Libre questions.

Just heard of these devices a few days ago and have struggled through the Life with Libre page. Struggled because i dont yet really understand when I prick my fingers, why most mornings its low and then suddenly spikes, for example. Still a noob understanding T2.

Saw someone say they thought all those newly diagnosed with diabetes should wear one for at least 3 months. From what I have read in that thread, I am not sure i would even understand what the readings would be telling me.

Would that be a normal reaction at my stage and/or only best for those that really understand this disease, or would it force me to grasp all of this quicker than I seem to be doing?

Last, I wish I could tell how many T2'rs specifically that have used this device, either still keep using it because they really believe in it, or was the purchase and usage just down to shinyitis, a new toy, etc?

Scott-C said:

As a cgm, it's pretty accurate - being able to calibrate libre output makes a big difference.

As a prediction generator, hmm, accuracy is a relative term! If I enter X u and Y carbs to get an idea of what that looks like before deciding whether to bolus that, it frequently looks sketchy, like it's not got enough information and is still thinking about it, so I don't usually attach much weight to that. But sometimes it'll suggest that a different combination would be taking me well out of range, so it might make me substantially rethink that approach.

The curious thing, though, is that once I've taken a shot/food, then, after about 10 to 20 mins, it'll regularly tighten up and rethink the original prediction. I'm not a programmer, but I wonder whether it's just because now that it's been told I've had Xu and Yg, and also has several actual cgm readings, it just makes a much better stab at it as it has started to test the prediction against reality and adjusted it. I've had a fair few occasions where I've cross-checked against bg in those sort of situations and it has frequentlt made a remarkably good job, which gives me a fair bit of confidence in just keeping an eye in the prediction so I'll get a heads up on what might happen in the next couple of hours, so I've got plenty of time to consider corrections.

It's difficult to explain properly without using it for an extended period. After a while you just kind of "get" what it's indicating and decide how much to trust it. I'd miss it if I didn't have it.

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As far as I can tell it's using a different algorithm from the one that should be the most accurate according to my literary review when it comes to predicting, but I haven't tested it on myself yet so I can't speak for how accurate either of them are at this point. There is also the case of insulin sensitivity, which will change slightly depending on your current glucose level so that may be why, there is no consideration for that in the code that I can see.
The key part in what I will be trying to implement is to also map nutrients of what you've just consumed to machine learning algorithms to over time more accurately measure how they will affect the specific user and thus generate even more accurate predictions based on what you've just eaten/injected. I'm confident in the theory, not as sure that I'm capable of implementing it myself in the given time frame. The plan is to give it away for free if/when it works anyway, much like xDrip.

jlarsson said:

I'm currently working on a tool that if it works as intended will not only do readings for you and take notes of your injections and what you consume, it'll also return a predicted blood glucose graph for the next few hours based on your data. If I can get it to work, it won't be that functional to begin with but the plan is to eventually be able to not only predict how your blood glucose levels will be in the next few hours based on recent data but also be able to recommend injection dose based on what you are about to eat and things like that.

Disclaimer: Libre-wearing Computer Science student

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Hi JLarsson, please don't make that software too good for us!
We still want to have a life where crazy stuff can happen and our bg at times go low so we qualify for a little cake or two!

Any advance in software for an I phone ? Want to use it with my freestyle Libre reader?

kev-w said:

Mapping consumed nutrients sounds interesting, and a move forward from the pictures of potatoes with the amounts of carbs in them by size from when I was diagnosed

And my next mission is to look for a mathematical explanation of insulin resistance and why it varies.

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Yeah the idea is to be able to detect changes in the body over time, since at least in my experience it changes over time so that what used to require 4 units will now require 5 units for the same effect etc, well you get the idea.

Celsus said:

Hi JLarsson, please don't make that software too good for us!
We still want to have a life were crazy stuff can happen and our bg at times go low so we qualify for a little cake or two!

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Let's see if it actually works as intended before we get all excited shall we?

Florence5 said:

Any advance in software for an I phone ? Want to use it with my freestyle Libre reader?

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I happen to use Android so that is what I'm building it for, but by design it will be easily ported to other architectures(e.g iPhone) as well as web interface and such.

The design is to just use the phone as a data gathering and displaying device, the actual work(at least for now) will be done on an external server which will be running the machine learning stuff as well as gather data from external sources to dynamically populate nutritional data and likely insulin data(haven't really thought this part through yet tbh), i.e whether the used insulin type acts over a certain time frame and things like that. This way, the user will save a lot of battery by not performing calculations locally as well as data usage by not needing to connect to anything but the server for gathering nutritional data etc.
If the proof of concept works, the idea is to eventually be able to share(with permission) data between users, e.g this affects user x with similar physique to you this way so we suggest you eat this for optimal results and also to easily port your data between devices and gain better insight into how your eating habits are affected by certain foods. And yes I'm aware of there being legal stuff needing to be worked out for an actual service doing this, but that's the vision I have.

kev-w said:

So having managed to get a script for the device I have some questions, if I get to keep the device I'll upgrade my phone and use the BluCon (thanks to Scott-C for the info posted on that) but for now I'm interested what software's available on a pc for logbook editing, I'm forgetting to mark an injection but remembering to mark food, or vice versa and the reader won't allow me to add notes later, also the exercise checkbox. I'd like to record what exercise I did at that time and make notes, similarly I'd like to be able to record general day notes along side too.

Is there software available to do any of this in one place?

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Hi go to Libreview.com and download the software - you can then link into the DSN you see - you can add carbs and insulin taken every time you scan by tapping on the blue box top corner of the screen.
You need to save results as they will be required to get more scripts

New2ThisType2 said:

Just heard of these devices a few days ago and have struggled through the Life with Libre page. Struggled because i dont yet really understand when I prick my fingers, why most mornings its low and then suddenly spikes, for example. Still a noob understanding T2.

Saw someone say they thought all those newly diagnosed with diabetes should wear one for at least 3 months. From what I have read in that thread, I am not sure i would even understand what the readings would be telling me.

Would that be a normal reaction at my stage and/or only best for those that really understand this disease, or would it force me to grasp all of this quicker than I seem to be doing?

Last, I wish I could tell how many T2'rs specifically that have used this device, either still keep using it because they really believe in it, or was the purchase and usage just down to shinyitis, a new toy, etc?

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Hi and welcome!

Have a look at this thread - it is by a type 2 with all her trials and tribulations when first experiencing her Libre, and it may answer some of your questions.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/life-with-libre.118450/
I think getting a Libre helped me to get to grips with my blood glucose FAR more that testing my blood glucose with a glucometer. Wish I had been able to use one when I was first learning all this stuff.

Florence5 said:

Any advance in software for an I phone ? Want to use it with my freestyle Libre reader?

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Needs to be iPhone 7 or above - it's the in phone technology that had something missing called an NFC

Thanks Brunneria. I have perused though it but admittedly can't seem to decide if it would be beneficial for me, or not.
The cost is high enough that I want to be really sure but right now my numbers are ok without fully understanding why as many here do, or that the Libre would help sort out.......not ruling it out but feeling that I have had the best success with just changing my diet..Will see if I buy one at some point in the future though. Thanks for the help.

Has anyone noticed that the number of sensors you can order went down to 2 again? Also my order from about 10 days ago hasn't shipped but has been set 'on hold' so that sucks. Any of you guys having the same problems?

I ordered one by phone from Mistrys Pharmacy in Loughborough from stock, they posted it quite happily.

kev-w said:

Seeing as we've moved on from the original topic about libre software available for a pc, I thought I'd ask if anyone's graph has disappeared after they moved the time forward this morning?

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Yup! It’s only showing a small hole in the daily graph, though.

kev-w said:

I just reset the clock and it's removed the visible graph prior to the last scan.
Odd

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Yeah, that bit’s gone. The snapshot graph you get right after scanning.

kev-w said:

Seeing as we've moved on from the original topic about libre software available for a pc, I thought I'd ask if anyone's graph has disappeared after they moved the time forward this morning?

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It happens in the reader but not in the official Android app, same thing if you change it for moving time zones. Whoever designed the reader clearly didn't take into account time zones or DST, it also has a habit of getting extremely slow when looking at your history so it presumably has some questionable storage solutions.