Libre 2 questions

[Bill_St]

Just to support the reply by Kingsmac. I have been using Libre for over 6 years. It can be life changing but does take a little time to gain its full advantage.

After 6 years, I am still learning about it but it was immensely useful after just a few weeks and I certainly feel it saved me from neuropathy.
The key is to take things slowly.

Certainly do NOT get hung up about different values from fingersticks. Testing with blood pricks can give greater errors than Libre.
You are testing for insulin dose but how often do you test your insulin strength. If its in the U.K., the answer to that is almost certainly Never… and experience in other countries shows that it does vary much more than Libre glucose readings!

A few mmol difference in reading makes no difference. You are more interested in trends to improve your glucose control.

Libre gives so much more than Readings. The graph information is much more useful and also more accurate.
As is the changing level direction and the averages.

Abbott do provide many very useful pages of help - checkout https://www.freestyle.abbott/uk-en/support/tutorialsanddownloads.html

 

[kingsmac]

Just to support the reply by Kingsmac. I have been using Libre for over 6 years. It can be life changing but does take a little time to gain its full advantage.

After 6 years, I am still learning about it but it was immensely useful after just a few weeks and I certainly feel it saved me from neuropathy.
The key is to take things slowly.

Certainly do NOT get hung up about different values from fingersticks. Testing with blood pricks can give greater errors than Libre.
You are testing for insulin dose but how often do you test your insulin strength. If its in the U.K., the answer to that is almost certainly Never… and experience in other countries shows that it does vary much more than Libre glucose readings!

A few mmol difference in reading makes no difference. You are more interested in trends to improve your glucose control.

Libre gives so much more than Readings. The graph information is much more useful and also more accurate.
As is the changing level direction and the averages.

Abbott do provide many very useful pages of help - checkout https://www.freestyle.abbott/uk-en/support/tutorialsanddownloads.html

I agree with all of this. Because of the app failure at the weekend I was directed to download the Shuggah app to my iPhone and I found that to be really good. It even sends readings to my Garmin watch and you can decide how often you get those notifications. Getting it to run alongside Libre can be a little challenging, but I have managed to do it. It is very accurate when compared to finger pricks, and generally runs about 1mmol below Libre, although Libre responds more quickly to sudden rises and falls, especially the falls, I have found it means I can quickly pick up on a trend of rising or falling BG and then act accordingly. I use small corrective doses of rapid insulin, like 2 or 3 units, when my trend is moving up beyond 8mmol/L. I then drink a measured amount of apple juice, if I’m trending downwards, dropping below 5mmol/L. Of course, everybody is different and it has taken me a long while to work out how much I need to inject or drink to deal with my specific changes in readings.

 

[Mike_T]

O gosh I hope not.
I can only use one with a reader.
But when I called today my pharmacy said I don't need to use my cell or any apps.
Hopefully they are right.

Are you supported by a Diabetes specialist that you see on a regular basis. This could be a diabetic nurse or a doctor. If you’re using a Libre 2, presumably self funded, you should look on the Abbott Libre website for help. You should have a Libre account which will enable you to download LibreView. Having set this up you can then upload the data from your reader. This will give you a good insight to how you are managing your type 2 but also there’s the facility to link your account to your surgery/hospital diabetic team so that they can see your results for when you see them.