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Libre2 trial

J

Julie1972

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I was invited to trial a Libre 2 sensor for 2 weeks and have had four alarms for low blood sugar readings in the past 2 days, 3.4 being the lowest reading. Once after a high carb meal at lunchtime, one at 10pm having eaten at 6pm and the others during the night. Is this likely to be anything to worry about? This must have been happening regularly before I used this monitor but I've never had any of the listed symptoms so wouldn't even know. I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who's experienced similar.
Thanks, Jay.
 
Jay341431 said:
I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who's experienced similar.
Thanks, Jay.
Click to expand...
Hi @Jay341431 , in my book, it's not a low unless confirmed with a meter and a fingerprick. I find the Libre very useful, and I've been using it for 5 years, but I do not blindly trust it to be accurate.
For me, the sensor usually reads lower than blood, for others it's close to spot on most of the time, and some find it reads too high.

What medication are you on?
 
Ah right, so I should test with my freestyle monitor after an alarm then! I cannot afford to find the Libre though it has really focused me over the past few days.
I take Metformin 500mg.
Thanks so much for posting.
 
To get value out of Libre (or any other CGM), it is important to understand limitations.
The ones which spring to mind in this case are
- our bodies may take time to familiarise itself with the alien object in the arm. This can take up to 48 hours. During this bedding in period, the readings may be inconsistent.
- Libre is calibrated to be most accurate in “normal range”. Therefore anything under 4 or over 8 should be double checked with a finger prick.
- applying pressure to a sensor (e.g. lying on it when asleep) can cause a compression low. This is a false reading.

I thoroughly recommend reading the threads on Libre to understand all its limitations. Unfortunately, Abbott do not share these and most DSNs seem to be unaware.
 
Thank you for that. I shall read up on it this afternoon. I've just had an alert to say that signal has been lost and alarms are not available! My levels haven't been at all today but I'd still like to have the alarm if they dip again at any point. I'll try to find out more about loss of signal.
 
i have also been trialling the libre after going unconscious and stopping breathing last year and its picked up lots of hypos and a couple of hypers but always check up on my normal monitor just in case.. i also found that after one week it lost signal and said put a new sensor on.. so i contacted them and they sent new one out and i have to send this one back.. the alarm is great as even when i conked out last year i was totally unaware and felt fine even when i went out.. and i have hypos at night and recently in hospital they woke me up in the middle of the night and i was having hypo
 
I'm sorry to hear you've had such a tough time with it all. Thanks for the advice, I will contact them tomorrow. Since an earlier poster advised me to check sensor readings against a finger prick test I've found them to tally with each other. I'm worried about having hypos at night and not knowing once the trial period is over but I imagine many people are in the same position so there's nothing to be done. I do often wake in the early hours feeling very hot so I could start doing a finger prick test then.
 
Jay341431 said:
Thank you for that. I shall read up on it this afternoon. I've just had an alert to say that signal has been lost and alarms are not available! My levels haven't been at all today but I'd still like to have the alarm if they dip again at any point. I'll try to find out more about loss of signal.
Click to expand...

I get this alert regularly when I have left phone residing elsewhere for long periods. Alarms will ring again as soon as you are in close proximity. I have my out of range alarm switched off as it drove me mad. Psychologically I felt it controlled me.
I’m a little interested that you are on a trial. Is that as a 1 or 2?
I have done 2 trials for Libre in the past and had to commit to 4 blood tests a day.
If on insulin you will be eligible for Libre anyway.
 
Hello. According to my graphs the alarm wouldn't need to have sounded one the past 36 hours or so as my readings have been within range but I will hold off contacting them about the lost signal warning.
I am T2 and this trial is one I was offered by email. It is only for 14 days so I'm trying to use it to test as many of my normal or favourite meals as possible while I have it as I can't afford to self fund. I do test using a monitor but it's rather painful for me due to a medical condition.
Thanks for posting, Jay.
 
Jay341431 said:
Thank you for that. I shall read up on it this afternoon. I've just had an alert to say that signal has been lost and alarms are not available! My levels haven't been at all today but I'd still like to have the alarm if they dip again at any point. I'll try to find out more about loss of signal.
Click to expand...
Hi, regarding the loss of signal are you using the libre link app on your phone or the NUU A5X unit? The sensor is constantly in communication with the app and requires to be in a certain proximity, this distance can vary due to walls and other objects between them. Also the sensor takes power from the reader each time it’s scanned. So even if you have the reader within range of the sensor all the time but you don’t scan it. At some point you will get the out of range warning as the sensor is low on power. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the info Steve. I use the app and my phone needs to be with me at all times for various reasons - 9 days of use left so hoping to make the best of it!
Thanks again, Jay
 
Jay341431 said:
Thanks for the info Steve. I use the app and my phone needs to be with me at all times for various reasons - 9 days of use left so hoping to make the best of it!
Thanks again, Jay
Click to expand...
Hi, your welcome. I guess your aware that you can set your own low and high levels. Also you can have the app verbally tell you your current reading and the arrow direction.
 
Yes I did read about that but have left the levels as they were set. I would set it up differently if I were able to continue using it. You obviously know a lot about these gadgets, thank you.
 
Hi, no problem. It’s my mum that’s type 1 and uses the libre app. But as she is not familiar with the technology I’ve set it up for her.

To set personal low and high settings:-

1 Open the libre link app
2 Press the 3 horizontal lines (top left)
3 Press alarms
4 Press low glucose / high glucose
5. Press ‘when glucose goes below’ under ‘ALARM’
6. Scroll up or down (the range is 3.3 - 5.6mmol/L)
7. Repeat steps 4 - 6 to adjust the high setting.
Hope that helps
 
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