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Libre VERY off?

BlueTechRS

Newbie
Messages
4
Hi everyone,

Just this morning, i happened to see this on my reader:


Now, first off, this isnt uncommon for me. Especially recently, i have been using a little extra long-range insulin lately, to avoid hypers at all cost. Mainly because of COVID-19.

Though, i found this scenario today very weird.
I’ve had hypos in the past, but when i checked with a regular meter, it displayed 5,4mmol/L?

I have had situations where it was off about 0,5, but never before have i had a case where it was more than half the blood reading.

Therefore it makes me question whether or not i have actually had this 6-hour long hypo..

Is this a broken Libre or just a common error?
Have any of you had issues with this in the past?

Please let me know!

Thanks,

-Sten.
 
Is it possible that you were laying on the sensor whilst asleep and applying pressure to the area?

I'm afraid Libre is well know for this.
 
urbanracer said:
Is it possible that you were laying on the sensor whilst asleep and applying pressure to the area?

I'm afraid Libre is well know for this.
Click to expand...

Hi urbanracer,

Thank you for your response.

Its been a couple hours since i woke up, and these are the readings:

I think if pressure was the case, i assume it would have stabilized by now..?

I dont know whether or not i slept on the sensor. I dont think i did, but i tend to move alot while sleeping.

Update: my mother’s phone just now started to give loads of errors while trying to read. They are different almost every time.
Example:

Sensor error, try again in 10 mins.
Check sensor
Reading error
Reading unavailible
Replace sensor

I assume this sensor is done for..?

I havent had the libre for very long. I am not really experienced with these scenarios...

Thanks,

-Sten.
 
Libre is notorious for inaccuracies at low levels. (And as @urbanracer said, lying on it at night can make it read low).

Never take a libre reading for granted - some sensors are inaccurate, and some people's bodies don't fit the libre model and give inaccurate readings. Maybe set an alarm for 3am and compare the readings? But the gaps in readings are a dead giveaway that something is amiss with your sensor.
 
BlueTechRS said:
I havent had the libre for very long. I am not really experienced with these scenarios...
Click to expand...

If you ring Abbott they'll probably send you a new sensor. But some people never get results good enough to bolus from - and just use the meter for trends (extremely useful). xdrip is a software app that allows you to calibrate the libre against your own blood sugar readings.

It's an awesome device, but it doesn't work for everyone. (I had to give up after 8 months after I became allergic and the results became totally inconsistent.)

Good luck - ring Abbott
 
I am not sure where you are but in the UK and I suspect most of the EU - meters are supposed to conform to an ISO standard. This standard permits an error reading of +/-15%.

Let's say for arguments sake that your actual blood glucose level was 6mmol/L - 15% is 0.9 giving you a range of 5.1 to 6.9.
Bearing in mind the 'libre lag' and the fact the arrow is showing an upward trend AND the libre reading appears to be some 13 minutes before the Accucheck I think it's kinda OK. (Were they 13 minutes apart or am I missing something?)

Libre is much more useful for spotting trends than actual blood glucose reading although I have had some pretty close readings in the past.

See if you get better correlation when your sugar levels have stabilised - when the Libre arrow has been horizontal for a while.
 

About the time, apologies. I havent used the blood meter in a while, neither have i taken the time to configure the clock right.

These readings were taken at the same time.

At this point (12:13) the reader is at 6,9
️
Which does seem fairly close to the glucose levels i had about half an hour ago.

However, my mother’s phone has stopped displaying all these errors and straight up rejects the sensor now, marking it as defective and telling me to replace it.

However, my reader does not seem to have issues with the integrity of the sensor, and just seems to be heavily delayed (more than the ususal lag) but somewhat accurate.

At this point i dont know which device to trust, and whether or not to apply a new sensor, or if this one is just fine except last night/morning
 

Hi Sten,

Welcome to the forum.

I happen to have the same BG meter to yours. Accu-Chek mobile. From my experince it can read as much as 15% higher?

The other thing I'm wondering with your Libre sensor. Could you be wearing multi layered long slieve clothing which could be putting pressure on the sensor?

With regards to your mum's phone. Could it be possible her device has forgotten it's registation with the sensor? I believe each libre has a unique NFC code?
 

Hi Jaylee,

At the moment, i am wearing a T-shirt that does not cover the libre.

Also, my mother’s phone does recognize the sensor, but it does not want to read, telling me the sensor is defective, and i should replace it.
 

For myself, where 'trust' comes into it I always go with the blood glucose meter and not the Libre as it's not actually measuring blood glucose.

If the error is consistent then I feel I can work with it. But I've had a couple in the past that were all over the place so I removed them and asked Abbot to replace them.
 
Sometimes the sensors can just fail either right from the beginning or from sometime whilst you've been using it, you will want to record the values from it and your normal meter where the sensor has been a long way out, at least 3 comparisons, and then phone Abbott (not today obviously). They will then replace it for you if its deemed to be faulty, but they will ask for you to send the old one back to them (they'll provide the postage) so don't throw the dodgy sensor away
 
BlueTechRS said:
Hi Jaylee,

At the moment, i am wearing a T-shirt that does not cover the libre.

Also, my mother’s phone does recognize the sensor, but it does not want to read, telling me the sensor is defective, and i should replace it.
Click to expand...

Hi again,

The devices used to scan. Do you & your mum only use the Abbott scanner & mum's phone?
Or are you also using a third device.? Do you use your phone too? (If you have one.)
 
Just to add, Sten.

Your scanner seems to be Dutch? But your readings are in "imperial."
Your English is brilliant!

I'll tag in @Antje77 to say hello. She may have ideas.
 
Jaylee said:
Your scanner seems to be Dutch? But your readings are in "imperial."
Click to expand...
We use mmol/l in the Netherlands but in Belgium they use mg/dl and speak Dutch which guarantees daily confusion on Dutch/Flemish facebook groups

@BlueTechRS , as for your sensor, as long as the reader is reading numbers that are more or less sensible compared to fingersticks I'd think the sensor is fine and something went wrong with the phone connection somehow. If a sensor doesn't work at all, like your phone suggests, the reader would give an error as well.

My sensors consistently read lower than blood by 1 - 2 mmol/l. Very annoying but they still provide me with so much useful information that for me it has been worth self funding for 3 years. The biggest downside for me is the regular fingersticks to double check a 'fake' hypo, which means I'm going to have to self fund test strips now the sensors are funded and we only get 50 strips for 3 months. And explaining how I definitely wasn't hypo 17% of the time like Libre wants my consultant to believe is annoying as well.

Our graphs for last night look remarkably similar (yes, I slept late, the note was when I woke up). Because at that point a fingerprick said 5.3 against Libres 3.8 I'm pretty sure I didn't have a hypo during the night, or perhaps I've dropped to just below 4 at around 5am.



One other thought: Was this the first night of a new sensor? Every time I activated a new sensor right away instead of waiting 24 hours after applying, it it has insisted I had an almost flatlining hypo the first night. Even with the pre-applying I don't believe it when it says nighttime hypo's the first night.

Good luck!
 
I going to give the Dexcom a try. I've had it with the Libre. Last year I got to talk to the UK rep for Abbott about calibration face to face at a diabetes meeting @ the Houses of Parliament, as well as sports minded adhesion. Neither of these concerns (the first of which has agreement from Type 1's in the audience) have been addressed. My last 2 usages never get to the end of 14 days due to knocking off the sensor. And as for accuracy, this says often my HbA1c is circa 22.

Last week I watched the below Peter Attia YouTube, where he described the accuracy of the Dexcom:


After I finish the 2 Libre sensors, and hopefully the COVID crisis abates, i'm gonna try the Dexcom.
 

Hi @Mbaker ,

I'm not sure what device you use to scan or if you have a Bluetooth transmitting device like a Miaomiao?

Since you seem to have 2 Libre sensors left.
Have you thought about using a free phone app such as "Glimp" or "Xdrip?"
These can be calibrated to your meter, giving more sensible graphs...
Developed by folk a little impatient with Abbott catching up. There are no pesky pop up adds using these apps.

I'll direct the above also at @BlueTechRS , too..? Both apps also (i believe.) have the natty feature of sharing results with a third party, by setting up an account.. I'm thinking about your mum's phone?

Hope this helps?
 
Thanks @Jaylee I totally forgot about Glimp, which I used on my previous phone, I recall liking this.
 
Mbaker said:
Thanks @Jaylee I totally forgot about Glimp, which I used on my previous phone, I recall liking this.
Click to expand...

I loved it when I was scanning. (After setting the sensor up with Libre app.)
Find Xdrip more stable & less scatty with Miaomiao Bluetooth transmitter?

You could try something like this? I appreciate you're pretty active..
I have one laser cut to accommodate the Maiomaio placed over the top. Haven't lost anything yet...

 
 
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