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FREESTYLE LIBRE ON SALE!!!!

Ouch. My new one went on and first test was 0.2mmol out. Better than

If you look at the forum users, it would be good to get a failure rate. I'm at 25%, Emmotha's at 20% (1st in five is it?) Smidge seems to be at 80% although it's probably lower...

The average isn't looking rosy.
 
My first sensor took 3-4 days to settle in. This one is behaving similarly to that so far
 
When I tested the first sensor after 60 minutes, it was also just 0,2 mmol out, so I thought Yea this is working for me..inaccuracy appeared afterwards, the biggest one (3mmol) after 7 days.

Have to admit the sensor didnt fall off until know with just 2,5 days to go.
 
That's a first. My fingerprick and the sensor agreeing on a bs level below 4.2!
 
I showed the Libre to my diabetic nurse yesterday and followed her advice for applying a new sensor (done while I was there). She admitted she'd never seen one, was very interested, and discussed it in the light of other cgms she had extensive experience of. She was not at all surprised about a few of the issues I've had and was totally adamant that finger pricking is still essential.

Her advice, based on a lot of experience with cgms was 1) put the sensor on my stomach as I have more fat there than on my arm and b) leave it in for 24hrs before activating it. Voila, this sensor is far more accurate than the previous 3. So far.

I am now a guinea pig for both abbott and the local NHS. She was not impressed by the lack of training Abbott are doing for either user or the NHS. In fact she was quite surprised Abbott are running a buy and try trial with no info going out to my local NHS diabetes teams.

Glad to have a sensor back on, particularly as I'm changing my insulin on her recommendations, trying to improve my overnights by reducing levemir.

I should be receiving a second reader shortly, I shall wait for this sensor to get to its last minutes and then see if I can activate it to the new reader. I half suspect that the sensor life is software controlled in the reader, maybe I'll get lucky and get an extra 14 days out of the sensor this way. Depends if the reader writes down to the sensor I guess.
 

Hi Tim, my 4th sensor seems good, so it's 50% for me at the moment - first two bad, second two good. Seems to take two weeks to get the replacements too.

Smidge
 
I forgot to mention, ordered Sunday delivered today, maybe they're improving

(4th sensor still pants after 27 hours)
 
redrevis said:
The reader is tied to the sensor by serial number, so this method won't work I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

You've tried? You are sure that the reader writes to the sensor? I'll try anyway.

.
 
igmr said:
You've tried? You are sure that the reader writes to the sensor? I'll try anyway.

.
Click to expand...
You might get away with that. I don't think the reader does write to the sensor. What I noticed was there was a little skin irritation when I took my last sensor off (I'd worn it for 17 days rather than the 14).
 
igmr said:
You've tried? You are sure that the reader writes to the sensor? I'll try anyway.

.
Click to expand...
I tried the same as u with my last sensor and it tells u the other sensor is still active and to wait
 
Only one way to find out

I can see no functional need to write back to the sensor, all the life line data is on the reader data file.

skin irritation and effective life of the filament is an issue of course but I do wonder how much the 14 day time limit is a commercial consideration.

Abbott stated way back that price point was chosen to be above sticks and below cm.

I'll find out in 10 days.
 
When I was putting the sensor in yesterday, it occurred to me that there may be a good reason for the high level of sensor failures.

If you look at how it is put together in the applicator, you have the needle and filament unit and the sensor. When you combine the two pieces you are locking the filament component into the electronic component and then firing them both together into the skin.

If this process doesn't quite work properly, it wouldn't take much for the filament end points to not connect properly to the electronics on the contact points. In my case, this meant that after the sensor was activated and it had run for 60 mins, the electronics weren't receiving something sensible from the filament. In other cases, after application, if this link was good enough to get started, but not seated fully correctly, you'd see the sensor fail after a period of time.

I wonder if this is what the problem is...
 


I have mine on stomach and waited 24 hrs before activating.... It's 3 mmol as a minimum lol changing it on Monday
 
redrevis said:
I haven't personally, other people have and it hasn't worked.
Click to expand...

Thanks, good to know that. I'll try going straight onto the new reader then, I need the insulin / glucose recording functions.
 
hale710 said:
I have mine on stomach and waited 24 hrs before activating.... It's 3 mmol as a minimum lol changing it on Monday
Click to expand...

Day 3, the 3.6, 4.3 and 4.1* were taken 30 seconds apart. Absolutely no reason for the 3.6 and 4.3 scans to be so far apart. Then the 8s an hour after - I over did it with 4 glucose tabs at 6:20 so that I could drive legally.

Must solve that overnight drop somehow,
 
I must just be lucky... on my fourth sensor now without any coming off. I haven't installed any early to allow them to bed in.

Readings are all within 1mmmol of my accu-chek aviva, allowing for the 15 minute lag. I, pretty much, only blood check once in the morning (set a 15 minute alarm to allow cross reference with the sensor) , for driving & if I feel odd.
Even removing them has just been like taking a plaster off.

The trend info is brilliant & the convenience has allowed a fantastic insight into how my blood sugar behaves whilst playing a round of golf, allowing me to get the levels steady as I go round.

I had one sensor that was recording the 'in between' readings, although when scanned was accurate was giving a graph on the reader. This was replaced by Abbotts with no fuss and I sent the old one back for them to examine.

The only thing I would ask them to alter is the reader reminder that the sensor is becoming due for change. The amount of reminders on the last day is ridiculous and annoying.

Other than that, this is a huge leap forward for glucose testing & diabetics everywhere...
 
The libre has come into its own today. Thanks to the knowledge gained from it I've been able to eat birthday cake and a couple of chocolates and maintained a really good graph. I can see how useful this will be over Xmas!

 
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