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FREESTYLE LIBRE ON SALE!!!!

tim2000s said:
To give you some idea relating to exercise, @L3wisr I go to the gym 4-5 times per week and none of my sensors have fallen off due to going. The one I had that came off was due to siting it on one of my muscles and the sensor not fitting the contour.
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Sounds promising. Does it still stick if it's knocked slightly?
 
robert72 said:
Full time - I'm on my 10th sensor, so 19 weeks use so far
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Same here. I been on the FL since it launced. I hardly ever finger prick.
I havent really had any issues. Had 2 faulty sensors but Abbott replaced them within 3 days.
Just like you get used to how you feel with blood readings, you eventually get used to how you feel with using interstitial readings.
I hardly have any hypos since being on the FL. Soon as I feel a bit strange, I scan. If I see the downward arrow and im at say 4, I take a mouth full of luzocade or have 1 /2 jelly babies and that soon gives me a straight arrow.
My HBA1C dropped by 1% so Im now in my 7's so Im happy.

Ive also stopped using my omnipod pump because that was just another device to carry around with me and another patch attached to my body.
Back on Tressiba and Humalog. Its easier just keeping my scanner in 1 pocket and my pen in another.

All we need now is for other manufacturers to follow so that this product becomes freely available on the NHS.

I can honestly say..... Im costing the NHS less. Ive not had a single dr or hospital appointment since being on the FL. Ive not even had the flu this year.
With my BG being normal and stable, I have not had any issues. My eye sight is never blurry, my neuropathy has gone. I only had my diabetic review and my consultant was really happy. My next appointment is in 6 months. Before, I had an appointment ever 2/3 months!!!

All we need now is the new super insulin that only starts working when your blood sugar rises and then stops working if your BS drops.
 
I'm continuing to use the Libre, tho not all the time. Every time it shows me a way to improve things.

This sensor is a bit wild, so it hasn't replaced fingerpricks, but it does show me responses to insulin and timing.

Getting my average BG down to 5.6 has been down to the Libre.
 
I've a couple of observations relating to this. I am currently using a sensor that is, ahem, not all that good. I put it in Thursday, started it yesterday and has consistently been 2mmol/l high over the past 24 hours. Had a low of 3.5 this morning that showed as 5.4 on the sensor. So while it's a bit rubbish for spot readings, I'm continuing to find that the trend info plus the levemir is keeping me very stable.

Whilst I was applying the new sensor, it occurred to me why there is an hour start up on the sensor. I believe it is basically the amount of time Abbott feel is required for the sensor to stabilise. Many of us have been putting the sensor in 24hrs early for the same reason.
 
With regard to irritation caused by the sensor, has anyone been given any advice by Abbott on avoiding it? I've been using the libre since day one and for most of my sensors have had no irritation or marks left.

The last 2, however, have given me problems. They haven't been itchy, but, the second last stopped working on it's last day with the 'your sensor has stopped working, please replace it message'. As it was only a few hours from finishing anyway, I put a new on on, started it & removed the failed one. I didn't contact Abbott as it was due to end and didn't warrant a replacement.. The latest one felt odd from the start, wasn't itchy though & I was getting good readings from it. It failed yesterday (saturday), in the same way as the previous one. This one left an ugly, weeping , patch on my arm, not sore and responding well to E45 cream.

I shall be ringing them on monday to see if they will replace it, but am more interested in whether they will offer any advice on prevention or positioning the sensor elsewhere to give the upper arms a break until healed. Looking at my arms I can see the red marks from the last 2 sensors but also faint marks where the previous 2 were.

many thanks, Peter.
 
Hey Jackois.

That seems a familiar story unfortunately. The problem seems to be that your body decides the sensor is a foreign matter and builds up it's autoimmunity to it - once it does that it reacts. Once you have had a reaction you will almost certainly get them at an increasing intensity.

I had 4 sensors that seemed fine and reacted very badly to the 5th. When I really checked, I could see faint marks from the previous 2. It took about 2months to heal. I haven't used the Libra since.

Abbott told me I was the only one reporting skin irritation ( certainly a lie) and that I might have to stop using it. They offered no help or advice. You will see that several of us in this thread have had the same issue.

Some people are trying putting a barrier in between the skin and the sensor - compeed plasters seem to be the most effective so far, but I haven't tried that yet.

Good luck with Abbott. Please let us know how you get on - I'm desperate to start using it again but I'm too concerned about the damage to my skin.

Smidge
 
So my sensor survived the football game, which we unfortunately lost 5-0 :s
My experience is that after 8 or 9 days I have to put some tape over the sensor to keep it stuck. Especially when I go to the gym more often..

I recently called Abbot regarding the skin irritation. They say skin irritation is reported only 'now and than'. So I'd recommend everyone who does have skin problems to report it to Abbot so they will feel the need to solve the problem..:s

The lady I reported it to recommended to use Cavillon spray and to see a doctor for skin problems. She hadn't heard about the Compeed plasters and suggested that readings might be inaccurate if you use it.

My experience with Compeed is positive. However it looks a bit less 'attractive' And when you put the sensor on the attacher seems to stick a bit to the compeed. Neverthless, I managed to get the second sensor over Compeed and it's reading well.
 
When I do get one I might look for an armband kind of thing to cover the sensor up. Got s feeling mine will get pulled off
 
L3wisr said:
When I do get one I might look for an armband kind of thing to cover the sensor up. Got s feeling mine will get pulled off
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I use tubigrip - I did get one of those runner's arm-pocket things but it's a bit too tight (should have got a size bigger)
 
A follow up to my post (no 2448) from yesterday.

I contacted Abbott this morning via the 0500 467 466 number and spoke to a nice chap who went through his checklist. I'd sat down before I rang and made notes of Reader number, sensor number & the error codes prior to failure, along with a brief list of the info I wanted. He also took note of the previous sensor number which failed on it's last day of use, which I hadn't kept for their records.

He has replaced the sensor even after 10 days use from it without any quibble. The will send a post paid return package with the replacement sensor for me to return the faulty one, but couldn't say whether there would be any feedback on the failure. He showed concern when I explained about the skin irritation, said he wasn't given any information with respect to how many are suffering with this, but recommended should it continue I should seek medical advice. Also he had no information on any change in the adhesive or use of barriers between the sensor and the skin.

Similarly, when asked about alternative sites, he said that Abbott only recommended the back of the arm as they felt they couldn't guarantee accuracy anywhere else & wearing it elsewhere would be a personal descision.

All in all, good customer service from the call centre, bearing in mind that most call centres operate on a script/checklist basis.

However, I now have to decide whether to take a break until my arms have healed, try one somewhere else, perhaps with a barrier installed. I lean towards Smidge's theory that the body's auto-immune system starts to reject the sensor, and the gunge produced upsets the sensor enough that it fails.

Hey ho... I must stress that other than the failure & irritation from the last 2 sensors, that the libre has been the best bit of kit, accurate & usable. Having finger-pricked since saturday, I've realised why the libre has been so good. Apart from the pain from the pricker, reverting back to old ways is like having to put a blindfold back on after being cured of blindness... frustrating!
 
Can I urge everyone who's had issues with skin reactions to report it via the Yellow Card Scheme not just to Abbott they are then "forced" to listen to the issues not just dismiss them and hopefully can produce something more hypoallergenic in the future
https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/
 
As promised an update on my Compeed experiment. You may remember from my last posting that I cut a hole in the Compeed first and then stuck the Compeed on my arm. The Sensor was then put as centrally as possible onto the Compeed. I then covered it all over with Opsite for protection.

Well it lasted the full 14 days. There was some itching after 4 to 5 days but nowhere near as bad as previous sensors. The sensor varied in its accuracy varying by anything up to 2mmol under and over blood glucose readings.

The sensor has just expired and as you will see from the pictures there is irritation where the sensor has been touching the skin.

I think the only way to avoid this will be to put the sensor through the Compeed without making a hole first. I know from others that this can be risky.

 


i NEVER put a sensor on hours before....
After a sensor expires... I put a new one on and wait the 60 mins. I just drink loads of water so that Im not dehydrated in anyway. This always works for me. Im never more than 1.2mmol out from a finger prick
 
I'm lucky in that I don't have skin irritation problems with my Dexcom, even after a month or so, but some people do.
Kerri on her Six Until Me web site uses a "Johnson & Johnson ToughPad"
Read about her experience here:
http://sixuntilme.com/2013/02/dexcom_rash_alternative_soluti.html

Edit:
Or is this the same as the Compeed patches others have talked about?
 
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Omnipod said:
i NEVER put a sensor on hours before....
After a sensor expires... I put a new one on and wait the 60 mins. I just drink loads of water so that Im not dehydrated in anyway. This always works for me. Im never more than 1.2mmol out from a finger prick
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Then you have been incredibly lucky. My current sensor has been at best 0.9 mmol out from my blood tests and at worst 3mmol. The 3 was when I was already in the 4s.
 
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