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FREESTYLE LIBRE ON SALE!!!!


Hi Tim,
I would have agreed with you until the end of last year (19+ years since diagnosis) when I had a series of very bad, very frightening overnight hypos. I live alone & this really unnerved me.
My experience with the Dexcom has been very positive (apart from the cost) & the alarms have been accurate. Of course I can't say how many bad hypos it has saved me from, because I now treat them almost before they happen.

It seems that as Libre users have found, the sensors work better for some people than others. Obviously I've been lucky in that respect.

I'd like to think that with competition from the Libre, Dexcom prices might come down..
 
Smidge, I would argue that the ability to see how you are trending right now is *more* important than spot BGs if you are well controlled. It's something I have given a lot of thought to over the past 18 months and is why I started to look at CGMs in the first place.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
 

I'm well controlled, I can still be BETTER controlled. I can't get up and test every night, but the libre will show me what is happening. If I think it warrants an overnight basal test I can then follow through with that since the libre has hinted it's needed
 

I certainly have some sympathy with this view @tim2000. It is why I started investigating the CGMs too. Unfortunately the cost is prohibitive to me and because of the start up cost and limited shelf-life of the expensive components, you can't really dip in and out of using it.

What I hope people will understand is that the Libre is a different proposition. Very useful, but in a different way and this is why Abbott doesn't market it as a CGM. The key difference between the Libre and CGM as far as I can tell is the real time display of trend data. CGM has the capability to display real time trends because there is a constant connection between the sensor and the reader via the transmitter. Libre does not have this. It can display a point in time scan which uploads the data from the sensor to the reader as Robert pointed out in an earlier post. It can then display what your daily trend has been up to that point. It continuously records your BG on the sensor and uploads it to the reader at your next scan. All the data is stored and can be downloaded from the reader to a PC for retrospective analysis of trends. Having used the Libre for a week, I am finding this invaluable

Smidge
 
Yes. I agree with you.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
 
At last night Hounslow Diabetes/Cardio meeting a representative from Abbot Diabetes Care introduced the Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring system which is being trialled by (name deleted) in the Diabetes Clinic at West Middlesex Hospital.

Looks extremely interesting & useful. I need to discuss with them, but I am inclined to buy one & test it (& me) in liaison with the diabetes specialists to further the cause.

The rep. asked what the professional reactions were to my LCHF diet! She is familiar with this forum.
 
I have another gripe, which is that you can only see the numbers for the sensor readings preceding a scan if you upload the data and import it to a spreadsheet on the computer. On the reader you can see all your scan numbers via the Logbook, but not the readings the sensor took, except in a very small mini-graph where you can't see the detail.

Or am I missing something?
 
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@novorapidboi26 - the Libre sensor automatically measures the glucose in the interstitial fluid once a minute and stores one reading every fifteen minutes - it retains eight hours worth of these readings before overwriting the oldest. When you do a manual scan, your current glucose level + the previous eight hours worth are transferred to the reader. So - as long as you scan once every eight hours you will have a contiguous history of your glucose levels.
Note - when you look at the log book on the reader you will only see the scans you have performed manually but when you transfer the memory of the reader to your computer you have access to the readings that were automatically recorded by the sensor as well.
It's a great tool for seeing what your sugars have been doing throughout the night without having to wake up to take readings.
 
No, you're not missing anything, that's the way it works. I don't see a problem - it's easy to work out the approximate sensor data readings via the trend graph. If the reader showed (numerically) every reading the sensor had recorded you'd be swamped with numbers - better to export the data to a spreadsheet if you really need to see the individual readings.
 
@LucySW - It is a retrospective system - the data is all there but you manipulate it offline. There is no connectivity between the sensor and reader, so it cannot show real time data. It shows point in time and historical. The graphs on the metre take account of all historical data up to the most recent scan but to view the detail you need to download it to a PC.

Smidge
 

Hello,

This might have been dealt with but I couldn't see it in a quick read through the pages;

Does the meter have bolus wizard like the FreeStyle InsuLinx?

Does the meter use the same test strips as the FreeStyle InsuLinx (FreeStyle Lite)?

Do the replacement sensors come in single packs; i.e. it is £58 for 1 14 day sensor?

Thanks

Dillinger
 
There is an 'Insulin Calculator' in the locked-off Professional settings, although I haven't gone through it as I have to bolus for protein too.

The meter uses Freestyle Optium blood strips/ketone strips

You can buy single sensors (you can get them for £48 ish if you check the VAT declaration, but don't know about delivery charges for those).
 
I've been using a Medtronic CGMS for some time, have trialled the LIBRE and I'm trying the Dexcom tomorrow. The lower cost of the LIBRE is the most attractive point for me! Unless you have no hypo awareness then the Dexcom and Medtronic offer little more benefit other than the alarms. All 3 have issues with calibration and you have to buy new transmitters for the Dexcom and Medtronic. Medtronic at last cost were 450 for 10
 
I've been using the Libre since Thursday and have had varied results. I scanned with the libre and this showed 6.9 whilst my meter showed 10.2 which seemed high for what I've ate earlier. I therefore decided to test my blood again using another finger - this time it showed 7.9, again I used another finger and got a result of 8.7! Has anyone else tried this? If so what type of results have you had? It looks to me that my libre is a darn sight more consistent than my meter.
 

@Dillinger

Yes, you can access the bolus wizard with an internet-published 'secret' code. I'd tell you what it is, but Giverny would probably 'limit my account'. LOL.. So Google the Insulinx code - it's the same. This device is amazing. For £133 you get a month's supply of invaluable data. For the first time, I know what my BG is doing overnight. I have made a small adjustment to the timing of my morning Apidra (the not-so-rapid-acting insulin as it turns out!) dose and have completely flattened my morning BG profile for the past 3 days. You buy the sensors individually and can dip in and out as needed - you have a 2 year warranty on the £50 meter. It's not perfect, but it's the best thing in diabetes management since - well - avoiding sliced bread really!

Smidge

Actually, should have said that I've never used any of Abbott's metres before, so I've no idea how this one compares to any of the others, The insulin calculator seems very basic to me - you enter the ratio and duration of your rapid acting etc and it tells you how much active insulin is available. I've not found any other functionality, but I'm not sure if that's how the others work or if I'm missing something.

Smidge
 
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I'm looking forward to when Abbott develop a smartphone app for the Libre so we can use our NFC enabled phones and skip having an extra device altogether!
 
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