Freestyle Libre trial

it should help.

I am having the trial on 14th December. My nephew has had a trial and loved it, but it is soo hard to get it funded on the NHS.

I had a trial last month. It was really interesting to see the data for 2 weeks and work out what was/wasn't working with boluses as well as a full picture of what was happening overnight. I plan to get another sensor for it when I have enough spare money to stretch.

MeganTetley said:

Been offered a trial of the freestyle libre from the hospital yesterday, just curious if anyone had tried it?

My hba1c is too high and was wondering if anyone had found if it helped with sugar control?

Thanks

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Hi,

If you use the search box you will find many threads about it. There are a lot of forum members using it, T1s and T2s.

Hi @MeganTetley
I had a trial around 2 years ago( if memory serves me ) -- I think it is a fabulous bit of kit for looking at trends and patterns .

I can't afford to use it full time , so I tend to purchase sensors for events -- like going on holiday , further basal testing to see if pump settings are still good , and christmas , are examples that spring to mind.

Hallo
if you drive exllent , as you can check as you drive along very good if on a long journey
also if you can find out what happens overnight as you get a graph a blood sugar every 5/10 min
also if you walk/ run / as SPORT gives you pat good results but still check you blood testing you would do to gain how works with you
the results are against your normal blood testing one WORD of warning AS I WAS TOLD AT A MEETING
it does not always suit every one ,,
and this person did not get on with it so make your mind up when u use as it another test is always good
vic medal man 50/60 on insulin

@vic hill although i agree with the majority of your post, the part about driving is marginally in correct. yes you can check as you drive along but not advice able. The ruling about testing while driving requires a normal blood test with a blood glucose meter as they are only cleared by DVLA.

vic hill said:

if you drive exllent , as you can check as you drive along very good if on a long journey

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It should be pointed out that whilst you can see what's been happening over the last 2 hours between finger prick tests whilst driving it cannot be used to determine if you're at the right level to drive/continue driving. The DVLA do not recognise readings from the Libre yet.

I think the usefulness depends on what you want to do with it.
If you are hoping to replace finger pricks, you will be disappointed: it is not as accurate and cannot be used for driving so you will still need to prick your finger.
If you want to understand trends to optimise your treatment this is ideal. The kind of thing I mean includes understanding which food raised your BG and how long it takes, how different exercises affect your BG, etc.

I always compare using a Libre for point in time BG reading is like using an iPhone to just make phone calls.

Remember when you use it that the Libre sensor in your arm takes BG readings every 15 minutes. It stores 8 hours of data on the sensor. When you "scan" the sensor, it is not doing a test; it is downloading the last 8 hours of data to your reader. This means:
- the latest reading when you scan may be up to 15 minutes out ... and this does not include the 15 minute delay reading BG from interstitial fluids
- if you scan less often than every 8 hours, you will loose data
- if you scan every 5 minutes they would not change.

hmm
well you all have your points which is good .
according to information you should do a blood sugar test within 2 hours of driving
put it this way , just before a recent drive . i changed cartridge , and needle on a pump done test before a drive at 10.30 am
had a biscuit digetsive common carbs 10 grams 1 unit of insulin as blood sugar was 7.5
40 mins down the road got on the a14 to Huntingdon just past the Cambridge junction from the on .
all lanes were full of traffic at 5 mph the after a mile up to10 mph the up to 30/40 ten miles to the Huntington 3 lanes all full after about 20min turn of into a14 west
stopped check blood sugar 17 this high but when you have had 60 years of injection s this is a problem i have insulin
needle changes cause it to absorb slowly or at normal rate no go areas are arms legs and now the stomach .
how i would have liked to had the Freestyle attached could have saved me a tiny bit of stress.
so after adjusting for high blood sugars 4 units plus and up to 150 increase on pump and drive a further 30 miles all ok
as the blood sugars were back to normal ,now what is normal is another story for another day
thank for reply s
keep well FOLKS regards vic

Hi all - just finished a 2 week trial of the Libre and have found some very interesting details about my diabetes which after 27 years of being a diabetic I'd know but it seems every day is a school day...
So benefits are:-
Instant result
Ease of use
Log of data
Easy to read graph
Easy to fit sensor (certainly was for me stuck to me like chewing gum to tarmac)
Trends
Slightly different one I found was that when friends saw you scan your arm they suddenly became interested in your diabetes even more than previously always good to share your thoughts with other people.
Biggest thing I found out was that my bg rises during the night so I go to bed around 8-9 feeling good then my log shows my sugars rise to around 15 then start to decrease to around 4-6 when I wake so I check my bg previously and all seems good but using the libre tells me it certainly isn't so plenty to think about and react to to move this lower now so bring it on
Downsides
Data is not particularly accurate enough for me at least 2-4 units different from blood monitor but to be honest once I got used to that I'd decided not to use as a bg monitor at all I personally believe this could be why local NHS will not approve these on prescription it's just not accurate enough yet.

Overall an excellent piece of equipment and will definitely get more sensors as and when required perhaps on holidays etc.

I would recommend taking a trial if offered just to see the graph trends and average bg both very useful.

MeganTetley said:

Been offered a trial of the freestyle libre from the hospital yesterday, just curious if anyone had tried it?

My hba1c is too high and was wondering if anyone had found if it helped with sugar control?

Thanks

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hiya im desperate to get one of these, by hba1c has never been a normal. level in 15 YEARS.. always farfarfar too high! ive started a petition online to make them more available on the nhs in cornwall, please can you all go to change. org/nhs cornwall and sign and share! then please update on how well you have controlled your bg levels when you were trialling it!