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Freestyle Libre - Does anyone put it anywhere other than their arm?

Surbiton17

Surbiton17

Newbie
Messages
1
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Smokers!
Hello,

I have been using the freestyle libre with great results but i have been getting a little down as so many people think that the sensor is a nicorette patch and i am giving up smoking! (I have never smoked a cigarette in my life!)

Does anyone place the sensor anywhere other than their arm? Now that we are in summer months this is becoming a daily occurrence that i get questions.

Many thanks
Sarah
 
Surbiton17 said:
Hello,

I have been using the freestyle libre with great results but i have been getting a little down as so many people think that the sensor is a nicorette patch and i am giving up smoking! (I have never smoked a cigarette in my life!)

Does anyone place the sensor anywhere other than their arm? Now that we are in summer months this is becoming a daily occurrence that i get questions.

Many thanks
Sarah
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My son hated it in his arm. Wears it on his thigh v high up and you can't even see it when he's wearing boxer shorts. Works perfectly there and doesn't bother him. Not licensed to wear there, but if it works, who cares. Hope this helps Sarah.
 
I've been tempted to try it somewhere else as people are always asking - I don't get questions at the gym as people are covered in heart rate monitors and all sorts . I just don't want to risk wasting the money.
 
Bon83 said:
I've been tempted to try it somewhere else as people are always asking - I don't get questions at the gym as people are covered in heart rate monitors and all sorts . I just don't want to risk wasting the money.
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Honestly, my son gets really accurate numbers on his thigh. There's a bit more "meat" there than on the arms and I wonder if that's why it works really well. They're far easier to put in on the thigh too. We lost a few that he put into the arm, but the thigh - can't really go wrong. And absolutely painless going in, apparently.
 
In the past, I have used both my upper, outer chest, so that it would be hidden when wearing a bikini (no, don't hold that image in your mind!), whilst in a hot climate, and it was fine. I have also tried one on my tummy, at the sort of level to be under bikini bottoms. It was OK there, in terms of functionality, however, I did have a bit of a near catastrophe pulling up my jeans, more than once.

Next time I want to wear one "hidden", I will use my bottom/very lower back, I think.

As others have said, I'm uncertain how Abbott would feel about a complaint of an errant sensor if it was being worn in an unapproved location.
 
New2T1D said:
Honestly, my son gets really accurate numbers on his thigh. There's a bit more "meat" there than on the arms and I wonder if that's why it works really well. They're far easier to put in on the thigh too. We lost a few that he put into the arm, but the thigh - can't really go wrong. And absolutely painless going in, apparently.
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Will give it a go :)
 
DCUKMod said:
In the past, I have used both my upper, outer chest, so that it would be hidden when wearing a bikini (no, don't hold that image in your mind!), whilst in a hot climate, and it was fine. I have also tried one on my tummy, at the sort of level to be under bikini bottoms. It was OK there, in terms of functionality, however, I did have a bit of a near catastrophe pulling up my jeans, more than once.

Next time I want to wear one "hidden", I will use my bottom/very lower back, I think.

As others have said, I'm uncertain how Abbott would feel about a complaint of an errant sensor if it was being worn in an unapproved location.
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I know what you mean. We decided to take the risk and if it didn't work, realised we couldn't complain. But where there is a nice healthy and abundant supply of interstitial fluid, my guess would be that it'll work well. I think that when (if?) Abbot do more research and realise it works on lots of sites, they might change their guidance, as the arm seems to put people off. My friend from work also has a recently diagnosed son and he wouldn't entertain Libre because he didn't want something in his arm - anywhere. So the thigh suggestion has given Abbot a new (sadly long term locked-in) customer that they otherwise would not have had.
 
Abbot should improve their guidance and customer support.
 
I wear mine on the side of my hip so it is covered by my bikini, I also cover it so I don't catch it when going to the loo. My reading are better than when I wore it on my arm. I kept knocking them off when on my arm so for me this is much better. Good luck.
 
I think my questions would be this:

How homogeneous is interstitial fluid? (Eg Do different sites have a different lag time, or even a different relationship, to blood glucose?)

Are there any major veins/ arteries/nerves at your new site that could be hit?

I imagine the truth is it's just that they've only been approved for one site, and they have other aspects of Libre they'd rather spend money on right now.

They would have done testing already regarding accuracy and either found that on average, arm is best, or location makes no difference.
Individuals may vary of course.

Me, I'm happy with it on my arm. I want people to know that the age of the machine-man is comingI do wish they'd offer some different looks though. A white circle is ugly, I only accept it because it's cool technology. I have a weird dislike of circles. Black/grey hexagon please Abbott!
 
I am currently trialing hip - fatty muffin top lol. Not any difference in performance really. But easier to knock need to be more careful. I feel less self concious at work. But I never really minded it at gym etc. I did a run not so long back and saw someone else with a sensor - it was a bit like a in club
 
I rang Abbott to talk to them about the placement. I was asking whether the instructions were right (the black circles at the back of the arm) or the pictures on the web site which I would say show it more on the side - though this is debatable I would agree. I also asked if it could go anywhere else.
They were adamant that it needed to go on the back of the arm and when I pressed them because I got better results to the side they said it need to go somewhere where there is more skin and less muscle. Placing on the back of the arm where they say has more loose skin and less of the muscle.

I don't know if that helps at all - but avoid your muscles if you choose somewhere else and try somewhere with thicker, looser skin.
 
Fleegle said:
I rang Abbott to talk to them about the placement. I was asking whether the instructions were right (the black circles at the back of the arm) or the pictures on the web site which I would say show it more on the side - though this is debatable I would agree. I also asked if it could go anywhere else.
They were adamant that it needed to go on the back of the arm and when I pressed them because I got better results to the side they said it need to go somewhere where there is more skin and less muscle. Placing on the back of the arm where they say has more loose skin and less of the muscle.

I don't know if that helps at all - but avoid your muscles if you choose somewhere else and try somewhere with thicker, looser skin.
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Will do! thanks for the feed back! Now, I have plenty of areas of less muscle however if it was to be my husband using it he would struggle with the back of the arm as he does his triceps every other day and does not have loose skin .
 
butt is fine. only on my 4th sensor, but it's going great there. results are accurate to BG machine as much if not more than they were on the arm. This isn't medical advice, but for me, I figure if there's enough flab to grab, it'll work.
 
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