Kingsmac, thanks for your reply. There is a perverse comfort in knowing that I am not the only one banging his head against a brick wall. Do you have any ideas about how we might effectively apply the spurs to Abbott?
Issue with Libre - blank screen
- Thread starter Getting_Fit
- Start Date
I have read the BBC articles that Kingsmac has referred to in his last post. The BBC appear to have been assured by Abbott that they have cured the problem and, as far as I can tell, the BBC has accepted that assurance. I have written to the BBC correcting its misapprehension and reproduce below my email:
Dear Sirs,
I have read your articles on the problems that diabetics using Abbott’s Freestyle Libre 2 system have suffered. I am a type 1 diabetic who has been reliant on injected insulin for the last 42 years. I have also been reliant on various methods of testing blood sugar levels. I am now prescribed the Freestyle Libre 2 system. I note with interest that Abbott assure you that they have cured the problems in their app. I have to tell you that you have been misled. The app does not work properly at all. The alarm system does not work, the insulin dose system that reads from an insulin injector does not work. I have followed all that Abbott have said, deleted and reinstalled programs, changed sensors etc. IT DOES NOT WORK. It is not easy to convey the anxiety that this can cause. I count myself as reasonably able to find solutions to problems, create work arounds and seek advice but there are diabetics who are alone, not so able, elderly or suffering some other isolating circumstance for whom this is a clearly dangerous development. I am a recent member of a diabetic forum (www.diabetes.co.uk) which I joined a couple of weeks ago in my effort to find answers when the problems first arose. It is perfectly clear from that forum alone that the problems continue and that Abbott are simply ignoring the plight of thousands of diabetic patients. I feel that the BBC should not simply accept what they last heard from Abbott but should question the company far more closely. I particularly bear in mind that Abbott have cornered the NHS prescription market and must be making a mint as a consequence, maybe some questions directed to the relevant section of the NHS would reveal some interesting attitudes.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Barker
Dear Sirs,
I have read your articles on the problems that diabetics using Abbott’s Freestyle Libre 2 system have suffered. I am a type 1 diabetic who has been reliant on injected insulin for the last 42 years. I have also been reliant on various methods of testing blood sugar levels. I am now prescribed the Freestyle Libre 2 system. I note with interest that Abbott assure you that they have cured the problems in their app. I have to tell you that you have been misled. The app does not work properly at all. The alarm system does not work, the insulin dose system that reads from an insulin injector does not work. I have followed all that Abbott have said, deleted and reinstalled programs, changed sensors etc. IT DOES NOT WORK. It is not easy to convey the anxiety that this can cause. I count myself as reasonably able to find solutions to problems, create work arounds and seek advice but there are diabetics who are alone, not so able, elderly or suffering some other isolating circumstance for whom this is a clearly dangerous development. I am a recent member of a diabetic forum (www.diabetes.co.uk) which I joined a couple of weeks ago in my effort to find answers when the problems first arose. It is perfectly clear from that forum alone that the problems continue and that Abbott are simply ignoring the plight of thousands of diabetic patients. I feel that the BBC should not simply accept what they last heard from Abbott but should question the company far more closely. I particularly bear in mind that Abbott have cornered the NHS prescription market and must be making a mint as a consequence, maybe some questions directed to the relevant section of the NHS would reveal some interesting attitudes.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Barker
Speedbird
Well-Known Member
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I’m sorry to hear all your troubles with the Libre app. For me, it runs perfectly and I’m on my second sensor now using my iPhone 12, updated to the latest 16.06.
Even the fingers prick are amazingly accurate.
I deleted Shuggah as I found it too “busy” and my Libre sensor runs pretty well. An occasional scan now and again when I leave my iPhone out of range but I am very satisfied with the update.
I suspect there may be many people happy with the latest update and perhaps don’t post as much.
Good luck with your quest and let us know how you get on.
Even the fingers prick are amazingly accurate.
I deleted Shuggah as I found it too “busy” and my Libre sensor runs pretty well. An occasional scan now and again when I leave my iPhone out of range but I am very satisfied with the update.
I suspect there may be many people happy with the latest update and perhaps don’t post as much.
Good luck with your quest and let us know how you get on.
I’m on iPhone X 16.3.1
I had to delete & reinstall libre last week with sensor change, but running shuggar & libre apps, both with Bluetooth on
I’m thinking the only was to go is to delete the libre app & reinstall in every sensor change
I’m using shuggar alarms & haven’t tried putting the alarms back on on libre
I charged my phone the other night & was about 4 metres away but in same room & had signal loss
I had to delete & reinstall libre last week with sensor change, but running shuggar & libre apps, both with Bluetooth on
I’m thinking the only was to go is to delete the libre app & reinstall in every sensor change
I’m using shuggar alarms & haven’t tried putting the alarms back on on libre
I charged my phone the other night & was about 4 metres away but in same room & had signal loss
Curiouser and curiouser, my iPhone updated its operating system to version 16.6 late this afternoon and now LibreLink works as it should provided Shuggah is deleted. I suspect that that puts an end to my complaints. I would prefer to have Shuggah working as well so that I receive the readings on my smartwatch. The next event on the horizon will be the sensor change next week, I can only hope that there is no step backwards in effective working thereafter.
kingsmac
Well-Known Member
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- Type 1
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This afternoon I’ve updated to iOS 16.6 with Shuggah disabled, and I’m afraid Libre still does not work except to scan! I have now had to reactivate Shuggah which is working perfectly. I have turned off Bluetooth for Libre and will just scan and use Libre at least once every 8 hours. This is easy to remember, because I still enter my insulin doses, carb intake and exercise in Libre, always doing a scan at this time. Now that I know how to adjust the alarms in Shuggah (where you can actually add extra alarms if you wish) I will choose to make Shuggah my main app and use Libre just where I have to for the sake of data going to LibreView which does give amazing detail. The bonus of having regular readings display on my watch is too helpful to ignore. Did you delete Shuggah before doing the iOS update? I will be interested in whether your alarms go off when you are driving because I think over the last few weeks, when Libre was working correctly, the alarms did not go off on my phone when I was driving, but they did send a notification to my watch and show the reading! This is still not as good as getting regular readings on my watch like I do from Shuggah. I am also still finding Shuggah gives more accurate readings than Libre which continues to be around 0.8/1.5 above finger pricks which can suggest your BG control is not as good as it actually is. Before the crash, Libre suggested by HbA1c was 6.0 when a blood test for the same 90 days showed it to be 5.3.
When I realised that the iOS update had been completed I still wasn't able to use LibreLink properly. I then fully deleted LibreLink and Shuggah and then reinstalled LibreLink which worked perfectly. I then reinstalled Shuggah and it all went wrong again. Complete deletions of both apps and reinstalling LibreLink alone has left me with a fully operative LibreLink app. It therefore looks as though both apps have to go and then LibreLink reinstalled. As you have said, this does mean that you cannot regularly read your BG from your watch. I hope that this helps.
kingsmac
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 59
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
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- Insulin
Thanks for coming back to me so quickly; I suspected as much. At the weekend I will be driving over 500 miles, so I think I will persevere with using Shuggah and Libre, as I described earlier, for now. It is also a little offputting that reinstalling the apps means losing the data within them, although at least not in LibreView. I will be interested to know if you find the Libre app alarms do not sound when driving, and whether you do get a message and reading about the alarm on your watch.
If you go onto the the Abbott web site it walks you through the work around, I had a blank screen a few weeks ago, I followed the work around and it cleared all the problems and since then I have had no problems. I am now on iOS 17 as I am enrolled in the Apple Beta programme.
I have had one low glucose alarm just before dinner this evening and it did come up on my watch. I have had no alarms while driving and don't expect any as I am very careful about my blood glucose level before I drive.
Not sure if anyone else has put this but Abbott we’re having issues with a version of their app rather the latest iOS release.
They have suggested downloading the latest app to resolve your problems.
Email from Abbott
Thank you for being one of our valued FreeStyle LibreLink app users.
We’re pleased to inform you a new version of the FreeStyle LibreLink app for iOS (2.10.1) is now available for download in the United Kingdom iOS App Store. Please upgrade your FreeStyle LibreLink app for iOS to version 2.10.1 as soon as possible. After download, please check your alarm settings and any insulin pen connections, and sign back into your LibreView account to re-establish any connections.
This new version of the FreeStyle LibreLink app (2.10.1) fixes the issue with the previous version (2.10) and includes automatic real-time glucose readings for people who use FreeStyle Libre 2.
They have suggested downloading the latest app to resolve your problems.
Email from Abbott
Thank you for being one of our valued FreeStyle LibreLink app users.
We’re pleased to inform you a new version of the FreeStyle LibreLink app for iOS (2.10.1) is now available for download in the United Kingdom iOS App Store. Please upgrade your FreeStyle LibreLink app for iOS to version 2.10.1 as soon as possible. After download, please check your alarm settings and any insulin pen connections, and sign back into your LibreView account to re-establish any connections.
This new version of the FreeStyle LibreLink app (2.10.1) fixes the issue with the previous version (2.10) and includes automatic real-time glucose readings for people who use FreeStyle Libre 2.
I am afraid I am one of those users of Libre 2 who is not happy with the system.
I am told frequently that there is a loss of signal yet my phone is about my person at all times.
Frequently whe tryin to scan the Nova pens the scan fails and I have to reboot the phone.to get a reading and that’s still not perfect and very tempra mental.
alarms are always going of stating low sugar when my sugar readings are normal even test with finger prick to ensure accuracy.
The system is just be reliable which is concerning when you are dealing with peoples lives.
I operate and iPhone 14 pro max with the latest software on that and my Libre freestyle App is up today also 2.10.1
i reboot the phone ( often ) reioad the Libre freestyle software and check the settings. My option Abbott need to completely review before messing with people’s safety.
Thanks.
Nicholas Sayer
PatsyB
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well my sensor keeps saying sensor not working then a bit later it works but it wont let me scan it it just tells me what the level is with out scanning, trouble is will there be a log of the levels also it says some times it is high when it is not so I have to finger prick
Hi all,
Just to add my experience with it. My app updated and that’s when I got the white screen of doom. Having tried several different suggested workarounds the only thing I could do was to delete and reinstall the app under freestyle directions. When I did this it deleted all of my data, every last bg reading. The app is working fine now apart from the usual signal loss issues, but I’m gutted to have lost all the information I had, I feel like I’m starting from scratch. Hopefully I’m one of he few who this has happened to. Glad it runs fine for lots of people, for me I’ve always had signal loss issues and times when it just won’t scan at all. I’ll probably be looking to change if I get the choice.
Just to add my experience with it. My app updated and that’s when I got the white screen of doom. Having tried several different suggested workarounds the only thing I could do was to delete and reinstall the app under freestyle directions. When I did this it deleted all of my data, every last bg reading. The app is working fine now apart from the usual signal loss issues, but I’m gutted to have lost all the information I had, I feel like I’m starting from scratch. Hopefully I’m one of he few who this has happened to. Glad it runs fine for lots of people, for me I’ve always had signal loss issues and times when it just won’t scan at all. I’ll probably be looking to change if I get the choice.
kingsmac
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 59
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
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That is good to know, I’m pleased that at least the alarms are showing on your watch. Like you, I am very careful about driving. When my Libre alarms were working, it was the high alarm I ‘played’ with, setting it quite low as a test, 7.7. A while back this alarm was sounding on my phone while driving, but I’m sure more recently I was getting a notification on my watch but no sound from the phone. I viewed this is an improvement because the alarm would go off every five minutes when it was sounding on the phone and that was obviously irritating, although it did make sure I pulled over to reset it. I was doing this more out of curiosity. What level do you aim for before driving and what level do you aim not to drop below while driving?
I am sorry to see that people are still experiencing problems with the new FreeStyle LibreLink app. I did have the initial white screen and have lost all the history that was held on my iPhone, as I have not been sharing it on the LibreView. App is now working and Abbott replaced the sensor that I had to replace. I hope the problems others are experiencing soon disappear as the great thing with the updated App is that it is continuously updating your glucose without having to scan the sensor each time.
I have also had recent problems, particulary with loss of alarm.
John I read your post with scepticism as I thought only libre 3 offered this feature, however having just updated the android app I can indeed see their message plain and clear that next time I apply a sensor I will receive continuous updates.. Hooray!!
Is this really the end of physically scanning the sensor folks? I had no idea that was coming!
kingsmac
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 59
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
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I can definitely recommend creating a LibreView account. If you put LibreView into Google, you can then select it to go to the site. At the bottom of the member login box there is a link to allow you to sign up. Once you have an account, data from your sensor will automatically load up. It shows a massive amount of information with lots of graphs and tables which are really helpful, especially for medical professionals who you allow access it and, of course, you will not lose the data in LibreView even if you lose it from the Libre app.
I bought the latest iPhone SE earlier this year in the hope that it would replace the separate reader and provide more information. This it did for a couple of months. Then, it started to require 2 attempts at reading the sensor, then 3 or more ..... until it finally gave up reading altogether and failed to initialise any new sensors. Reverting to the old reader I obviously have to wait 14 days before trying again with the iPhone but after a further two months, four sensors, a number of Apple IOS updates and of course the new App releases from Abbot - still no joy. There's a Facebook group set up just for this issue and it seems there are a lot of us with the same problem and it is not just iPhone users who are affected. I've received a couple of replies from Abbot with instructions of what to do, but again to no avail.
