Faulty Libre

[Caroline1967]

I self funded libre for about a year and had a few issues but nothing like the problems I am having now.

My nurse at the surgery prescribed libre 2 on 22nd July as I am now using insulin before every meal. I was given 4 sensors and none of them have lasted more than 6 days! It is so frustrating. I have just woken up to another ‘your sensor has ended’. I know Abbott will replace them but this really isn’t good enough!

Last year while I was on holiday I had 2 fail and I rang Abbott to query why they had both failed and they simply replayed them and wouldn’t engage with any question regarding why! All very annoying.

Has anyone else gone through a bad batch like this? Hopefully this will improve soon as although I find the data from libre really useful and it is helping me Lower my levels is it so annoying keep having to change it!! Arghhhhh!

 

[Proud to be erratic]

Hello @Caroline1967,

I was given Libre 2 as my CGM after 12 months just finger pricking. It was prescribed by my GP after advice to the Surgery from my DSN. Knowing nothing different I endured a succession of L2 failures - ending early or dreadfully inaccurate. Over 50% needed changing and Abbott did replace each one. But I understand your frustration, as well as your Arghhhhh!

At that time the alternative CGMs were only provided direct from a Hospital contract and were more expensive, mainly Dexcom G6 or G7. The NICE Guidance has since improved all of this bureaucracy and given GPs a lot more choice.

At first I thought the problem lay firmly with Abbott and suspected poor quality control, etc. After 12 months I realised I was in the minority; most L2 users were happy with their sensors and it was me! My body and L2 didn't like each other. My Consultant then helped me change from L2 to the original Dexcom One and now G7. Now that you have your CGM on prescription you might want to consider trying the Dexcom One+. It is in the same price bracket as L2 for the NHS so a prescription change is moderately simple for your Surgery. Dex One+ is very similar to L2 as a standalone sensor (wear and throw) but only lasts for 10 days; monthly cost is the same.

The Dexcom app is not so widely compatible with phones as L2's LibreLink is - so you should check that; the Dexcom hand held Receiver is a great deal more advanced than the clumsy L2 Reader and very readily available (Abbott seem to have more-or-less stopped providing Readers). The Dexcom app is a bit different visually to L2's LibreLink, but provides similar capability; Dexcom is underpinned by their Web based app or software called Clarity - which is akin to Abbott's web based LibreView. Some of Dexcom's vocabulary is mildly different - eg Dexcom have Alerts rather than Alarms; but it is all manageable.

Worth a try!

 

[rebrascora]

I have just had a Libre 2 that failed on day (well actually night) 12 and Abbott have replaced it. It is the first failure in over a year for me and failures are very few and far between in my experience, especially now that I use an arm strap to support it. It was still stuck like a limpet all the way around, so clearly a genuine sensor failure. I think many failures are down to them being dislodged slightly after being snagged by inanimate objects or phone app issues. I use a reader which means I am not affected by software updates either so I suspect that adds to the reliability I experience with Libre.

 

[Caroline1967]

That's interesting rebrascora as I suspect I may have knocked it yesterday...would it not stop working immediately though? This last one was fine when I went to bed and stopped working in the middle of the night.
I have reported it to Abbott so hopefully they will replace it for me.