I am a type 2 diabetic on Metformin, Gliclazide and Alogliptin. My surgery has very generously allowed me to trial the FreeStyle Libre 2 for the past few weeks - where it has been found that I drop under 3.9 overnight and am therefore in Hypo range. A reduction in Gliclazide has eased the problem but not got rid of it. The trial has stopped and the sensor is now going to cost me £50+ a fortnight. Give the concern I have for overnight periods, does anyone know if I can get these sensors any cheaper?
-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
-
Learn more about joining the Diabetes UK Support Forum team here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/volunteering-opportunities-why-dont-you-join-us.112862/
Cost of FreeStyle Libre 2
- Thread starter toffeeman
- Start date
- Status
Sorry that you are not getting your Libre funded.
Have you tried applying for the free trial direct from Abbott.
This will allow you to check out more of your findings from before.
You mention that you dropped below 3.9 at night. Did you check these readings with a finger prick to ensure they are not compression lows and consider the known limitations of CGMs.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of cheaper options for purchasing Libre. Did you tick the VAT exempt box? If buying direct from Abbott, this brings the cost down to less than £50 per sensor. It only saves a little but every little helps.
When I was first using Libre, I was self funding it for 2 weeks in every 6. This enabled me to learn for a couple of weeks with the sensor and then apply my learning for the next 4 weeks. Then check out how I was doing for 2 weeks.
Have you tried applying for the free trial direct from Abbott.
This will allow you to check out more of your findings from before.
You mention that you dropped below 3.9 at night. Did you check these readings with a finger prick to ensure they are not compression lows and consider the known limitations of CGMs.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of cheaper options for purchasing Libre. Did you tick the VAT exempt box? If buying direct from Abbott, this brings the cost down to less than £50 per sensor. It only saves a little but every little helps.
When I was first using Libre, I was self funding it for 2 weeks in every 6. This enabled me to learn for a couple of weeks with the sensor and then apply my learning for the next 4 weeks. Then check out how I was doing for 2 weeks.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I would first and foremost suspect that the lows overnight were compression lows rather than real lows, unless you double checked them at the time with a finger prick. Can you post a screen shot of some of the graphs showing them as sometimes you can tell from the profile of the graph if they are genuine or compression. A slow steady descent over a period of hours is most likely to be a real hypo. You can also usually tell if you wake up lying on that arm when your alarm goes off.
Thanks Barbara, from the replies I've received it would appear that I've been having compression lows. The graph has shown a fairly steep descent and my sensor was on the arm that I slept on. The thought of having a hypo overnight still weighs heavily on my mind and sleep can be disrupted. At least the sensor alarm gives you reassurance.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I am sure it is a fear that we have all shared at different times. The worry that we will go to sleep and perhaps our levels drop and maybe not wake up again and it can feel very real. In the early months of insulin use and before Libre, I used to wake up almost every night through the night and test my BG for reassurance or at least assess how I felt. Surprisingly, what cured me of it was a week of nocturnal hypos, where I had started increasing my exercise and it turns out my overnight levels are very sensitive to this, even when my daytime ones, when I am actually exercising can be quite stable. Despite repeatedly reducing my evening basal insulin, I continued to hypo night after night for a full week. It was before I had Libre, so the only thing waking me up was my body and it taught me that I could rely on it to alert me. Since then I have slept soundly and even when I have nocturnal hypos now, I can chew on a jelly baby or two and be back to sound sleep within a couple of minutes.... which is actually a bit naughty as I should stay awake to retest 15 mins later, but I now have so much confidence in my body that I just drop straight back off..... and I love my sleep too much to waste it. I doubt that is much help to you because it is very difficult to control fear but I look back and think that before we had Libre and BG meters and people had to boil up a sample of their urine with a reagent to find out what their BG level was probably about 3 hours previously and those people still survived each and every night and we have some of them here, active on this forum.
Many thanks for your reassuring words. I have a packet of Jelly Babies next to my pillow in case the sensor alarm goes off. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and try to afford the sensors myself. Helli's previous idea of have the sensor two weeks on and four weeks off sounds like a practical way forward and I will strongly consider this. Thanks again, David.
- Status