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Continuous Glucose Monitoring?
- Thread starter Brend
- Start date
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An alternative to Dexcom is Freestyle Libre. It is not quite a good as you have to scan the sensor with NFC rather than receiving the data by Bluetooth.
I mention Libre because they have a free 2 week trial from their website which will give you an idea whether paying for a CGM is worth the money for you.
I mention Libre because they have a free 2 week trial from their website which will give you an idea whether paying for a CGM is worth the money for you.
Nick Cliff
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi @Brend , I'm also Type 2 and took up the Libre 2 free trial. I found it extremely useful in showing me how my blood glucose level behaved at all those situations where finger-prick testing is impractical. I learnt a lot about spikes and troughs, both stuff I didn't expect and confirming what I did expect. I also used the information in dialogue with my GP. I would recommend anyone to take the trial.
At £50 per sensor, I'm not going to use one regularly!
Fortunately (?) my first sensor failed after 8 days, so they sent me another. I used that several months later, to see the impact of diet changes (positive!)...and as that sensor also occasionally failed to scan, they've sent me another which I'll use in a few months time.
IT IS NOT a substitute for HbA1c tests, but a great aid.
Hope this helps.
Nick.
At £50 per sensor, I'm not going to use one regularly!
Fortunately (?) my first sensor failed after 8 days, so they sent me another. I used that several months later, to see the impact of diet changes (positive!)...and as that sensor also occasionally failed to scan, they've sent me another which I'll use in a few months time.
IT IS NOT a substitute for HbA1c tests, but a great aid.
Hope this helps.
Nick.
Bruce Stephens
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The pricing is straightforward enough: you need a sensor each 14 days, so you need 26 a year. So about £1300 annually.
Dexcom One has a similar pricing, £299 for three months. (Each sensor lasts 10 days.) Oh, I see that says "Tax included", so maybe one can remove VAT from that which would make it lower than Libre?
There's a couple of others that are kind of similar in price (a little lower) but people say they're not quite as good.
Libre has the advantage that it's easy to use a sensor just when you want (you could use one every two months, for example). The others need a transmitter which has its own battery and possible need for replacement.
Bruce Stephens
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
It does, so definitely use that. They also now show the price before VAT on the website (previously they showed the after-VAT price until you got to the paying stage). I just wondered if that meant the 3 month price for Dexcom One was in fact ~£250, which would make it about £1000 a year (compared to about £1300 for Libre).
(I don't care enough to check. I'm fine with Libre and anyway either of them would be on prescription for me.)
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