Libre Sensor

sparklesoc · Mar 7, 2019

I have had the Medtronic 640g pump for a year now which I have found fantastic! I was at my Diabetic appointment a few weeks ago & I have been encouraged to go on the Libre Sensor. What do users with a pump think of the Libre sensor?
Our trust only gives patients with persistent hypos/poor hypo awareness the 670g pump with CGM sensor.
Is the Libre Sensor useful even though it doesn’t communicate to the pump? Many thanks

Deleted Account · Mar 7, 2019

I have self funded the libre on and off.
My initial reaction was that it was a waste of time because it is inaccurate.
After some time I learnt a few things
- it is more accurate on some people than others
- it is more accurate within the ranges of 4 to 7.
- it is about 15 to 20 minutes behind finger prick readings
- it is not a replacement for finger pricks
- it is a brilliant tool for viewing trends to use to adapt basal profiles on the pump
- it is a brilliant tool for making corrections as you know whether your BG is rising or falling

In other words, it can be very useful but only if you know how to use it.

TonyBlue · Mar 7, 2019

I am not on a pump but use the Libre and agree with the previous post but I have noticed the longer I’m using it (3months now) the more accurate it seems to be.
It is around 15 mins previous to any blood test but shows accurately if you are going higher or lower or nice and steady overall though I would miss it now if I didn’t have it.

Chickenboy · Mar 7, 2019

Any CGM or Libre is absolutely essential to get the best out of the pump. It allows you to monitor trends almost real time and make adjustments as needed. Since using a pump and Libre my a1c is down to 6.5. There is no way I would have been able to achieve this without both of these. I would say the libre is even more valuable than the pump in achieving tight control.

Dicko · Mar 9, 2019

I've been self funding Libre for 2 years now and in all honesty i couldn't do without it. Accuracy wise it isn't the best, its generally accurate between 8&4, anything else then i need to finger prick, i use it more for my trends which i find invaluable.

I'm going on a Medtronic 640g on 09th April and will contine with Libre, obviously i'm going to try and get in prescribed, but if not i'll continue to self fund.

Jollymon · Mar 9, 2019

My very first Libre sensor died in the 1st 3 days. On the 4th day it was ooo out of sorts it shut the device down. They said I was too active for it.

I can live without it. After I received a sensor replacement I gave it away.

Scott-C · Mar 9, 2019

Dicko said:
Accuracy wise it isn't the best

Stick a miaomiao transmitter on it (one off cost of about £160), run it to xDrip+ (free) on android or Spike on ios, you can calibrate it each day to tighten up the accuracy, and get full on cgm, including hypo alerts and predictive simulations.

I still get ratty sensors now and then, but the one I'm running at the moment has only been about 0.1 to 0.4 out over the last few days after calibrating it.

Pic below to show what it looks like and some links to where to get them:

https://miaomiao.cool

https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip/releases

https://jamorham.github.io

WJP1055 · Mar 9, 2019

I'm not on a pump but I have very recently moved off finger pricking to the Libre. What a fantastic invention this is. After many years of sticking needles in me 4/5 times a day, I have not had to test once as I find the Libre very reliable. What is very useful is that it tells you if you're BS is flat, falling or rising. Although I have only had it 4 days I can't see me going back to regular finger pricking.

Deleted Account · Mar 9, 2019

WJP1055 said:
I have not had to test once as I find the Libre very reliable.

If you are not finger pricking, how do you know Libre is accurate?
I find the graphs and trends amazing but the numbers are not accurate. For example, Libre has read -0.7 when I was completely articulate.

Joesdad · Mar 10, 2019

I've just posted this on another thread, but desperate for some insights. I'm a first time poster here (or I was a few minutes ago)

My son is 6 years old, diagnosed T1 in November 2018, and has been using the FS Libre for nearly 3 months now. Up to now they have generally been fine. On Thursday we changed the sensor 3 times, and the readings were 2-3 mml different to the blood prick readings. On the first one, we put it into the side of his arm and not the back. I read somewhere that if it goes into a muscle it will be inaccurate. So we changed it. The second one, there was a bleed when we applied the sensor, so we thought it was because of that. So we put a third one on, another bleed and again a difference of 2 to the blood test. We called Abbott and they suggested waiting 24-48 hours, after a bleed. So we are waiting, while in the meantime, can’t send him to school and expect teachers to do blood tests instead using a simple scanner. (Before anyone calls social services - He does have a careplan, and we and school keep to it rigidly, but we rely on the libre to make it work. DS's teachers are trained in doing blood checks but we don't want to drive him mad.)

Have any of you ever had this experience? Firstly, how common is it to bleed when applying the sensor? Secondly, does a bleed affect the accuracy of the sensor? And, if bleeding does not affect it, we had three different sensors giving wild results!!

The thing that is confusing us here, is that we've used probably 5 or 6 sensors to date, and they've all been fine. Now suddenly, we have 3 that are faulty?! For us, we don't want to finger prick a 6 year old constantly, the libre has been a lifesaver, but now we feel we are driving on a dark road without any lights, as we are giving food and don't know for certain where his levels are.

Dabeast · Mar 12, 2019

Joesdad said:
I've just posted this on another thread, but desperate for some insights. I'm a first time poster here (or I was a few minutes ago)

My son is 6 years old, diagnosed T1 in November 2018, and has been using the FS Libre for nearly 3 months now. Up to now they have generally been fine. On Thursday we changed the sensor 3 times, and the readings were 2-3 mml different to the blood prick readings. On the first one, we put it into the side of his arm and not the back. I read somewhere that if it goes into a muscle it will be inaccurate. So we changed it. The second one, there was a bleed when we applied the sensor, so we thought it was because of that. So we put a third one on, another bleed and again a difference of 2 to the blood test. We called Abbott and they suggested waiting 24-48 hours, after a bleed. So we are waiting, while in the meantime, can’t send him to school and expect teachers to do blood tests instead using a simple scanner. (Before anyone calls social services - He does have a careplan, and we and school keep to it rigidly, but we rely on the libre to make it work. DS's teachers are trained in doing blood checks but we don't want to drive him mad.)

Have any of you ever had this experience? Firstly, how common is it to bleed when applying the sensor? Secondly, does a bleed affect the accuracy of the sensor? And, if bleeding does not affect it, we had three different sensors giving wild results!!

The thing that is confusing us here, is that we've used probably 5 or 6 sensors to date, and they've all been fine. Now suddenly, we have 3 that are faulty?! For us, we don't want to finger prick a 6 year old constantly, the libre has been a lifesaver, but now we feel we are driving on a dark road without any lights, as we are giving food and don't know for certain where his levels are.

I have bled twice out of 9 sensors, but only minor (one only noticed when removing sensor) The bleed did not seem to affect the accuracy. Nearly all my sensors read low for 24 hours, so I tend to put one on when I have a day left on my current one. I activate it with the reader, but I don't with my phone app. This means I can take readings on the old sensor on my phone for 24hrs while my new sensor beds in. I have had two sensors which read over 2.0 too low and Abbott replaced these for me. On the whole, as others have said, Libre is more accurate between 4 and 8, and also when trend arrows are level. I have found, however, that the trend arrows are always accurate, even if the reading isn't. Hope this helps.

boxing · Mar 14, 2019

I originally was on the Libre. I had it for about 6 months. Gave me problems. Many lows as compared to finger pricks. Sometimes lasted between 8-10 days. Finally gave it up and went onto the dexcom g6. Very accurate readings and a much better life if 10 days

Glucobabu · Mar 14, 2019

I am on the Libre trial now and reading all this seems to make sense. Over the last 4 weeks my readings showed so many lows that the DNS at the hospital phoned me to reevaluate my carbs and insulin intake. I am still hoping I will qualify to be given one because after over 3 decades of finger pricking I am finding it a life changer!

westlife48 · Mar 14, 2019

sparklesoc said:
I have had the Medtronic 640g pump for a year now which I have found fantastic! I was at my Diabetic appointment a few weeks ago & I have been encouraged to go on the Libre Sensor. What do users with a pump think of the Libre sensor?
Our trust only gives patients with persistent hypos/poor hypo awareness the 670g pump with CGM sensor.
Is the Libre Sensor useful even though it doesn’t communicate to the pump? Many thanks

westlife48 · Mar 14, 2019

I do not think it is very good the readings are not right with my meater readings they are lower or higher. They say they are spose to improve your readings but I dont thick so.

Loraines · Mar 15, 2019

I find my Libre absolutely indispensable and can’t imagine going back to finger pricking. Dont care what the cost.

WJP1055 · Mar 15, 2019

helensaramay said:
If you are not finger pricking, how do you know Libre is accurate?
I find the graphs and trends amazing but the numbers are not accurate. For example, Libre has read -0.7 when I was completely articulate.

Hi Helensaramay. I've been T1D for 50 years and still have very good awareness signs of falling or rising BS. I know that the sensor readings tend to lag a finger prick by 10 mins or so (in my case) but, the arrow trend indicator is very useful in confirming what I believe is happening. My son-in-laws niece is also on the Libre and she thinks its fantastic. Perhaps its not for everyone.

I just checked my BS. Sensor showed 7.0 but, meter revealed that my BS is 9.3 (2 hours after B/fast). I didn't realise that the difference in accuracy was so large. Well, I guess it's back to checking my BS by finger pricking at injection times.

Loraines · Mar 15, 2019

WJP1055 said:
Hi Helensaramay. I've been T1D for 50 years and still have very good awareness signs of falling or rising BS. I know that the sensor readings tend to lag a finger prick by 10 mins or so (in my case) but, the arrow trend indicator is very useful in confirming what I believe is happening. My son-in-laws niece is also on the Libre and she thinks its fantastic. Perhaps its not for everyone.

I just checked my BS. Sensor showed 7.0 but, meter revealed that my BS is 9.3 (2 hours after B/fast). I didn't realise that the difference in accuracy was so large. Well, I guess it's back to checking my BS by finger pricking at injection times.

Loraines · Mar 15, 2019

The fact is, before I discovered Libre, I rarely ever finger pricked because it hurts too much. I’m a typist and my fingers were uncomfortably sore, so I could not work properly. So having a Libre gives me much better control.
I am very sensitive to rises and falls in my BSL and they tally very well with my Libre readings.

emmay · Mar 15, 2019

Joesdad said:
I've just posted this on another thread, but desperate for some insights. I'm a first time poster here (or I was a few minutes ago)

My son is 6 years old, diagnosed T1 in November 2018, and has been using the FS Libre for nearly 3 months now. Up to now they have generally been fine. On Thursday we changed the sensor 3 times, and the readings were 2-3 mml different to the blood prick readings. On the first one, we put it into the side of his arm and not the back. I read somewhere that if it goes into a muscle it will be inaccurate. So we changed it. The second one, there was a bleed when we applied the sensor, so we thought it was because of that. So we put a third one on, another bleed and again a difference of 2 to the blood test. We called Abbott and they suggested waiting 24-48 hours, after a bleed. So we are waiting, while in the meantime, can’t send him to school and expect teachers to do blood tests instead using a simple scanner. (Before anyone calls social services - He does have a careplan, and we and school keep to it rigidly, but we rely on the libre to make it work. DS's teachers are trained in doing blood checks but we don't want to drive him mad.)

Have any of you ever had this experience? Firstly, how common is it to bleed when applying the sensor? Secondly, does a bleed affect the accuracy of the sensor? And, if bleeding does not affect it, we had three different sensors giving wild results!!

The thing that is confusing us here, is that we've used probably 5 or 6 sensors to date, and they've all been fine. Now suddenly, we have 3 that are faulty?! For us, we don't want to finger prick a 6 year old constantly, the libre has been a lifesaver, but now we feel we are driving on a dark road without any lights, as we are giving food and don't know for certain where his levels are.

Hi, I have been using libre sensor for 18months now and find that you can’t just put one in and use it straight away, my libre runs out on a Saturday morning so during the Friday I put my new one in and let it settle for 12/18 hours before I activate it, it’s almost like it has to absorb the fluid for a while before it can adjust. Having done this my readings when activated the following day on the new sensor are spot on to those I took on my dieing sensor.
Hope that helps x

Libre Sensor

Member

Deleted Account

Guest

Member

Active Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Deleted Account

Guest

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency