Doing sensor monitoring and finger pricking

[thewestiesmum]

Is there anyone who does finger prick and also sensor monitoring?

I do both
I finger prick and sensor scan on waking
I do both before breakfast, lunch and tea then use the finger prick bgl for bolusing
I do both at bedtime
I only use the sensor in between meals unless I'm hypo then I do a finger prick to confirm because apparently finger pricking is more accurate.

The nurse called me yesterday to arrange my 6 month diabetic review. I mentioned that I'm using both types of monitoring and she said I would be best to just use one method instead of both
What does anyone think?

 

[Rokaab]

The sensors I use need calibrating 3 times a day so I have to use blood testing then, or if I'm low to double check what I'm actually at - the rest of the time I trust my sensor (during the day it is generally accurate for me)

Do note though that to get enough test strips for that on prescription as well as the sensors I had to talk to my doctors to say exactly why I needed more than 50 strips a month, because when I was given the sensors that's what my prescription was cut down to.
In other words they didn't want to prescribe both unless actually necessary - my pump sensors do actually require calibrating otherwise they stop working was a valid reason

 

[Juicyj]

I can't see any benefit in doing both for general t1 care apart from calibrating your sensor or for checking a hypo and whilst treating a hypo as both will give different readings.

I only use CGM now for day to day care, except for when I feel if I am going low to cross check this against.

 

[In Response]

I do finger pricking to calibrate twice a day,
I check with finger pricks if Libre/Drip/CGM suggests I need to do a correction.
Apart from that, I use Libre/xDrip/CGM for bolusing.

I am able to do this because I use xDrip rather than the native Libre app which enables calibration. This gives me confidence in the CGM readings.

 

[jackois]

I would only say that there is a 15 minute delay between your cgm and the finger test. Do the fingertest and only compare it with the monitor after 15 minutes... this is due to the differences between testing blood and interstitial fluid.

 

[jonathan183]

I'd suggest finger prick when suspect/treating hypos.
If you are sufficiently confident in CGM readings to dose insulin AND blood glucose is steady at the time then additional finger prick checks should not be needed.
The CGM is useful for trends and overnight values even if it is insufficiently accurate for dosing insulin.

 

[EllieM]

I usually use my glucometer at the start of a sensor's life to check that it is tracking correctly, and then for hypos and/or if I'm suspicious of the sensor result. I generally find it's pretty accurate, though new sensors have an annoying habit of reading low during the first 12 hours (I'm a dexcom user).

 

[becca59]

Use very few blood strips these days. For me Libre is accurate. The 15 minute rule doesn’t seem to apply with Libre 2. My heaviest usage is at the beginning of the sensors life to be able to feel confident with it. I have good hypo awareness so often down a jelly baby by just how I feel. The one time I would use test strips frequently is when ill as I would require more insulin more frequently.

 

[thewestiesmum]

Thanks for all the replies.

So I've partly taken a bit of a plunge this last few days. I'm still doing both finger prick testing and also sensor testing but I'm going by the sensor result for my insulin dosing instead of the finger prick result. I'm hoping by doing it this way I can eventually start using the finger pricking a bit less.

 

[nicki92]

I use Libre 2 for everything, only prick when I need to check hypos. Generally the value is pretty much the same and the estimated A1C matched with the measured value at my last check-up, so I'm fairly confident in the sensor. I also use both the libre app and xDrip, which adds some confidence for me