Scaleyback
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Good morning all, my names Mike, I have had Type 2 diabetes for about 20 years now. Just started using a freestyle libre 2, which has certainly opened my eyes, my insulin is leverin and novo rapid.
-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
-
Learn more about joining the Diabetes UK Support Forum team here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/volunteering-opportunities-why-dont-you-join-us.112862/
Hello
- Thread starter Scaleyback
- Start date
- Status
- Relationship to Diabetes
- At risk of diabetes
Hello @Scaleyback ,
Welcome to the forum. You mentioned that the libre 2 has opened your eyes. In what sense? for better or for worse? has it changed how you manage your health?
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi Mike and welcome from me too.
Good to hear you have Libre as it really can help improve your diabetes management but you do need to understand it's limitations too. One of our members posted a list of Libre's (and other CGM) limitations and quirks that it would be worth reading, particularly if the Libre shows you having hypos overnight as these are often false alarms caused by rolling over in your sleep and lying on the sensor. Your levels will usually appear to spring back up on the graph when you roll back off the sensor. I will post a link to the full list of limitations below...
forum.diabetes.org.uk
If you are seeing large spikes after meals then Libre usually exaggerates those slightly as it does with dips sometimes. If you get high spikes regularly after meals, the way to tackle it is usually to increase your prebolus time ie.The time between you injecting your NovoRapid and eating your meal. If you currently inject 10 mins before eating, try 15 and if you still spike try 20 mins etc. Gradually increasing until you see the height of the spike come down to an acceptable level. I used to need a ridiculous 75 mins prebolus time at breakfast with NovoRapid and I still need about 45mins with Fiasp which is quicker. This is extreme and some people just need 5 or 10 mins, so you have to find what works for you as an individual and the timing at breakfast can be quite different to the timing for lunch and evening meal. I only need about 15 mins for my evening meal.
Anyway, those are just some of the issues you might be seeing and how to deal with them...
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Good to hear you have Libre as it really can help improve your diabetes management but you do need to understand it's limitations too. One of our members posted a list of Libre's (and other CGM) limitations and quirks that it would be worth reading, particularly if the Libre shows you having hypos overnight as these are often false alarms caused by rolling over in your sleep and lying on the sensor. Your levels will usually appear to spring back up on the graph when you roll back off the sensor. I will post a link to the full list of limitations below...
CGM limitations and precautions
Moderator Note: This helpful reply was copied from another thread as it details some of the commonly experienced limitations of continuous glucose sensors. My blood sugar has been in perfect range for days now, but although I haven't changed anything, I'm starting to get very short periods of...
forum.diabetes.org.uk
If you are seeing large spikes after meals then Libre usually exaggerates those slightly as it does with dips sometimes. If you get high spikes regularly after meals, the way to tackle it is usually to increase your prebolus time ie.The time between you injecting your NovoRapid and eating your meal. If you currently inject 10 mins before eating, try 15 and if you still spike try 20 mins etc. Gradually increasing until you see the height of the spike come down to an acceptable level. I used to need a ridiculous 75 mins prebolus time at breakfast with NovoRapid and I still need about 45mins with Fiasp which is quicker. This is extreme and some people just need 5 or 10 mins, so you have to find what works for you as an individual and the timing at breakfast can be quite different to the timing for lunch and evening meal. I only need about 15 mins for my evening meal.
Anyway, those are just some of the issues you might be seeing and how to deal with them...
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Scaleyback
It was a huge eye-opener for me when I first used sensors, and was able to see ‘between the dots’. Plus seeing what had happened overnight each morning… Along with 3 bits of information with every value (glucose level, direction of change, and rate of change)
Way back when I was asked to share my experiences of Libre as part of Diabetes Technology Network’s edication programme (there are some great, informative videos by top-notch HCPs on how to make use of continuous data in the rest of the series
https://abcd.care/resource/mike’s-experience-freestyle-libre
It was a huge eye-opener for me when I first used sensors, and was able to see ‘between the dots’. Plus seeing what had happened overnight each morning… Along with 3 bits of information with every value (glucose level, direction of change, and rate of change)
Way back when I was asked to share my experiences of Libre as part of Diabetes Technology Network’s edication programme (there are some great, informative videos by top-notch HCPs on how to make use of continuous data in the rest of the series
https://abcd.care/resource/mike’s-experience-freestyle-libre
- Status