New to Freestyle Libre and Confused

[Lekie83]

Hello

Just looking for a bit of advise/help with me freestyle libre please? I very luckily got mine last week, and after the first one falling off on day 1 and then waiting a week to get my prescription up and running to get the next sensor I am finally up and running but I have a few questions:
- So I have the app on my I-phone and the reader that comes with the libre - which one should I be using, does the reader feed into the app or is it one or the other?
- I've have been able to get mine on prescription but my DN explained I need to be using it at a minimum of 8xs a day, which is fine cos I can't stop scanning at the moment, but if I only use my phone can the DN/Diabetic clinic still link into my readings when they need to and if I am using both devices how will they know how many times I'm using it (if that makes sense).
- When I've checked my blood glucose using my finger prick and original GC monitor and then either eat or correct and bolus using my pump, do I need to input some detail into the libre to give a better picture of any rises or falls?

I'm fairly sure I did have something else to ask but I can't think it was now but any advise on how you use the libre effectively would be much appreciated please.
Alexis

 

[porl69]

Hi @Lekie83 and welcome to the forum. Congrats on getting the Libre on prescription. Don't forget any fall offs/knock offs you can phone Abbotts and they will replace the sensor. As for scanning, the "libreLink" app on your phone does not connect to the reader that came with it. When I use my phone and LibreLink the readings automatically get uploaded using the LibreLinkUp! which is another download! But everytime you scan it will be logged onto the system and your healthcare team will be able to see your usage. You can add info onto the LibreLink app to say how many carbs and units of insulin you have taken also

 

[Muneeb]

Hello

Just looking for a bit of advise/help with me freestyle libre please? I very luckily got mine last week, and after the first one falling off on day 1 and then waiting a week to get my prescription up and running to get the next sensor I am finally up and running but I have a few questions:
- So I have the app on my I-phone and the reader that comes with the libre - which one should I be using, does the reader feed into the app or is it one or the other?
- I've have been able to get mine on prescription but my DN explained I need to be using it at a minimum of 8xs a day, which is fine cos I can't stop scanning at the moment, but if I only use my phone can the DN/Diabetic clinic still link into my readings when they need to and if I am using both devices how will they know how many times I'm using it (if that makes sense).
- When I've checked my blood glucose using my finger prick and original GC monitor and then either eat or correct and bolus using my pump, do I need to input some detail into the libre to give a better picture of any rises or falls?

I'm fairly sure I did have something else to ask but I can't think it was now but any advise on how you use the libre effectively would be much appreciated please.
Alexis

You can use either the device or your phone to take readings or both independently. Using one will not transfer data to the other. Technically you only need to scan the sensor 3x a day to get the whole days data as it saves the last 8 hours of data. In the phone/device it keeps a record of how many times you scan a day.

Regardless of phone/device you need to setup the online libreview app so the hospital can access readings at any time, they should give you instructions for this.

For injections etc you can input data into the device/phone to say you have injected, but its just a note, it doesn't affect any measurements etc and is basically a record for you to refer to if levels dropped/went too high for some reason.

On another point if you have issues with the adhesive (falls off) or accuracy, you can call abbott and they will send a replacement out without having to use another sensor.

Also I'd suggest covering it with tape (KT tape etc) to ensure it doesn't fall off by small knocks.

 

[Muneeb]

You can use either.
Although if you want to use both, you need to make sure you start the sensor with the right one. Unfortunately, I can't remember which that is but if you search for "Libre" on this forum (use the Search field in the top right), it has been mentioned a few times.

Provided the link has been made to Diasend (or whatever your DN is using - ask them how this is done), the clinic can see your readings.
They cannot tell how many times you scan provided you scan at least every 8 hours (the sensor stores 8 hours of data so if you do not scan that often, it will lose some data)

The LibreLink app does not do any calibration - it relies on factor calibration.
You can enter comments if you want.
There are other apps (such as Glimp) which allow calibration but these are not linked to any DSN/diabetes clinic

There have been a lot of threads about Libre on this forum.
I strong recommend reading through them as many people have the wrong expectation on things such as accuracy, how to get the sensor to stay in place and any ways to pimp your sensor.
These questions (and more) have been answered multiple times on the forum.

By the way, I am surprised you have been prescribed Libre without training which should explain this and how to get the most out of the sensor.
This is not a criticism of you but of your diabetes team. Libre can be very powerful but only if you know how to interpret the readings.

Good point, if you activate the sensor with your phone, you can't use the libre device. But if you activate it with the libre device, you can also use your phone. TBH I've always used my phone as I have that with me all the time anyway.

Once you get used to it, I and many others use a miaomiao to turn it into a CGM with more features etc.

 

[porl69]

You can use either.
Although if you want to use both, you need to make sure you start the sensor with the right one.

Provided the link has been made to Diasend (or whatever your DN is using - ask them how this is done), the clinic can see your readings.

Didn't think about that . You have top scan with the reader first.
Diasend and the Libre do not support each other any more!