Fears and Findings from Freestyle Libre2

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Just catching up with this thread @ColinUK - really interesting stuff!

Thanks for sharing and taking the time to document all this 🙂
 
ColinUK said:
This is what stress did to my levels yesterday and overnight.

Carb consumption was fine and even on the low side for me but stress was off the charts.

Today will be better as I get a handle on things I need to respond to rather than react to.

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This is interesting. I find at the moment stress affects me far more than food - I recently went to a funeral for a friend, which was quite a stressful day, and treated myself to a naughty full English with bread and has browns. BG was normal after a few hours. After the funeral it was 8 (I just thought I'd test to see) and half an hour later, when I'd sat down and relaxed, it had plummeted down to 5.2.

The year I started to get symptoms and was diagnosed I'd been living in a state of perpetual stress for some months.
 
helli said:
My experience of Libre's estimated HBA1C is that it is another useful metric to track but definitely not the same as a blood test HBA1C.
Libre consistently estimates about 10 lower than my blood does for HBA1C. Considering I now find Libre 2 reasonably accurate, it highlights to me that it is measuring something different so I just consider it something else to use to track stability.
With Type 1, I feel I the cost of reducing my HBA1C further would come at a significant cost to the rest of my life. I am happy to stay at about 45 (or 35 as LibreLink estimates). Hence I say I track stability not progress.
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When I used Libre I found the hba1c around 6 lower than reality, but the actual results of scanning far higher than finger prick tests almost all the time. mySugr with finger prick readings for fasting, pre-meal, one hour after meal and two hours after meal was far more accurate.
 
harbottle said:
When I used Libre I found the hba1c around 6 lower than reality, but the actual results of scanning far higher than finger prick tests almost all the time. mySugr with finger prick readings for fasting, pre-meal, one hour after meal and two hours after meal was far more accurate.
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Weird isn't it - the BG reported is higher but the estimated HBA1C is lower.
I guess I'll just go back to my comment about not using the estimated HBA1C as anything to do with HBA1C but use it as something else to track.

To be honest, I focus much more on TIR nowadays so less interested in HBA1C.
 
helli said:
Weird isn't it - the BG reported is higher but the estimated HBA1C is lower.
I guess I'll just go back to my comment about not using the estimated HBA1C as anything to do with HBA1C but use it as something else to track.

To be honest, I focus much more on TIR nowadays so less interested in HBA1C.
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I find that keeping it within 4-8 at all times gives a good hba1c, so I just aim for that. I guess that's a 'time in range'.
 
There I was pootling along quite nicely until the stress wagons decided to come to town.

Lots of legal stuff needed immediate attention.

I had a salmon salad for lunch and I know that’s a flatline so this mammoth spike is pure stress. I’ll meditate and see if I can bring it down.

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Sorry to hear you're having a stressful day .... but this shows exactly why Libre is so useful. There's a problem, you now know about it so can try and fix it.

I've been following your diary- it's very informative. Thank you for sharing.
 
Brought it down quite successfully to 6.1 at 6pm.

Call from the lawyers for an hour at just past 6pm and it’s now back to 10.1

Resting HR was a peaceful 53 and peaked 104 during their call.

The other side are continuing to be complete dicks and it’s making me angry.
 
Was taken out last night for a feast of an Indian meal. Utterly delicious. And as this is a learning experience I had everything including papadums, rice, naan, all the chutneys, even gunpowder potatoes and kulfi afterwards.

Here’s the readings that lot resulted in:

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Clearly I won’t be doing that again any time soon but it’s interesting to see how high I went and how I recovered from around 2am.

Waking figure this morning was 6.9.
 
ColinUK said:
Was taken out last night for a feast of an Indian meal. Utterly delicious. And as this is a learning experience I had everything including papadums, rice, naan, all the chutneys, even gunpowder potatoes and kulfi afterwards.

Here’s the readings that lot resulted in:

View attachment 26035

Clearly I won’t be doing that again any time soon but it’s interesting to see how high I went and how I recovered from around 2am.

Waking figure this morning was 6.9.
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Interesting to see.
However, I would question how high your levels went.
I find Libre (and other CGMs), even with the assistance of unofficial apps such as Shuggah, can over report when the number raise above 10.
The only way to know is to finger prick at the time which is the advantage of using alarms.
 
helli said:
Interesting to see.
However, I would question how high your levels went.
I find Libre (and other CGMs), even with the assistance of unofficial apps such as Shuggah, can over report when the number raise above 10.
The only way to know is to finger prick at the time which is the advantage of using alarms.
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I appreciate that there’s going to be a margin of error in the readings from the sensor vs those from a finger prick.
I’m using it more as a general indicator of what’s going on and to check trends. I’m not using insulin don’t forget.
 
ColinUK said:
I had a salmon salad for lunch and I know that’s a flatline so this mammoth spike is pure stress. I’ll meditate and see if I can bring it down.
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Really interesting to observe the impact of stress @ColinUK - and I’ve seen others posting similar BG hikes so you aren’t alone - and it happens with insulin users too
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Really interesting to observe the impact of stress @ColinUK - and I’ve seen others posting similar BG hikes so you aren’t alone - and it happens with insulin users too
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Indeed. It doesn't surprise me at all that stress has such an impact and not just negative stress.
My levels hit 17 after watching the critical mission scenes of Top Gun which was the highest I have been since diagnosis, because of the tension. I needed lots of insulin to bring me down. I am very sensitive to stress and even find it hard to watch a close fought sports match where I have any partisan interest in the outcome. I can't watch thrillers (definitely not horror) or programs with any significant suspense as it makes me feel ill. Even MidSommer Murders was more than I could cope with the other day.... I am such a wimp!
 
I’m wondering if the sensors ever last their projected usage period.
Just had one fall off in an elegant sliding motion down my arm and score a direct hit on a drain grate.
Perhaps it hated being attached to me and thought a life in the sewer was more appealing.

Sensor fault form completed and sent.

Even though I’ve got another one with me I’m going to take a day off and affix it before bed tonight I think.
 
rebrascora said:
Indeed. It doesn't surprise me at all that stress has such an impact and not just negative stress.
My levels hit 17 after watching the critical mission scenes of Top Gun which was the highest I have been since diagnosis, because of the tension. I needed lots of insulin to bring me down. I am very sensitive to stress and even find it hard to watch a close fought sports match where I have any partisan interest in the outcome. I can't watch thrillers (definitely not horror) or programs with any significant suspense as it makes me feel ill. Even MidSommer Murders was more than I could cope with the other day.... I am such a wimp!
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Yikes! I remember in the past seeing posts on here with 'List of things that can affect sugar level'. There were loads on there but pretty sure that Tom Cruise wasn't mentioned.
 
ColinUK said:
I’m wondering if the sensors ever last their projected usage period.
Just had one fall off in an elegant sliding motion down my arm and score a direct hit on a drain grate.
Perhaps it hated being attached to me and thought a life in the sewer was more appealing.

Sensor fault form completed and sent.

Even though I’ve got another one with me I’m going to take a day off and affix it before bed tonight I think.
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Mine have been pretty good. When I initially switched from L1 to L2 I had about 80% of the first 15 or so that failed but that's really settled down now. I did manage to catch one on a door frame about a week ago but think that's only 2 or 3 that I've had similar accidents with.
 
I would recommend an arm strap. I now just wear it for the first few days and in the shower, where it acts as a visual reminder of which arm the sensor is one and not to scrub that arm too hard when I am washing. It seems to make a big difference to adhesion having that gentle pressure applied over the sensor particularly for the first 12 hours I think. I always have to grimace as I prise the sensor off at the end of 14 days. It's funny as I have been trying to do it without screwing my face up, but I really can't. I have no idea why grimacing helps when we perceive pain is going to happen but it is very instinctual and I haven't been able to override it so far. 🙄
 
ColinUK said:
I’m wondering if the sensors ever last their projected usage period.
Just had one fall off in an elegant sliding motion down my arm and score a direct hit on a drain grate.
Perhaps it hated being attached to me and thought a life in the sewer was more appealing.

Sensor fault form completed and sent.

Even though I’ve got another one with me I’m going to take a day off and affix it before bed tonight I think.
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Most of my sensors lasted their full life.
I think there are people with limpet skin - I am one of these. The sensors stick forever and need to be prised off.
There are people with silky skin - these guys need assistance to keep their sensors in place such as a strap as @rebrascora mentioned.

As for taking a day off and affixing later, I think this is a great idea. I sometimes find I can become obsessed with my numbers and it is good for my mental health to take a break.
I am not sure whether you previously mentioned if you give your sensors a "bedding in period". I find my first day is better if I activate it a day after applying. That way you could get your break and have a bedded in sensor when you are ready to start it.
 
Rob Oldfield said:
Yikes! I remember in the past seeing posts on here with 'List of things that can affect sugar level'. There were loads on there but pretty sure that Tom Cruise wasn't mentioned.
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Maybe it’s a Scientology thing to do with hating actual science. Watching the film triggers a reaction in the sensor to either de-adhere or just stop working unless you’re happy to marry Tom Cruise or something?!
 
Confirmation received of replacement sensor being dispatched.

I think I’ve only paid for about 50% of those I’ve used so it does make unit cost lower!

As for today, I’ve triple checked this with finger pricks and it’s accurate. And remarkably dull. I’m tempted to buy an almond croissant from the local French bakery just to see a bit of a spike it’s that flat. :rofl:

And I’m battling a cold, and been to the gym this morning after waking up at 4am and it’s still flat!
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