Just Recieved my Freestlye Libre Kit to Trial from my DSN and really impressed with it , so much easier , however way too expensive to maintain for the average person , i will certainly revert to it if/when it becomes available on the NHS. As for normal testing it seems so outdated and clunky.So...my sensor ran out a couple of days ago and it turned out I'd run out of sensors...I could've cried. I'm now two days into going it alone but feeling really really lost without it. Has anyone else ever done this? Is it just me...or does anyone else feel lost without it?
I don't use the Libre full time, the times I do I'm scanning all the time, when I'm not using one it takes a few days for me to stop thinking 'if only I had a sensor on ...' but it takes even longer for me to not swear out loud when I've bumped my upper arm on a door frame or what ever and thinking I've caught the sensor!
But regardless of if I have a sensor on or not I now suffer from doorframeaphobia !
I had this problem too initially...which led me to make a fair few mistakes if I'm honest. There is a tendency to over react to the ups and downs but given time you will start to see the effects of food and insulin much more clearly and get a better understanding of how long your insulin takes to work for different types of foods. There is no fail safe method...but keep in mind any insulin on board before topping up. I found the daily patterns to be really useful too in terms of adjusting my basal rate...it can be a real eye opener at first but over time and with a lot of tweaking I've managed to gain really good control of my blood sugars now...although the thought of doing it without my libre is a pretty daunting thought these daysJust new to the whole Libre thing and so far i'm struggling a wee bit. I was checking my bloods way too much and catching it on a high after food when my insulin hadn't even had a chance to work yet which then made me consider more insulin!!!! The graph freaks me out as its such a rollercoaster and it makes me feel that i'm making a complete **** of looking after my blood sugar levels. I am just being libre paranoid and are there fail safe ways of using this thing?????
Thanks for that, and yes i'm hoping that the libre will prove to be life changing for me and help to get much better control over things. I'm also loving this site as the new info i've gathered tonight alone is staggering considering i've been diabetic for 26 years!!!!!!!!I had this problem too initially...which led me to make a fair few mistakes if I'm honest. There is a tendency to over react to the ups and downs but given time you will start to see the effects of food and insulin much more clearly and get a better understanding of how long your insulin takes to work for different types of foods. There is no fail safe method...but keep in mind any insulin on board before topping up. I found the daily patterns to be really useful too in terms of adjusting my basal rate...it can be a real eye opener at first but over time and with a lot of tweaking I've managed to gain really good control of my blood sugars now...although the thought of doing it without my libre is a pretty daunting thought these days
@jinty73 if you haven't already you could enable the 'professional' mode that allows you to use the libre to calculate your bolus (only if you use it to do blood tests as well) it then gives you the little yellow man symbol which will allow you to see how much insulin you already have on board - this will allow you to work out if you might need an insulin top-up or not and avoid 'stacking'.
Most people do find they are surprised at how up and down their BG levels are using it for the first time, and the majority soon work out that pre-bolus'ing helps, and also not to over treat hypos and also catching a low before it goes too low.
I'm a reactor to the adhesive, I wasn't to start with but about 3rd or 4th sensor in I started to itch and sensors left a red mark, they also weep and then become loose and fall off - Abbot are very good at replacing sensors that 'fail'.
Hi CapnGrumpy, do i not have to get my diabetic nurse or dr to access that part of the libre for me as it asks for a code? I do find that a bit annoying as surely as i've paid stupid money to have the machine i should be able to access all its bits and bobs!!!@jinty73 if you haven't already you could enable the 'professional' mode that allows you to use the libre to calculate your bolus (only if you use it to do blood tests as well) it then gives you the little yellow man symbol which will allow you to see how much insulin you already have on board - this will allow you to work out if you might need an insulin top-up or not and avoid 'stacking'.
Most people do find they are surprised at how up and down their BG levels are using it for the first time, and the majority soon work out that pre-bolus'ing helps, and also not to over treat hypos and also catching a low before it goes too low.
I'm a reactor to the adhesive, I wasn't to start with but about 3rd or 4th sensor in I started to itch and sensors left a red mark, they also weep and then become loose and fall off - Abbot are very good at replacing sensors that 'fail'.
Hi CapnGrumpy, do i not have to get my diabetic nurse or dr to access that part of the libre for me as it asks for a code? I do find that a bit annoying as surely as i've paid stupid money to have the machine i should be able to access all its bits and bobs!!!
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