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So I've been using the Freestyle Libre...

CearaRed1073

Member
Messages
24
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
onions, cheeseburgers, diabetes, colors of red, yellow, and orange, houston (too big and WAY too much traffic, not nearly enough public transportation)
for a few days without a reader (iPhone app. only) and I don't know if I'm going to stick with it. It doesn't coordinate with my pump, it doesn't warn me if I'm in hypoglycemic range, and most importantly, it doesn't have any kind of alarm system. I still test just as often as I did before, because the numbers are different, sometimes 40 points different.

So I'm wondering exactly what use is this? Am I missing something?
 
It's got a 15 minute delay compared to actual bsls. Some sensors are faulty and some people report bad results for the first day.

It works very well for some, not so well for others. Personally, it worked perfectly for me for about 8 months and then became hopelessly inaccurate when I developed an allergy to the sensor.

Having said all that, it may pay you to invest in a miaomiao transmitter and the xdrip app, which should allow you to generate alarms and also, most important, calibrate the meter against your own body's blood sugar readings from a meter.

You may be missing that it is much cheaper than the dexcom and, if it works well for you, doesn't require calibration....
 
Isn’t it referred to as a ‘flash monitor’ or something? Rather than a CGM, because of the differences between them.

And yes, I would agree with @EllieM it is cheaper with fewer features, but then for those of us who self fund, that is a massive advantage.

I expect, as more of these things hit the market (pity it is taking so long, and yes Sugarbeat, i’m looking at you!) we should be able to have more choice of features and design options.
 
It’s great for spotting trends and the arrows are amazing for those ‘hmm, am I dropping?’ Moments.
 
The value of the Libre is the trends.
For example...
- Finger prick can tell you your bg now but not whether it is rising or falling.
- Finger prick can tell you your bg when you eat and 2 hours later but not when your bg peak was and whether you should bolus earlier or later.
- Finger prick can tell you your bg when you start and finish running but not when the running started to affect your bg.
- Finger prick can tell you your BG is high when you wake up but not whether you have being going high all night or whether you are experiencing Dawn Phenomenon from 6am every morning

Search for "Libre" in the box on the top right of the page and read the tips and hints as well as pros and cons that have been discussed over the years on this forum.
Learn about how you can convert the Flash monitor to a Cgm. Learn about compression lows and more.
 
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Early days! I had a 2 week trial 3 years back and couldn’t wait to be rid of it. ( had to wear 2 and do various tests with both) But a few months later gave it another go. Have been wearing continually now for 18 months and wouldn’t be without it. For me it is pretty accurate, though it does have its peculiarities you soon get used to those and act accordingly. A blood test is a blood test, a moment in time that tells you very little. A trending arrow and a wavy line tells you so much more. I would go to bed on a 6.5 blood test but not on a 6.5 downward trending Libre reading.
 
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Thanks for the information, EllieM. I asked my endo about both options and he told me he prefers the Libre, so that is a lot of the reason why I went with it. I like my endo, even if we don't always agree on things.
 
Thank you for all the useful information folks. I had planned to at least use the first month's supply anyway. I will continue to ask questions and test until I figure out what I'm doing.
 
There's a new version coming out soon which will automatically send data periodically to your phone, etc. So the current 3rd party products which add that functionality to the current version probably aren't worth the cost anymore - or will be on sale soon
 
The libre is changing soon, libre 2 will have alarms for high and low reading,s, it is being rolled out in Europe, so that should help
 
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