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The Accuracy Of Freestyle Libre

A

azizdhl

Well-Known Member
Messages
64
Hi guys, first of all am just speechless and cannot thank you enough for all the information i got form this forum, I've been here for two weeks and gained a knowledge that I didn't get for 17 years diagnosed in diabetes.

second, am planing of changing to Lantus and novorapid, So in order for me to understand how my body reacts to theses new types of insulin am planing to get freestyle libre sensor, but i heard that its not that accurate, is that right?

and that its difference duo to the technology used which is "Interstitial Fluid".. so whats that and how is that different? and it had a 20 minutes time late than normal meter

thanks guys again
 

Hi
I have been using the Freestyle for about a year now and find it brilliant at seeing trends and it reads on average about 1-2 lower than blood which isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes it says you are hypo at about 3 but my blood reads at about 4-4.5. Keep persevering and try Levemir and novorapid.
Good luck
Diane
 
I have found the Libre to be very accurate. Others, unfortunately have not been so lucky. If I am hi or low then I will do a finger prick BG test. If you drive you will also need to BG test before you drive as well
 
As @porl69 says, many find the Libre very accurate.
Unfortunately, I do not.
However, I have not found it useless: I find it useful for looking at trends and working out whether to lower my basal at certain times (possible on a pump but not with injecting) and when to take my insulin relative to eating different types of food.
It can never be a replacement for finger pricking for me.

Therefore, if you are thinking of buying some Libre sensors, I would recommend getting one to test it for yourself.
I would not invest in a batch of sensors even if there is a bulk discount (I don't know if there is ... just saying) as they could be a waste of money if you are, like me, Libre-incompatible.
 
I have found Libre to be accurate when compaired to finger pricks, certainly with in less than one point difference.

However, I have found that when using it in the place as Abbott suggest, the back of the arm, I found that it could be a bit of a differnce between Libre and Finger Pricks so next time I change I might do as some others which is attach it to my arm and let it "bed in" for 24hours before activating.

As @helensaramay says it is good for spotting 'trends' and espically when changing insulins as I am currently. Others have found that sometimes their skin does not get on with the sticky stuff that the sensor uses.

So try before investing a fair amount of brass
 
Ultimately you don't need Libre to successfully evaluate these new insulin's and adjust accordingly, but it will make it much easier to get to the right doses much quicker, specifically basal....
 
Suck it (or rather stick it) and see. Don't get too hung up on precise accuracy - there's too low, ok, high, too high, and there's the trend of moving between them (going up or down, and how fast). The trend is very useful, and something fingerpricks can't give you.
Back up with fingerpricks to see how far out it is, and to see if it works for you. If things go well, you'll find it accurate and helpful enough - and I think for most people, it does, so it's worth a go.

(other things it can do - it transforms testing when out and about. Another T1 friend and I both stopped to test our sugar while up on a Scottish hill. I pulled the reader from out of my pocket, swiped, read the number. They took their gloves off, unpacked their testing kit from their bag, put a strip in, pricked, etc. The freedom of being able to do that is fantastic. And I've just put a Blucon on mine for low sugar alerts at night too - though that's very much not medically approved...)
 
Been using my libre for 10 weeks or so and have overall the difference between libre and finger tests is negligible.

It is however much more convenient and obviously less painful

It is of course easier to test and I find myself testing 15/20 a day and adjusting my carbs/insulin as required. Libre should hopefully help your overall BG, as it has with many people.

Generally most people will find the Levemir insulin better than Lantus. Most folks take Levemir twice a day and it tends to give a more even dose of insulin, with few peaks
 
evilclive said:
And I've just put a Blucon on mine for low sugar alerts at night too - though that's very much not medically approved...)
Click to expand...


Could you please explain what the Bluecon is and how this works. can you set an alarm for low or high BG. Thanks
 
smc4761 said:
Could you please explain what the Bluecon is and how this works. can you set an alarm for low or high BG. Thanks
Click to expand...

Its a separate device which sits on the Libre and initiates a scan in much more frequent intervals via NFC and then sends out the data via Bluetooth to a device running an app like xdrip....its the app on the phone that has the ability to notify you with audio of certain levels of BG...
 
In terms of accuracy my last HBA1C was 5.0 % and libre's average prediction was 5.05% for the same period. I've always had doubts about it but now i'm impressed
 
smc4761 said:
Could you please explain what the Bluecon is and how this works. can you set an alarm for low or high BG. Thanks
Click to expand...

Wot he said. Ambrosia blucon and Xdrip+. It does high and low alarms (though I've only got the low one turned on to noisy), and a lot more.
I'm wearing it taped to my arm on top of the sensor while I sleep - it's a bit more intrusive than the sensor alone, but I'm willing to swap that for the alarms. 100 quid or so for the device, Xdrip+ is free for Android, though you have to install it manually. There's something else if you're an apple person.
This stuff isn't approved by any medical people or manufacturers, so you get warnings that you mustn't use it for any diagnostic or other medical purpose. The software is open source, developed by people who wanted better than the manufacturers could offer. So far it seems pretty good.
Having got the blucon, I'd actually be tempted to get a miaomiao instead - more expensive, but waterproof, rechargable and lower profile. Does the same thing.
Another interesting thing it does is offers cover for the hour between sensors - it doesn't seem to stop reading at the 14 day mark.
 
Thank you
 
Thank you
 
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