I only got a rash on my skin under the sensor, though it was raw and inflamed. I suspect it might be possible to make it more accurate with a miaomiao transmitter and the xdrip+ accurate, which would allow you to calibrate the libre against blood glucose readings. But honestly once you're having a severe allergic reaction to something you've got to reckon it may not be safe to continue exposing yourself to that substance.
I don't know what to say to someone with a 3 year old though, that's such a hard age to cope with diabetes (I was diagnosed when I was 8 and I was fine, but I was old enough to do my own injections and detect hypos. And there was no blood testing at all in those days, so my blood sugar levels just ran higher than those of modern diabetic children ) . Some thoughts
1) go back to old fashioned finger pricking (sorry, I'm guessing that's really tough for a 3 year old)
2) use the libre less often (2 weeks on, 2 weeks off?) to see if that helps (bit of a long shot)
3) get the dexcom posted to you by a friend in another country
The libre is a pretty recent development, maybe if you post on the children and parents forum you can get advice from other parents of young T1s who managed the illness before cgms were available.....
Good luck and lots of virtual hugs, both for you and your little one.
Hi again, sorry it took so long for me to write again. Thanks for your very considerate reply. Yes, getting my son diagnosed at 2.5 years old was tough, but we tried to see the silver lining and thought that having T1D at such a young age is advantageous in the sense that he wouldn’t remember what life was like without it and won’t miss the freedom he never had (I’m sure there’ll be future burnouts and anger nevertheless, but we’ll just take it one step at a time).
Back to the topic of the libre system, I found out what makes the reading so erratic on the last few sensors: he took longer time in the warm showers than before. AND with warmer water temperature. The humidity makes the adhesive loosen quicker, even though I have added 3M Nexcare micropore tape to secure the sensor. Once it loosen, I think what happens is that the cannula moves around too much, water & dirt gets in, and speeds up the formation of something called ‘foreign body granuloma’ (Tissue-encapsulation of an implant,splinter etc). When our body forms defensive tissue around the cannula, no wonder interstitial fluid can’t flow freely around it, and throws the glucose reading off. I guess this tissue buildup is also what makes many people experience that the readings on the last days of each sensor is off by larger margins.
After realizing it, I bathe him with cooler water in shorter period of time, and put on waterproof transparent film dressing to protect the sensor (the ones that are usually used post-surgery, such as Tegaderm or Leukomed T). Basically keeping the sensors tightly glued and dry as much as possible. These changes succeeded in making the sensors read fairly well again (by this, I mean the usual 1-2 mmol difference since libre always reads lower), and we’re now happily back on libre
I also found out that the reading is better using my phone’s LibreScan app that connects directly to Diabetes M app (best diabetes management app I’ve tried so far, and we’re sticking with it). The LibreScan app reads closer to blood glucose, with less delay time.
So that’s my update so far. Am now hoping that Libre 2 can spread quickly to other countries. Or even better, something non-invasive like the SugarBEAT from Nemaura. But I guess that’s something for another thread.
Thanks again
@EllieM, virtual hugs & love to you too