General thoughts on experience T2s, education, Freestyle Libre.

I have thought for a long time that people with diabetes, especially T2s, get a frantic scramble of activity on first diagnosis and are then generally cut adrift thereafter.

IMHO there should be the offer of a course to update knowledge every 5 years for those who want it, definitely every 10 years.
Because knowledge and research is constantly moving forward.

Having just embarked on a self funded Freestyle Libre I have found that it has made an enormous difference to understanding how my body reacts to food and other stimuli.

With "Nanny" looking over/through my shoulder I have modified my eating and drinking and managed to lose 5 lbs in 2 weeks without any major pain.
[ Beer! ]

This in turn makes me think that there could be a whole range of long term T2s out there who could benefit from the information and make major beneficial lifestyle changes if they had, say, two Freestyle Libre sensors and the loan of a Reader (if they don't have a suitable mobile phone) over a month and then an in depth review with a diabetes expert (GP or endocrinologist).

The cost to the NHS should be low - £100 for two sensors and a one of cost of a Reader. The day to day readings would go into their clinical records and provide a solid baseline for review.

You could even consider one sensor a year to be worn just before your scheduled review.

This wouldn't work for everyone because you have to be motivated and also willing to read the sensor at least once every 8 hours, but it could potentially save the NHS a lot more than the modest outlay.

helensaramay said:

@LittleGreyCat I think you have some great ideas and they apply equally to T1.
A few years ago (before Libre were available), I asked for a CGM for a month.
I wanted to be able to see what impact things like different foods, exercise, stress, etc. had on my BG.
Knowing the cost of a CGM, I thought this would teach me some lessons I could then apply without the sensor such as avoiding certain foods, reducing my insulin at a particular time when exercising, taking my insulin different times before meals depending on what I was to eat and learning whether my high BG in the morning was DP or not enough insulin.
Like you, I thought the cost would be relatively low for great return.

Your suggestion of one sensor a year, just before the annual review is brilliant - it gives some great data to discuss in the review.
Given the recent discussion about the value of Hb1AC I wonder whether 2 weeks of Libre may be more valuable. I don't know how much a Hb1AC test costs (including the time from the phlebotomist) and how a single Libre cost would compare.

Click to expand...

I think I would like both as I have a long history of HbA1c records.
The blood test also covers a lot of other things including kidney function so I wouldn't want to drop that.
I was regarding it as additional information to help explain HbA1c results.