Problems with Libre 2 sensors

[Proud to be erratic]

it is also a policy within the pharmaceutical world that they in this case Abbott have to complete an adverse event report to document any issues/side effects that have been raised/seen from a drug of piece of medical equipment, so i would encourage everyone who has a failure to report it.

Is that for yellow card reports or reports of failures direct to Abbott? For the latter, I imagine that most failures get reported to Abbott because they seek a replacement.

 

[void]

I thought yellow cards were for side effects, unintended consequences etc with medicines rather than with hardware?

 

[grovesy]

I thought yellow cards were for side effects, unintended consequences etc with medicines rather than with hardware?

They are for medical devices too!

 

[rlmas569]

Sorry to hear you are having problems with Libre 2. I think it might be helpful for you to understand that the part that you are seeing kinked through 90 degrees is not a needle but a filament. The needle which is released from the applicator fires through the centre hole in the Libre and carries the filament into your arm and is then immediately retracted back into the applicator housing. I wonder if the mechanism is misfiring in these cases and the needle is not penetrating far enough into your arm to carry the filament all the way resulting in the kink. I think other people have reported cases of failure with the filament being bent when they removed it here on the forum but no one has posted a photo which demonstrates it as clearly as you have. I very much doubt that the customer services operators are allowed to make comment about what other people have reported much as we would like them to give us feed back and the lack of accountability with this is something that I know @Proud to be erratic is particularly vocal about and I wonder if if you are having repeated problems with this, whether completing a yellow carb to report a fault on the medical device might be appropriate in the same way as we are encouraged to do so for drug side effects. Losing confidence in the product is a big issue especially when you are relying on it to keep you safe. As mentioned it is really important to report all defective sensors to Abbott and get replacements as firstly that costs them money and that is the best way to get them to fix the problem, but secondly that the NHS are paying for them and they are not cheap..... and if at some point in the future there is pressure for disclosure and some accountability regarding failures and replacements, every one reported counts.
Do you know if all the failures were from the same batch?
I know one of our regular members @Kaylz went through a really bad spell where she had something like 16 or 18 sensors which failed for a variety of reasons at various stages in the 14 day period after she had been successfully using the Libre 1 for a couple of years with very few failures.

When it works well the device is brilliant but I think there are too many issues and some feedback from Abbott that they have identified problems and are dealing with them would I think help to restore confidence with users rather than being left in the dark. I personally am sticking with the Libre 1 because it works well for me and I am reluctant to upgrade because of the significant problems some people have encountered.

I have been doing just fine with Libre 1 l wasted water in my meter after 2 years of having it and it didn’t work again. I went to get a replacement and pharmacist sad it was discontinued. I did a walk in to my doctor and she gave me a Libre 2 to start with. I put it in just like the previous ones. After the hour it didn’t work. I was in tears(l suffer from anxiety and hadn’t checked my numbers all day) it kept reading Error try in 10 minutes. About another hour the alarm goes off and it started working fine. I thought it was the answer to my prayers. Shortly after it kept reading alarm not available. But it still went off when l was high or low. On the third day it said replace sensor at 5am and it had just worked at 3am. All of my finger sticking machines had issues because l don’t use them much. I totally panicked because l drop low in the middle of the night. I really wish l could keep the libre 1 it was the best for me.

 

[3157AB]

We’ll see what happens next time. I just got a bit frustrated last time and couldn’t be bothered, for the first time in 2 plus years, ringing Abbott. However, I did that every time up to that point. I do wait 10 mins at least once and occasionally twice but nothing will work if the needle has been bent through a right angle, the needle mechanism has completely collapsed or is sticking back out of the sensor. When I call Abbott I have asked if other people have had the same problem and got no feedback presumably because it is just a call centre service and not the research people. Hence why I’m making a bit of an effort on the forum.

I have totally given up on the sensors.
My problems have been :
1. Not even registering when new one used.
2. Constant signal lost and told to scan sensor but wouldn't scan.

In my case more trouble than they were worth. When they actually worked they were brilliant.

 

[void]

They are for medical devices too!

yeah but it's a case of "not working" and not "unintended side effect" that's what I'm questioning. I mean for example, sensor fails ==> send it back, but if it caused something like a massive rash for example, then yeah I'd imagine yellow card. Am I incorrect in thinking this?

 

[grovesy]

If it is not working then it could be classed in my mind as a device failure so reporting on yellow card would be valid. You lose nothing if report to both.

 

[void]

If it is not working then it could be classed in my mind as a device failure so reporting on yellow card would be valid. You lose nothing if report to both.

I stand corrected 😉

 

[FlashMan]

Hi Everyone - since my inaugural Sept 5th 2022 posting highlighting problems when changing Libre 2 sensors, amazingly it has taken until today (18th Oct) to experience another faulty sensor (see phot). I mentioned this type of fault before where the needle mechanism sticks out of the back of the sensor and looks like it has been nailed to my arm. From what has been said earlier, this should have retracted back into the firing mechanism. Anyway I didn't bother to scan my reader as normal because it was obviously a faulty sensor. So, it was changed again. i will report the fault to Abbott tomorrow and get a replacement. Upward and onward!

Probably enough on this Forum about the ups and downs of Libre 2 sensors to make a very interesting and revealing Balance magazine article.

 

[void]

oh my...

i'm wondering if it's going past the endothelial dermal layer? As far as I remember, it's not meant to go into muscle at all.
Also never managed to bend it at right angles like you've shown at the start of the thread.
On application, it's applied gently but firmly. Firm enough to actuate the mechanism, but not pressing hard if you see what I mean.

 

[FlashMan]

Believe me I take extreme care when changing sensors, more so having had the problems I've had. I saw nurses applying them in my initial workshop when I started with the Libre system so I have a benchmark. I have always religiously followed the instructions and applied the sensors in the flab on the back of my upper arm. That said, today has been the worst experience so far. 3 sensors proved faulty including the one in my last post. The phot here was the 2nd (needle bent at base) and the third one for some reason didn't fire correctly which is a first.The 4th one finally worked, Just as well I had enough supplies - just one left as spare.

 

[3157AB]

Hi everyone. My first time on this forum. I have been using Freestyle Libre system for at least a couple of years since we were first able to justify getting them on prescription. Unfortunately I often have sensors fail when I am changing them. When the needle is punched into my arm it bends through a right angle. I have pictures (attached). Unfortunately you don't know they are bent until an hour later which is the time period you have to wait before the reader will read the new sensor. So, it is a real pain. I have even had one sensor fall to bits internally (unbeknown to me) and I ended up punching nothing into my arm, again only discovered an hour later. Recently I experienced something new. The sensor did work for a couple of days and then failed but I don't know why.
I have always complained to the manufacturer and they will happily replace them but you never get any feedback on how big this problem is and what we can do about it. It's just a call centre at the end of the day. So, as long as I have got sufficient stock I don't bother complaining now. My concern was whether I am doing something wrong but I am very careful with site selection and the process of changing sensors in line with instructions. I am very slim but always ensure the sensor goes into the muscle NOT bone LOL! View attachment 22055View attachment 22056

I have posted this on our DAFNE (Dose Adjustmen For Normal Eating) forum but sadly it is not used very much so I have had no responses so far.

Any of you out there have this problem. Any suggestions, help etc???? Would be nice to know I'm not alone.

I have given up getting my prescription for these. Initial two worked perfectly and thought it was a wonderful idea. Since then had so many problems and making me very stressed. Either nothing at all registered or it worked for a little while then kept getting the message 'sensor lost please scan'. Kept trying to scan but nothing happened.

 

[rebrascora]

I have given up getting my prescription for these. Initial two worked perfectly and thought it was a wonderful idea. Since then had so many problems and making me very stressed. Either nothing at all registered or it worked for a little while then kept getting the message 'sensor lost please scan'. Kept trying to scan but nothing happened.

My gut feeling is that many of these issues are software issues with the phone you are using rather than the sensor itself or even hardware issues with your phone.... things like too many blue tooth devices for the phone to maintain signal or updates causing issues with the Libre software. I use a dedicated Libre reader and don't have any problems. Unfortunately Abbott have discontinued the Libre readers which I think is a huge mistake, but they will provide a dedicated locked phone that you can use and I wonder if that might be a possible solution for some people who experience lots of problems.

 

[FlashMan]

Just to let the Forum know I completed an NHS Yellow Card submission today online to report the faulty sensor problems. Had diffiiculty knowing what phots got uploaded but there was enough information for them to think about. Many thanks for your helpul comments along the way. I even count to 60 when applying sensors now but sadly the faults continue. For me though the benefits of having access to data 24 hrs a day far outwieighs the downside. My control is far better and probably as good as I can get it for my age.

 

[Chris D]

I have been diabetic 48yrs and last month got a freestyle libre 2 sensor, as my sugars seem to be erratic, I have completed the training course and also completed the bertie training course as things change and wanted to stay in the loop. The problem I have is;- 1: the sensor came out when I got hot and had to buy plasters from Germany to fix sensor (£15), and 2: the sensor is totally innacurate, I did rely on it to make descisions concerning food hypo's and hypers but felt high one day even though was told buy sensor I was hypo, done blood test 5.8mmol/l sensor showing 3.7mmol/l. And it happens alot often 4.0mmol/l wrong. Whats the point of having another hole in my arm if its not accurate. Read the gumpf from abbot and they reckon give it time and it reads correctly, done sensor reading 4.2mmol/l blood test 7.8mmol/l. Its driving me crazy, contacted hospital still waiting, now no longer trust sensor and thinking of binning it. Any other sensors that work and are accurate ? These are life decisions and need to be accurate to be able to make them.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Any other sensors that work and are accurate ?

There are three others that can be prescribed by GPs and a few others that are available from hospital teams (so may be a bit more expensive and may well need some specific reason). The four (including Libre 2) available from GPs are similar costs and so should be easy for a GP to prescribe. (The Dexcom One is probably the one to try.)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575010175123017728

 

[rebrascora]

The problem I have is;- 1: the sensor came out when I got hot and had to buy plasters from Germany to fix sensor (£15),

If the sensor came off or loose then there is no way to reinsert the filament so it doesn't make any difference how expensive your plaster is, that sensor is goosed and that will be why it is not reading accurately. The filament in your arm is just a flexible fibre. A needle in the applicator is fired through the sensor and carried the filament into your arm and is then immediately retracted back into the applicator. Once the sensor comes loose the filament will just kink if you try to push it back in and it will not read correctly. If the adhesive failed then that should have been reported to Abbott who would have replaced the sensor, but you can't expect the sensor to be accurate once it has come loose

 

[Chris D]

If the sensor came off or loose then there is no way to reinsert the filament so it doesn't make any difference how expensive your plaster is, that sensor is goosed and that will be why it is not reading accurately. The filament in your arm is just a flexible fibre. A needle in the applicator is fired through the sensor and carried the filament into your arm and is then immediately retracted back into the applicator. Once the sensor comes loose the filament will just kink if you try to push it back in and it will not read correctly. If the adhesive failed then that should have been reported to Abbott who would have replaced the sensor, but you can't expect the sensor to be accurate once it has come loose

Sorry, when the sensor came off I threw it as needle was at 45degrees only reattached a sensor when I got plasters back to hold it on, its the new sensors that are not reading properly, thanks for the quick replies

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Read the gumpf from abbot and they reckon give it time and it reads correctly, done sensor reading 4.2mmol/l blood test 7.8mmol/l. Its driving me crazy, contacted hospital still waiting, now no longer trust sensor and thinking of binning it.

I think most people find the occasional sensor that doesn't work well enough. It's worth contacting Abbott, and they're pretty good replacing them.

Some people just don't seem to find Libre works for them for some reason. (Presumably Abbott have some idea why but they've not said anything.) In which case it's certainly worth trying one or more of the others: a few forum members have changed over to Dexcom (G6 rather than the One) and found them much better.