Approval of a CGM

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MikeyBikey said:
Sorry but personally I find this slightly insulting. I have had to manage my diabetes for well over half a century - initially with urine tests and then increasingly with BG tests. Initially I had to buy my own meter at vast expense at the time and supplement the syrups as the clinic would only prescribe 25 or 50 for six months! I also have three science/engineering based degrees at various levels so I am sure once shown how to set things up I could gain immediate benefit. Two years ago ut was suggested I do BERTIE on line. To my consults surprise I went straight to the tests and scored 90 - 100% on each section! I did go through it afterwards though. When I told the consultant her response was "Wow!"
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Sorry, I did not mean to insult you or question your ability to get the most out of a CGM.
My comment was a generic one - like you, I am an engineer so analysing numbers comes naturally to me. This is not true for everyone. Unfortunately, I have read of people who scan because their consultant tells them but do no more with the incredible amount of data they have to hand.
Your history and ability to manage Type 1 diabetes for over half a century is amazing.
Please forgive me if my comment was insensitive. That was never my intention.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
So in that context anyone who can read and follow instructions and can use a CGM without any input from the medical profession is a waste of money.
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Anyone who can scan a Libre but does nothing with the data they gain from it, is a waste of money.
Not everyone needs a medical professional to explain how to interpret the numbers, adjust their insulin doses and timing accordingly, understand when to treat a predicted high or low, appreciate it has limitations... but I have read of some that "just scan because my consultant told me to" and make no changes to their treatment.

The level of training required varies and could be something online. Some people do struggle to read and understand the instructions - you only have to read some of the requests for help on the forum - but being able to read the instructions on how to insert and scan a sensor is less than half of the story.
Those who need additional training or struggle to understand the instructions that come out of the box, are not stupid - they think differently to the manufacturer.

When the Libre was first released, I was asked to write a blog about it. I described scanning it and using it just to replace finger pricks was like having a smart phone and only using it to make phone call - you are wasting 90% of the value.
 
Bruce Stephens said:
I suspect it will be much faster and just as effective just to contact Partha Kar. He's reported sending emails to consultants all over the country encouraging them to prescribe Libre in exactly this kind of situation, and encouragement from within the NHS from a peer feels much more likely to work quickly.
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Hello MikeyBikey

I agree wholeheartedly with Bruce, if you can please do try and get in touch with Professor Kar. I may be proved wrong, but he does seem both responsive and keen to "encourage" his fellow diabetologists/ccgs to do the right thing by their patients with flashgms/cgms.
 
I remember being one of the first people lucky enough to be asked to participate in the UK in clinical trials in 2014 for the original Libre.

Before I took part in the trials I always thought "there must be a better way to manage this disease than by pricking one's finger randomly at random times of the day and night and not knowing how one's sugars were trending."

It was SO great not to have to rely on random fingerpricks. To give my fingertips a rest from piercing incessantly the tops of my fingers. To get a proper sense of when my sugars were too high or too low, what different foods and insulin were doing to my glucose levels day and night, how moderate or intense exercise affects my sugars and how to keep as best I can my glucose within a target range pre and post meals.

I'm not a scientist, but I can recognise patterns and trends in data (or evidence as people in my walk of life refer to it) and act accordingly.

And if little old, barely numerate, old me can do so, anyone can.

Or those who care for eligible diabetics who may have challenges interpreting the data, can do so.
 
helli said:
Anyone who can scan a Libre but does nothing with the data they gain from it, is a waste of money.
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That is not what you implied.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
I set my pump up alone after it was sent to me from the USA had no input from any so called professional, self funded the lot same with the CGM, which is now funded by a charity and I maintain a HbA1c of anything between 5.9 and 6.5 and have done so for at least 15 - 20 years. Yes all my own work with no input except from myself.
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Hello Pumper_Sue

I would give anything to be able to say my HbA1c was consistently as low as yours. I salute you!

And I must try harder!
 
helli said:
Sorry, I did not mean to insult you or question your ability to get the most out of a CGM.
My comment was a generic one - like you, I am an engineer so analysing numbers comes naturally to me. This is not true for everyone. Unfortunately, I have read of people who scan because their consultant tells them but do no more with the incredible amount of data they have to hand.
Your history and ability to manage Type 1 diabetes for over half a century is amazing.
Please forgive me if my comment was insensitive. That was never my intention.
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Apology accepted. Yes, I have encountered people who faithfully record their BGs but never change anything even if the results are well out of range.
 
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