I've got the Libre Blues ....

Ceppo said:

Had a very disappointing experience with my first sensor yesterday.
When I got round to scanning I found that I was getting errors such as try again in 10 minutes, can't connect etc. Eventually I managed two readings on my phone and the reader. These were 2.5 and 2.9. Shock. I finger tested on the Tee2+ and that reading was 6.5. Further readings from the sensor were just the try again later ones. I rung Abbot cc who asked me to give them the codes from the reader. After convincing them that I didn't need an ambulance, they pronounced the sensor defective and are sending a replacement. All very discouraging.
I don't think I did very well taking off the sensor as there was quite a pool of blood underneath. Again offputting.

Lots of posts about defective sensors and the Libre sensor reading low for at least the first day here. So just wondering how to up my game to try again and banish the Libre Blues?

Click to expand...

Persevere, they are great. I too have had two malfunction out of around 20.

Ceppo said:

Had a very disappointing experience with my first sensor yesterday.
When I got round to scanning I found that I was getting errors such as try again in 10 minutes, can't connect etc. Eventually I managed two readings on my phone and the reader. These were 2.5 and 2.9. Shock. I finger tested on the Tee2+ and that reading was 6.5. Further readings from the sensor were just the try again later ones. I rung Abbot cc who asked me to give them the codes from the reader. After convincing them that I didn't need an ambulance, they pronounced the sensor defective and are sending a replacement. All very discouraging.
I don't think I did very well taking off the sensor as there was quite a pool of blood underneath. Again offputting.

Lots of posts about defective sensors and the Libre sensor reading low for at least the first day here. So just wondering how to up my game to try again and banish the Libre Blues?

Click to expand...

I found that they are more accurate if you give them time to settle. I put it on the day before it is to be activated to give it about 24 hrs to settle. I still do a few stab checks to see how it is behaving after activation but, I've found the longer period to settle gets it pretty accurate. Remember also that after a blood check Libre check should be about 10 mins later.
I've had a couple of faulty sensors but Abbott replace them readily.

Take heart, my sensors can be pretty crazy for the first three days before they settle. Other times they're spot on. I had one that read 'lo' for 12 hours and afterwards was my best ever sensor.

I've just had one fail too, out of maybe 15 so far.

This is considerably better than my experience with Dexcom G6 which is roughly every other device.

Persevere, they're worth it.

Edit: adding that I have inserted a new sensor today and it's considerably off what it should be. Finger pricks place sugars at 10.8 and sensor says 6.2 and falling. Continued testing and comparison showed this Libre sensor to be consistently off. I'll be calling them on Monday.

Had 2 sensors read lower than they actually are. I have more muscle on my arms but found that it works best in the right spot. I tend to feel the back of my arm like the instructions indicate and feel for the most fatty area.

But Abbot are decent when it comes to replace them. Phone scans are always weird. My reader does it instantly so could be down to the app not picking up the sensor effectively. Finger pricks is always the best method and I just use the sensor as a light guide on how my blood sugar does between meals. I always test pre meals and before bed. Also when I'm high or LO in the libre. Often times libre does read a lot lower than it actually is. Last sensor said I was 3.5 and dropping rapidly but I tested my blood sugar and it was 6.4 on my contour.

Also take the arrow directions with a pinch of salt. Only time I react is when the arrow is directly up or down. But a lot of the times I know if it's falling rapidly to double check with my blood glucose machine.

It is really handy though to check how your levels do during the day and especially at night. Helped me adjust my basal as I was always dropping to 4 or lower during sleeping.

Also sleeping on the sensor and having a shower/bath can make the sensor a bit inaccurate. And I do agree with above replies, best give it a day to settle before you decide it's faulty. And of course, make sure you place it as directed because some people put them on the side of their arm where its more muscle and wonder why it's inaccurate. Most times it's due to not enough fatty tissue to measure the fluids.

Hope this helps =).

I found I had to leave my sensor for 48 hours after inserting before activating it otherwise I initially had some very low (and somewhat scary!) readings especially overnight. So when replacement was due, I inserted it 2 days before the old one expired.

Short term acclimatization time:

48 hour delay before activating:


My sensor results have always been 1-1.5 lower than finger pricks, but the trends and patterns I've seen have otherwise been perfectly consistent, and I've learned more about what goes on overall than I ever could from just the finger pricks, so I'd highly recommend that you persevere!

Ceppo said:

Had a very disappointing experience with my first sensor yesterday.
When I got round to scanning I found that I was getting errors such as try again in 10 minutes, can't connect etc. Eventually I managed two readings on my phone and the reader. These were 2.5 and 2.9. Shock. I finger tested on the Tee2+ and that reading was 6.5. Further readings from the sensor were just the try again later ones. I rung Abbot cc who asked me to give them the codes from the reader. After convincing them that I didn't need an ambulance, they pronounced the sensor defective and are sending a replacement. All very discouraging.
I don't think I did very well taking off the sensor as there was quite a pool of blood underneath. Again offputting.

Lots of posts about defective sensors and the Libre sensor reading low for at least the first day here. So just wondering how to up my game to try again and banish the Libre Blues?

Click to expand...

Don't give up. I swear by them. I was self funding for 18 months it was that good. If it fails then Abbott are pretty good at sending out replacements.

I've always keep a backup one as well.

maglil55 said:

I found that they are more accurate if you give them time to settle. I put it on the day before it is to be activated to give it about 24 hrs to settle. I still do a few stab checks to see how it is behaving after activation but, I've found the longer period to settle gets it pretty accurate. Remember also that after a blood check Libre check should be about 10 mins later.
I've had a couple of faulty sensors but Abbott replace them readily.

Click to expand...

I'm going to try this.