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FREESTYLE LIBRE

£90 well you don’t pay vat right? Because when my old insulinlax machine stopped working at 1:30am I had no bg machine I’ll 10am next when I had to pay £35 or something for some machine with 10 strips to try I then had to buy 50 strips at £39.99 from the chemist still cheaper then paying that hmm do you not have a Medical exemptions certificate because that should cover your diabetes care including test strips which I would think that bit should be covered by a Medical exemptions certificate
 
Noemergencyexit.com said:
Do you not have a Medical exemptions certificate because that should cover your diabetes care including test strips which I would think that bit should be covered by a Medical exemptions certificate
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The medical exemption certificate in the UK covers prescriptions costs not all medical stuff, so if we haven't got it on prescription then the certificate doesn't cover it.
Many of us still haven't got the libre on prescription.
 
Hmm well that’s off putting isn’t it you would think they would put them on there as well hmm being diabetic is very expensive at £90 a month that works out to be 22.50 a week hmm
 
I self funded for a good 18 months or so it does cost a lot of money but they are well worth it. Plus it does help heal your fingers from all the pricking. Depending what county your in you may get it on nhs. I now get mine on nhs and it’s a god send. But it did take a long time for me too get them. But self funding at start is a thing they like to have seen being done, before being offered it on nhs. They will ask you about self funding. I think it was part of the criteria.
 
Ralphietype1 said:
They will ask you about self funding. I think it was part of the criteria.
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It should not be part of the criteria as given the price is it certainly not affordable by all - it is also not mentioned as necessary on the NHS England guidelines for approval. Though it may be used as a extra bonus point if you have been using it and its improved your control.
 

There's a mention of self-funding in the crtieria to cater for folks who have already tightened up through self-funding, along the lines of if you can show you would have met the criteria before you self-funded libre, you'll still get it:

"5. Previous self-funders of Flash Glucose Monitors with Type 1 diabetes where those
with clinical responsibility for their diabetes care are satisfied that their clinical
history suggests that they would have satisfied one or more of these criteria prior
to them commencing use of Flash Glucose Monitoring had these criteria been in
place prior to April 2019 AND has shown improvement in HbA1c since self-
funding."
 

Attachments

Thanks for that link Scott. Some very useful info during the webinar!
 
Scott-C said:
There's a mention of self-funding in the crtieria to cater for folks who have already tightened up through self-funding, along the lines of if you can show you would have met the criteria before you self-funded libre, you'll still get it:
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Yeah, I was just meaning it wasn't required that you have to have self-funded - though I may not have worded it very well
 
miahara said:
Thanks for that link Scott. Some very useful info during the webinar!
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If you're on libre (and I recall you were put on insulin recently too?), there's a couple of books on kindle for a few quid which are well worth a look at for understanding cgm:

Sugar Surfing, Stephen Ponder

Beyond Fingersticks, William Lee Dubois

They're generally aimed at T1s, but their focus is on how to use cgm well to make more sense of what insulin and carbs are doing.
 
Yes I would say take it it very helpful
 
Noemergencyexit.com said:
I was wondering if you use the freestyle libre and if so what do you think of it? If yo can please let me know what you think about it and if you would recommend it to others
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Look, if you're offered it on prescription I would 100% go for it. I used it for about a year and it was as life changing as when I was originally given a glucometer back in the 1980s. You put it on your arm and not your tummy and it's very easy to apply. Only two drawbacks really
1) the readings lag behind by 15 minutes compared to your actual blood sugar.
2) it's not accurate for everyone, particularly if, like me, they develop an allergic reaction to the sensor.

I self funded and would still be using it had I not become allergic (sigh).

My understanding is that there are add-ons that you can get to send hypo alerts, which is what I'd want in your position. Note that you'll have to google or ask here to do that, but it's well worth it.

Look, you have nothing to lose. Give it a try.
 
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