Diagnosed in late December. Not a great Christmas gift. One of the first, if not the first, user of the Freestyle Libre system here in northern Alabama. Following site since Europe has had the Libre for a lot longer. Look forward to learning and sharing.
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AL, USA. Recently diagnosed as 1.5 LADA.
- Thread starter MudyOvl
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mikeyB
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi MudyOvl, welcome to the forum from snow covered Britain🙂
Yes, for some reason the US is a little behind Europe with the Libre. It’s a slightly different system in that over here the sensors last 14 days, and in the US 10 days. I can’t understand why, other than the programming of the sensors. More frequent use of sensors is more money to Abbott. That’s the only reason I can imagine. I don’t know what the cost is in the US, but it works out a bit shy of £100 a month here.
That said, it’s fantastic for telling you what your blood glucose is doing all day, rather than the snapshots, which can hide a multitude of peaks and dips. I love it, and now have lovely soft fingertips after 21 years of pricking.
I don’t know if you can get the phone app in the US - it’s available for iPhone or Android systems. It does give you more info than the reader, and it turns your phone into a reader. So only one thing to remember when you leave the house, and when the battery on the reader runs down, the phone can take over. Though it’s usually the other way round if you have an iPhone.
So, do tell us how you get on as Northern Alabama’s pioneer. There’s a dedicated gang of what you might call Librettists on the forum to help you along, or exchange info. I look forward to hearing more from you - if only for help figuring out the American health system🙂
Yes, for some reason the US is a little behind Europe with the Libre. It’s a slightly different system in that over here the sensors last 14 days, and in the US 10 days. I can’t understand why, other than the programming of the sensors. More frequent use of sensors is more money to Abbott. That’s the only reason I can imagine. I don’t know what the cost is in the US, but it works out a bit shy of £100 a month here.
That said, it’s fantastic for telling you what your blood glucose is doing all day, rather than the snapshots, which can hide a multitude of peaks and dips. I love it, and now have lovely soft fingertips after 21 years of pricking.
I don’t know if you can get the phone app in the US - it’s available for iPhone or Android systems. It does give you more info than the reader, and it turns your phone into a reader. So only one thing to remember when you leave the house, and when the battery on the reader runs down, the phone can take over. Though it’s usually the other way round if you have an iPhone.
So, do tell us how you get on as Northern Alabama’s pioneer. There’s a dedicated gang of what you might call Librettists on the forum to help you along, or exchange info. I look forward to hearing more from you - if only for help figuring out the American health system🙂
Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi MudyOvl, welcome to the forum 🙂 How did your diagnosis come about, and what medication regime are you on? Is LADA an official diagnosis in the US? Hope you get on well with the Libre - although I have always had an excellent HbA1c it taught me a great deal and definitely improved my quality of life, knowing which way my levels were going and heading off lows 🙂 What I found very interesting, because I'm a weird Type 1 who doesn't need basal insulin, is that my levels were absolutely rock steady overnight - gave me great reassurance 🙂 I usually wait 24 hours before activating the sensors as they seem to give a more accurate reading (when compared to BG monitor) 🙂
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