Continuous Glucose Monitor

[Ruthlavelle]

Hi Guys, just wondering if anyone has used any of the continuous glucose monitors or freestyle libre and what they thought of them? I used to have a pump but went back to injections due to the fact that I didn't like wearing the actual device. Curious to see how other people feel?

 

[Fairygodmother]

I use a Libre. While it’s not as reliable as a blood test at giving accurate results, and since it uses interstitial fluid rather than blood it’s 15 to 20 minutes retrograde of actual bs, it’s nevertheless terrific at showing trends, giving a graph of whole day bs and tracking averages. My fingers are beginning slowly to recover from years of attrition too. And it’s so much easier to run a reader across my arm when out, even if I’m wearing a thick coat over a winter woolie. I wouldn’t like to be without it.

 

[Mbaker]

I have tried the Libre several times, I found it inaccurate compared to say my One Touch Select Plus (which tracked perfectly with my surgery's NHS synced professional device). If I were a Type 1, I would use the Libre for trending, in my scenarios I was getting 2's a lot of the time and low 3's often 1.5 mmol's out.

 

[TheBigNewt]

There's a separate forum a ways below this one on Glucose Monitoring with lots of threads about the Libre and Dexcom.https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/blood-glucose-monitoring.42/

 

[sweetbloodsher]

Totally love my Dexcom and can't imagine living without it. It's hard enough to walk the tightrope of insulin dosing, but knowing 24-7, approximately where your bs is and in what direction it's going, helps.

 

[Postleneo]

I use the dexcom G4 with the animas vibe and fund the CGM invaluable. Whilst it is 15 -20 mins behind and not as accurate as an actual BS reading seeing trends over the course of a day helps me with fine tuning my basal and seeing what foods spike me and for how long. It also really helps me knowing if my bloods are trending down, steady or trending up. IE. If my B's is 5 but trending down and still have say 1.5 units of IOB I may give myself 10 Gram carb to potentially save me having a hypo. Couldn't see life without it now!!

 

[BananaK]

To answer your question about having something attached, I was hesitant about that too. I’m a Libre user and it has just become second nature - now on sensor 4.
The first sensor I didn’t quite put in the best position on my arm and it was loose by day 10, but I’ve been fine since.

Check out the other forum posts for experiences of others. It will come down to personal preference. I love being able to check at any time and seeing trends has genuinely changed my life managing this T1 thing!!

Good luck.

 

[Heyrehair]

We have a 2yr old with a Dexcom g5. Helps us keep track as she has no hypo awareness yet. Aside from the days where we change the transmitter she doesn't even notice it. On those days it's more the anticipation that upsets her; Due to her tiny size it's placed just above her buttocks. Doesn't get knocked, fine in the bath etc. I tried it as part of training and found the insertion procedure less painful than a standard finger pricks test.

 

[Scott-C]

I didn't like wearing the actual device.

You'll barely notice them. Libre is about the same size as a £2 coin. First few days I wore it, I had to keep on checking my arm because I felt nothing and thought it had fallen off.

The amount of information either system gives makes strips alone look like the Stone Age.

They take a lot of the unpredictability out of T1 - you can see lows starting to develop and proactively treat with a few grams of sugar long before it gets anywhere near 4.

And makes things like checking basal much easier as you can see what happens overnight on the 8 hour graph.

 

[therower]

Hi @Ruthlavelle . I use dexcom sensors and they are unbelievably unobtrusive.
Only precaution I took initially was to use an area where I wouldn't be laying on the sensor during the night..
Other than that it's just a case of keeping them stuck in place for as long as they survive.

 

[becca59]

Scott-C mentions proactively treating with a few grams of sugar. That is the amazing thing, discovering that you do not need to over treat lows.

Blood testing is useful for checking accuracy of the Libre (I do this morning and night -leave 10 mins between- and for checking very highs/lows before treating.) But nothing beats the Libre for trends. I don’t know it’s there.

 

[Ruthlavelle]

Thanks for the reply guys, it's definitely food for thought. I thought that most people wore them on their arm, which is a bit too obvious for me. I'm assuming its OK to change position to stomach or bum??

 

[becca59]

I believe for the Libre they only guarantee it on the arms. It honestly isn’t an issue, they are very discreet. Besides I wouldn’t care it is keeping me in good health. Far more important than how it looks.

 

[LooperCat]

Thanks for the reply guys, it's definitely food for thought. I thought that most people wore them on their arm, which is a bit too obvious for me. I'm assuming its OK to change position to stomach or bum??

I wear mine on my arm, and have some lovely decorative stickers for them, from a business in Germany called Pep Me Up. Really quick delivery too, and they last the lifetime of the sensor. Got a purple flower on my current one

http://shop.pepmeup.org

 

[therower]

Hi @Mel dCP .
What's your fave colour?

 

[LooperCat]

Hi @Mel dCP .
What's your fave colour?

Black

 

[Scott-C]

There's a whole cottage industry for glamming up libre a bit!

For example:

http://siodalingerie.co.uk/product-category/diabetes-tech-wear/

Haven't tried libre anywhere other than my arm as I'm a bloke who wears long sleeve shirts so the aesthetics of it isn't a big deal, but I'd be cautious about wearing it elsewhere.

There's a few tech papers suggesting that the relationship between blood glucose and interstitial fluid glucose can vary a lot in different body areas. Abbott have designed it for the back of the arm as there's a reasonable correlation there, so, for me, the arm it is.

Would be interesting to hear what sort of experiences people have had using it on other areas.

Anyone tried it on their forehead? That would be making a statement...

 

[LooperCat]

I’ve worn mine with a sleeveless shirt at a rock gig, and just tied a bandana around my arm to protect it. Was down the front and we all survived the night!

 

[therower]

Funkypumpers. Another company who do some fancy stuff.
Someone on the forum recently attached a libre to his upper thigh. Forgot to shave first. Ouch

 

[Ruthlavelle]

@therower hahahaha I can imagine that wouldn't be ideal. I love that none of you are phased by it - must try to be less vain! Seems like it has definitely improved things for most of you!!