Reliability of Libre 2

[SimonP78]

The signal loss is driving me mad! Never been good since I first started using the sensors back in January of this year but now I’m recording signal loss on average 14 times a day and through the night it just fails to connect! Really frustrating that what should be a life saving device isn’t working properly.

I sometimes get drop-outs, which seem to be a sign of a sensor which is later fail. It doesn't tend to happen very often though (for a given sensor) it's more often the case that it drops out for an hour or more and then comes back to life, or not!

Are your sure your frequent signal losses aren't to do with your phone (I assume you're using a phone?) and the app being killed when it's in the background, which is something I understand can happen quite often at night. With Android there's usually a way to both mark an app as not being killable, and also not subject to battery controls (though it depends on the version of Android and the flavour of the UI from the manufacturer.)

If your failures are in fact the sensors (e.g. you've done BLE scanning to see that the sensor isn't transmitting) then that's interesting as I've never encountered a sensor which does that.

 

[gavmac]

I was told by Abbott that my iOS was too new and that the device has not been approved with that version.
The last two sensors have failed and I’m getting replacements but I really am worried about not getting an alarm especially when I go to bed.

I stupidly updated to ios 18.2 and my iphone no longer scanned, but gave the minute by minute readings. Unfortunately when my sensor ran out some days later my new one would not do the initial scan so there is no connection. I then updated to ios 18.4 in case it worked, but no, so I'm back to using the old Abbot reader. Abbot says I'll have do do this until the next app update, but no idea when that will be. (I've read on another forum not until 2026!)

 

[brucie75]

For the past 3 weeks or so, I've started getting these intermittent signal loss messages & alarms on my Libre 3. I have a Samsung A20 phone. The alarm beeps 7 times every time there's a signal loss. I've tried turning bluetooth on & off - this works at the time but has not stopped the regular frequency of the signal losses & alarms. In fact, they seem to be getting more frequent. The alarms are very annoying and sometimes embarrassing, especially when they go off in work meetings and pool matches - this is why I never have any alarms set to on.. I struggle to understand why this just started a few weeks ago. I have not contacted Abbotts as I don't think my sensors are faulty; I have just switched sensors and it has not made a difference. I don't know how to resolve this.

I am still having problems with alarms beeping on frequent occasions and signal losses. How are the alarms sounding when I have all my alarms turned off in the Libre 3 app? Is there a way of stopping these alarms? I could tolerate the signal loss issue more if the alarms were not sounding. If I were to run a BLE scanner, would that show my Libre sensor being detected, even when my Libre sensor never shows on my list of bluetooth devices when I access the screen under 'Settings...Connections...Bluetooth'?

Thank you
David

 

[SimonP78]

Interestingly while I used to use a BLE scanner and be able to see sensors, I tried it again recently with both working and non-working sensors and they weren't detected at all. I don't know whether this is a change to what the sensors are broadcasting or a change to the app itself, but it certainly wasn't what I expected.

I do need to get a Bluetooth reverse engineering system setup to work out how the Accu Chek Instant communicates, so will see if I can work out why the sensors aren't appearing once I've got that up and running.

 

[MuttNJeff]

Interestingly while I used to use a BLE scanner and be able to see sensors, I tried it again recently with both working and non-working sensors and they weren't detected at all. I don't know whether this is a change to what the sensors are broadcasting or a change to the app itself, but it certainly wasn't what I expected.

I do need to get a Bluetooth reverse engineering system setup to work out how the Accu Chek Instant communicates, so will see if I can work out why the sensors aren't appearing once I've got that up and running.

Part of the problem might be in the bluetooth. From time to time I touch my phone (Samsung A14) in a way which causes it to do something undesirable (e.g. change to different open app) which is annoying but livable Maybe I flex it, dunno. Occasionaly it turns off the bluetooth and I only discover that when I cannot get a reading.

Fortunately I have no other bluetooth devices (I regard bluetooth as a vulneraility waiting to happen) but if I am in my lounge when reenabling it, and my neighbour is home, it offers to connect to her 50" TV !!

Ken

 

[Mike88]

I stupidly updated to ios 18.2 and my iphone no longer scanned, but gave the minute by minute readings. Unfortunately when my sensor ran out some days later my new one would not do the initial scan so there is no connection. I then updated to ios 18.4 in case it worked, but no, so I'm back to using the old Abbot reader. Abbot says I'll have do do this until the next app update, but no idea when that will be. (I've read on another forum not until 2026!)

Please don't think you are stupid. From an iPhone security perspective having the latest iOS is the right thing to do. The response from Abbott is a sneaky way to shift the blame away from them & onto patients & phone manufacturers. This is not fair. They are providing a system with a selling point that we can use our phones as readers. Abbott must invest more money to keep their software updated in lock-step with Apple, and other phone manufacturers. Don't let Abbott fool you. The problem is a faulty sensor.

The only way we can apply pressure on Abbott to do so is to report these faulty medical devices to the MHRA via their "yellow card" reporting scheme, which can be found here: https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/ . Completing this form only takes a couple of minutes.

The MHRA monitor these reports & when there is enough they can apply pressure on Abbott. The only other option we have as patients is to vote with our feet & request we are switched to another manufacturer, e.g. Dexcom.

Best of luck.

 

[MuttNJeff]

In another thread where I had commented on Libre2 failing to keep talking to my android phone (shows the last reading for perhaps 2 or 3 minutes, then loses signal) someone complained that Libre2+ did the same. I can now confirm that. But what really annoys me is that recent readings (perhaps for the last hour) are predictions and not shown on the daily graph. If the predictions were accurate that would not be a problem and I could just sit back and watch the flying pigs (sarcasm/).