Freestyle Libre Sensor

[beasley_barbara]

Hi Folks
I have joined to support my daughter who has been a type 1 for 42 years.
She is very busy so I'm hoping to gather useful information on her behalf.

 

[SB2015]

Hi Folks
I have joined to support my daughter who has been a type 1 for 42 years.
She is very busy so I'm hoping to gather useful information on her behalf.

Hi Barbara, and welcome to the forum, a good place to gather info for you and your daughter.

I am guessing from the title of your thread, that you are specifically interested in the Freestyle Libre at present.
I started to use these self funded with the intention to use them intermittently when I needed to find out something specific. Once I had started it was difficult to stop as the use of them helped me so much.
The key things I get from using my Libre Sensors are

More info with each swipe compared to BG test
In addition to the current level of glucose I get
- an indication of the direction in which my glucose is giong, steeply or gradually down, level, gradually up or steeply up. This helps me decide how to react. For example if I am about to drive, I still have to do a BG test (by law until they accept the Libre as well) but I also swipe. If it is 5 I am safe to drive and, with no Libre off I would go. However a 5 on the Libre along with a giong down arrow, I then know I also need a Jelly Baby to keep me safe at the wheel.
- a graph showing what has been happening to my levels over the last eight hours.
This is bliss when checking overnight levels. No waking up every two hours to finger prick. Swipe, sleep, alarm goes, swipe. All info captured for me to make decisions about my background insulin overnight.

The Libre info helps me to head off highs and lows and as a consequence I found my HbA1c dropped by 10, but I also knew that it was not hiding hypos that counterbalanced hypers. As it is so easy to use I check more often.

There is a lag, of about 15 minutes between the results from Libre and BG but so long as you know that and bear it in mind when making decisions it is not a problem. Apart from the direction of travel for glucose levels which is great for when I am exercising and also just for being out and about, I also use the downloadable data to look for patterns and help to make decisions about changes to my insulin doses.

I hope that helps. There are plenty of other posts about the Libre, and I am sure that others will come along with their own views. Not everyone likes them, finds them useful, and I know some use their phones to gather the data.

 

[Ljc]

Hi ! Welcome to the forum.
I agree with all the above and would like to add, the Libre helps a lot with basal testing, no setting the alarm to test during the night , ones fingers have a respite too 🙂
it’s helped me head off a few hypo’s too.

For people with T1 the criteria for getting the Libre on an NHS Prescription is changing, I don’t know all the details as they don’t apply to me (T2 ) but the main one seems to be needing to test 8 or more times a day.

The DVLA rules for driving are changing too, so the Libre will be allowed for testing when driving, I am not sure when this comes into force though.

A new version is coming out , it has an alarm to alert us to hypo’s it’s not available in the UK yet, I can’t wait to get my paws on that

A few people on here have had an allergic reaction to the sticky stuff, I believe Abbott are changing that .

Some people on here have found the Libre to be too in accurate , I have had a couple of sensors that were more than 2.0 out for 2 days but then they settled down.

Don’t rely on the Libre when treating a hypo, the Libre samples glucose in the interstitial fluid rather than blood and there is at least a ten minute time lag , so you could well overshoot.

Oh and I nearly forgot, the sensor is easy to apply, occasionally you do feel the insertion but it is mostly totally painless.