Libre trial?

[kev-w]

I've b*llached my local hospital about the device, and my GP's and local CCG, anyway today I was at the hospital for retinal screening and as it's next to the diabetes centre I thought I'd check in, the woman there must have recognised my voice from previous phone calls and asked if I was Kevin and told me the consultant suggested a trial so they're booking me in for one.

As knowledge is king, what's the crack with a trial?

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @kev-w I admire your persistence !! Well done for keeping on at them, just shows if you shout loudly you get heard. I think each trust would have different policies in place for trials, have heard some getting a month's trial (2 sensors), others just one sensor, so it depends how generous they are.

 

[kev-w]

Hi Juicyj, this I believe is the one sensor, but our CCG finalise/publish their decision in a fortnight, so my fingers are crossed.

It's more about the mechanics of the trial, and what is it like to fit & wear? Does it go in the muscle and will it stay in doing a French press? Swimming? How to make it last 45 minutes in the pool? Do I get to keep the reader? Can I upload the graph to my pc?
I'm all questions now, I can certainly see how it will benefit me and should lessen the number of hypos I have (if I'm compatible with it) but don't know much about it per-se.

 

[Juicyj]

Hi Juicyj, this I believe is the one sensor, but our CCG finalise/publish their decision in a fortnight, so my fingers are crossed.

It's more about the mechanics of the trial, and what is it like to fit & wear? Does it go in the muscle and will it stay in doing a French press? Swimming? How to make it last 45 minutes in the pool? Do I get to keep the reader? Can I upload the graph to my pc?
I'm all questions now, I can certainly see how it will benefit me and should lessen the number of hypos I have (if I'm compatible with it) but don't know much about it per-se.

Hi Kev, best place to position it is directly on your arms bingo wing - excuse the expression didn’t know how else to say where it goes ! So it doesn’t go direct into muscle but into you fatty tissue beneath the arm so it doesn’t catch a door frame and fall off, it’s fine for swimming or you can stick a big tegaderm plaster on if your worried about it falling off, if i’m particularly active I put one on. It’s fine with fitness of all types. You are unlikely to keep the reader however it’s an easy plug in to upload the results in your pc and you can email your results as a pdf doc too. It’s great to see which direction your bg is going so helps to arrest low bg before impact and to see what happens over night, they are a really useful tool so hope you get the green light and can report back on how it goes.

 

[kev-w]

And after all that I think I win nugget of the day, talking testing here, but losing my accu-check Aviva somewhere this afternoon, 'twas at the hospital I last used it, 15.55 or thereabouts but it wasn't in my pocket where I put it, no-where's open that sells them, supermarkets don't have them (although a late opening pet store have a different one ) so it's going back to the mid 1980's for my next two jabs...

But on the plus side I've not lost one before

 

[kev-w]

1 hour 3 minutes till that retinal screening clinic opens, so I'll ring there before buying a new tester . I don't think I'm hypo/hyper but.....

It's a little odd, first day I can remember not testing my blood on waking up, which was fun but worrying at the same time and I'm sat mumbling stupid stupid as I eat my porridge,

 

[kev-w]

A result, or kind of, my meter hasn't been found but the diabetes centre will give me a Gluco RX one with a few strips & Accu-check are sending me another Aviva poste haste, and for free, which did surprise me as I've been to a couple of chemists this morning to buy one, but haven't found any.

It's a mad feeling, I've not finger pricked since 16.00 yesterday and I'm still standing

 

[kev-w]

Happy ending (edit for me), my neighbours husband died a few months back and he was a T2, the neighbour lent me his GlucoRX meter & strips, my blood was 7.6 so I drove to the hospital clinic and picked up one of their metres too so I've enough strips to last if the Aviva comes for Thursday if I go easy on them.

So there's some ups and downs, just like diabetes really!

 

[Juicyj]

Glad you're ok @kev-w I have left my meter at home a couple of times and had to drive home from work to collect, that in itself was a nerve wracking experience so going a day with out one would send me bonkers now ! I do have a few back up meters at home should the current one fail, nothing like having a few spare !

 

[kev-w]

Glad you're ok @kev-w I have left my meter at home a couple of times and had to drive home from work to collect, that in itself was a nerve wracking experience so going a day with out one would send me bonkers now ! I do have a few back up meters at home should the current one fail, nothing like having a few spare !

Thanks
I've had a meter for twenty something years, from back when you bought one with a lifetime warranty & replacement batteries and you had to pester to get strips, they've survived many Amsterdam trips, canoe expeditions, camping trips and always replaced at the first sign of a problem, and I've never been without one in that time so I was nervous going to sleep without testing and probably looked daft at 7am walking a tile line on the bathroom floor checking for balance .

 

[TheBigNewt]

So do you have the new one that doesn't require any calibration with fingersticks (the one that was recently approved in the US)? I want to say it's called Freestyle.

 

[porl69]

I've b*llached my local hospital about the device, and my GP's and local CCG, anyway today I was at the hospital for retinal screening and as it's next to the diabetes centre I thought I'd check in, the woman there must have recognised my voice from previous phone calls and asked if I was Kevin and told me the consultant suggested a trial so they're booking me in for one.

As knowledge is king, what's the crack with a trial?

Hi Kev, the trial is an introduction to the Libre. You will get 1 sensor the reader and 50 test strips. The sensor last upto 14 days. I had my trial just before xmas and have now just had the "YES" of my DSN and doctor for the prescription. My chemist phoned up this morning to let me know that the prescrition is in and they are waiting for a delivery off Abbots

 

[kev-w]

It's looking like I'll have to up my persistence as since a week last Monday I've heard no more about the offered trial from our hospital, nor have the local CCG updated me on the result of their commissioning meeting they were having this week, as they were supposed to do.

Saying that I've waited 33 years to go on a DAPHNE course but we don't have them in York....

The kit is at the hospital I'm told, and she's going to ring me back shortly after speaking to a nurse who'll fit it for me, which I'm hoping assuming is going to be the training course...

And as pestering just worked I'll ring the CCG next as I'm in sulk mode as my car has a rude word puncture.

Again and the call to the CCG was a waste of time, so another call to the local MP next as my spare tyre's also flat.

 

[kev-w]

Haha an update 1.30 this aft at the hospital for it fitting, but I'm not on a course or anything, but will be on the push bike as whilst trying to change a flat tyre for a flat tyre and phoning people to be a nuisance proved to be a nuisance as I managed to drop to 2.9.

Headache to follow shortly...

 

[kev-w]

Update updated and updated again

So I've had the thing in my left arm since 13.48, it's an interesting device, but worry it'll fall off

and the 6.2 matches the 6.2 on my Aviva, which to be honest is quite crazy. (a little hypo from cycling, but I felt it so had a couple of dextro tabs)

Useless nugget of info for the day: BM strips? a generic term for test strips but the term BM strips comes from BM, Boehringer Mannheim who made the originals, given to me by the nurse who fitted my sensor

 

[kev-w]

As a T1 in his 34th diabetic year the device is surprising me, this morning both testers read the same, and so I could see my sleeping bloods, (running high )

It's quite fascinating tbh

 

[kev-w]

Uh-hu swimming, tegaderm square from boots, cling film (came off) and 28 minutes later the sensor wouldn't read, I didn't swim multi lengths either, just 2's and 4's, but it seems to work again now....

I've only finger pricked three times today. bloods are a little high and I'd have tested at least 6 times by now normally.

 

[Scott-C]

As a T1 in his 34th diabetic year the device is surprising me, this morning both testers read the same, and so I could see my sleeping bloods, (running high )

It's quite fascinating tbh

Yer like a kid with a new toy! I was the same, I was scanning it about 50 times a day in the first week just because I could!

 

[kev-w]

Yer like a kid with a new toy! I was the same, I was scanning it about 50 times a day in the first week just because I could!

It's certainly an eye opener! And my ten times a day pricked fingers have enjoyed the break I'm just not confident of its ability to withstand a proper swimming session.

Wanders off around the house with device in hand watching the Humalog start working whilst cooking his tea

 

[archersuz]

I'm glad you're enjoying it!