STRESSING THIS MORNING

[mum2westiesGill]

I'm so happy doing my finger pricking but this morning I've been stressing about wether to use the libre again - the thing is it would have to be all or nothing ie if I was using the libre there would have to be no finger pricking at all even if the libre said rising quickly, falling quickly, a high bgl or a hypo bgl - it's this that would throw me. When a new sensor is started I know you need to do some finger pricking as well to make sure the sensor is ok but again this would throw me.

 

[Ali11782]

I like my sensor and don't do much finger pricking alongside it. But I do feel sometimes it's easy to become quite obsessive seeing my readings on the graphs etc.

 

[Lucyr]

I think that when you used the libre you didn’t seem to use the extra information it gave you, so I’d stick to finger-pricking. Or if you want to learn to use the libre and get the most out of it, I’d do all the online training modules to build confidence in what to do with the information.

 

[Ali11782]

I am trying very hard not to read my libre until the 2hour after breakfast check. I am terrible for just scanning and scanning.

 

[Sally71]

Why do you only want to use one and not the other?
Unfortunately Libre isn’t really accurate enough to do away with finger prick testing all together. When we had one, we still had a Roche pump so had to do finger pricks with every meal bolus because that was the only way to get BG information into the bolus wizard to get the pump to bolus properly. This also served as a useful daily check that the Libre sensor was reasonably accurate and not completely off track. Other than mealtimes we used to scan only most of the time; we found it useful to see whether BGs were rising or falling, which a finger prick alone can’t tell you. E.g. if you get a 4.5 when you go to bed, but BGs are rising, you don’t need to worry about eating anything, but if they are falling you need the jelly babies quick. I also found it useful to have the 24 hour graph to see whether we needed to make any adjustments, half a dozen finger pricks a day really doesn’t give you the full picture and for me it was quite interesting and often useful to see exactly what goes on in between!

However, if you find all this extra information confusing and don’t know what to use it for then it’s a bit of a waste of time having the Libre. Also, if you’ve had a hypo you really need to use finger pricks to tell you when you are back in range, we found Libre would often still be reading low when finger pricks were saying we were 5.6 or something. You don’t want to overtreat it and then go high!

If you are happy doing finger pricks only then carry on with that. Technology is great under certain circumstances, but it doesn’t work for everybody. My mum would never cope in a million years with pumps and sensors and stuff, she’s happy just with her injections and very occasional finger pricking and mostly judges things just with what she feels like.

Like we’ve said before, you have to decide what works for YOU and what YOU feel comfortable with. Someone has told you this great technology exists, you didn’t just dismiss it you tried it, but if you’ve decided it doesn’t work for you then just stick with what you know and ignore what everyone else does!

 

[rebrascora]

Even though we have explained it several times in different threads you still don't seem to grasp that there are times when you still need to finger prick when using Libre but if you use the Libre, you should mostly rely the data it gives you and just finger prick when there is some doubt about the reading (it doesn't correspond to how you feel) or you are hypo or significantly hyper, to get an accurate reading to use to correct either with carbs or insulin.
Totally agree with @Lucyr
From your other posts you really don't understand how Libre works at the moment and there is no point in using it because it clearly confuses you. You either need to do all the online training and then assess whether you have understood that fully and then give it another go, or stick with what you know and understand, which is finger pricking.

I am trying very hard not to read my libre until the 2hour after breakfast check. I am terrible for just scanning and scanning.

There is no harm is scanning regularly. It is what you do with the information that it gives you which is important and there will be many times that you don't need to act on the information you get but it gives you a greater background understanding of how your system is working. I average about 30 scans a day which helps me to maintain about 90% Time in Range. There is apparently data which suggests that the more you scan the better your TIR but I think there will be an optimum level to that and for me it seems to be about 30. If you feel that you are becoming obsessive then that is fair enough and I sometimes Have a gap between sensors and go back to finger pricking for a few days every now and then to reset my mental attitude and it certainly makes me appreciate what I get out of the Libre when I go back to it.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

I don’t understand why it would be an all or nothing on testing, but if this is the case you shouldn’t be using libre as you still need to test occasionally and certainly in the instance of a hypo reading. If you are happy doing finger pricking, then why not stick with it? Lots of people like libre but the important thing is what works for you.

Hi @Alannah re the all or nothing it would be one device giving one result and the other giving a different result. I'm not using my libre at the moment. The other week if you look at some of my threads and posts I decided that old fashioned finger pricking is my thing. I was just stressing because 100% of people now seem to use the libre.

 

[Sally71]

Actually Gill I think you’ve answered your own question - if everything about the Libre stresses you or throws you out then don’t use it, if you are happy with finger pricking stick with that! Why spend time stressing about something when you can manage well without it?

Not everybody uses the Libre - and so what if they do, it’s your diabetes you have to manage it your way!

 

[Ali11782]

Even though we have explained it several times in different threads you still don't seem to grasp that there are times when you still need to finger prick when using Libre but if you use the Libre, you should mostly rely the data it gives you and just finger prick when there is some doubt about the reading (it doesn't correspond to how you feel) or you are hypo or significantly hyper, to get an accurate reading to use to correct either with carbs or insulin.
Totally agree with @Lucyr
From your other posts you really don't understand how Libre works at the moment and there is no point in using it because it clearly confuses you. You either need to do all the online training and then assess whether you have understood that fully and then give it another go, or stick with what you know and understand, which is finger pricking.


There is no harm is scanning regularly. It is what you do with the information that it gives you which is important and there will be many times that you don't need to act on the information you get but it gives you a greater background understanding of how your system is working. I average about 30 scans a day which helps me to maintain about 90% Time in Range. There is apparently data which suggests that the more you scan the better your TIR but I think there will be an optimum level to that and for me it seems to be about 30. If you feel that you are becoming obsessive then that is fair enough and I sometimes Have a gap between sensors and go back to finger pricking for a few days every now and then to reset my mental attitude and it certainly makes me appreciate what I get out of the Libre when I go back to it.

So I'm averaging about 60 scans a day so double yours. X

 

[Leadinglights]

From the date you joined you have obviously been diabetic for a number of years and were managing perfectly well without the technology now available to you. It seems that you are allowing that to take over your thinking and that is causing you more stress. I agree with others that you should put it on the backburner until you have done some training and are more comfortable with the technology and the interpretation of the information it gives you.
It is a bit like expecting somebody to just go and drive a car without having any lessons or know the Highway Code. Not everyone drives a car even in this day and age.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

Why do you only want to use one and not the other?
Unfortunately Libre isn’t really accurate enough to do away with finger prick testing all together. When we had one, we still had a Roche pump so had to do finger pricks with every meal bolus because that was the only way to get BG information into the bolus wizard to get the pump to bolus properly. This also served as a useful daily check that the Libre sensor was reasonably accurate and not completely off track. Other than mealtimes we used to scan only most of the time; we found it useful to see whether BGs were rising or falling, which a finger prick alone can’t tell you. E.g. if you get a 4.5 when you go to bed, but BGs are rising, you don’t need to worry about eating anything, but if they are falling you need the jelly babies quick. I also found it useful to have the 24 hour graph to see whether we needed to make any adjustments, half a dozen finger pricks a day really doesn’t give you the full picture and for me it was quite interesting and often useful to see exactly what goes on in between!

However, if you find all this extra information confusing and don’t know what to use it for then it’s a bit of a waste of time having the Libre. Also, if you’ve had a hypo you really need to use finger pricks to tell you when you are back in range, we found Libre would often still be reading low when finger pricks were saying we were 5.6 or something. You don’t want to overtreat it and then go high!

If you are happy doing finger pricks only then carry on with that. Technology is great under certain circumstances, but it doesn’t work for everybody. My mum would never cope in a million years with pumps and sensors and stuff, she’s happy just with her injections and very occasional finger pricking and mostly judges things just with what she feels like.

Like we’ve said before, you have to decide what works for YOU and what YOU feel comfortable with. Someone has told you this great technology exists, you didn’t just dismiss it you tried it, but if you’ve decided it doesn’t work for you then just stick with what you know and ignore what everyone else does!

When you say " the libre would often be reading low when finger pricks were saying we were 5.6 or something" So you could possibly end up overtreating then going high - it's things like this that would scare me.

Like you and one or two others have said I have to do what works for me - but I feel like the odd one out

 

[Leadinglights]

When you say " the libre would often be reading low when finger pricks were saying we were 5.6 or something" So you could possibly end up overtreating then going high - it's things like this that would scare me.

Like you and one or two others have said I have to do what works for me - but I feel like the odd one out

There is no reason to feel the odd one out. Just think that the number of people who are on this forum are a very small percentage of those with Diabetes, it is their loss that they are not and there is no way of knowing how many people have the technologies.

 

[Sally71]

When you say " the libre would often be reading low when finger pricks were saying we were 5.6 or something" So you could possibly end up overtreating then going high - it's things like this that would scare me.

Like you and one or two others have said I have to do what works for me - but I feel like the odd one out

You can team up with my mum then. She only does fixed doses of insulin and eats roughly similar meals each day, doesn’t even carb count like we do. She goes some whole days without doing a single finger prick, she knows what she feels like and can’t see the point of wasting a test strip just to tell her what she knows anyway. In fact she said to me once that you can’t keep diabetes under control all the time, we all get days when it all goes wrong and we don’t know why, so why bother trying. Not how I would want my daughter to do things, and not how her doctors want her to do it, but it’s how she’s done it for 50+ years and it’s what she understands and she doesn’t want to learn a load of new stuff at her age. So as far as she’s concerned everyone else can p*** off and leave her to it! 😳

 

[Leadinglights]

You can team up with my mum then. She only does fixed doses of insulin and eats roughly similar meals each day, doesn’t even carb count like we do. She goes some whole days without doing a single finger prick, she knows what she feels like and can’t see the point of wasting a test strip just to tell her what she knows anyway. In fact she said to me once that you can’t keep diabetes under control all the time, we all get days when it all goes wrong and we don’t know why, so why bother trying. Not how I would want my daughter to do things, and not how her doctors want her to do it, but it’s how she’s done it for 50+ years and it’s what she understands and she doesn’t want to learn a load of new stuff at her age. So as far as she’s concerned everyone else can p*** off and leave her to it! 😳

Just like me and my OH can't be doing with smart phones. old style flip phone is all we really need. Smart phones are just so big they won't fit into a jeans pocket.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I was just stressing because 100% of people now seem to use the libre.

I'd guess closer to 50%, once you include people using CGMs.

I think many of us find it really helpful and want other people to get those benefits. But if it's not helpful for you then obviously you shouldn't use it. You're the one trying to manage your diabetes, after all.

Hi @Alannah re the all or nothing it would be one device giving one result and the other giving a different result.

But neither of them is really giving me the actual value that I want. They're both giving a fairly approximate measure (of different things), which, together with how I feel and so on give some idea of what's happening with BG.

So I'm fine with the two giving different point values, and I find the Libre's ability to give the graph (so I can see how fast it thought things were going up or down) valuable. I'm just trying to stay between 3.9 and 10.0 (as reported on the Libre) so approximate values are OK: I'm not trying to get 5.6 before the next meal or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 25429]

Hi @Alannah re the all or nothing it would be one device giving one result and the other giving a different result. I'm not using my libre at the moment. The other week if you look at some of my threads and posts I decided that old fashioned finger pricking is my thing. I was just stressing because 100% of people now seem to use the libre.

I don’t use a libre … not for me . I’m type 1 with a very low hba1c. Do what works for you and don’t worry about what other people are doing

 

[Lisa66]

As others have said do whichever you feel comfortable with...if using Libre makes you even more stressed than you are, then that’s obviously not good.

However, as others have said maybe have another look (just out of interest, no pressure) at the information it gives you.

Yes I probably scan way too much. I appreciate the Libre and finger pricking are different, so I use FP for carbs along with the arrows from Libre...am I going up, down or steady. Just for example... I notice you have often snacked to offset lows or worries in an evening and then end up high in the morning. I find that if I need a little something or JB and were to see on FP 15 mins later that BG had only gone up a bit the Libre arrows would then show me what was happening and if I actually did need another snack...if arrow was heading up I would know I wouldn’t. I think some people also just use it intermittently every month or so just to see what’s going on.

It has been the biggest game changer to me in 40+ years...making things much easier. I DO get it’s not for everyone and that’s fine, we’re all very different.

Apologies when I read this back it does sound like an advert for Libre, it’s really not meant to be...but I think many of us can see after reading your posts how it might help you.

Anyway, remember what your DSN said to you about stressing. Perfection is impossible and trying to obtain it will stop you getting on and enjoying life. x

 

[mum2westiesGill]

I don’t use a libre … not for me . I’m type 1 with a very low hba1c. Do what works for you and don’t worry about what other people are doing

@Freddie1966 at last I've found a twin lol - we can be the twin finger prickers lol.
What number hba1c do you have?

 

[Deleted member 25429]

@Freddie1966 at last I've found a twin lol - we can be the twin finger prickers lol.
What number hba1c do you have?

Last one was 36

 

[mum2westiesGill]

Last one was 36

Which for a type 1 diabetic is really good - I think - please correct me if I'm wrong