Libre android app

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

I'm sure the answer to this is somewhere on the forum but I can't find it!

Just stated using the freestyle libre sensor scanned with the app (on android), and it appears to be working fine. However, am I just getting readings only when I scan, and if so what's the difference between this and a finger prick test???? (apart from higher cost and less hole-y fingers?)

Deleted Account · Sep 1, 2017

The finger prick only tells you your BG at the point when you take your blood.
In the case of the Libre, the sensor takes BG readings regularly (I think every 5 minutes but you can check) and store the last 8 hours of these on the sensor. When you scan, you are downloading the last 8 hours of readings from the sensor to your app. This gives you data to analyse and understand, for example, your BG overnight or the effect of a particular food over time.
The other value of this history is your app will be able to tell you the trend of your BG - is it stable, going up or going down. A finger prick cannot tell you this.

In order to get a full day of data you need to scan at least three times. Most of the time, this is fine as you (or at least, when I had one this is what I found) will be intrigued to find out what is happening and without the need to draw blood, you will scan. However, if you sleep for more than 8 hours or forget to scan before you go to sleep, you may miss a little bit of data.

I hope you find some interesting insight and improve your diabetes control with your new toy.

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

helensaramay said:
The finger prick only tells you your BG at the point when you take your blood.
In the case of the Libre, the sensor takes BG readings regularly (I think every 5 minutes but you can check) and store the last 8 hours of these on the sensor. When you scan, you are downloading the last 8 hours of readings from the sensor to your app. This gives you data to analyse and understand, for example, your BG overnight or the effect of a particular food over time.
The other value of this history is your app will be able to tell you the trend of your BG - is it stable, going up or going down. A finger prick cannot tell you this.

In order to get a full day of data you need to scan at least three times. Most of the time, this is fine as you (or at least, when I had one this is what I found) will be intrigued to find out what is happening and without the need to draw blood, you will scan. However, if you sleep for more than 8 hours or forget to scan before you go to sleep, you may miss a little bit of data.

I hope you find some interesting insight and improve your diabetes control with your new toy.

How long do I need to wear it before it starts to scan every five minutes...so far only been wearing it a few hours and have scanned it 4 times just out of curiosity, and it doesn't have any other data than my four scans ! confused.com !!!!

Deleted Account · Sep 1, 2017

charliebarker said:
How long do I need to wear it before it starts to scan every five minutes...so far only been wearing it a few hours and have scanned it 4 times just out of curiosity, and it doesn't have any other data than my four scans ! confused.com !!!!

It will take some time for your body to "settle in" to the sensor. Before that, the readings may be slightly out as your body reacts to the foreign body. The length of time this takes varies from person to person but could be up to 24 hours.
However, this is not the reason you are only seeing the readings when you scan. I suspect there is another part of the app to look at to see your graph.
I had other problems with the Libre so don't use it any more. If you look at https://www.librelink.com/ it should explain how to navigate the app.

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

thanks for the link. I wore the sensor for 24 hours before initiating it, so it's working - it's the app that I'm unsure of. I can see a graph but it's just got those four readings on ! I'll look at the link and see if it helps at all.

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

charliebarker said:
thanks for the link. I wore the sensor for 24 hours before initiating it, so it's working - it's the app that I'm unsure of. I can see a graph but it's just got those four readings on ! I'll look at the link and see if it helps at all.

Nope - website no help ! anyone?????

Diabeticliberty · Sep 1, 2017

It might be worth noting that the Libre Link Application for Android particularly if used on the Galaxy S7 can, at least in my own case prematurely kill off your sensor. I personally find the Libre reader to be more appropriate and only use the mobile application if out on the proverbial razzle and cannot afford the luxury of carrying multiple devices. Also it is possible to get a more accurate blood glucose trend than with Libre by using finger prick testing over a controlled period of time. The downside to this is that you need to do multiple blood tests and utilise the software packages available with most blood testing devices.

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

Diabeticliberty said:
It might be worth noting that the Libre Link Application for Android particularly if used on the Galaxy S7 can, at least in my own case prematurely kill off your sensor. I personally find the Libre reader to be more appropriate and only use the mobile application if out on the proverbial razzle and cannot afford the luxury of carrying multiple devices. Also it is possible to get a more accurate blood glucose trend than with Libre by using finger prick testing over a controlled period of time. The downside to this is that you need to do multiple blood tests and utilise the software packages available with most blood testing devices.

Hmm, thanks for the info, I'm using it on a blackberry, but I shall keep an eye out for early death !

Books1 · Sep 1, 2017

ON the graph it should be showing your readings and lines joining them up showing the ups and downs. When you scan you should initially get a pop up with the number plus arrows showing whether your bg is going up/down etch which you don't get with the meter.

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

Books1 said:
ON the graph it should be showing your readings and lines joining them up showing the ups and downs. When you scan you should initially get a pop up with the number plus arrows showing whether your bg is going up/down etch which you don't get with the meter.

Yes it's doing that ! - perhaps I'm just scanning too often and so the scan-dots are too close together ! I'm going to leave it for a few hours and see if I can see detailed information in between scans then. Thanks !

barrym · Sep 1, 2017

I don't believe there is anyway to see all the readings between scans other than as a line on the graphs.

I have mine linked to Diasend too for my hcp's who use that system. That is uploaded as every individual reading. You can download from Diasend so I guess it'll show every reading as a CSV file. Might try that later just to check it out.

Edit: Just looked at the Diasend app and it shows readings every few minutes, so I think I'm correct in my understanding of what gets uploaded.

Scott-C · Sep 1, 2017

The sensor saves 8 hours of readings but because it does not have a transmitter on it, it cannot send them to your phone every five minutes. Each time you scan, it'll show the current reading and a graph for the last 8 hours showing the ups and downs over that period but the graph itself won't show spot readings for every 5 minutes, just a line.

Haven't used librelink for ages and have never used diasend - what barry says about diasend giving you a csv file might be what you're looking for.

Also, if you use the reader instead of the app, you can plug it into the computer and download a text file showing 15 minute readings. Some people then take that into excel and make their own spreadsheets.

There's various third party gadgets which can be stuck on top of the sensor to transmit results to the phone every few minutes but that's another story.

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

Scott-C said:
The sensor saves 8 hours of readings but because it does not have a transmitter on it, it cannot send them to your phone every five minutes. Each time you scan, it'll show the current reading and a graph for the last 8 hours showing the ups and downs over that period but the graph itself won't show spot readings for every 5 minutes, just a line.

Haven't used librelink for ages and have never used diasend - what barry says about diasend giving you a csv file might be what you're looking for.

Also, if you use the reader instead of the app, you can plug it into the computer and download a text file showing 15 minute readings. Some people then take that into excel and make their own spreadsheets.

There's various third party gadgets which can be stuck on top of the sensor to transmit results to the phone every few minutes but that's another story.

Thanks !

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

barrym said:
I don't believe there is anyway to see all the readings between scans other than as a line on the graphs.

I have mine linked to Diasend too for my hcp's who use that system. That is uploaded as every individual reading. You can download from Diasend so I guess it'll show every reading as a CSV file. Might try that later just to check it out.

Edit: Just looked at the Diasend app and it shows readings every few minutes, so I think I'm correct in my understanding of what gets uploaded.

Thanks! - confirming what I'm finding ! Think I'm understanding it a bit better now

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

barrym said:
I don't believe there is anyway to see all the readings between scans other than as a line on the graphs.

I have mine linked to Diasend too for my hcp's who use that system. That is uploaded as every individual reading. You can download from Diasend so I guess it'll show every reading as a CSV file. Might try that later just to check it out.

Edit: Just looked at the Diasend app and it shows readings every few minutes, so I think I'm correct in my understanding of what gets uploaded.

How did you link your sensor to Diasend - I downloaded the app but it doesn't seem to do anything - do you have to force stop the librelink app?

barrym · Sep 1, 2017

charliebarker said:
How did you link your sensor to Diasend - I downloaded the app but it doesn't seem to do anything - do you have to force stop the librelink app?

Ok, basically it works like this. The Libre app accesses the sensor and Hoover's up the latest readings. It then transmits them to LibreView if you have a registered account. Can't remember but I think you have to create this first time.

If you have got the Diasend app (and a Diasend account setup which you do from the web interface) running it will get the readings from the app's database on the phone and squirt it up to Diasend.

If your local primary health trust have a HCP account you can grant them access. Ask them for their ID.

HTH

charliebarker · Sep 1, 2017

barrym said:
Ok, basically it works like this. The Libre app accesses the sensor and Hoover's up the latest readings. It then transmits them to LibreView if you have a registered account. Can't remember but I think you have to create this first time.

If you have got the Diasend app (and a Diasend account setup which you do from the web interface) running it will get the readings from the app's database on the phone and squirt it up to Diasend.

If your local primary health trust have a HCP account you can grant them access. Ask them for their ID.

HTH

Thanks - I'll give it a go !

charliebarker · Sep 2, 2017

In case anyone is interested...I just found out that I can get 15 minutes interval readings downloaded to excel just by having a libreview account (free) and using the librelink app on my phone. I just 'export patient's glucose details' on the Dashboard!! It's great to find out what's going on while I sleep !

barrym · Sep 2, 2017

Doh! Of course you can I forgot about that option being totally preoccupied with Diasend 'cos that's what my hospital use.

Good learning curve and satisfying figuring it out though eh?

barrym · Sep 3, 2017

Just for info here's a pic of the Diasend app report. You can drag the time window across and see every reading taken. Quite neat. AFAIK creating an account is free.

Libre android app

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