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Continuous Glucose Monitoring

J

Jean Debby

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Libre or Dexcom 6? I'm not eligible for free CGM as my Hba1c are'good'. However, I would like to see when my BGs are going up or down and have warning if I'm heading for a hypo. Also to see the effect on BG of exercise, different types of food, which injection site etc etc. I've got a smart phone and it would be great to see my BGs charted on it. minor point, can you wear either when swimming? I'd be interested in people's opinions on pros and cons of either. I am prepared to pay for a month's trial, but would probably not be able to finance it long term.
 
Jean Debby said:
Libre or Dexcom 6? I'm not eligible for free CGM as my Hba1c are'good'. However, I would like to see when my BGs are going up or down and have warning if I'm heading for a hypo. Also to see the effect on BG of exercise, different types of food, which injection site etc etc. I've got a smart phone and it would be great to see my BGs charted on it. minor point, can you wear either when swimming? I'd be interested in people's opinions on pros and cons of either. I am prepared to pay for a month's trial, but would probably not be able to finance it long term.
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Hi, can't comment on the dexcom but I find the libre does all you have listed for me, other than alarms but the Libre 2 has just been released in the UK which does have an alarm function. Some have had accuracy issues but I haven't noticed many.

Maybe worth checking Libre eligibility criteria - I went to one clinic where I was averaging 7 blood glucose tests a day and was told it had to be over 8 to make the Libre cheaper for the NHS than blood testing strips. So close yet so far! Also told HbA1c was 'too good'. I then knew that for the 3 months ahead of my next clinic I had to religiously test over 8 times a day, but was then prescribed it! Libre eligibility has changed so worth checking.
 
I'm a Dexcom G6 user and it has been transformational for me. "It might be" more consistent, accurate than Libre 2 and also it is simple to link with an iPhone, but as I doubt I'd qualify for a NHS Libre anytime soon, I will continue to self fund my Dexcom - but NHS (very slowly) is expanding prescriptions to Type 1s for Libres?
 
I was a Libre user for a long time, one of the first patients to have trials in my area. My honest & personal opinion is even if they took my pump + Medtronic CGM away from me I wouldn’t return to Libre. I’d just blood test. Towards the end of using Libre I found BG & SG results shockingly bad, Libre sometimes saying 17/18mmol and BG saying 10mmol. Imagine id just trusted Libre & took a corrective dose.

I can’t comment on dexcom, but I did a hell of a lot of research about Medtronics CGM when my DSN told me I was getting it & id say 80% of reviews said the dexcom was a lot better. So much so that people where dropping Medtronic pumps and switching to tandem with dexcom. I will say most of these reviews where from the USA. Just to put that into context though i personally think Medtronics CGM is 100x better than Libre & a hell of a lot more accurate so if dexcom is supposedly better than Medtronics then how far advanced is it on Libre?
 
I self fund and migrated to dexcom from libre because I became allergic to libre, at which point its results became completely inaccurate (out by random amounts in either direction). The dexcom still works well for me after nearly a year of use. But if you aren't using it full time and the libre works for you (you'll need to do occasional blood tests to check) you'll be better with the libre, because the dexcom relies on you paying for a transmitter which lasts 3 months in addition to the sensors (and is more expensive than the libre anyway).

So if trialling I'd try the libre first, as the initial trial outlay is much less.
 
The LibreView automatic target range is between 5-10mmol/L and when I had the training I was told it was less accurate outside this range, and to always back up a reading under 4 and over 12 with a blood test before acting on it (like correcting with more insulin).

I wonder if that explains lower accuracy for those who regularly are outside the 5-10mmol/L range?

It is also difficult because both glucose strips and sensors can be 15% out but still be deemed accurate. So if your *real* glucose value is 6mmol/L, it would be within accepted accuracy if your meter read 5.1mmol/L but your sensor scanned 6.9mmol/L (taking in account for the lag with the sensor scan).
 
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