Hi there , Libre2 is a life changer for type2 diabetics,

[meninoferns]

I was having issues maintaining my Sugar levels and hence my HB1ac which was always increasing from a low of 65 mmol/mol to a high of 91 . i had been using the prick method of checking my blood sugar , but it does not give a clear picture and hence my levels were always increasing

I used the libre2 for just 1 week and was able to identify by myself and with no doctors help where i am going wrong with my diet. I just figured out that i was getting off work and to relax start binge eating . in just 2 days i was able to figure that out and rectify my issue.

This is a game changer for people like me who are having this issue.

All my life going for blood test with doctors and just seeing my HB1ac go up and up and up is not at all helpful. in 3 days of using the libre2 i was able to see my changes

i would recommed we start a group and even if we have to pay a discounted price at the NHS who is giving the Flash glucose monitors to type 1 extend the same to type 2 . it will change the cost of treating type 2 diabetic users too

Please note this monitor is a live changer for me

 

[Dishevelled]

I sort of agree. I've used both the Libre and the Dexcom free trials and have learned a lot about how my body reacts to different foods, excercise and stress.
Some of this I knew from finger pricking but not in as much detail.

I don't feel that, for me, it would be worth having one all the time as my sugars are pretty stable. However I will buy one every six months or so to repeat the tests.

Some things are baffling. For instance:

If I have a small slice of toast with butter, an apple and a cup of coffee at 7AM, I spike to around 14mmol (from around 5.5) and it takes 2 hours to come back down.
If I have just the toast with butter and coffee there's very little change in BG
If I have just the apple and coffee there's there's very little change in BG

 

[goodybags]

@meninoferns good to see you got on well with the trials of the Libra
don’t forget to also (if you haven’t already) apply for a trial of the Dexcom
I only started using these earlier this year, following the advice of another member, it’s helped me massively

 

[Leadinglights]

Whatever method you use to track the effect of carbs on your blood glucose levels that alone is not enough for them to magically go down without people taking action from the information it gives you.
It is a bit like all the push for people to get Smart meters to reduce their fuel bills, no not unless you do something the cut your usage based on what info it tells you.
Finger prick readings for many are perfectly good enough to tell them what they need to know about how well they tolerate the carbs in their meals and adjust accordingly.
Better to spend your £80 a month on better quality food. Well that is my personal opinion.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi @meninoferns and welcome.

Great to hear that Libre has helped you to understand which foods affect your levels and make appropriate changes. Finger prick testing can also do this but you need to use a specific strategy of testing just before meals and then 2 hours afterwards and look to keep the rise in BG to be less than 2-3 whole units. Many, many people here have found that testing strategy works well for them and has enabled them to push their diabetes into remission or at least manage their diabetes well and develop a repertoire of "safe" meals that their body can cope with. Gradually as people find what works for them, they can stop testing regularly and just test any new foods or meals and maybe just keep track of their morning waking reading.

Binge eating definitely does not help diabetes at all and I found following a low carb way of eating helped enormously, as the cravings more or less stopped once I stopped eating high carb foods like bread and pasta and breakfast cereal and of course sweets and chocolate bars although I do still have the odd square of 70% dark chocolate, usually with a spoon of peanut butter to make it more satisfying.

 

[harbottle]

They can be excellent to see how food (And other life factors) effect you, but they are not a panacea.

I got my hba1c from 83 to 36 without a finger prick test or a sensor. I just read up on the condition and made the lifestyle changes required - reduced carbs, exercise, weight loss, better sleep, etc. I only used a sensor the weeks before my hba1c to validate that the lifestyle changes had worked. GPs should be pushing education and lifestyle changes over expensive technology.

Well done making some changes, though! You will hopefully see an improvement and stop that upward trend!

 

[victorhamesse]

I sort of agree. I've used both the Libre and the Dexcom free trials and have learned a lot about how my body reacts to different foods, excercise and stress.
Some of this I knew from finger pricking but not in as much detail.

I don't feel that, for me, it would be worth having one all the time as my sugars are pretty stable. However I will buy one every six months or so to repeat the tests.

Some things are baffling. For instance:

If I have a small slice of toast with butter, an apple and a cup of coffee at 7AM, I spike to around 14mmol (from around 5.5) and it takes 2 hours to come back down.
If I have just the toast with butter and coffee there's very little change in BG
If I have just the apple and coffee there's there's very little change in BG

There's a book about how the pancreas responds that may give the answer to this. According to the author, it's helpful to eat different food groups in the right sequence. "Think like a pancreas" is the book.

The one I remember is this : Veg>Carbs>Sugars and at breakfast - Protein>Fibre>Fats>Starch. Another one is - sweet snack last. Also breakfast should ideally be a savoury one not a sweet one.

So it's better to start lunch with something veg and have sweet stuff last.

So for you at breakfast maybe have something else first (veg or protein - cheese ?), then toast/butter then apple. The veg/protein acts as a buffer to slow down absorption of the carbs/glucose.

 

[Lucyr]

I used the libre2 for just 1 week and was able to identify by myself and with no doctors help where i am going wrong with my diet. I just figured out that i was getting off work and to relax start binge eating . in just 2 days i was able to figure that out and rectify my issue.

I know libre is useful but surely you could have figured this out without libre? I suspect you could have worked it out without fingerprick testing but fingerprick testing before and after the binge eating would have confirmed it was a problem for a fraction of the cost. Writing a food diary with a pen and no testing would have identified the problem at zero cost though I suspect.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Glad you have found the Libre so effective @meninoferns

There is something really clear and immediate about seeing BG changes unfold in real time I think. And for some individuals seeing that as a line, rather than a collection of dots, gives a real clarity.

While you possibly could have made the same observations i. other ways, I agree with you that seeing the changes happen moment by moment (or reviewing them later, eg overnight levels in the morning) has a very different ‘feel’.

Like @Dishevelled I used to buy one every so often as a sort of ‘reset’, before gradually increasing use and self funding sensors full time. After several years they became available on prescription, for which I am very grateful.

 

[JimmyBlue]

@meninoferns I am currently using a Libre2 and this is my second (both provided by my diabetes nurse) and I have one third ready to use over Christmas/New Year.

Seeing the movement in real time is good and seeing the ups and downs over the day gives me a great view of what is going on with my BG levels however, as I am still required to finger prick test, I have found that the accuracy is not always where I would like it to be. Between my Clearsens dual meter and the Libre 2, I can find moment in time differences of 1 or more points (e.g. sensor reporting 5.7, finger test says 7). In part this can be put down to the fact that they are measuring slightly different things and there is often a delay of 15 minutes between the reading of the sensor and the value I get from the finger prick test. That said there is also a difference between my Clearsens (GP clinic provided) and my Sinocare BG meter so I spend a lot of time being confused

For me the key stuff from the meter is seeing the daily patterns and using them to decide when to exercise and when to be careful about what I eat. The other piece of data is the forecast HbA1c which I think is slightly more optimistic than my expectation for January but will be interested to compare.

For me though, the last three months since my diagnosis, has been taking the steps that people like @rebrascora and @Dishevelled have done, move to a low carb diet (<130g/day) and move around more both with brisk walks, runs and weights at the gym. While my progress has been problematic at times, I have found that my BG is beginning to improve significantly with an average over the day of just under 7 and no peaks above 8.5 apart from odd meal times. I am starting to think I might just be beginning to get this thing under control.

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

Some things are baffling. For instance:

If I have a small slice of toast with butter, an apple and a cup of coffee at 7AM, I spike to around 14mmol (from around 5.5) and it takes 2 hours to come back down.
If I have just the toast with butter and coffee there's very little change in BG
If I have just the apple and coffee there's there's very little change in BG

To figure this out for sure you'd need to estimate the amount of carbs in the apple in each other element of the meal. I use a weighing scale and an app to do this which produces a reasonable estimate.

In a Type 2 whose diabetes hasn't progressed too far you likely have a working though dysfunctional insulin response. When you eat carbs or fat this triggers a release of incretin hormones form the gut which occurs a short time after eating. These hormones stimulate the pancreas to release insulin and is an independent mechanism from the 1st and 2nd-phase insulin responses that occur (in a healthy person) as blood glucose levels begin to rise. Mimicking one of these hormones, GLP-1, is how Ozempic works.

A long way of putting it but basically you're probably 'immune' to a small amount of carbs in a meal at present. Eat something small and the incretin response will quickly produce enough insulin to deal with it. Eat a little more and you'll be relying on your 1st and 2nd phase insulin responses to deal with the excess glucose load. If you're hitting 14 mmol/L after such a small meal you very probably have an impaired 1st-phase response - the quick sustained blast of insulin release that occurs if BG levels rise very abruptly. Impaired 1st phase so levels rise high, reasonable 2nd-phase function gets levels back down inside 2 hours. Just guessing.

Solution might be to eat very small apples with your toast. I eat the fun-size ones that are intended for kids lunch boxes, or mandarin/tangerine sized oranges. Quite a small adjustment in the amount of sugar in the meal (the glucose in fruit gets into the bloodstream fast) can make an outsized difference in the height of the peak of the 'spike' after eating. A lower peak also enables your 2nd phase response to get levels down a bit quicker.

Alternatively try going for a walk at around the time your BG levels peak after the meal if you can. Moving will likely reduce insulin insulin resistance in your muscles, which if done while your 2nd-phase insulin response is going strong may push BG levels back down surprisingly quickly. For me at least - I appear to have an impaired 1st phase but a strong 2nd-phase response, which is good enough to handle significantly more carbs in a meal if I go for a decent walk after eating.

 

[Dishevelled]

To figure this out for sure you'd need to estimate the amount of carbs in the apple in each other element of the meal. I use a weighing scale and an app to do this which produces a reasonable estimate.

In a Type 2 whose diabetes hasn't progressed too far you likely have a working though dysfunctional insulin response. When you eat carbs or fat this triggers a release of incretin hormones form the gut which occurs a short time after eating. These hormones stimulate the pancreas to release insulin and is an independent mechanism from the 1st and 2nd-phase insulin responses that occur (in a healthy person) as blood glucose levels begin to rise. Mimicking one of these hormones, GLP-1, is how Ozempic works.

A long way of putting it but basically you're probably 'immune' to a small amount of carbs in a meal at present. Eat something small and the incretin response will quickly produce enough insulin to deal with it. Eat a little more and you'll be relying on your 1st and 2nd phase insulin responses to deal with the excess glucose load. If you're hitting 14 mmol/L after such a small meal you very probably have an impaired 1st-phase response - the quick sustained blast of insulin release that occurs if BG levels rise very abruptly. Impaired 1st phase so levels rise high, reasonable 2nd-phase function gets levels back down inside 2 hours. Just guessing.

Solution might be to eat very small apples with your toast. I eat the fun-size ones that are intended for kids lunch boxes, or mandarin/tangerine sized oranges. Quite a small adjustment in the amount of sugar in the meal (the glucose in fruit gets into the bloodstream fast) can make an outsized difference in the height of the peak of the 'spike' after eating. A lower peak also enables your 2nd phase response to get levels down a bit quicker.

Alternatively try going for a walk at around the time your BG levels peak after the meal if you can. Moving will likely reduce insulin insulin resistance in your muscles, which if done while your 2nd-phase insulin response is going strong may push BG levels back down surprisingly quickly. For me at least - I appear to have an impaired 1st phase but a strong 2nd-phase response, which is good enough to handle significantly more carbs in a meal if I go for a decent walk after eating.

Thanks for that. Plenty for me to think about.