Freestyle Libre 2 free trial

brettr

brettr

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone,

I signed up for the free trial of the above BG monitor, this one lasts for 15 days. I have started using it tonight and am already getting readings. I am interested how my BG will go up and down when I have eaten to when I have not, I will also test with a finger prick every so often to see if they are within the limits of a further message on here about night time readings from the Freestyle 2.

I always try and sleep on my right side, more so now that I have the sensor in my arm.

I'm looking forward to seeing how my glucose levels range throughout the day.

Cheers

Brett
 
Hi Brett, is it the libre 2 you have or the libre 2 plus ? I only asked as you said it lasts 15 days and libre 2 lasts for 14.
Enjoy your free trial , I use the libre 2 and found it to be a game changer in my diabetes management.
Martin
 
I also just started the free trial
received them & installed on me yesterday
hopefully I can get the sensors funded by NHS
Just messaged GP regarding this
 
Many of us find CGMs like Libre fantastic but please make sure you understand the limitations. Otherwise, you will find the experience incredibly frustrating.
And, if you are asking your GP to prescribe them, make sure you are aware of the NICE guidelines. If they suggest you should be monitoring, be prepared to quote the guidelines. However, if you do not qualify, according to the guidelines, expect a tough uphill battle with your GP: your justification will have to be very good.
 
Martin62 said:
Hi Brett, is it the libre 2 you have or the libre 2 plus ? I only asked as you said it lasts 15 days and libre 2 lasts for 14.
Enjoy your free trial , I use the libre 2 and found it to be a game changer in my diabetes management.
Martin
Click to expand...
Hi Martin,

I have to assume it's the Libre 2 plus, as once I attached it to my arm (not in the least bit painful), and the App, it showed 15 days usage. It was really good using it and helped having the chance to see how my BG levels were doing throughout each day. I noticed, regardless of what I ate, it always spiked after food, but most of the time was within the designated range, which I was happy about. It is a great device to use but damned expensive. I have looked on Amazon and a couple of other sites and it was averaging about £51 for the sensor, that was only for one.

I had a couple of spells of my BG going low at 3.8, but I put that down to my medications working well ! Although I didn't feel anything with regards to having a hypo. I know that we are each all different with our BG readings, but I have always gone off what I knew from working as a dialysis nurse in the NHS, our working range was 3.5 to 5.5 Mmols, so I have always worked from that as it is just easier for myself. I don't like this new way of reading blood glucose, Mmols was just easier for me to understand and know if I was too low or too high with my BG readings.
 
brettr said:
I have looked on Amazon and a couple of other sites and it was averaging about £51 for the sensor, that was only for one.
Click to expand...
If you buy them buy direct from abbot as they’re slightly cheaper than 51
 
brettr said:
I don't like this new way of reading blood glucose, Mmols was just easier for me to understand and know if I was too low or too high with my BG readings.
Click to expand...
I’m a bit confused. What new way of monitoring bgs are you talking about. We measure bg in mmols in the uk
 
goodybags said:
I also just started the free trial
received them & installed on me yesterday
hopefully I can get the sensors funded by NHS
Just messaged GP regarding this
Click to expand...
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but if you are Type 2 diabetic, there is no way the NHS will fund the cost of the sensors for us, I asked this of my Diabetes Nurse when I saw her recently, just before starting with the Mounjaro. I said to her, regardless of which type of diabetic any of us are, type 1 or two, we are all diabetics ! I mean no disrespect to anyone who is type 1. My DN's answer was that you have to be taking insulin to get the NHS to pay for the CGM sensors.

The point being, the cost of them outweighs the wanting to use them.

It would be interesting to know what your GP says to you ?
 
brettr said:
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but if you are Type 2 diabetic, there is no way the NHS will fund the cost of the sensors for us
Click to expand...
Well that’s not true. If you’re type 2 diabetic and on 2+ insulin injections a day and also advised to test 8+ times a day or meet other criteria such as learning disability, physical difficulty testing, care home resident etc, then you do qualify for libre funding in some areas. Read the guidelines to see the full criteria.

I was funded libre when my diabetes type was still formally type 2
 
Lucyr said:
I’m a bit confused. What new way of monitoring bgs are you talking about. We measure bg in mmols in the uk
Click to expand...
We or most of us know the normal readings for us is Mmols, the other is Mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre), so 7.0 Mmols reading is 126 Mg/dl. There are conversion charts you can get online that do all the conversion for you, not sure how complicated the maths is but Mmols has always made it more understandable to myself. I think Americans use the Mg/dl range more than we do.

So if I read something about BG's reading something like 300 Mg/dl or more, it just looks and sounds like that person is having an horrendous Hyper. So a 300 Mg/dl is actually 16.6 Mmols. Although a 16.6 Mmols reading is high, it's much more manageable than having a reading higher than 33.3 Mmols (that has happened to me once and I ended up in A&E for 9 hours to be seen and then started on Metformin by the Doctors in the hospital). Some people have started using the American Diabetes Association readings to understand their BG's, where as I still maintain Mmols is just so much easier to understand, as it is what we were brought up with and taught to understand, whether through work or personal knowledge for being diabetic.

Incidentally a BG reading of 33.3 Mmols is 599.9 Mg/dl. Which is the more understandable version for you ? I do know that Americans did and some probably still do use Mmols, but why complicate things in the first place if something already works !!!
 
brettr said:
We or most of us know the normal readings for us is Mmols, the other is Mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre), so 7.0 Mmols reading is 126 Mg/dl.
Click to expand...
Why are you reading American advice? You’ll just confuse yourself as they measure carbs differently in the USA, stick to Diabetes UK and other UK sites.
 
Lucyr said:
Well that’s not true. If you’re type 2 diabetic and on 2+ insulin injections a day and also advised to test 8+ times a day or meet other criteria such as learning disability, physical difficulty testing, care home resident etc, then you do qualify for libre funding in some areas. Read the guidelines to see the full criteria.

I was funded libre when my diabetes type was still formally type 2
Click to expand...
My point there is that I, and many others will not qualify for the NHS covering the cost, it comes down to individual circumstances and what they are. My point of saying to my diabetes nurse, even though I am type 2 I am still diabetic, which is correct, hence my comment saying no offence meant to those that are type 1 and taking insulin. I don't have any of the conditions you mention above and even if I read the NICE guidelines, I am pretty sure I won't qualify.

Have just looked at the NICE Guidelines for Type 2 Diabetes, and I don't qualify for NHS help in getting the sensors.

The new guidance for glucose monitoring is “to offer” these technologies. NICE uses ‘offer’ (and similar words) when it is confident that, for the vast majority of patients, an intervention will do more good than harm, and be cost effective. NICE uses similar forms of words (for example, ‘do not offer…’) when it is confident that an intervention will not be of benefit for most patients.

The above is straight from the NICE Guidelines. I ask if there has been a study on what they state above ? For something to be cost effective, a lot of people have to have used/tested these products to be able to make that decision, based on the data that it would provide. Is this the case ? I don't wish to sound like a smart alec here, but where is the link to the data to prove their point ?
 
Whilst you might not qualify, what you actually said was

“if you are Type 2 diabetic, there is no way the NHS will fund the cost of the sensors”

That isn’t true, it isn’t a blanket no if you’re type 2, and incorrectly stating that is is can put type 2s that do qualify off asking, so it’s unhelpful for you to say things like that.
 
Lucyr said:
Why are you reading American advice? You’ll just confuse yourself as they measure carbs differently in the USA, stick to Diabetes UK and other UK sites.
Click to expand...
I am not reading/taking American Advice, I came across it and showed an interest in the information, nothing more. It's actually worth knowing and understanding different things or how they are done in another country. I am not confusing myself, I do find the Mg/dl confusing, because to me it looks like it's making more out of the readings than it needs to, there was and is nothing wrong with Mmols, regardless of which country you are from or in. I simply wanted to know the difference.
 
Lucyr said:
Whilst you might not qualify, what you actually said was

“if you are Type 2 diabetic, there is no way the NHS will fund the cost of the sensors”

That isn’t true, it isn’t a blanket no if you’re type 2, and incorrectly stating that is is can put type 2s that do qualify off asking, so it’s unhelpful for you to say things like that.
Click to expand...
And I based that on what my diabetes nurse told me, she was the one that stated that I would get help with the cos if I was taking Insulin. She never mentioned anything else. I can only go off what information I was told at the time. I am not trying to confuse or annoy anyone with my words.

Hang on a moment ! I, as stated have just checked the nice guidelines. I don't qualify and many others will not either, as you clearly pointed out there are SPECIFIC criteria that needs to be met to obtain the sensors on the NHS. So, therefore, each person will have to have varying additional conditions that meet the criteria. Don't just put me down for my words, as they are correct for me and will be for most type 2 diabetics, unless we meet the relevant criteria to get the NHS to fund the cost of the sensors.

That isn’t true, it isn’t a blanket no if you’re type 2, and incorrectly stating that is is can put type 2s that do qualify off asking, so it’s unhelpful for you to say things like that.

While your wording is technically correct, all you needed to state or say is "Please check the Nice Guidelines to see if you meet the criteria as a type 2 diabetic".

With all due respect, I don't need to be told off like some child that is ignorant of the facts. I go off what I am told by those that know (my diabetes nurse), or to very relevant information that others tell me about (NICE Guidelines).

Now, like it or not, my words were/are correct, there will be a certain number of Type 2 Diabetics that will NOT meet ANY of the relevant criteria for the cost of the sensors. You have just made more out of something than you needed to.
 
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brettr said:
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but if you are Type 2 diabetic, there is no way the NHS will fund the cost of the sensors for us, I asked this of my Diabetes Nurse when I saw her recently, just before starting with the Mounjaro. I said to her, regardless of which type of diabetic any of us are, type 1 or two, we are all diabetics ! I mean no disrespect to anyone who is type 1. My DN's answer was that you have to be taking insulin to get the NHS to pay for the CGM sensors.

The point being, the cost of them outweighs the wanting to use them.

It would be interesting to know what your GP says to you ?
Click to expand...
@brettr my GP messaged me and said something like he made the application to ICT for the funding, however the request was declined,
I’ve ordered some libra 2 sensors (self funded) plus also have a free trial of dexcom one on its way to me, It looks like if 3 months supply is ordered on a 90 day subscription the Dexcom might be slightly lower price at equivalent to £2.54 a day.
whilst I'm still hoping that I will be successful in getting sensors funded
Im thinking I will most likely have to self fund.

I’m T2 on insulin (taken twice a day) on top of tablets and
I really like the Libra 2 plus it’s an excellent tool to protect me from hypos especially at night or daytime to monitor my levels when I’m driving.

at the moment online Abbot are selling a twin starter pack of. Libra 2Plus sensors for £86.23
so that works out to £43.11 per unit or £2.87 a day so I ordered some of those
 
Bruce Stephens said:
Libre 2 Plus sensors are £51.74 each (ex VAT). Libre 2 sensors were about £48.30 each (same price per day as the Libre 2 Plus).
Click to expand...
No, it’s cheaper than that if you buy a couple direct from abbot
 

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I am a T2 and my GP funded me for the Libre, this was based on the fact I have insulin, but only once a day, the other reason I qualified was I was unaware when I had Hypos.
 
brettr said:
We or most of us know the normal readings for us is Mmols, the other is Mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre), so 7.0 Mmols reading is 126 Mg/dl. There are conversion charts you can get online that do all the conversion for you, not sure how complicated the maths is but Mmols has always made it more understandable to myself. I think Americans use the Mg/dl range more than we do.

So if I read something about BG's reading something like 300 Mg/dl or more, it just looks and sounds like that person is having an horrendous Hyper. So a 300 Mg/dl is actually 16.6 Mmols. Although a 16.6 Mmols reading is high, it's much more manageable than having a reading higher than 33.3 Mmols (that has happened to me once and I ended up in A&E for 9 hours to be seen and then started on Metformin by the Doctors in the hospital). Some people have started using the American Diabetes Association readings to understand their BG's, where as I still maintain Mmols is just so much easier to understand, as it is what we were brought up with and taught to understand, whether through work or personal knowledge for being diabetic.

Incidentally a BG reading of 33.3 Mmols is 599.9 Mg/dl. Which is the more understandable version for you ? I do know that Americans did and some probably still do use Mmols, but why complicate things in the first place if something already works !!!
Click to expand...
This is just confusing for people in the UK where there is no need to be bothering with conversion charts but does highlight how important it is when people quote numbers to always include the units.
 
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