help needed

[lord nelson]

Hi all,

Had a dreadful hypo yesterday (I'm type 2) and was on the floor in a dreadful state, anyway I've decided i need to invest in some kind of device without the finger pricking . Price recommendations and the actual cost monthly to see if it's actually viable. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Mark.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Cheapest that I know of is Libre 2 which is £100 a month and offers (optional) low/high alarms to your phone. (May well be available on prescription given your hypo. It's certainly worth discussing the options with your healthcare team since they'll be wanting to reduce your risks of another such hypo.)

 

[Kaylz]

What is your aim in wanting a system that you don't have to prick with? As it doesn't eradicate finger pricking and it is advised to check low/high readings with a finger prick xx

 

[Sally71]

Sensors are great but they aren’t perfect, and as they don’t read blood they sometimes lag behind finger prick readings. With the result that there are certain circumstances, when you are advised to check the reading with a finger prick. Coming out of a hypo is one of them, we had Libre and it quite often still read low after my daughter’s blood sugars were back in range, as shown by a finger prick. And you don’t want to over treat the hypo and end up high if you can help it, as that presents different problems.

Please also note that sensors have a metal filament sticking inside you and have to be inserted with a needle, granted only once every few days but you can’t avoid needles entirely.

Having said all that though they certainly reduce the amount of finger pricking required! Libre is the cheapest, we now use Dexcom which we find much more accurate but they are also more expensive. Some of these companies offer free trials though so if you can find such an offer I would definitely recommend that you give it a go and see what you think.

 

[Inka]

Before looking at the Libre and Dexcom, I’d be trying to work out what caused your hypo. Bad hypos are very frightening. Sometimes there’s no obvious cause but often you can work out a way to lessen the risk.

What medication do you take and when?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Please also note that sensors have a metal filament sticking inside you and have to be inserted with a needle, granted only once every few days but you can’t avoid needles entirely.

I don't think they're metal (well, the Libre ones, at least). But I agree it always reads a bit strange to me when they're described as "non-invasive", because there is a bit stuck through the skin.

 

[SB2015]

A lot of the sensors use a metal needle to insert the device, but the
filament left in your arm is often plastic.

The sensor readings will have a slight time lag on the blood glucose S they are reading different things.
The data from them can be very useful in finding out how certain foods impact on the glucose levels.

As @Kaylz said it is important to know what you want to achieve by using the sensor.