BGM advice please - confused newbie!

J

JBB70

Well-Known Member
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Type 3c
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i put a new libre sensor on Wednesday and found it was very different to my manual monitor for the first 24 hours which I have read is normal.

However, its still continuing to differ to my nexus, and I have had several low alarms on my libre.
I had 3 late last night anf early hours where the libre was saying I was in the low 4’s, but the nexus was saying 6/7’s,
I knocked the alarm off in the end overnight.

But my friend made a good point that maybe I should check the nexus is actually correct.
Having read the manual (for the first time -oopsie! Info overload as a newbie type 3c) it says I should be testing ths monitor weekly with control solution. i have triple checked and i don’t have the control solution,
Just contacted my pharmacy to see if its something they sell or is it prescription and he said not, and to contact Nexus.
I’ve just tried and obvs its closed for the weekend.

Do I need to do anything else over the weekend? Or just trust that the FP results are correct on the Nexus?
Or should I change my libre? Or even contact their helpline? I have a spare noe as my one that fell off has been replaced.

Sorry if these are dumb questions!
Why does everything always happen at the weekend when there is nobody there to ask???
 
JBB70 said:
Do I need to do anything else over the weekend? Or just trust that the FP results are correct on the Nexus?
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Make a few notes of the readings when your Libre and Nexus differ (at least 3 pairs or readings), preferably when the Libre suggests you're stable. Then change the Libre and report the sensor as faulty (they'll ask for the readings).

It doesn't happen all that often but it's common enough that they won't be that surprised.
 
Bruce Stephens said:
Make a few notes of the readings when your Libre and Nexus differ (at least 3 pairs or readings), preferably when the Libre suggests you're stable. Then change the Libre and report the sensor as faulty (they'll ask for the readings).

It doesn't happen all that often but it's common enough that they won't be that surprised.
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I’ve just done a fp nexus 9.1 libre 8.6/8.8
It doesn’t seem to be consistent.
 
At 3am it alarmed at 4.2… did my FP 7.2 and just as i went to add a note the libre changed to 7.1
 
Very few people ever test their blood sugar monitor against the control solution, even once. I've done it once in 3 years, more out of curiosity rather than anything. I doubt is anyone, ever, has done it weekly! If we did, control solution would be easier to get.

You should normally trust your finger prick monitor (nexus) It may be worth getting a back up monitor to double test with for to have if the first breaks. Also, maybe test with a strip from new pot if worried in case the pot is 'off'
Well done for checking libre with your nexus...thats a good habit that will save you problems!
The overnight lows may well be compression lows...thats when you sleep on the monitor. They happen, and the readibg will bounce back relatively quckly when you chance position. You will learn not to sleep on the monitor
 
JBB70 said:
At 3am it alarmed at 4.2… did my FP 7.2 and just as i went to add a note the libre changed to 7.1
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Yup, compression low
 
Ah now thats a new thing to me (ad is everything else lol)
it is on the arm this time that i sleep on, so that sounds like the probable cause.
Thank you for putting my mind at rest

I think my DSN is ordering me a libre reader because I was given libre keytone strips.
Does this do normal FP tests too??
If not i’ll ask for a backup reader.
I don’t have a new test strip batch to try as my presctiption hasn’t been delivered yet, how many pots do you normally keep at any time?
I’m just getting to grips with prescription ordering and how long it takes to come.

Thanks,
Julie
 
JBB70 said:
I’ve just done a fp nexus 9.1 libre 8.6/8.8
It doesn’t seem to be consistent.
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Remember blood glucose monitors are allowed up to a 15% accuracy those readings are essentially the same. Decimal points are misleading you to believe more accuracy that they actually have.
 
Leadinglights said:
Remember blood glucose monitors are allowed up to a 15% accuracy those readings are essentially the same. Decimal points are misleading you to believe more accuracy that they actually have.
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Yeah i’ve been accepting that as being roughly the same reading.

How i worded it wasn’t really clear sorry,
I was meaning that its not consistently massively different.
In that check I was happy they were similar, but other readings are very different.

Hope that makes sense this time lol x
 
JBB70 said:
Yeah i’ve been accepting that as being roughly the same reading.

How i worded it wasn’t really clear sorry,
I was meaning that its not consistently massively different.
In that check I was happy they were similar, but other readings are very different.

Hope that makes sense this time lol x
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Because of the 15% variation the higher the readings the greater the permitted variation would be.
 
So with a compression low could I get away with leaving it a few mins and scanning my sensor rather than FP?

By the time i’ve done all that at 3am i’m wide awake again, and my sleep is bad at the mo.
 
JBB70 said:
So with a compression low could I get away with leaving it a few mins and scanning my sensor rather than FP?

By the time i’ve done all that at 3am i’m wide awake again, and my sleep is bad at the mo.
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A finger prick should only take seconds and better to be safe than risk waiting and finding yourself actually hypo, which would then need treating and retesting after 15 mins, which would be more disrupting to your sleep. What do you have you low alarm set at.
 
Leadinglights said:
A finger prick should only take seconds and better to be safe than risk waiting and finding yourself actually hypo, which would then need treating and retesting after 15 mins, which would be more disrupting to your sleep. What do you have you low alarm set at.
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4.5 which is what the nurse set it at
 
JBB70 said:
I’ll confirm on Monday that I am getting this then, and if not ask for a back up monitor, thank you.
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I think both kinds of strips aren't crazy compared to the competition. I think the BG strips (Optium) are a little more expensive than most BG strips but they may well prescribe those. (I get them on prescription.) (Ketone blood test strips are generally quite costly presumably because they're much less commonly used. For the Libre reader they come in boxes of 10 (the BG strips are in boxes of 50 as normal).)
 
Leadinglights said:
Because of the 15% variation the higher the readings the greater the permitted variation would be.
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And because one meter could be 15% out in one direction and the other meter 15% out in the other direction, the variation could appear twice as big
The general advice is to rely on finger pricks when there is a discrepancy. However, if you find all Libre sensors appear to be always higher (or lower) than finger pricks it is possible the finger pricks meters is further out. That is a time when it is worth having test solution.
 
JBB70 said:
So with a compression low could I get away with leaving it a few mins and scanning my sensor rather than FP?

By the time i’ve done all that at 3am i’m wide awake again, and my sleep is bad at the mo.
Click to expand...

No, if your low alarm goes off, just fingerprick that moment. You can then use that information to decide what to do next.

If you’re getting compression lows, be mindful of how you’re sleeping. This sounds a pain but you’ll soon train yourself to avoid your Libre arm. You can also put your hand under your Libre arm if you need to sleep on that side, which just lifts it off the bed far enough to avoid compression lows.
 
JBB70 said:
4.5 which is what the nurse set it at
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The default low reading alarm is set at 3.6 mmol by Abbott. 4.5 is too high and the nurse should know that and that's why the alarm is going off so often. I would set it lower?
 
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