CGM for Type Twos

[Ljc]

I think you must have been unlucky to experience some pain on your very first sensor insertion. Normally I feel nothing but once or twice over the years it’s made me wince. It’s the luck of the draw really. Tbh I have never had any discomfort afterwards.

I am pleased to hear your is pretty accurate from the start.
I started a new one last night and its reading around 3 .0: lower than a finger bodge, so i will be relaying on finger pricks to do my bolus insulin till it starts behaving itself lol.

 

[Kaylz]

With a dull ache it's likely you slightly caught a nerve on application, I've had them bleed and not be painful so you are very unlucky although I did the same with my last one but the ache lasted over 24 hours then settled (thankfully) if you find it happens again and is too uncomfortable to bear then just call Abbott and they will likely ask you to remove it and send a replacement but do contact Abbott first xx

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I would say though that their wording around the pain was a little generous, It didn't really hurt as such, but it hurt more than my finger prick needle does contrary to what they say in the setup manual and i had a dull pain in the arm for an hour or so.

A bit unlucky. I sometimes find the same (aches for an hour or two), but sometimes barely notice it.

 

[mikeyB]

I would have thought that the discussion should be about stopping the pernicious (and medically nonsense) that T2s don’t need to test at all. This seems to have become a mantra, retrofitted to the financial cost to the NHS.

When I was first diagnosed, because of my age (like many on the forum) I was designated T2. At my first consultation I was given a testing machine and a prescription for test strips, seemingly a routine for T2s in those days. It’s blatantly obvious that this helps T2 control, and it certainly saved me from the DKA route into a T1 diagnosis.

As it is so obvious that testing helps BG control in T2, then it is equally obvious that T2s should be given CGM on prescription if a consultant approves, just as for a T1, whether on insulin or not. And it would bring forward in time the switch from tablets, which are no longer helping, along with diet and weight loss, to insulin, thus reducing the risk of complications. Or stopping that switch from happening.

This isn’t just common sense, it’s best practise.

 

[rebrascora]

Same here. I have had a couple that ached a bit for an our or 3 afterwards but was totally bearable and one that really pinched after I applied it and twinged enough to make me wince every now and then over the first couple of days but it settled after that. Most of mine bleed a tiny bit. Not had a gusher yet!

 

[trophywench]

What wholemeal bread was it, at 11g a slice? - that's very low for a slice of any bread, and without knowing what your BG was before you ate, why on earth would a result of 8.9 after you ate make it a No No ? - you're aiming for an increase of no more than 3.0 at whatever time your spike was after the food, but that will vary whether it's an hour, 90 mins or 2 hrs - but 2 hrs is about average, hence 'try 2 hrs after' first.

 

[BlueArmy]

What wholemeal bread was it, at 11g a slice? - that's very low for a slice of any bread, and without knowing what your BG was before you ate, why on earth would a result of 8.9 after you ate make it a No No ? - you're aiming for an increase of no more than 3.0 at whatever time your spike was after the food, but that will vary whether it's an hour, 90 mins or 2 hrs - but 2 hrs is about average, hence 'try 2 hrs after' first.

it was around 5.6 before hand, probably as I walked 6k’s at 6am for the 1 million step challenge. its this bread

 

[BlueArmy]

I would have thought that the discussion should be about stopping the pernicious (and medically nonsense) that T2s don’t need to test at all. This seems to have become a mantra, retrofitted to the financial cost to the NHS.

When I was first diagnosed, because of my age (like many on the forum) I was designated T2. At my first consultation I was given a testing machine and a prescription for test strips, seemingly a routine for T2s in those days. It’s blatantly obvious that this helps T2 control, and it certainly saved me from the DKA route into a T1 diagnosis.

As it is so obvious that testing helps BG control in T2, then it is equally obvious that T2s should be given CGM on prescription if a consultant approves, just as for a T1, whether on insulin or not. And it would bring forward in time the switch from tablets, which are no longer helping, along with diet and weight loss, to insulin, thus reducing the risk of complications. Or stopping that switch from happening.

This isn’t just common sense, it’s best practise.

I agree Mikey - if you want to manage it then why wouldn’t you. I can understand the NHS not supplying these sensors at £49 a pop every two weeks especially based on how
many T2’s there are - but BG meters should be provided and people means tested as to if they then go on the free prescription or not. Ultimately- its got to be cheaper than dealing with the complications of it.

Thats the NHS though, I was told yesterday my local trust won’t undertake back surgery on you if your BMI is over 26. Thats worse I think. Pretty sure many people over that BMI pay for it, so free access for all should mean for all, unless there is a clinical reason for that - in which case they should help people get to that BMI. Overweight people are low hanging fruit for them.

 

[trophywench]

That's nice and low- er carb then!

So your BG went up by 3.3, how long was it in between the 2 tests, and how long did it take thereafter to come back down to 5.6?

 

[BlueArmy]

That's nice and low- er carb then!

So your BG went up by 3.3, how long was it in between the 2 tests, and how long did it take thereafter to come back down to 5.6?

Its hard to tell as I went for another 4km walk in the two hours to get the kids from school. I think its fine - will gather data over a few months and I suspect most would be envious of this curve attached I have logged so far today since attaching the sensor although I am doing the million steps challenge so have also walked around 12km’s today and did the same yesterday which is not normal for me!

One thing is clear to me - the changes I have made and sustained since sdiagnosis has made a massive difference and I seem to have control within reason - however - I promised myself to get to remission in 24 months when I was laying in hospital recovering from the operation on a serious infection I had which is how I found out I was diabetic with a BG level of 19mmol. I am not there yet, but if I can come off metformin by the end of the year that would be something - and I want to use this data to make that happen. Its not beating me, I am going to beat it.

 

[Kathy27]

will chexk it out thanks. Sadly i do love a bit of data, wonder if i can claim it back on private medical insurance

I recently bought Dexcom G6 as aT2 using basal and Novorapid, only been doing this for one week and CGM since Wednesday but already I feel more reassured, very good piece of equipment, private medical do not cover chronic long term conditions as I checked on mine, so self funding only option as usual , worth the information given etc , hope you get sorted

 

[Ljc]

I totally agree with you @mikeyB .
When I was first dx it was the norm in my area to be under the DSN , diabetic clinic and podiatrist. The first appointment took all morning . Then I was given a meter and had one pot of strips a month on prescription, I was only on Metformin .
Once my levels came down I was just under the DN .

Now sadly it so different. How can people make the right food choices without the equipment to give them the info.

 

[BlueArmy]

Think I spoken to soon about it working off the bat. Phone just went off saying I had low BS - libre says 3.8, checked BG monitor and it reads 5.6 so did it again with different finger snd got 5.0 Don’t feel shakey or like I am heading for a hypo. Bit odd.

 

[BlueArmy]

I recently bought Dexcom G6 as aT2 using basal and Novorapid, only been doing this for one week and CGM since Wednesday but already I feel more reassured, very good piece of equipment, private medical do not cover chronic long term conditions as I checked on mine, so self funding only option as usual , worth the information given etc , hope you get sorted

reminds me I must check. Your probably right but not all medical insurance is the same cover. Depends how its organised with your company etc

 

[BlueArmy]

So in the middle of the night my iphone was alarming saying my BG was 2.8mmol’s, woke the wife up so that didn’t go down well. Was definitely not having a hypo, downloaded the data when I woke and it touched 3.9 in the bight then recovered to around 4.5 and held there. So it was a dodgy alarm, anyone else had inappropriate alarms?

 

[rebrascora]

Could you have been lying on the sensor. Compression causes it to read low. You might be best disabling the low alarm if you are not on insulin. I assume you can disable the alarms independently... Not got Libre 2 yet so not sure how the alarms work. Non diabetic people can dip below 4 during the night so I don't think it is useful to have an alarm to alert you of it in your situation as it isn't a concern.... unless I am mistaken and you are using insulin. I have learned to subconsciously not lie on the arm my Libre is fitted to but I tend to be most comfortable lying on my back anyway. It is amazing how your mind adjusts quite quickly to these factors even when you are asleep.

 

[BlueArmy]

yeah I found the setting that prevents alarms when the phone is in do not disturb mode so just need to remember to set that mode before bed. I wasn’t aware it did that if compressed so have stupidly put it in the arm I sleep on, will use the other arm for the next sensor! Thanks for the tip

 

[BlueArmy]

Does anyone have any experience of comparing the estimated A1C values in the Librelink app vs real world tests?

If the librelink is close to accurate, for the past week it is showing I have managed to wrestle my diabetes into the remission zone. Would like to know if I can get excited/encouraged by this or not!

 

[helli]

Does anyone have any experience of comparing the estimated 1AC values in the Librelink app vs real world tests?

If the librelink is close to accurate, for the past week it is showing I have managed to wrestle my diabetes into the remission zone. Would like to know if I can get excited/encouraged by this or not!

I have compared ... just out of interest - my HBA1C measured by blood was 10 higher.
(For a T1, this wasn't such a bad thing because my DSN worries about hypos when I below 50 and my Libre guestimate was the same as yours.)
Libre uses a very different algorithm to calculate it.

I wouldn't compare the two but it may be interesting to watch the Libre values for a trend.

 

[rebrascora]

My original Libre usually calculates my levels to be a few (3-5) mmols lower than my actual HbA1c and I think most other people find that and it is to be expected as my Libre consistently reads about a mmol lower than my BG reading a lot of the time. The algorithm on the Libre 2 is slightly different I believe so it's HbA1c prediction may be more accurate. When you compare finger prick readings with Libre when levels are stable are you seeing similar results?