NoLongerACarbFiend
Member
- Messages
- 5
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi, I’m T2, very well controlled with diet so far (several years). I suspect I am quite rigid with managing it, and up until recently did 10 finger sticks a day. I know it’s not for everyone, but it makes me feel better to have a high degree of visibility of what’s happening and my A1Cs have been in the high 4s or very low 5s for a long time. Anyway, three months ago I had to start edoxaban (a blood thinner) and my poor fingers were in a mess after that with the finger pricks, so I did the sums and decided I could stretch to a Libre.
First 4 libres, no problem at all. Always matched finger sticks (or matched near enough given I didn’t need to make treatment decisions based on results). I think 0.5 mmol difference, taken 10 mins after a finger stick was the biggest discrepancy I ever saw. As I got confident in the Libre, stopped finger sticks completely apart from a random check on start up day. The last one I felt was running a bit low against the previous ones, (confirmed this with fingersticks), but despite being a bit low, followed the same peaks and troughs as the finger sticks so I felt it was still doing ok to identify trends.
In the last 48 hours though, I’ve had three new sensors, using up my entire supply. They are all over the place. The first one sat at 2.9 for hours, then told me sensor had failed and to change it. Took it off, contacted Abbott, filled out their questionnaire and now waiting for a response. The second one moved about randomly and rapidly between 2.9 and 3.5 for 24 hours. Fingersticks had me between 4.8 and 5.9 in that timescale. After the initial 24 hours were up with no improvement I contacted Abbott to ask if I should leave it a while longer or if they could give me any guidance. They basically ignored that question and just sent me a second questionnaire. Don’t know if they will replace that one or not. After 36 hours and £100 down, removed my second one fitted my last sensor at 8am. First hour after activation it seemed hopeful, but by late morning it had settled at 2.9 where it has stayed (BGM says 5.6, which would be a usual reading for me at this time of day as I don’t eat till 2pm).
Im not sure what to do? I’m embarrassed about going back to Abbott, and really annoyed that I’ve spent 150 and won’t even get my first replacement for another week (even if they agree to it). At the same time, I can’t believe I’ve had three sensors with the same problem in 2 days? I’d assume user error except my first 4 were fine. It’s not too warm or too cold, I apply them exactly as per instructions, they are sited in the right place, when I take them off I can see the little puncture mark so it has been inserted properly. I know people say they can be erratic for24 hours but I’ve not found this before and this is more than a ’bit off’, it’s completely unusable and unreliable. Has anyone any idea what could be causing this? Should I go back to Abbott again? These sensors weren’t even all dispatched in the same package, so I can’t say something corrupted the sensors in transit. I really don’t think it’s anything I’m doing but please tell me if you know of anything that I might be doing to cause this.
Sorry for the long rant and thanks if you made it this far!
First 4 libres, no problem at all. Always matched finger sticks (or matched near enough given I didn’t need to make treatment decisions based on results). I think 0.5 mmol difference, taken 10 mins after a finger stick was the biggest discrepancy I ever saw. As I got confident in the Libre, stopped finger sticks completely apart from a random check on start up day. The last one I felt was running a bit low against the previous ones, (confirmed this with fingersticks), but despite being a bit low, followed the same peaks and troughs as the finger sticks so I felt it was still doing ok to identify trends.
In the last 48 hours though, I’ve had three new sensors, using up my entire supply. They are all over the place. The first one sat at 2.9 for hours, then told me sensor had failed and to change it. Took it off, contacted Abbott, filled out their questionnaire and now waiting for a response. The second one moved about randomly and rapidly between 2.9 and 3.5 for 24 hours. Fingersticks had me between 4.8 and 5.9 in that timescale. After the initial 24 hours were up with no improvement I contacted Abbott to ask if I should leave it a while longer or if they could give me any guidance. They basically ignored that question and just sent me a second questionnaire. Don’t know if they will replace that one or not. After 36 hours and £100 down, removed my second one fitted my last sensor at 8am. First hour after activation it seemed hopeful, but by late morning it had settled at 2.9 where it has stayed (BGM says 5.6, which would be a usual reading for me at this time of day as I don’t eat till 2pm).
Im not sure what to do? I’m embarrassed about going back to Abbott, and really annoyed that I’ve spent 150 and won’t even get my first replacement for another week (even if they agree to it). At the same time, I can’t believe I’ve had three sensors with the same problem in 2 days? I’d assume user error except my first 4 were fine. It’s not too warm or too cold, I apply them exactly as per instructions, they are sited in the right place, when I take them off I can see the little puncture mark so it has been inserted properly. I know people say they can be erratic for24 hours but I’ve not found this before and this is more than a ’bit off’, it’s completely unusable and unreliable. Has anyone any idea what could be causing this? Should I go back to Abbott again? These sensors weren’t even all dispatched in the same package, so I can’t say something corrupted the sensors in transit. I really don’t think it’s anything I’m doing but please tell me if you know of anything that I might be doing to cause this.
Sorry for the long rant and thanks if you made it this far!
Last edited:
