I've been libre-ated!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Amity Island

Amity Island

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I've finally decided to have a "holiday" from finger pricking and invested in a Freestyle Libre. After waiting and waiting for the NHS to fund them to no avail, I went to Superdrug Pharmacy yesterday morning and spent £42 (vat free) on a sensor. I've already got the reader so, on it went and it's working like a treat! Great accuracy, no effort at all. Got a bit carried away with the swiping yesterday:D, every 5mins, today just using it before meals and if I feel I need to check. Best bits are - no more finger pricking 8 times or more a day and the glucose level trend arrows are so valuable. Still got to use a finger prick test before driving though....

I just found that normal testing kits are virtually useless when you're put on "the stand" at hospital appointments, you know the usual response of dismissiveness, dogma and general disbelief in anything you tell them.

From now on, I'll have a "water tight" case every time I go in. I won't be wasting anymore time in trying to convince them of anything and the next time I hear the phrase "studies have shown"

I'll be saying study this!:D

btw true to form, yesterday DSN wouldn't believe me when I said I'd bought the sensor at Superdrug! 😛 Well it's on my arm....and here's the receipt😛
 
Amity Island said:
yesterday DSN wouldn't believe me when I said I'd bought the sensor at Superdrug!
Click to expand...

The "£42" bit is the only part that's hard to believe.

They used to be that price, but I assumed all branches had gone up to £49.95 now. Have they reconsidered the rise, or are some branches just not caught up for some reason? Or maybe you got one that had been ordered by someone but not collected.

But yes, while it may not be as accurate (though I find them good enough) the graphs and things are invaluable. (For what it's worth, the reader says I test 37 times a day, on average.)
 
Bruce Stephens said:
The "£42" bit is the only part that's hard to believe.

They used to be that price, but I assumed all branches had gone up to £49.95 now. Have they reconsidered the rise, or are some branches just not caught up for some reason? Or maybe you got one that had been ordered by someone but not collected.

But yes, while it may not be as accurate (though I find them good enough) the graphs and things are invaluable. (For what it's worth, the reader says I test 37 times a day, on average.)
Click to expand...
The lady at the pharmacy said that the price is free of VAT so I'm assuming you would be right in £49.95 inc vat. If your type 1 with a medical exemption certificate she said they are VAT free.
 
Amity Island said:
The lady at the pharmacy said that the price is free of VAT so I'm assuming you would be right in £49.95 inc vat. If your type 1 with a medical exemption certificate she said they are VAT free.
Click to expand...

Maybe. I'm unconvinced: £42 plus VAT is £50.40. I've bought at the same branch a few times, and surely she knows almost nobody that buys them pays VAT. And other people have said the same (that they've increased the price).

On the other hand, this time (unlike the others) I didn't have to go through the usual ritual of signing something for the VAT (though I did show my medial prescription exemption card). So maybe it was just a slip on their part after all and they're still a bit cheaper than most other places, and it's just that I need to make sure they charge ex VAT. (Though £49.95 with VAT removed would be £41.63 (£41.625) rather than £42.)
 
Great isn’t it? I love mine. I still do the finger pricking but nowhere near at much as I used to. Sooo much easier to check what’s going on with the arrows. At last appointment the consultant pointed out my hba1c was lowest it had been for a very long time🙂

Just checked, I’m averaging 27 checks a day! Have fun! X
 
Lisa66 said:
Sooo much easier to check what’s going on with the arrows.
Click to expand...

Yes, and as I'm walking to (or from) work I can easily scan on the way. And when I'm out dancing can easily check whether I ought to rest and/or eat a little. It's really been a transformation for me. I've not avoided hypos entirely, but those I've had have been much less severe, largely because I have a chance of seeing them coming.
 
I’m very jealous of you guys !
I’ve finally decided to get one but when I went on the website (to get the reader and sensor ) it said that they are out of stock and that They’d email me when they are back in stock .....
 
They aren’t out of stock. I just got a replacement reader 6 days after reporting mine faulty. They’ve just been surprised by the popularity, and can’t build the factory output quick enough. Or don’t want to, with the pace of CGM improvement.
 
Cleo said:
I’m very jealous of you guys !
I’ve finally decided to get one but when I went on the website (to get the reader and sensor ) it said that they are out of stock and that They’d email me when they are back in stock .....
Click to expand...
I think they’re restricting orders to existing customers, so that they can supply that demand, and for people who are lucky enough to get it prescribed on the NHS (not me!). You can buy the sensors at some pharmacies,(ASDA is one of the cheaper ones, I believe) and run them using a mobile phone instead of a reader.
 
Yes, I was an early convert. Back in the day I used to order sensors in boxes of ten. Those were the days🙂
 
mikeyB said:
They aren’t out of stock. I just got a replacement reader 6 days after reporting mine faulty. They’ve just been surprised by the popularity, and can’t build the factory output quick enough. Or don’t want to, with the pace of CGM improvement.
Click to expand...
I have a certain amount of sympathy for them, if they build a massive amount of new capacity to fulfil the need, and a rival then brings out their own product, they could find themselves having to mothball new and expensive plants, and lay off staff. ( I say this as someone who lives within a few miles of one of their factories, in a local market town)
 
Well here we have 2 town centre branches of Superdrug but neither have a Pharmacy,so I don't th
mikeyB said:
They aren’t out of stock. I just got a replacement reader 6 days after reporting mine faulty. They’ve just been surprised by the popularity, and can’t build the factory output quick enough. Or don’t want to, with the pace of CGM improvement.
Click to expand...
They are not for new customers I have been on the waiting list since September.
 
Last edited:
mikeyB said:
They aren’t out of stock. I just got a replacement reader 6 days after reporting mine faulty. They’ve just been surprised by the popularity, and can’t build the factory output quick enough. Or don’t want to, with the pace of CGM improvement.
Click to expand...
Sorry I didn’t explain that very well- they are still supplying to their existing customers but new customers need to wait.
 
Robin said:
I think they’re restricting orders to existing customers, so that they can supply that demand, and for people who are lucky enough to get it prescribed on the NHS (not me!). You can buy the sensors at some pharmacies,(ASDA is one of the cheaper ones, I believe) and run them using a mobile phone instead of a reader.
Click to expand...
Yes exactly , and sadly my phone isn’t quite “new enough “ so I can’t use it as a reader.
 
Lisa66 said:
Great isn’t it? I love mine. I still do the finger pricking but nowhere near at much as I used to. Sooo much easier to check what’s going on with the arrows. At last appointment the consultant pointed out my hba1c was lowest it had been for a very long time🙂

Just checked, I’m averaging 27 checks a day! Have fun! X
Click to expand...
Hi Lisa, can I ask, given many users say first 24 hrs are a bit unpredictable as it beds in, do you put on the next sensor the day before the old one runs out? Then activate it?
 
Hi. I tried it, but have found for me it makes no difference at all. Mine usually seem pretty spot on from the start. I apply it, wait the hour and then off we go. If you find it's not very accurate first 24 hrs for you, maybe try waiting next time. For the 14 days I find the readings pretty close to glucose meter, particularly mid range and given the slight time lapse. High and low readings are not always quite so accurate but then maybe that's because levels are changing quickly and if I see a high or low I will always do a finger prick anyway to see if it's correct and any action needed.

Like most people it's the arrows that I find invaluable. Doctors have always been pretty happy with my levels (although they've slowly gone up a bit last couple of years) but the arrows have definitely helped me iron out the lumps and bumps a bit. It's just so easy to swipe your arm...seconds and it's done...anywhere.

Consultant and team can log into Libreview or diasend for me and see all the info, which is really helpful.

Sorry for ramble...I guess you really only wanted a yes or no.:(🙂
 
I’ve always used sensors from the moment they start speaking to the reader, after the hour imposed by the manufacturer. The first 24 hours are as accurate as the next 14 days, in my experience. Waiting for 24 hours to elapse seems daft to me, for the simple reason that if the manufacturers were content after years of research to get you to wait an hour, then wait an hour.

I don’t know where this idea of 24 hours arose. Why not 12 hours? Why not 36? Why not 366? It’s bonkers, and obviously an invention. I always use technology as directed. If Bentley say my car shouldn’t exceed 70mph for the first 500 miles, then so be it. I then expect it to work just fine. If Abbott say wait an hour, then so be it. If you don’t believe it, ask ‘em.
 
@mikeyB - some people find that they get crazy readings for the first 24 hours that are nowhere near their blood meter, then after that it settles down and works better, hence leave it on the arm to "bed in" before activating it and then get 14 days of accurate readings instead of wasting a day. Especially if they have to buy them themselves! I'm with you though, I find they work perfectly well right from the beginning, the only exception being a couple that read that my daughter was hypo all night the first night when blood reader was consistently reading in the 6-8 range, then it settled in the morning (it's fallen that we change them just before daughter goes to bed, which perhaps isn't ideal if she's then lying on it all night). This doesn't happen very often though so I can't be bothered to change the routine!
 
I leave mine to 'bed in' overnight before activating, so, about 12 hours. i found if i activated them straight way I often got flat line readings in the threes for most of the first day. My arm always feels sore for a few hours where i've inserted the sensor, so maybe it just needs to settle down first. As Sally says, I’m paying for them myself, so i want my full 14 days!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top