Hi

[DayDreamDolly]

Hi All, I have never been on a forum before… so please be patient with me. I’m sure there are lots of abbreviations to learn. I am 58yrs old and I have been a type 1 diabetic for 40yrs. I have never had a problem with diabetic control until having been very poorly with covid, now I find I have a few things to learn and ask. So help would be very much appreciated .

 

[Inka]

Welcome @DayDreamDolly 🙂 We’re a friendly bunch, so ask away. There’s no such thing as a silly question.

 

[DayDreamDolly]

Hi Inka…thankyou. I have an appt with my team next week. I currently have a Libre 2 which is a fabulous, on m last appt I was asked to do 12 scans a day, which I have struggled with (a work thing), I thought of asking if there was a continuous glucose scan I could try. I feel I’m having to jump through hoops to be able to try one I am also jumping through hoops to trial an insulin pump and also weight loss injections which I have heard some good things about in relation to type 1diabetes but not sure. I have a few medical conditions that have increased my weight over the last few years and my pain levels restrict exercise. Not sure if it’s my age, but hear from other Type 1s that they’ve been given injections and omnipods through our local nhs clinic. Any advise would be great or am I being a bit grabby just feeling a bit frustrated with it all. Thanks for letting me vent

 

[Inka]

I no longer have a Libre @DayDreamDolly but I thought it now acted like a CGM and there was no need to scan? Have you got an incompatible phone?

Re requesting a pump, you need to be clear why you want one. It’s good if you can identify some problems you have; attempts you’ve made to solve them; and why a pump would help to do so. A good understanding of carb counting and how pumps work is important too.

I don’t know anything about weight loss injections as my problem is maintaining my weight, but I think I’d prefer to try other methods first. If you can’t exercise easily, you might have to make stricter dietary adjustments to lose weight. If you get a pump, that should help too as many people find they lose weight on a pump.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Have you got an incompatible phone?

If you use a phone it is, otherwise (with the reader) it's still the same so needs scanning.

 

[Satan’s little helper]

Hello, @DayDreamDolly . If you’re using your phone, the good news is the Libre 2 with the app should act as a CGM. No real need to scan unless the Bluetooth signal gets dropped? Then you can scan. Though in my experience it will pick the Bluetooth’s signal back up.

 

[DayDreamDolly]

Libre 2 comes up with bg reading but doesn’t log it so still have to scan. I’m not very technical but I did do an update which has helped with the readings being readily viewable but still have to scan. Need to chk with clinic to make sure it’s all ok and phone is best option. Lots to think about thankyou just trying to chase the dream of tighter control. I am under the dietician and carb counting is better, but I’m sure her face drops when she sees I’m still holding on to the weight . Thanks all..

 

[DayDreamDolly]

How do you all cope. I feel it’s the 1st thing, the last thing and all the in between of thinking about it oh and the guilt …it’s very exhausting…after 40yrs you’d think I would have this mastered

 

[Inka]

It is exhausting @DayDreamDolly I find if anything else is going on (other illness, stress, etc etc), the diabetes becomes more of a pain. I try to remember that and just keep plodding on. It’s particularly annoying when blood sugar/injection sites/whatever is playing up. I relax my control a little then for my mental sanity.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I could be wrong because I no longer use Libre2, but if Libre 2 is taking readings I would expect it to hold up to 8 hrs of data and so that data could still be sent off to the Web based LibreView automatically. It is LibreView that your Hospital Team are actually looking at when they review how you are doing.

Perhaps @Bruce Stephens can confirm or correct this? Oh and welcome to the Forum @DayDreamDolly.

I suspect if it transpires that I'm wrong and you do have a fundamental incompatibility between your phone and Libre2 as a real-time CGM then you, as a longstanding 40 yr T1 have an extremely good business case to ask your Hospital to provide you with a real-time alternative CGM. I think the Dexcom G7 is terrific; but you'd need to check you have a phone that is compatible with G7. Looking slightly ahead if they support you in getting a pump then the CGM for that should overtake Libre 2 perhaps?

 

[SB2015]

How do you all cope. I feel it’s the 1st thing, the last thing and all the in between of thinking about it oh and the guilt …it’s very exhausting…after 40yrs you’d think I would have this mastered

Like others have found there are times when the Diabetes feels more unmanageable than at others. I feel that I have my ‘coping cup’ and that Duabetes takes that quite near the top. I can fit in a few other issues but then sometimes other things make it overflow, and it seems too much to deal with. I am only 16 years in so way behind you but there is no requirement that we feel we have mastered things. All we can do is do the best that we can day to day.

The latest tech has helped a lot and I am now looping with a pump and a sensor, which chat away to each other in the background, leaving me to get on with whatever I want to do a lot of the time. This has had a massive impact on me and I feel that I have got my life back for most of the time. When things don’t fit the norm (for me) I have to get a bit more involved. A lot of the time, once I have info set up in the pump for insulin delivery, I just need to tell the pump my meal time carbs and it sorts out the rest, adjusting my basal throughout the day as necessary. If things are unplanned I have to help out, which is fine.

We each cope as best we can making the best use of the equipment that we have available, and at other times we come on here for a rant, have a scream, ask questions, …

Keep in touch and ask for any help you need. There is so much experience to tap into on here.

 

[Satan’s little helper]

How do you all cope. I feel it’s the 1st thing, the last thing and all the in between of thinking about it oh and the guilt …it’s very exhausting…after 40yrs you’d think I would have this mastered

I cope by adapting. Nearly 50 decades for me. Work with the tech I’m prescribed to keep going.
Then work with “that.” Some of us have even found ways to get an “inspector gadget” style of managment?
No access to a pump yet. But I can cunningly get myself round a working day.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I could be wrong because I no longer use Libre2, but if Libre 2 is taking readings I would expect it to hold up to 8 hrs of data and so that data could still be sent off to the Web based LibreView automatically. It is LibreView that your Hospital Team are actually looking at when they review how you are doing.

That would be my guess, yes. I think it's true that the Log Book only records the value when you scan (and you can't see the precise values from the graph). I must admit that doesn't bother me but I could imagine it might some people. I doubt the hospital team would care about anything other than the graphs and the various stats that LibreView shows.

 

[Satan’s little helper]

That would be my guess, yes. I think it's true that the Log Book only records the value when you scan (and you can't see the precise values from the graph). I must admit that doesn't bother me but I could imagine it might some people. I doubt the hospital team would care about anything other than the graphs and the various stats that LibreView shows.

My endo only seems to look at the average statistics on the actual app on my phone? Any DNs are hitting on the actual downloads from my BG meter. Libreview has never been pulled up. (I’m pretty astute, I know what’s on a PC monitor during an appointment.) I look at LV more than any doc, no form of HCP has ever expressed they have.

 

[Lucyr]

That would be my guess, yes. I think it's true that the Log Book only records the value when you scan (and you can't see the precise values from the graph).

If you want a reading in the logbook press add note. No need to scan. No real need to have them in the log book though.

If you want to see precise readings as you scroll the graph, use a second email to follow yourself and download LibreLinkUp app. Or an alternative like sweet dreams. The follow apps have this feature.

 

[Lucyr]

Libre 2 comes up with bg reading but doesn’t log it so still have to scan.

Why do you want the readings in the log book? It’s unnecessary really, so just giving yourself extra work by scanning to get them there.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi All, I have never been on a forum before… so please be patient with me. I’m sure there are lots of abbreviations to learn.

Welcome to the forum @DayDreamDolly

Sorry to hear your diabetes has been playing up of late.

There is a list of forum shorthand here that might help to decode some of the replies you receive 🙂

Common Acronyms and Abbreviations

Here is an alphabetical list of acronyms and abbreviations you may come across on the forum: Health-related A1c - Shortened version of HbA1c the blood test that checks average BG over previous 6-12 weeks ADA - American Diabetic Association Basal - 'Background', long acting insulin (eg Lantus...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[DayDreamDolly]

I cope by adapting. Nearly 50 decades for me. Work with the tech I’m prescribed to keep going.
Then work with “that.” Some of us have even found ways to get an “inspector gadget” style of managment?
No access to a pump yet. But I can cunningly get myself round a working day.

View attachment 30476

 

[Satan’s little helper]

Hello, @DayDreamDolly . I see you have responded without leaving a response. Don’t worry, the internet can be daunting if you’re not used to it? There is no “be all & end all” in my book to manage diabetes on anyone’s terms but your own. What I know, I just happen to know from experience. I’ll spare the acronyms & text talk. I’m not a massive fan of any internet user turning a possibly of making an enquiry out as a “dark art.” 🙂
Yes I have some technology with the libre 2. Yes from your profile we seem a similar age. My wife & I use teen modern text talk in messages for a laugh. as a fellow diabetic. Don’t be daunted. There are quite a few seasoned T1 that might just get you through this to a more positive side. The Libre can help.

All my best.