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How long do you wait to activate a libra sensor?

Boo1979

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,849
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
the leaflet says 60 min but Ive seen people saying anything up to 24 hours works better
Also what do you do re night time readings?
 
the leaflet says 60 min but Ive seen people saying anything up to 24 hours works better
Also what do you do re night time readings?

I leave mine 48 hours. Many folks do 24, but 48 seems to work better for me.
 
60 minutes and it is always fine. Been using sensor for 2 years.
 
Can just second Gemma2, 60min after setting the new sensor you just start reading. We observed that during the first couple of hours deviation is somewhat bigger from finger pricking BG values but after 24 hours the match is pretty good, often close to identical. That's why seasoned Libre users often set the new sensor one day before the old one expires. My daughter has been wearing Libre since three months and we are satisfied. As to your second question, you need a Bluetooth transmitter placed atop of the Libre sensor (e.g. Blucon NightRirder) to periodically submit BG reading onto a Android tablet or Phone device running the xDrip+ applet that you can set up to alarm you when BG data approaching preset low/high values while you sleep.
Good luck to stay within range!
 
I wait 24-36 hours before starting the sensor. It means wearing 2 sensors for 24-36 hours every fortnight, but I don't really mind that.
 
Re the nighttime readings thing - I just scan every time I'm awake in the night to see what's going on. As long as you scan at least every 8 hours there won't be a gap in the graph. Is that what you mean, @Boo1979 ?
 
Re the nighttime readings thing - I just scan every time I'm awake in the night to see what's going on. As long as you scan at least every 8 hours there won't be a gap in the graph. Is that what you mean, @Boo1979 ?
Cheers yes thats what I was wondering - I want to see the overnight pattern but not have to physically test evety 15 min - luckily ( wrt the this issue anyway) Im a seriel insomniac, so one or two readings over an 8 hour period will be a breeze!
 
Thanks all for responding.
Think I'll add a bit of ceremony and either start it up at midnight or else when I wake up in the morning - I attached it at lunchtime today but my arms aching somewhat around where its attatched so I def want to wait until that settles
The idea is to use a sensors during Jan and Feb to gather some more detailed data prior to my next review at the beginning of March when I plan to ask the consultant to run another couple of tests. Ive got 2 sensors so far and may just do 2 weeks on 2 weeks off and continue normal monitoring throughout, or if I think the data produced justifies it Ill buy another couple and wear sensors for the full 2 months
 
It works it all out for you, @Boo1979 - it's brilliant!

I 'bip' it every time I get up for a wee, just to check I'm not going low or high, but the sensor is sampling all the time even when I'm asleep. That's the beauty of it.

 
I've found I need to insert a new sensor a good 48 hours beforhand to allow it and/or me to acclimatize before I'm able to start it running, otherwise I get a couple of days of silly readings (e.g. generally constantly hypo low) but after this initial settling period it's then what the manual says: 60 mins from initial start up new sensor scan to actual glucose logging activation scan, if you see what I mean. So like @Snapsy I've often had two sensors on my arm(s) for a couple of days. I generally try to work things so I can start a new one running around midnight so that the 8 hour recording times more or less fit in with sleeping and waking hours, but ocasionally I'll get a little gap in data if it goes over without a download and starts overwriting. Since my levels are fairly stable though I'm not too worried about these.
Robbity
 
Well I started it up this morning and so far all is well in libre land
The readings given by the libre have all been virtually identical to those gained by finger pricking (within 0.1 mmol). Early days, but the graph generated so far shows an almost complete flatline (started 5.5 hit the dizzy heights of 6.6 after brunch of 10g carbs now back to 5.8). Thats the pattern I want to get a bit more of an understanding of at my hospital review given that a) I’m on both Gliclizide and low carb and b) am likely to move in the next year so could well end up under gp care, which I dont trust from past experiences, so want to be armed with as much info as possible
 
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