Libre 2 at last

jaywak said:

Yesterday I went for my annual review and finally got a Libre 2 , the consultant said that because of my situation at the moment with my wife having the cancer diagnosis and all the stress we are going through I needed to start using one as my hb1 test was 43 and she was afraid I would be going to low and I will say I have had quite a few lows recently with my brain feeling like mush I am not recognising the lows , I was given all the information to order my Libre starter pack and did this yesterday but I'm a little concerned that just includes the sensors and not a reader , if that is the case does that mean I will have to upgrade my phone as my old I phone will not accept the app , does anyone know if the starter pack comes with a reader or not , I have got a couple of weeks before I can use it as I have to do an online training course before I can start .

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I am delighted that you finally have Libre2 on prescription. I am guessing that the starter pack will not have a reader, but do telephone Abbott Laboratories (makers of Libre sensors) to tell them about you needing one.

Abbott Laboratories' telephone number is 0800 1701177. If you speak with them to request a reader, they should send one to you.
This is also the same telephone number that you phone if you accidentally knock off your Libre sensor when dressing or undressing, and need a replacement before the 14 days of sensor life is up. (I cover mine with plasters to try to avoid that)

Good luck.

Hi,

Abbott will most definitely send out a reader to you free of charge if you phone them. I prefer using the reader, as the phone app is sometimes a bit too slow for me when a super- quick reading is required. When I moved over to the libre 2 I phoned to request a reader and they were very accommodating.

Hope your wife is continuing to go in the right direction, and that the libre 2 and the alarms helps you too.

Abbott MAY send out a reader IF they have any.
There has been a shortage of them for some time which I understand is why they are no longer available to buy.

jaywak said:

Just did the Libre 2 online training course this morning and attached the sensor , went out for lunch and when I got back 90 mins later I walked in the door too be greeted by the alarm buzzing and warning me I was high , reading taken and said 13 ,I did a blood test and it was 11 , we went for a walk and halfway it went to 16.4 and when I got home it was 16 so it's coming down , I guess it takes a while to settle down but just a bit disappointed that I've started off so high !

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You are doing the correct thing in checking with your finger-pricker when readings are high (or too low). Yes, it is disappointing when readings are high, but please also pay close attention to the direction that the arrows are showing, and you will gradually become aware of small tweaks you can do with insulin or a quarter of a banana/biscuit. You will continue to need your finger-pricker as a back-up because it is more accurate than the Libre, accurate than the Libre, but it will be nice to have finger tips that are less sore. I guess you were told all this during your training.

Hi @jaywak I found the first few Libre I had read consistently higher than finger-pricking but I think it settles as your body gets used to the intruder! Also the first couple of days of a new sensor always read higher for me whether I have started it immediately on attaching (after a failure or falling off) or after my usual 24hrs wearing 2, but not starting the new one until the old runs out. It took me a good few weeks to trust the trends and not fixate on the decimals.

Be warned that you will get random readings from time to time, high and low, especially when your BG is (rapidly) changing, as the algorithm tries to anticipate where you levels are going; if you get a reading that you suspect is 'wrong', try again in 20 mins and it may well have corrected itself which you will see on the graph - obviously if it predicts you are destined for a horrible low, do a finger-prick test just to be sure and don't wait.

Good luck

Not wrong, but during the night you might (will) lie on the sensor. This can cause what is known as a compression low. Or a false reading really.
Not the most fun to do in the night but check with a finger prick before eating something because looking at myself most of the time this is a compression low.
Had one last night, went from 8'ish to 2.9 in minutes, got an alarm, turned around and a few minutes later it was back to the same value.

It also takes time to get a feeling on how the Libre works. You say you did the online training so you probably know about the time lag and averiging effect between values of the Libre and the finger pricks. But there is more to it. The scan (and alert) are instantaneous values and can very between subsequent readings significantly. The "real" value you should look at are the 15 minute averages that make up the graph. The instantanious readings can be used as an indication of what the Libre expects you BG to do, sort of a prediction. If you look later you can see that the manual scan can deviate significantly from the later 15 minutes value.
This is made more difficult to compare because of the error margins in BG meters (+/-15%) and the, unspecified (?), error margin of the Libre. For a lot of people the Libre tends to indicate lower readings than a finger prick. Maybe you are the exception to the rule.