Freestyle Libre - Help

[Flower3333]

I received my Freestyle Libre reader and two sensors today which I’ve purchased myself.

I’ve got two quick question - how long do you leave the sensor on your arm before activating it and what do you use to cover the sensor to prevent it falling off

 

[Matt Cycle]

Hi there. I'm not regular user but the Abbott rep told me herself the sensors can be activated straightaway. However, it seems most people leave it 24 hours. For the few I've had I leave it overnight before activating. In terms of taping them on I used micropore tape on the first one but since then haven't used anything and haven't had one fall off yet - most of the time I have to prise them off after 14 days. For those that do use tape then Tegaderm seems to be the most commonly used to hold them on. I couldn't get hold of any locally (to be used for a belt and braces approach) so never bothered. You could try it without and if it feels it's getting loose then use some Tegaderm.

 

[pav]

I used to leave them on around 24 hours before activating them and also never used any additional tapes to retain them, though as Matt says some use Tegaderm

 

[Ljc]

If you do use something to tape over the sensor you need to leave the hole uncovered , I believe this is to aid airflow to keep the skin dry and healthy. Personally I don’t tape over the sensor unless it seems to b3 coming loose , which is very rare.
They do take a bit of prising off when they expire,

I hope you find them very helpful. The last few sensors I’ve had have been very close to my meter readings, I hope you find the same.
Personally I’ve found contrary to the official advise mine are more accurate right from the start if I give them time to bed in I usually put mine on a day before the old one expires.

 

[Sally71]

We seem to be unusual in that we activate them as soon as we put them in, and usually find they are accurate straight away. We have fallen into the pattern of putting them in just before my daughter goes to bed, and so far we've only had two sensors which gave crazy readings overnight (LO when finger prick was reading 8.5) but then settled in the morning, all the rest have been accurate straight away. The vast majority of people though find it better to leave them in for 24 hours before activating them.

We're also fans of Tegaderm if you want some extra sticky on them; we had a couple of sensors which looked like they were lifting up a bit after a few days so now we just put Tegaderm on anyway. 6x7cm is a good size, you might be able to buy it from a chemist, failing that there's always Amazon 🙂

 

[SB2015]

I am a fan of leaving the sensor for 24 hours before activating. So I am sat here with two in at the moment, as one ends in two hours.

I also find that some sensors start to lift from the disc of tape. If I spot that I put tegaderm over the sensor with a small hole cut in the centre.

 

[Lisa66]

Think I'm unusual too in that I activate mine after an hour. I've tried waiting, 24 hours, 1 hour and variations in between and 1 hour seems to be fine for me with pretty accurate readings. I usually find they stay stuck pretty well, but if I want to feel extra confident of this, when I'm doing something and worried the sensor will get knocked, then I use some micropore tape,

 

[mikeyB]

I don’t bother waiting - I find they are accurate from kick off. I’ve also never needed additional sticky stuff. Just remember to press firmly when putting it on, just after, and, from experience never ever have a shower within a couple of hours of putting one on - the sticky takes an hour or so to ‘set’.

I’m 5 days into a new sensor, and the old one is still happily stuck to my other arm. It’s getting the things off that is the problem

 

[HOBIE]

Make sure your arm is dry after the antiseptic wipe, Good luck & welcome 🙂

 

[Bloden]

Hi there, @Flower3333.🙂 I wait 24h before activating (if I activate a sensor immediately, I get crazy-off-the-planet readings). I’ve never had any problems with the tape losing stickiness - I need to tug the sensor off at the end of two weeks.

Good luck! I wasn’t convinced at first, but now I can’t get on with my life without the Libre - I’ve got much more confidence, especially when I exercise.😛

 

[Lilian]

I find exactly the same as MikeB. From what I have read it seems the American sensors need 24 hours to activate. They are different because they only last about 10/12 days whereas in the UK they are set for 14 days.

 

[Northerner]

I wait 24 hours before activating, as they tend to be more accurate for me instead of just the one hour. Have only had one sensor that started coming away a little, but only in the last couple of days.

 

[SB2015]

I find exactly the same as MikeB. From what I have read it seems the American sensors need 24 hours to activate. They are different because they only last about 10/12 days whereas in the UK they are set for 14 days.

Could the different no of days be seomthing to do with the medical insurance companies!!
Or am I being cynical.