why Abbot can't offer such an ease option to choose Language and unit of measure.
I can confirm that my Spain bought reader has three languages Spanish (Spain), Italian, English (UK). Readings are displayed in mg/dL and I don't see an option to switch to mmol/L.
 

marco0070

Member
Messages
18
I can confirm that my Spain bought reader has three languages Spanish (Spain), Italian, English (UK). Readings are displayed in mg/dL and I don't see an option to switch to mmol/L.
So that is what I want, thank you so much, now I'lll write a letter to Spain branch.