Freestyle libre

tim2000s said:

It's up to you. Abbott suggest you call them and remove the sensor if it bleeds. I've always left them in as the bleeders have tended to be more accurate for me.

Ta @azure

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Gosh, I didn't know about the advice to remove the sensor of it bleeds.

I actually only came back to the thread just not to smilingly post that when I applied my sensor a short while ago, it was a proper little bleeder! As I wait 48 hours pre-activation, as that enhances the chances of accurate feedback, for me, I'll have a ponder on it.

As a matter of interest, do Abbott replace the sensor where it has bled, or is that "just one of those things" and our own risk? I'm just asking for future reference.

AndBreathe said:

As a matter of interest, do Abbott replace the sensor where it has bled, or is that "just one of those things" and our own risk? I'm just asking for future reference.

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I was told that they'd replace it, but I'd always suggest ringing customer services and asking them what the latest advice is on bleeders rather than going on what one rep told me, as the feedback does seem to change, and I've not used it in more than 12 months.

AndBreathe said:

whilst the little bit of blood showing through the centre of the sensor looks a bit alarming initially, it dodn't impact the efficacy or accuracy of the sensor in any way

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Thanks @AndBreathe!
The sensor constantly shows some 3 mmol less than the meter. My lady panicked when she saw 2.1 on her glimp in the middle of the night. The libre reader was showing 3-ish. Blood test returned 5.4.My son still feels some discomfort caused by the sensor, but not too much though.
There is no Abbott representative anywhere in my area. I purchased the sensors from abroad, so I doubt I will ever get anyone from Abbott to talk to me about this, this forum is by far my best option.
I guess I will wait until later today or tomorrow, give the sensor 24-48 hours to settle. If it still causes him discomfort or returns much lower values, I will replace it with a new one. Luckily I bought one more, just in case.

tim2000s said:

I was told that they'd replace it, but I'd always suggest ringing customer services and asking them what the latest advice is on bleeders rather than going on what one rep told me, as the feedback does seem to change, and I've not used it in more than 12 months.

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Yes, having mulled it over a bit last night, I had decided to give them a quick call this morning, just to get it onto their radar, "just in case". The irony of the timing did make me smile though.

justadad said:

Thanks @AndBreathe!
The sensor constantly shows some 3 mmol less than the meter. My lady panicked when she saw 2.1 on her glimp in the middle of the night. The libre reader was showing 3-ish. Blood test returned 5.4.My son still feels some discomfort caused by the sensor, but not too much though.
There is no Abbott representative anywhere in my area. I purchased the sensors from abroad, so I doubt I will ever get anyone from Abbott to talk to me about this, this forum is by far my best option.
I guess I will wait until later today or tomorrow, give the sensor 24-48 hours to settle. If it still causes him discomfort or returns much lower values, I will replace it with a new one. Luckily I bought one more, just in case.

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Where are you Justadad (just roughly, not specific towns or anything)? I have used the Libre when overseas for several months, and Abbott still gave me support. The only tricky bit was where and when a replacement sensor could be supplied, as the UK house was all locked up for a while.

In the end, they just held the replacement on my account, and dispatched it when I was back in UK. The only challenge I had were the time differences between the two locations, making calling Customer Services, during UK office hours a bit of a tighter window than usual.

The product isn't perfect, but I generally have nothing but good things to say about Abbott Customer Services.

Just edited to add that Abbott were willing to ship to where I was in the world a the time, at no cost to me, but I decided against, because customs clearance for anything medical can be tricky and I didn't need the hassle, when I could just wait until I got home.

Don't forget they're reading different things @justadad so if the libre is reading 3 and BG is 5 you need to look at the arrow on the libre. If it's falling then that '5' might very soon become a 3.

At night time it does very occasionally read low even if I'm not because I've beeen lying on it in the same position

Another thing it's worth doing is putting the new sensor in 24 hours before the current one is due to expire, that way you eliminate the first day inaccuracy sometimes experienced with the libre.

AndBreathe said:

Where are you Justadad

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@AndBreathe, I am in the Balkans. Making best use of friends and colleagues who live in countries with Abbott representative offices to get me the sensors. Abbott and Abbott offices worldwide only sell to residents of countries with Abbott offices. This is why it is harder to get any advice from them. I wrote to Abbott UK, and got a reply that they would contact me within 72 hours. We'll see what they say. Unfortunately I can not dial their 0800 number to speak to them directly, it is for UK only.

Claire007 said:

Don't forget they're reading different things @justadad so if the libre is reading 3 and BG is 5 you need to look at the arrow on the libre. If it's falling then that '5' might very soon become a 3.

At night time it does very occasionally read low even if I'm not because I've beeen lying on it in the same position

Another thing it's worth doing is putting the new sensor in 24 hours before the current one is due to expire, that way you eliminate the first day inaccuracy sometimes experienced with the libre.

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Thanks, @Claire007! The first sensor was always showing between 1 and 2 mmol less than the BG meter. The second sensor started off with 3 mmol less than the BG meter. Will check progress later today, hopefully it settles and returns similar values to the first sensor, which we all got used to.

justadad said:

Thanks, @Claire007! The first sensor was always showing between 1 and 2 mmol less than the BG meter. The second sensor started off with 3 mmol less than the BG meter. Will check progress later today, hopefully it settles and returns similar values to the first sensor, which we all got used to.

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Just a question - as the Libre measures interstitial fluid, not capillary blood, and as the interstitial fluid is behind blood, do you know you need to finger prick first, wait 10 to 15 minutes then scan? (when doing comparison checks, that is)

justadad said:

@AndBreathe, I am in the Balkans. Making best use of friends and colleagues who live in countries with Abbott representative offices to get me the sensors. Abbott and Abbott offices worldwide only sell to residents of countries with Abbott offices. This is why it is harder to get any advice from them. I wrote to Abbott UK, and got a reply that they would contact me within 72 hours. We'll see what they say. Unfortunately I can not dial their 0800 number to speak to them directly, it is for UK only.

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I didn't have fantastic success with email support, although others have. If you don't hear from them after their 72 service level, please let me know and I'll see what I can dig out for you. I found another route in, eventually.

Just FYI, and for @tim2000s too, I called Abbott this morning, and they reckon, provided the bleeding stopped within 15-20 minutes, it's functionality should be unaffected. If, however, I find that not to be so, to call them back.

As I don't activate my sensors until they've been on my arm for c48 hours, I'll not have any sense of that until tomorrow evening or Thursday how it's doing.

Fingers crossed for you Justadad.

Bluetit1802 said:

Just a question - as the Libre measures interstitial fluid, not capillary blood, and as the interstitial fluid is behind blood, do you know you need to finger prick first, wait 10 to 15 minutes then scan? (when doing comparison checks, that is)

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Thanks, @Bluetit1802! I didn't actually do that, but the 8 hour readings with the reader showed around 3.0 mmol, throughout the night. The morning measurement was 5.4 BG and reader still 3-ish. It definitely is lagging, but the first one lagged too, so I am hoping it will improve. In fact, my lady will take measurements with the libre reader, glimp and the meter in about 30 minutes, so I will see how it goes.
Thanks again!

AndBreathe said:

I called Abbott this morning, and they reckon, provided the bleeding stopped within 15-20 minutes, it's functionality should be unaffected. If, however, I find that not to be so, to call them back.

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Many thanks, @AndBreathe! That was very helpful!