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Libre 2 Plus trial v Dexcom 1+ trial

peteloafer

Well-Known Member
Messages
193
Location
Swindon, originally from Preston, Lancs
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all - apologies if some of this has been covered already but I'm fairly new to the forum and diabetes.

My Libre 2+ arrived to day and after some minor trials and tribulations I got it attached to my arm and connected to my Samsung.
After 60 minutes it beeped to say it was now activated.
As is new users wont (I imagine) I monitored readings continuously for several hours and constantly checked to ensure it hadn't fallen off.

The readings were sort of in line with my fingerprick ones recently, but then an alarm that my reading was low at 3.9. I hastily checked with real blood and it read 5.9 so hmm, and 10 minutes later the "low" reading cleared and rose to in-zone.

1. I wondered if this is something to do with bedding in the device or a random quirk that I should expect?

2. At the end of 14 days does it switch off? or cease to work ? Nothing to say in otherwise decent instructions.

3. If I wish to continue are there "deals" or a standard premium for all users? Again no information

Still early days/hours for me but I really hope it helps me monitor the readings better and act accordingly. Not quite sure as yet if I can afford it.

Replies/comments much appreciated
 
Hi Pete.

1. CGMs can take a day after insertion to settle down
2. It will cease functioning and will tell you to insert a new sensor
3. There are subscriptions, but I got various free trials, and generally bought mine ad-hoc
 
There are no subscriptions for Libres but I get the Dexcom ONE + on a ninety day subscription which works out as £2.59/day compared to £3.45/day for a single Libre 2 plus.
 
If it’s the libre 2+ it lasts 15 days rather than 14. It will tell you it’s going to end, and then stop. They can take a little while to bed in, but even then for me they read around 0.5 to 1 lower than blood testing at low levels, and the same amount higher at high at levels. But it’s still a really good indicator of trends, and good for testing tge impact of different meals,

If you chose to fund them you can get them vat free….if you buy from abbot there is a box to tick to say you are entitled and just a little info to complete.

Dexcom usually have a free trial as well.
 
Thank you
 
Bit late for this one, but when I use a CGM iI tend to put it on before bed, then leave it to "bed in" overnight before starting it the next morning
 
Further to this thread if anyone is interested.

15 day trial completed ok and I was generally happy with the sensor etc which consistently read 0.2 lower than pinprick readings.

I bought my 2nd sensor from Chemist4U in the UK who sell at already discounted rates free of VAT. Incidentally I asked Abbott about relief from VAT and their response was to contact my tax office.

Update Day 3.
Readings seem to be consistent after initial fluctuations on day of fitting. My concern is the alarm activating randomly sometimes after 20 minutes or several hours. The alarms are not triggered by lost signal nor high or low readings so why?
I've turned off the high/low alarm now but the spurious alarms continue and I wonder if this is a fault or a common occurrence I haven't seen previously.
Your comments greatly appreciated.
 
Never had an alarm that isn’t a high or low. Have turned off signal loss alarms.
A difference so minuscule is not really a difference. As a type one those differences fluctuate just by getting out of a chair. I would say your sensor was bang on accurate.
 
Further update on 26 March 2026

My 2nd Libre 2+ sensor abandoned after 5 days because of random unexplained alarms/alerts. Losing a lot of sleep and patience.

Started trial with Dexcom 1+ yesterday.
Lot of fluctuation thus far and big gulf between fingerprick and Dexcom corrected with recalibration this morning.
Already prefer the app and options available.
Big pluses for me :-
No need to scan sensor
Can suppress "loss of signal" alert for 20 mins so it's more likely to be a real issue.
More data to analyse and manipulate.

Fingers crossed
Pete
 
I find the Dexcom so much better, although the readings for the first 2 - 3 days can be a bit unreliable the grace day is a bonus!
 
I got a Libre on a free trial a couple of years and found it useful in terms of tracking up and down trends in my readings, but wasn't convinced it was all that accurate, especially as it was giving un-realistically low readings at times. I didn't really need it anyway so didn't progress with it after the free trial.

I've just put a Dexcom One+ on, having gone with their free trial, and it'll be interesting to see how it compares to my blood sugar readings. It's still warming up and slowly dropping from showing 7.2 when it was just fitted to 6.9 now (after an hour or so), compared to the 5.6 my finger prick monitor showed.

I'm hoping it will be reasonably accurate as I might continue with it to avoid me getting complacent like I did last time my blood sugar got back down into a reasonable range and I stopped testing.
 
Hi, I use the Libre 2+ and just have the low alarm on. You might ge getting odd notifications rather than alarms, so you just need to turn notifications off in your phone settings - your alarms won't be affected.
I did try the Dexcom one+, but following dangerous failures, when it was telling me I had below 2mmol glucose, when I was well above 10, I went back to the Libre.
For me, the Libre is easier to use and lasts longer than the Dexcom.

As a type 2 diabetic, you should be able to get one on prescription, so check with your diabetes specialist nurse which are available.
 
Don’t forget you can calibrate your Dexcom to match your finger prick tests. I usually wait 12 hours for it to settle down, then calibrate it. Just click the + symbol top right of the screen and go from there.
 
Unfortunately most type 2 diabetics are not able to get a CGM on the nhs. It is possible for some type 2s using more than one insulin.
 
The Dexcom was showing 7.4 this morning when I did a finger prick test which came in at 7.0. So that's improved but will see how it goes.
 
Just checked again and while the Dexcom was saying 7.7 a finger prick test was showing 5.9, so I've entered that as a calibration setting and we will see if that helps. The next reading from the Dexcom dropped to 6.2, but I'll check again this afternoon.

So far the experience is matching what I'd seen when I had the Libre i.e. it wasn't particularly accurate but was kind of useful to see trends after eating. The Libre did eventually settle down to being a bit more accurate after a few days, so will be interesting to see if the Dexcom does the same.
 
I've never had that problem with the alarms. Abbott are very helpful. If you phone their helpdesk and tell them you think your sensor is faulty, they will take your details and send you a replacement free of charge. Ditto, if your sensor falls off or stops giving you readings, they will replace it. Sometimes they ask for the faulty sensors back but they will send you all the packaging and prepaid envelopes to do that.
 
Unfortunately T2's do not qualify for Libre on prescription unless they are under instruction to continually monitor.
 
Since I fitted the Dexcom on Thursday my finger prick tests have average 6.4 while the Dexcom has averaged 6.6 (that's using what it was showing at the same time as I did the test, rather than the average it had recorded). That's not too bad on average, although the readings themselves have diverged by as much as 1.6 at times.

Still one the fence on whether I'll continue with it or not (although so far I prefer it to the Libre I had on trial a couple of years back). I might buy a months worth and see how I get on with that.
 
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