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Advice in moving to dedicated libre reader instead of phone.

I wanted you to get a reader ages ago Mikey. I love mine because it is so reliable and for me reliability is key. If you start the sensor with the reader, you can still use the phone but only to scan if the reader isn't to hand. It can be handy if you need to leave your reader on charge although my reader battery lasts nearly a week. You don't get the full CGM but if you scan with the phone at least every 8 hours it will still transfer the data to LibreView so that your clinic can access the data. I think @Robin is currently doing this. I just download my reader to LibreView via my PC with the USB charger cable.

PS. It will also free up more of your phone battery for doing other important things like the Wordles!! 😉
 
rebrascora said:
PS. It will also free up more of your phone battery for doing other important things like the Wordles!! 😉
Click to expand...

When I stop Libre completely battery life increases 50% to 100%. You have to stop Libre specifically as it autostarts.

Tried Wordle this morning and went to the wire! 🙂
 
helli said:
Did you find LibreLink consumed a lot of battery?
It has never been a problem for me.
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Yes, but I have an old iphone 8 and I got it second hand about 5 years ago, so the battery likely isn't in the best of health by now. I love that my reader goes nearly a week though, whereas the phone needs charging nearly every night, even though I hardly use it.
 
helli said:
It has never been a problem for me.
Click to expand...
I haven't noticed a problem. It's not in the top 3 battery users.

I have noticed a dramatic change in batter for my reader (which I use for test strips). Even when I just initialised the sensors (and used my phone for everything else) it needed charging every few days, but now it's fine for weeks.
 
rebrascora said:
I wanted you to get a reader ages ago Mikey. I love mine because it is so reliable and for me reliability is key. If you start the sensor with the reader, you can still use the phone but only to scan if the reader isn't to hand. It can be handy if you need to leave your reader on charge although my reader battery lasts nearly a week. You don't get the full CGM but if you scan with the phone at least every 8 hours it will still transfer the data to LibreView so that your clinic can access the data. I think @Robin is currently doing this. I just download my reader to LibreView via my PC with the USB charger cable.

PS. It will also free up more of your phone battery for doing other important things like the Wordles!! 😉
Click to expand...
Yes, I use the reader, and used to connect it to my computer to get it onto Libreview (never know whether it’s uploading or downloading!). When my ancient laptop died, I started using my phone to scan every 8 hours to get it onto libre view, but i still use the reader most of the time.
On the occasions when it’s handier to use the phone, it drives me round the bend, because it’s much more unwieldy and takes longer to find the 'sweet spot' of the near field, and it quite often fails to scan the first time of asking and I have to do it again. A quick swipe with the handy reader and it always works first time.
I’m happy to swipe, rather than have the continuous readout, I trialled the Dexcom and used it with my phone as a proper CGM, and found it annoying to have to lug my phone with me every time I went out to do a bit of gardening as I don’t have pockets big enough for it, whereas the reader fits into a small shirt pocket, and I can set the low alarm so I get alerted if I get carried away with what I'm doing and start dropping.
 
@Robin Yes, I feel exactly the same. Didn't find the continuous feed of readings helpful on full CGM, not joined at the hip with my phone and reader so much easier to carry, handle and use.... and more forgiving if you do drop it although less likely to drop it than my iphone which is slippy smooth, heavy and too big to comfortably hold in your hand without accidentally hitting buttons you don't mean to.... Talking of which, this will make you laugh.....
I got caught short at a club drive yesterday. My phone and Libre reader (plus jelly babies and insulin) are in a little cross body pouch. I grabbed the bucket that we carry for washing the horse and headed into the trailer to relieve myself. As a squatted over the bucket, the pouch got nipped between my ribs and thigh and after a couple of seconds this siren alarm starts going off! So much for being discrete about relieving myself! Turns out I had accidentally activated the emergency SOS feature (which I didn't even know it had). I am not sure quite how that works and at the time I didn't know what it was, but it stopped when I stood up again and I was in a rush as we were just about to set off with the horses and everyone was waiting. It wasn't till we got back from the drive that I fished my phone out and saw the Emergency SOS alert. Hope the Police weren't scouring the countryside for me whilst we were miles away driving the horses! 😱 Mind you it would have been more embarrassing if they had arrived and I was there and had to explain what had happened!

Anyway, Mikey, get yourself a reader. If you don't like it I can always do with a spare!.... OK, well a spare, spare!
 
Robin said:
Yes, I use the reader, and used to connect it to my computer to get it onto Libreview (never know whether it’s uploading or downloading!).
Click to expand...
It's kind of both. You're downloading the information from the reader to your computer and then uploading it to LibreView.

That's how it used to be, anyway: there was an application on the computer (which could show fancier graphs and things and let you print things out). I think that's gone and it's much more just a driver that's used by the LibreView website, so in that case it's probably better described as just uploading.
 
rebrascora said:
It will also free up more of your phone battery for doing other important things like the Wordles!! 😉
Click to expand...

Libre doesn’t consume much battery, only 4% of my battery use is from libre
 
When I last used Libre it was before the switch to CGM, and I preferred the reader as the NFC ‘grab’ for scans was so much more robust and wider than the NFC field on my phone.

I was forever waving my phone at my arm for ages to try to find the magic spot, but the reader scanned straight away 🙂
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
When I last used Libre it was before the switch to CGM, and I preferred the reader as the NFC ‘grab’ for scans was so much more robust and wider than the NFC field on my phone.

I was forever waving my phone at my arm for ages to try to find the magic spot, but the reader scanned straight away 🙂
Click to expand...

Interesting on Saturday when the DSN tried to.show me how to use Libre she was waving my phone everywhere without joy. Yet I got it first time everytime as I know just how to hold the phone and swipe the sensor!
 
MikeyBikey said:
Interesting on Saturday when the DSN tried to.show me how to use Libre she was waving my phone everywhere without joy. Yet I got it first time everytime as I know just how to hold the phone and swipe the sensor!
Click to expand...

You have the magic touch @MikeyBikey :D
 
Not sure if this may help but....
Was advised by a long term Libre user "to pre soak" my sensors before use to get more accurate readings.
So I now apply the new sensor 24 hours before the old one is due to expire but don't start it until the old sensor has expired.
I believe that the theory is that the application process can generate a local reaction to the trauma of insertion and this settles down within 24 hours
It did seem to be better when I did this but it was several years ago and it's now a part of my routine so not checked it out recently.
This may only be relevant if your disparity is only when you first apply the sensor and it gets better as the sensor ages.

Anyhow, I hope you find a way to cope with this issue, there are enough things to consider without worrying about your sensor accuracy.
 
Bruce Stephens said:
Some do advise that. I'm unconvinced, but maybe it works for some people.
Click to expand...
After finding the first day or so of a new Libre being "off", I began presoaking it.
However, as the sensors I now use have a separate rechargeable transmitter, this is not possible. Now I insert and start at the same time and it is fine for me.
I don't know whether this is because the technology has improved, my nnody has got used to having foreign objects inserted, the ability to calibrate (not possible with Libre) helps or whether it was just perception.
 
When I used Libre I found it helpful to insert it 24 hours before I needed to activate it. this seemed to help with the accuracy at the start. I know that Libre has moved on since then as this is many years ago, so not sure what is best now. However I have continued the habit with my current sensors and give it a few hours before activating it (a whole day is too much to lose as mine only last 6/7 days so I just keep a close eye at the start)
 
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