Catherine4188
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 124
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
Hello,
I will be starting a Freestyle Libre Trail today. I was wondering if any current users have any tips and advice for how to use the device more effectively and any issues etc.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Hi, it's a great device but it's got a few quirks which take a bit of getting used to before appreciating how useful it really is, so don't be put off to begin with.
It won't read the same as your meter. But after using it for a while, you'll generally get an idea of how close to or far from the meter it is and why and then make adjustments for it. First couple of weeks I used it I ended up meter testing a lot more than I normally did just to get a sense of the differences and how the two things worked together. Now that I'm further down the line with it, it's much easier to say libre says X so meter probably says Y.
First week, I really just used it for keeping an eye on hypos. If I saw it reading, say, 5 I wouldn't be bothering about a hypo but uf the 5 also had a downward pointing arrow, that's a stong indicator that I'm dropping hard and there might be a hypo on it's way so I would cross check with meter test and maybe have 5g just to tweak it up.
That's the big difference between libre and meter. Meter is just a snapshot, but libre gives way more clues about where it's been and where it might be going, even if the numbers might not be exactly correct. So it's worthwhile in the first couple of weeks figuring out what the graph and directional arrows are telling you.
Best of luck!
Thank you for that info. They made me activate the patch at the trial and it's been an odd day for readings. I know people say it takes 24 hours to settle. When I first took a reading my blood meter and Libre were just 0.4mmol apart. I then ate and injected and after 1 hour or so my Libre said I was 2.2mmol and decreasing but my blood meter said 5.9mmol. In 10 minutes the Libre then told me I was LOW which is guessing meant so low it couldn't measure???
Just looked at my patch in the mirror after having a long sleeve top on all day and the edges of the sticky bit are already lifted. Does this mean it's going to fall off over night or in the shower?
Depends. There's a few practical details which the glossy libre website doesn't get across! You said "they" made you activate it at the trial, so I'm assuming you went along to DSN/gp/hospital or whatever, without being told about setting up your arm first.
We're talking about sticking something to your arm for two weeks and making sure it stays there.
You'd be surprised by the number of people who've put some moisturiser or emollient on their arm and then put the sensor on. NASA have flown to the moon, but couldn't solve that sort of adherence problem.
I've not got particularly hairy arms, and I would never suggest a lady has, but most of us do have a bit of peach fuzz or random whisps, none of which helps stuff stick.
Finally, some people are just a bit greasy.
So, my usual play is to shave the back of my arm, have a shower, use the alcohol wipes. That way, it's as clean as it can be, and I've had no problems with it falling off.
It'll likely last till tomorrow, but see if you can nip out to a chemist early doors, ask if they've got a big 6 x 7 plaster like a Molnycke Mepore (omnicare have them for 17p) buy a few of those and stick on on top, it smoothes out the edges to stop snagging.
I'm going to take the liberty of tagging @maglil55 .She's been running an interesting thread about her first two weeks with libre:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/life-with-libre.118450/page-4#post-1438486
She's done some wonderfully geeky analysis of her experiences of this new toy which you might find helpful, so she'll hopefully chip in with a few pointers for you.
I could almost feel the pain when her Libre 1 expired: @maglil55 was grieving, man, she was grieving!
Thank you!
I didn't know I needed to start it today no. But I did have a shower before going and I haven't moisturised for ages. However, when we did apply the patch the applicator didn't let go and we needed to really pull it off. I think this may have caused it. I'm going to call the freestyle helpline tomorrow or Tuesday if it isn't open tomorrow. See if they will maybe send me another. Fingers crossed because I really want to give it a go, but don't want to spend £48 if it isn't for me. The lady at the trial said we could call if things went wrong, and hinted that if it fell if early that they might help out.
Hello,
I will be starting a Freestyle Libre Trail today. I was wondering if any current users have any tips and advice for how to use the device more effectively and any issues etc.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Hello,
I will be starting a Freestyle Libre Trail today. I was wondering if any current users have any tips and advice for how to use the device more effectively and any issues etc.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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