Too many people not having access to blood glucose machines.

Hi
I have to smile at this as i am in my 50th year of diabetes and all i had to begin with was the ability to test my urine!!
I had to boil syringes and pay for needles.....
Not so happy days but i knew no different and managed with what i had.

Newly diagnozed folk have so much fantastic stuff to help that i fear you may be right and people won't be able to manage the condition without CGMs and the like.

But hang on as a libre, fantastic as it is, has to be used in conjunction with a blood glucose monitor or how do you know the libre is accurate?

Like you OP i can have as many testing strips as i like and have a fantastic forward thinking GP practice but not everyone is that fortunate?

Newly diagnozed folk rely on medical professionals to manage the condition whereas i manage with my experience ( i havent seen a specialist or DSN for years) and if they aren't getting the message through about monitor usage then yes it could be a slippery slope.....




Lots of food for thought and i hope i don't sound pompous and smug......

Good luck everyone

Tony

@becca59 I share your surprise.
How many times has it been repeated that LIbre readings need to be tested with a finger prick before correcting?
How many times has it been mentioned that you must carry finger prick meter with you when driving?
How many times have people experienced faulty sensors?

I have been reading people searching for their test strips, people returning from work because they haven't got their meter with them and someone on holiday with no back up to their Libre.

I sometimes take a CGM-break to make sure I can manage without that technology.
I tell myself I should also take a pump break but I can't bring myself to do so unless I absolutely have to ... and when I did have to last year, I coped.

I confess I like the way sensor will, with the app, record the results for me, but I agree, it’s really necessary to know how to use blood sugar testing to tell whether a sensor is accurate.
I also like that the addition of a small transmitter attached the sensor can send up to date (ok, 15 mins in the past tense with Libre) bs to a watch. I calibrate my watch according to bs results. Best of both worlds.
It took me a while following diagnosis to learn how to run Type One, and that had to be using physical symptoms. Pee tests were useful but lumped the last four hours together in the test tube. Today’s tech is great.
Yes, it would also be great if there were more education today for the newly diagnosed: another ‘missed target’ for the underfunded, understaffed NHS.

I too am lucky enough or unlucky enough depending on your point of view to remember life when finger pricking was new , how far we have travelled , but like all new technology after a while it becomes common place , and we become ever reliant on in , I think this latest problem proves it , but we must have a plan B , and for diabetics that is finger pricking ,

Hi
I remembered over the weekend at some point earlier this year the alarm on my libre failed ....guess what happened?

I woke up!!

Felt shocking levels in the twos but i woke up thankfully.

My point here is we shouldn't get complacent either.....before libres i often delayed going to bed to make sure my levels were where they should be and if you rely completely on your sensor ??
Another potential slippery slope.....

Happy monday

Tony