Hmmmmm. Libre and CGMs are brilliant tools to have BUT cannot replace finger pricks (in my opinion). I have a Libre and Miaomiao combination which is pretty accurate BUT still finger prick to send data to my pump. You have to remember that they can be VERY inaccurate. They are good for seeing trends and, as you said, seeing how different food and insulin affects your BGs
Sorry, in my opinion an absolute utter load of tosh! Only someone going home to eat whatever they wanted without a care in the world would come up with such a restrictive soul destroying start to a major life change. I made the decision on how I wanted to manage MY diabetes when given the alternatives to look at. Went in to see nurse the morning after hospital admission, and left an hour later with stacks of literature and the basis for carb counting. Nurse rang every day for a fortnight and made some adjustments. I was then on my own with help and support a phone call/email away. Never looked back. Pretty sure this approach is from the dark ages and unnecessary.
I'm not against using meters as well, but the amount of data generated from a CGM/Libre and the ability to respond dynamically to changing blood sugars, rather than hours after the fact, make it an absolute game-changer. I don't think my Libre is always accurate, but using it with a MiaoMiao allows me to dose according to trends, rather than relying on static carb and correction ratios like in the old days. I also had limited ability to understand what was going on before a CGM, including dawn/feet on the floor, how foods digest, how insulin works, etc, etc. The benefits are enormous and I don't understand why these devices are not mandatory and funded by the government immediately upon diagnoses of type1.
I think it’s because data can be very overwhelming for newly diagnosed type 1s. Some even go through burn out because it’s all too much. Some don’t even know what to do with the data. Libres and CGMs, while they are both fantastic tools, they have room to fail and when it does, you end up going back to old fashioned ways.
As regards forgetting to inject. Been there got the T shirt and thankfully I am in control of my own destiny so can correct. I would say it is perfectly normal and a right of passage.
Hi @mrtn.pllr , Yep, I've had the odd memory lapse.. I've also forgotten I'd remembered.. A bit of "detective work" from experince, tends not to panic me too much.
God yes, all the time. And I really wasn't a well controlled diabetic for YEARS so I'm not sure I ever even noticed, or, if I did, certainly didn't correct properly. Mistakes happen. Not such an issue on the pump, and with CGM, but they really are quite intense, and I can see why a staged introduction of tech might be useful. I self-funded libre for a while after deciding to look after myself 'properly', and all the information was really overwhelming and gave me quite a disordered relationship with food for a while.
There's way more danger in telling people to test a few times a day and to make decisions based on numbers that could be wildly changing. Plus the alarms can save people's lives, most especially newly-diagnosed people who have little experience with low blood sugars. More information = more power, I'm sure there are some people who are too overwhelmed but the majority would benefit and don't need to be babied.
Totally agree with most of what you are saying BUT you do have to remember that a newly diagnosed type 1 will have a complete turnaround in the way their lives are going to be running. Dealing with diagnosis and life or death decisions is overwhelming. Too much data and not enough information can be dangerous if you do not know how to deal with the information that the Libre is supplying you. Last night I had a "glitch" with my Libre/Miaomiao, was showing me as Hi and then 5 mins later Lo. Finger pricked to show me at 7......would a newly diagnosed panic if they saw a Hi or Lo on their Libre meter??
Hi, I have forgotten to inject in the past and now writing this, I think I forgot to take my Tresiba today
I think people are smarter than the medical establishment thinks, and while CGMs can sometimes malfunction, these situations are rare and a newly diagnosed person is perfectly capable of calling their medical team or researching online in these situations.
Sorry to meddle in the conversation, but I think this is a psychological issue. People are perfectly capable of understanding and managing their T1D (save for people with a cognitive disability), BUT, we're not always perfectly rational. Maybe it's preferable to go by baby steps to risk a rebellious reaction to the amount of information and care needed and the person completely giving up on treatment. I know of a lot of people (both personally and on the internet) that felt overwhelmed and burntout by the requirements to properly managing their diabetes, which sometimes led to deliberate negligence and complications.
On topic, there's this thread with a similar subject: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...-dose-of-tresiba-what-should-i-do-now.170228/ There, I replied: [I agree with monitoring more frequently just to be sure. I take a Lantus dose at around 9 pm and lost count of how many times I was startled awake, desperate, wondering if I had taken the dose that night. I recently started changing the pen's placement everytime I take the shot, replacing it when I do the morning fingerprick test. Now, if I wake up in the middle of the night, I can look at where the pen is. Even then, if I suspect I forgot to take it, and can't know if I either forgot the dose or just forgot to replace the pen, I consider the possible scenarios: -I took the dose, don't remember, and take another one (to be "sure") and risk a terrible hypo while asleep and further hypos through the day; -I didn't take the dose, and then take a full dose (nothing happens); -I took the dose, don't remember, and leave it (nothing happens); -I didn't take the dose, leave it that way and risk high blood sugars the next day (which can be remedied by a tighter control). The first case is the worst one, by far, and I'd rather risk high sugars (when that happened to me, it was not that bad) and having to correct them, so, if I suspect I didn't take the dose, I just ignore it. It is a hassle, yes, but I think is far safer. In any case, I second the opinion of contacting a professional when in doubt.]
Imagine what kind of techs will be there in the future! I'm always trying to be optimistic, that someday in the near future, like 10 years from now this illness will shift into its seamless daily management phase from this piercing, injecting, hypo-hyper phase. There are nanorobots today that can deliver medicine to the cells where it's the most needed, I just simply can't imagine a future where I still have to pierce myself 10ish times a day...
I would forget my basal off and on so I taped a big note to the front door so I would see it on my way out. Luckily I always had a pen with me in my purse so I would just have to give correction doses all day.