Freestyle Libre Sensor

[Ian S]

I am a T1and I have recently been introduced to a Freestyle libre sensor and I am now on my third one.
I have had some high readings lately and 3 hours after a Sunday lunch out at the pub I had a sensor reading of 15.6.
I put this down to underestimating the carbs in the lunch. I then gave myself a correction dose of insulin and an hour later was having a hypo at 2.7, which was quite unpleasant. Further readings that day led me to double check with my accu chek bg meter. The readings from accu chek were about 2.5 units below that of the libre system. I have now come to the conclusion that I should not take any action from high readings on the libre system without double checking with my accu check meter. In order to calibrate I think that I should do a morning, midday and evening finger prick test. And I thought that this could be the end of finger pricking! I agree with the other comments that I have seen about the usefulness of looking at the general trend.

 

[Kaylz]

a high, low or if your symptoms don't match a scan should always be double checked and confirmed with a finger prick, Abbott themselves recommend it, the Libre has a tendency to misbehave at higher and lower levels but work relatively well when within range, I still prick when I'm about to bolus and eat as I feel safer doing it that way after a few sensors that would make the difference of 0.5-1 unit of insulin, my consultant is fine with it so I'm happy but there are those out there that don't think you should be entitled to the Libre unless you rely it on 100% xx

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I find the Libre generally fairly accurate (it's within 1 of my meter between 3.9 and 10.0, which is OK). When it's high (like 15) I just treat it as "too high" and don't expect to be able to get back to normal range by relying on the specific number. So I inject what I think is the right correction and keep watching the numbers.

 

[novorapidboi26]

Agreed..........

I personally only see a difference of 1mmol, so I adjust my bolus to deal with that inaccuracy....

 

[Northerner]

I find it can vary from sensor to sensor. Some,sensors read consistently a couple of mmol/l below a blood test, but as long as it's not greater than that then I just take it into account for the life of the sensor. If it's significantly greater though I will request a replacement, as it probably means the sensor hasn't seated itself properly. If I have a sensor that corresponds very closely with a blood test then I will very rarely test again for the life of that sensor as I am confident in it. I don't think I've had an occasion when a sensor has read significantly higher than a blood test though. I'd say if you do a correction then the best course of action is to scan frequently so if it does seem to be dropping low then you can preempt a hypo. I'd say I've reduced my blood tests by around 90%.

 

[Matchless]

I am a T1and I have recently been introduced to a Freestyle libre sensor and I am now on my third one.
I have had some high readings lately and 3 hours after a Sunday lunch out at the pub I had a sensor reading of 15.6.
I put this down to underestimating the carbs in the lunch. I then gave myself a correction dose of insulin and an hour later was having a hypo at 2.7, which was quite unpleasant. Further readings that day led me to double check with my accu chek bg meter. The readings from accu chek were about 2.5 units below that of the libre system. I have now come to the conclusion that I should not take any action from high readings on the libre system without double checking with my accu check meter. In order to calibrate I think that I should do a morning, midday and evening finger prick test. And I thought that this could be the end of finger pricking! I agree with the other comments that I have seen about the usefulness of looking at the general trend.

I do a finger prick first thing in the morning when its been stable all night and calibrate my xdrip app if its not the same but when out i also carry the freestyle reader in my pocket to compare if i think xdrip is wrong taking in account the reader 10 to 15 min behind

 

[trophywench]

I used about 4 sensors, but there was never any correlation between what the Libre said and what my meter said. People said it became more accurate after the newer software arrived - but doesn't sound like it has for some people still.

 

[grovesy]

Wh

I used about 4 sensors, but there was never any correlation between what the Libre said and what my meter said. People said it became more accurate after the newer software arrived - but doesn't sound like it has for some people still.

I think like everything else it is not one size fits all.

 

[Matchless]

I used about 4 sensors, but there was never any correlation between what the Libre said and what my meter said. People said it became more accurate after the newer software arrived - but doesn't sound like it has for some people still.

I used about 4 sensors, but there was never any correlation between what the Libre said and what my meter said. People said it became more accurate after the newer software arrived - but doesn't sound like it has for some people still.

Sorry I assumed you where I using miaomiao transmeter with your libre which is more accurate than the freestyle reader

 

[trophywench]

LOL! Matchless - that was in its infancy in the UK when I tried the Libre.

To me, phones are for phoning. Screen are far too small to read anything written and most of what I need to access and use on the interwebnet, is the written word.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry I assumed you where I using miaomiao transmeter with your libre which is more accurate than the freestyle reader

MiaoMiao isn’t necessarily more accurate Matchless - as with all things Your Diabetes May Vary. In fact I was under the impression that MM had some question marks over accuracy and reliability, and while it was felt to be generally OK, people using the data for automated insulin decisions (#wearenotwaiting loop and Android APS) were advised not to use MM and Libre.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Ian S

Glad you are finding the Libre useful, but I agree, sometimes it can ‘overcook’ things at the edges, and particularly where BG is travelling at speed or changing direction rapidly, because part of the algorithm‘s attempts to close the gap between interstitial glucose concentrations and ‘live’ capillary blood glucose estimation involves a little bit of ‘prediction’.

As you suggest a little bit of caution is often wise with any sensor system 🙂

 

[Matchless]

Welcome to the forum @Ian S

Glad you are finding the Libre useful, but I agree, sometimes it can ‘overcook’ things at the edges, and particularly where BG is travelling at speed or changing direction rapidly, because part of the algorithm‘s attempts to close the gap between interstitial glucose concentrations and ‘live’ capillary blood glucose estimation involves a little bit of ‘prediction’.

As you suggest a little bit of caution is often wise with any sensor system 🙂

I have been using the freestyle libre for about 4 years and the Miaomiao for about 18months ,i first used the Glimp app then Xdrip+ app with the sensor which has more settings and Notifications for highs and lows which for me has been a big plus ,it has enabled me to fine tune night time Basals which now i donot have night hypos ,I will not say the Libre and MM are 100 percent accurate or finger sticks but what is, but i am happy wwith my control which has been between 5.9 and 6.5 Hba1c a long time so i must be doing something right ,As far as using the libre and MM with pumps that can adjust basals automaticlly i have no experience so i donot advise.

 

[Ian S]

Welcome to the forum @Ian S

Glad you are finding the Libre useful, but I agree, sometimes it can ‘overcook’ things at the edges, and particularly where BG is travelling at speed or changing direction rapidly, because part of the algorithm‘s attempts to close the gap between interstitial glucose concentrations and ‘live’ capillary blood glucose estimation involves a little bit of ‘prediction’.

As you suggest a little bit of caution is often wise with any sensor system 🙂

Thanks for the reply. At the moment I am on Tresiba and Novarapid but they are talking about me going on a pump. They think it will be better for me with the sport that I do. Are you happy with your transition to a pump?

 

[Matchless]

The best thing since sliced bread, i have had a pump for about 8 years i wish i had gone for one years before ,as you are a sporty person it will able you to adjust your basal insulin through out the day,it will take time to adjust to it but give it time and you will love it.

 

[trophywench]

A pump appeared to work well for Steve Redgrave and I think he was a bit of a sportsman.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for the reply. At the moment I am on Tresiba and Novarapid but they are talking about me going on a pump. They think it will be better for me with the sport that I do. Are you happy with your transition to a pump?

Very much so. It’s not ‘plug and play’ and does take some extra effort to get the most out of it, but the increased flexibility and accuracy has enabled me to get significantly better results with very low levels of hypoglycaemia which are almost always niggly mild ones these days.