Flash glucose & CGM

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JasonM

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi,

I’ve been a type 1 diabetic for nearly 35years now with no complications.
I’ve been referred by my GP to the hospital to see if I can get flash glucose or CGM for free (I’m in the UK) the diabetic nurse at my doctors said that I have to go to the hospital clinic to get put on it.
Though didn’t really go into any detail other than I have an appointment later this month.

I’m wondering if it is easy to get put on it for free ?
Will I get asked questions by them to determine if I meet certain guidelines?
I remember their were lots of different guidelines a few years ago based on number of blood glucose strips you used a day etc.

thanks in advance.

Jason
 
You’ll still need some strips in case the Libre fails or to double-check unusual results but you should use less 🙂
 
Indeed but after years of finger pricking to the level I have, it will be nice to give them fingers a rest.

A few years ago I tried the libre sensors sometimes I found the applicator didn’t place them properly or the sensors did not last the full month - I see the new ones are only 14 days now. And a few times accidentally knocked them off my arm - hoping they are a little more robust now - it was frustrating when paying for them back then which after a year I gave up and went back to strips
 
Libre sensors have only ever lasted 14 days so you may be misremembering. Developing a good application technique and placement is key to them lasting, but Abbott are very good about replacing any that don't last the full 14 days or don't work for some other reason. I also invested in an arm strap to give them a little extra security as mine are exposed to extra hazards like sweaty horses scrubbing their bridled faces up and down my arms extremely vigorously.
 
rebrascora said:
Libre sensors have only ever lasted 14 days so you may be misremembering. Developing a good application technique and placement is key to them lasting, but Abbott are very good about replacing any that don't last the full 14 days or don't work for some other reason. I also invested in an arm strap to give them a little extra security as mine are exposed to extra hazards like sweaty horses scrubbing their bridled faces up and down my arms extremely vigorously.
Click to expand...
Yes looking back in my emails with abbots (and they were very helpful sending out free replacements) you‘re correct 14 days, I had a number of them that gave up after 9 days.
I am into a range of outdoor sporting activities this arm strap any you care to recommend?
 
JasonM said:
I’ve been referred by my GP to the hospital to see if I can get flash glucose or CGM for free
Click to expand...
That's what the new NICE guidance says, and in England that's what's happening (last I heard, nearly 95% of people with Type 1 were using a prescribed CGM). In England there's no general requirement for GPs to wait for a hospital team to do it, but there may be some advantages.
 
I got mine off ebay but I would expect there are similar available on amazon. Essentially it is a half inch adjustable elastic (not rubber) band attached to a 3D printed watch face which fits precisely around the circumference of the Libre sensors and you adjust the elastic to keep it snug but not tight. It was about £7.95 I think, but I have had it at least a couple of years now and wear it almost every day, particularly just after application as it helps the adhesive to bond well with my skin in those first few hours when it is most vulnerable. Prepping the skin well is also important. I tend to apply the day before I am going to start it to give it at least 12 hours bedding in time before I activate it as you can get some spurious readings if your arm decides to react to a foreign body being fired into it. I apply it on an evening after a shower and I usually give my skin a good scrub to remove any dry/loose skin. Dry it really well with a towel and then give it a blast with my hair dryer to make absolutely sure it is dry. Then I apply but hold the applicator in place for a count of 60 secs before I gently wriggle the applicator free. For some reason the applicator always snags and doesn't release cleanly and I have found that giving it 60 seconds for the sensor to bond with my skin before I lift it away and wiggling it if it snags rather than just pulling ensures that I don't disturb and potentially kink the sensor. Then I put my arm strap on and go to bed, so that it has the whole night to bond well before it gets exposed to any hazards. This routine might be overkill, but I haven't lost a sensor since I adopted it and they are still stuck like limpets when I come to remove them on day 15. Of course you also get better at not catching it on clothing and door frames etc, but I also find the strap acts as a visual reminder when I am in the shower so that I don't accidentally scrub it off.

The straps are available in a range of colours from discrete skin tone to loud and proud neons! Guess which I have! 🙄
 
As others have said it should be straight forward for you to get the Libre. If you are concerned about the longevity of the stickiness You could put a tegaderm or something similar over the top.
Let us know how you get on.
 
There is also the dexcom one in case you don't vibe with with libre 2. The other cgms (dexcom g6, g7, libre 3) are not so much of a 'right' .

When i was on libre i found the straps great and had a number of colours. I never had one that fell off before 14 days. I had some that i took off cos they were wildly inaccurate, but, like i said, libre and my body didn't really get on. Similarly, some people find libre more reliable than dexcom.
If you can get on with libre it has a longer wear time and often a shorter warm up and you can uze on most phones.
Libre can be a bit iffy in the first 24 hrs so some insert then when there prev libre has a day to go...this help them to a bit more accurate from the start.

Do be aware libre can be a bit of a drama quuen as it predicts ahead and therefore sometimes 'overshoots' on highs and lows....fingerprick before treatment decision....especially at night where you can get 'compression lows' when you sleep on one. Dexcom does that too
 
JasonM said:
Thanks for the quick response.
It will be nice to stop getting through 200 test strips every month.
Click to expand...

We've all been there my friend.

Libre is great, used it near enough since it became available here in UK, switched to Dexcom G6 about 8 months ago & it slightly has edge over libre in my opinion but both are life changing devices.
 
Hi,
So I finally got put on the libre 2 sensors and using the app on my iPhone phone, finding it very handy as now I can quickly adjust based on output on the phone as it shows the trends when going high or low.
The only frustration with it is the loss of signal that seems to happen all too often, so I have to rescan the sensor and wait ten minutes for it to come back to life.
I have the sensor on the back at of my arm using the just a patches to keep it in situ.
I’m 3 days into the first sensor and the errors seem to increase day by day.
Since my last experience a few years back I had hoped they had improved.
I have my mobile always close to me, just don’t understand is it the sensor or the app just isn’t that great ?
 
I turned off the signal loss alarm. It drove me mad. My current sensor seems to be losing signal more often than others i've had, which are more occasionally if i'm in a different room to my phone. If i scan though i get a reading straight away rather than having to wait 10 mins. Are you getting the "wait 10 mins before scanning message"? If so, it usually means that your levels are changing more quickly. Sometimes you can scan before the 10 mins are up and get a reading, other times you have to wait.
 
@JasonM do you have many devices paired with your phone over Bluetooth?
I find the connectivity of the Libre can be affected if I have more than 4 devices paired with my phone.
Phone differ by how many devices can be paired with them but I have found disconnecting unnecessary/rarely used devices helps maintain Libre connectivity.
 
JasonM said:
The only frustration with it is the loss of signal that seems to happen all too often, so I have to rescan the sensor and wait ten minutes for it to come back to life.
Click to expand...
You don’t need to do this. It will reconnect without scanning. Just turn off the signal loss alarm, also keeping phone on same side of body as sensor can help
 
So this morning the sensor threw up the signal loss error and that lasted over an hour, I contacted abbots and was less than impressed, they have agreed to take this faulty one back and replace. I’ve put a new one on and again I saw the signal loss messages so I phoned them again.

The lady I spoke to was very helpful and went through my phone settings, and was working.

Now as I write this I got the signal loss again..

I think it’s time to ask for dexecom…
 
helli said:
@JasonM do you have many devices paired with your phone over Bluetooth?
I find the connectivity of the Libre can be affected if I have more than 4 devices paired with my phone.
Phone differ by how many devices can be paired with them but I have found disconnecting unnecessary/rarely used devices helps maintain Libre connectivity.
Click to expand...
The only other thing paired is chipolo app

Phone btw is iPhone SE 2020
 
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