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Life with Libre

Has anyone ever had bruising at the side of their Libre sensor? I've had the current sensor on 4 days (activated for 2 ) and I have a bruise left and right of the sensor that I just noticed yesterday. Sensor is working fine and by the look of them it was the applicator that caused them as they have a curve. Not sore or anything - just curious.

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Just to add to this - Abbott says it does happen that you can get some bleeding and bruising applying the sensor. The bruise I had was a nice dark purple. Anyway, so long as the sensor is working fine and you are not in pain you can ignore it. Any pain/silly results contact Abbott and if painful remove it.

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I am new to freestyle libre, has anyone used it in Bikram, where it's about 40degrees, and stay in there for 1.5 hours
 
davidfyc said:
I am new to freestyle libre, has anyone used it in Bikram, where it's about 40degrees, and stay in there for 1.5 hours
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Hi,
Have a look on the Abbott website. Somewhere on there are the temperature specifications which will let you know the answer to your question.

I read them once and was reassured that nothing in my life would be outside the temperature range, but I can't remember the details.
 
@Scott-C Any idea how vital the expiry date is on a Libre sensor? I've mucked up basically. I should have used the 3 I had stored but when they replaced the faulty one and the one which fell off I used them without checking. I'm OK with 2 of my remaining sensors but the 3rd would be due to go on 7 September and the expiry date is 31 August. Does it really matter? No chance of getting it changed as it was my own stupid fault for not checking the dates. Just hoping they have a buffer in there.

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tircoed said:
Can i ask how much people pay for the sensors, and can u get them on the NHS Thanks
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Excluding VAT the sensors are £48.29 each (as a diabetic you don't pay VAT). I use the App on an android phone to read it or you can buy a separate reader from them.
I read somewhere it had been approved for pregnant woman who were diabetic but unless you can build a case it is not generally approved on the NHS yet. Each sensor lasts 2 weeks.

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maglil55 said:
Any idea how vital the expiry date is on a Libre sensor?
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Yikes!! Sorry, mag, haven't a clue.

Hopefully, the expiry date is a bit like food - most is still perfectly safe to eat for a while after the expiry date. I suspect that there's a lot of leeway in it.

I don't know if the expiry date is coded into the sensor so that it won't even start.

If not, and it can still be started, I suppose the only thing which might be compromised might be the glucose oxidase on the filament - maybe it wears out/breaks down if not used in time, but I'm not a chemist so am just idly speculating.

There's probably some EU regulation kicking around somewhere which covers such matters, and it'll no doubt be extremely and unnecesarily overcautious and divorced from reality.

If you can't persuade Abbott to replace it, I'd probably just use it and it'll become clear enough pretty quick whether it's gone rogue.

By the way, I've been using that blucon nightrider thing a fair bit recently. I recall you were interested in 5 minute readings. I plugged my phone into my computer and spent some time ferreting around to see if there was some way of pulling out the 5 minute readings which it shows in the linkblucon app but couldn't find anything. Mind you, phone apps aren't my thing so maybe a teenager is needed for that job.
 
It had occurred to me just to put it on and see. No 2 will run out after the expiry date and they said that is fine. Put it on and let it run. This is what makes me think maybe it is not as vital as we think (unless it has a suicide switch?) A bit like these IT security fobs that would commit suicide on a certain day. I'll order another couple just to make sure I have a backup if it does go rogue. Is the Bluecon behaving now?

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maglil55 said:
Is the Bluecon behaving now?
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Kind of. It's a bit like Jemima in that poem - when it's good, it's very, very good, when it's bad, it's horrid!

For example, it was running absolutely fine for four days, then all of a sudden it starts reporting half bg levels, for no apparent reason. Then a day or two later, it's fine again. So, still a work in progress.

I'd got to the stage where I'd figured out libre's quirks sufficiently well to be confident bolusing from it with only a couple of bg tests a day to calibrate (there was actually a couple of days where I didn't test at all - first time in 29 years!), and a lot of that confidence came from over-testing in the first few weeks to figure out what the quirks were.

When I brought blucon into the picture, it was like going back to stage one. I'd have meter saying x, reader saying y and linkblucon saying z! I couldn't be bothered doing another couple of weeks of 15 tests a day to figure out it's quirks too.

At the end of the day, it's been interesting having readings direct to my phone, but bolusing from it, nah, maybe not, or, at least, not at the moment.

Although, then again, after realising the algos are different from the reader, they are noticeably less aggressive than the reader's in predicting hypos - the reader will sometimes tell me I'm at 3.5 and plummeting whereas a bg test will tell me I'm at 4.something and blucon's 5 min readings will be showing a slow and manageable slide down, not a plummet. So, reader jumps the gun a bit. Blucon is quite reassuring in that respect, it's just the occasional suddenly and randomly reporting levels half of what they are that makes me say close but no cigar.

I pay very little attention to decimal points - as long as I'm generally 5, 6 or so, it's all good - but I quite like blucon running to 2 decimal points. Managed to get a screenshot of this wonderfully demonic 666. Damian, Damian, daddy's home...

 
I mucked things up a few weeks ago with my Libre sensors. I had 2 sensors replaced (One committed suicide and the other fell off). Thing was I should have opened and used the box of 3 I already had but, since the replacements arrived just when I was due to apply a new sensor, I attached one of the new arrivals. Bad mistake as now I had 3 with an expiry date of 31 August. I'm attaching the second one today for activation on Sunday but that still leaves me with one sensor due for application 8 September for activation on 10 September which is past the expiry date. I have my next order in . Abbott confirmed the new one I put on today can continue to be used even although it goes past it's expiry date. They did say though that the 3rd one due for application on 8 September should not be used.
It's my own stupid fault as I should have checked the dates but I'm not convinced over the expiry date either. Rather than put it down as an expensive mistake I am going to apply No 3 in 2 weeks time and we'll see if there is some kind of "buffer" in it. At least my new batch will be here if it does go doo lally.
So I've learnt to check the dates but at least we'll find out in 2 weeks time whether they do function beyond expiry.

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I'm sure I seen people start a sensor which is past it's used by date and been fine, the only issue is Abbott won't replace it if it becomes faulty though.
 
slip said:
I'm sure I seen people start a sensor which is past it's used by date and been fine, the only issue is Abbott won't replace it if it becomes faulty though.
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They won't replace it for me being stupid and not checking the dates - although how much the fact that I'd just had 2 replaced counts in that I don't know. We'll see how it goes.

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Hi all just coming to the end of a free style libre sensor, these things are addictive.
Have been using the NightRider with it for last couple of days and got to say i am impressed this far by both the accuracy of my last sensor and the NightRider
Last reading from NightRider was 12.1, my meter was 12.0 and scanning the sensor was 12.0

The results are fairly similar to what i have been getting with the sensor since i put it on
 
I've been using a Libre since being diagnosed in early July. Is it 'normal' for the readings to be low, 1 - 2 lower than a finger prick (using Aga Matrix Jazz for this)? According to my Libre average glucose is 4.6 for the last 90 days, 3.7 for the last 30 days and since. I've even had readings of 2.3 and 2.6. At one point it told me to contact a doctor (I did a finger test instead).
 
Reading low is my finding too. See my thread about it. No positive suggestions from Abbott other than replacing it.
 
Adjust the lower setting. I've had the odd one that measured about 0.5 above but for the most part they tend to be 1 - 2 under. Do your finger prick then scan about 15 mins later. After a few checks you'll get a feel for how far the sensor is under. To get away from the annoyance of the low glucose warnings I dropped the lower setting. If I get a ridiculously low reading I do a finger check just to be sure. You get used to it.


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The lowest setting is 3.9 which I am under most of the time according to the meter.
 
barrym said:
Reading low is my finding too. See my thread about it. No positive suggestions from Abbott other than replacing it.
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I too mentioned it to Abbott and ............... However they are very helpful in terms of sending me testing strips and a replacement sensor when one of mine fell off.
 
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