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Freestyle Libra Readings

Wow Kaz, these are some great revelations for your first few days of the Libre!

I have only this week been reading some stuff by Eric Berg (he has some interesting you tube vids if you want to check him out) on Adrenal Exhaustion, which is really quite common, and ways to treat it, including dietary changes that help with potassium, and so on.

Fascinating stuff. I need more info before I make any opinionated pontifications though! lol.

At the mo, I am having a bash at his liver support eating programme (more info to follow, if it has any benefit...) and he does a similar programme for Adrenal gland support.

Personally, if I don't supplement potassium and magnesium plus extra salt on food then I am plagued by muscle weakness, trembles, cramps and all sorts. Worse in the summer.

My BP was always on the low side of normal until last year when it hiked into needing meds - but that is typical for someone with PCOS (the raised BP at this age). Should monitor it more closely, esp since I have the monitor sitting beside my armchair. lol
 
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As your readings appear to be erratic, has your Doc ever suggested a 24 hour BP test?
 
I'll take a look at those, thanks.

The Libra is certainly giving me some interesting results so far. Last night I dropped into the 3's for quite some time before my body sorted itself out! Do you k is if it's normal to drop to those levels in the night? Could be something that non RHer's or non diabetics do. I'll post my graph later.
 
AndBreathe said:
As your readings appear to be erratic, has your Doc ever suggested a 24 hour BP test?
Click to expand...
I have the worst case of white coat hypertension you will probably ever see and my Doctor knows that. I've had a few 24 hour BP monitors over the last few years, all of which are normal.

I don't think my BP is erratic generally, just shoots up when I'm near anyone from the medical profession holding a monitor!
 
I have worn 3 Libre sensors so far and was surprised to see myself in the 3's at certain points during the night, although not for very long. Mostly low 4s, rarely above that. I am Type 2, non medicated.

However, I have cross checked each sensor with my normal finger prick meter at certain times of the day (bearing in mind the Libre has a time lag of somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes). My first 2 sensors read very low compared to my normal meter. This last one has been more or less spot on, averaging less than 0.3mmol/l lower. Have you cross checked yours?
 

On a general point; that something was normal some time in the past doesn't necessarily mean it will be normal now.

Oh, I can do White Coat very nicely myself. I had a bit of surgery in the autumn, and I knew my BP would be elevated on admission, so I took my home meter with it's memory of 200 tests or however many it does, to show, if asked.

My BP on admission was very high, and a referral made to the Anaesthetist, as it was around the considered safe threshold for surgery. They suggested I relax and think calm thoughts. Of course they are at the forefront of your mind immediately prior to surgery.

When he dropped in to see me, it was taken again, it had risen further breeching the threshold. It was something like 210/120 with a systolic cut off point of 200. Ooooops. Nurse declared I'd probably be going home.

The Anaesthetist enquired what was going on, and I explained it was all his fault and offered him my monitor to peruse. His response was, you don't look like someone who would have high BP routinely, I think it's best if I just get you off to sleep and deal with it as you snooze. What a bloke!

So, White Coat Syndrome I can do.
 
Hi Bluetit, I have checked the sensor a few times against my bg monitor and it always reads lower. The very first reading was 1.5mmol lower but some have only been 0.4 lower, so it's a bit random. Whenever I've had a reading from the sensor that's close to 4.0 it's always been a minimum of 1.0 lower than my bg monitor, so I'm not unduly worried at this stage.
 
Day 2 and 3


Notice the sharp rise and drop after dinner yesterday. RH at its finest! Then the hypo just after 4am. Suggests I dropped into the 2's and kind of came from nowhere. How is it even possible to bumble along quite steady all night (I did have to get up to my oldest around 1.20am) and then suddenly drop?

So far whenever I've checked a low reading against my bg monitor the libra measures between 1 and 1.5 mmol lower, so I'm hoping this wasn't quite a true reading.

Tonight's dinner was homemade fish curry with 100g of whole grain basmati rice. A peak of 7.2 and so far no hypo 3 and quarter hours later.

Again, comments welcome.
 
Couple of things - that drop into the 2s could not be a bg drop at all. It may simply have been that you were lying on the sensor, and the circulation to the back of your arm was reduced. I would wait to see if it ever repeats before drawing any conclusions.

Plus, really, looking at your blood glucose readings... they look kind of normal to me, to be honest. I am not seeing reactive hypoglycaemia, as I understand it. Although I have only really seen a few RH glucose curves. Your sharp rise and drop on Wed evening starts and ends at roughly the same level. In fact, they all do. If it was a RHypo I would expect it to drop lower than your starting point.

Although, of course, much depends on what you ate. You wouldn't expect an RHypo unless you had carbs to trigger it. I certainly don't get RHypos unless I eat the wrong stuff. The rest of the time I have peaks that drop to around the starting point too. What did you eat?

Not sure if you can remember, but the pics I have posted of my RH reactions have always started at (say 5.5) peaked, and then dropped to significantly below 5.5. At which point I eat to stop the drop.

You seem to be returning to your starting point and evening out. Do you snack at that point?

I do think that your peaks are sometimes slower to rise than to fall, which is interesting, because most glucose curves are the other way round - fast to rise and slower to drop after.

So, what and when did you eat, and when did you have your wobbly ill feelings in relationship to those curves?

And have you tested any interesting/challenging foods yet?
 
Lots to respond to there Brun! Starting with Wednesday night, my dinner was roast beef (quite a lot as it was yummy), 2 very small roast potatoes, roast celeriac, roast onion, half tbsp carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, gravy and tsp horseradish. I ate when I dropped to 4.4 (2 multigrain crackers with cheese). That stopped the drop and didn't raise me much. I then had a white coffee and square of 81% dark choc before bed, which I had the previous two nights without trouble.

Tonight's dinner included 100g (cooked weight) of whole grain basmati, but I'm usually ok with that. I didn't spike high, the drop was less dramatic and as you rightly pointed out, I returned to my pre-meal level and stayed there.

The only thing I can pinpoint as a potential trigger for my wobbly times is when I'm around the 5.0 mark. I'm still not convinced ALL of my symptoms are a result of bg levels. I've made an appointment with my Endo next Thursday evening. I want to talk to him about my graphs/levels vs symptoms.

I guess based on your observations and experience, are you thinking this doesn't look like RH at play OR do I just have it fairly well controlled?

I'm going to experiment a little over the weekend when my husband is around. Not sure what I'm going g to try yet. I've spent so long trying to gain control and being strict with myself, I'm reluctant to undo my hard work. Plus I detest hypos!!

Thanks for taking the time to comment. The advice on here is invaluable. Also thanks for introducing me to the Libra, it's an amazing gadget and my fingers are already recovering nicely! Even my doc was impressed by it
 
I do love the libre but I've had some weird experiences like it started to give me reading of say 14 when tested with fingers was 10 and my bloods were not irractically changing so I've had to have two replacements and they are thinking of replacing the monitor to if there control solution doesn't work. When it works it's awesome but I must say its allowed me to keep fit more so am very happy
 
@Kaz261 I would NEVER say you didn't have RH. But from the look of those graphs, if you do have it, you have it well under control. That is a very good thing! Seriously!

It does look as if the level of carbs you are eating seem to be within your tolerances... No sharp rises to trigger a reactive hypo - which is great - and I am genuinely curious to know if there is a link between your wobbly times and your bp - which may also be food related even if it isn't blood glucose related.

Let's see if your 'dead arm' (sorry, couldn't resist calling it that) happens again...

And I would be experimenting, just like you plan to, at the weekend.

Isn't the Libre wonderful?
 
Have you downloaded the log text file? This will tell you all the 15 minute readings so you will know for sure if you did drop to the 2s overnight and what you were either side of that drop. I personally find the text file very useful.

From what I can see by your graphs you have this well under control.
 

I'm definitely thinking blood pressure is something to do my symptoms, I just need to prove it! I'll keep you posted.

My levels stayed pretty constant all night last with no drops
 
Today I have experimented a little, with very surprising results! Just wanted to share them with you.



Lunch was 2 poached eggs on 2 slices of multigrain bread from our local bakers. Hardly any rise at all and a very gentle drop afterwards.

Dinner was fish and chips - Fish without batter, celeriac chips, 6/7 proper chip shop chips (yummy), a tbsp of mushy peas, a tbsp of curry sauce and tsp reduced sugar ketchup. With a peak of 6.6 this was very surprising!

I had a very steady night which was pleasing to see, but once again felt quite lightheaded this morning particularly when bending down. I now think after months of blaming all of my weird symptoms on my bs, the Libra is teaching me otherwise. I LOVE this gadget!!

I'm under no illusions though. I know that if I were to increase my carbs, my levels and symptoms would be significantly worse.

Tomorrow I may try a sandwich for lunch. Although I suspect the good result at lunchtime today was down to the combination of protein and fat with the bread.

All the best
 
Awesome! I am DELIGHTED for you!
- even if it does leave the bp questions unanswered (as yet).

Good going with the dietary control!

And yes, I love the Libre too. I can't run it all the time, but my goodness, the info and confidence it has given me makes it worth its weight in gold.

Have you been adding in any extra salt, potassium, magnesium? I know you mentioned it, but didn't know if it made any difference?

I am afraid i have no knowledge of boosting bp, only trying to lower it a bit, so cannot offer you any suggestions.
 
I believe you hovering around ketosis and really good control where the few carbs won't make much difference with the fat and protein that you are eating.

The confidence you are posting is not the same Kaz that was fretting every time you felt a little bit awful. And that's the really important thing that matters, you do feel better!

Well done Kaz!
 
Thanks both. Your vote of confidence means such a lot.

I've been adding salt where I can, so hopefully it will help raise the BP a little. I need to order some potassium and magnesium supplements. Do you have a recommendation Brun? I don't like ordering these things randomly off the internet.

I haven't had any BP readings as low as Thursday yet, but I do still think there's something amiss. I have another appointment with the GP Monday morning so I'm guessing she'll do a 24 hour monitor.

I'm also seeing my Endo on Thursday evening, may be he'll have some thoughts. Although, I have been thinking I might be better off spending the couple of hundred quid on Libra sensors instead!

Nosher, my new found confidence is all thanks to the Libra! I was really quite worried about what it might reveal to begin with, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised. I'm much better controlled than I ever imagined. I know that I'll still get some odd results and I need to repeat some of my experiments. I also know that some won't be quite so successful!

If I'm not feeling too wobbly in the morning, I might even try porridge. I know it spikes me fast and drops me fast, but not always to hypo levels. It would be interesting to see it on the graph. Get me! How confident is that?!!


Thanks again
 
That's great, thanks Brun.
 
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