Just started Libre

[Ellie Jones]

Did the training today via a webinar!

When I asked about finger prick testing, would it be best practice at the start doing regular finger prick tests, and when eating to start with until I get to the stage I understanding how it compared with what the finger prick tests show etc.

DSN said, no need to unless what the scan says isn't corresponding to how I feel! So if its showing hypo and I don't feel hypo, or vis versa take a test. if not take the reading its showing.

Not sure if I'm ready to put complete trust into it just quite yet

 

[helli]

After using the Libre for a few years and have experience of what it is really like rather that what the marketing literature says, my recommendation would be to always test with a finger prick before correcting a high or low.
Libre is most accurate when in a "normal" range. It becomes less accurate the higher or lower you go as a result, if you don't test with a finger prick you risk over treating.

I also test at least once a day because I find the sensor can "drift" over their life time.

Apart from this, I am happy to dose from the Libre readings.

It's a great piece of kit but you are wise to be sceptical.

 

[Ellie Jones]

I tried (Self funded) the original sensors when they first came out, but had nothing but problems with them deciding not to record anything apart form a red line, so hoping that the Lbre 2 behave a lot better as in the main I'm looking for trend information to better sort my pump out etc. And helpful in work which is hectic as the best of times, and very difficult to go off the floor to check levels when needed.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

Did the training today via a webinar!

When I asked about finger prick testing, would it be best practice at the start doing regular finger prick tests, and when eating to start with until I get to the stage I understanding how it compared with what the finger prick tests show etc.

DSN said, no need to unless what the scan says isn't corresponding to how I feel! So if its showing hypo and I don't feel hypo, or vis versa take a test. if not take the reading its showing.

Not sure if I'm ready to put complete trust into it just quite yet

Hi @ellie-jones I was one who didn't get on with the Libre so let's not go down that route and I wish I could get on with it. A heck of a lot of people absolutely love it and I really can't blame them.

So first congratulations on doing your training!
Apart from testing before eating how often in-between this will you scan?
No finger pricking needed just go with the reading it's showing which is brilliant unless the scan is showing hypo or high so at this point when you need to test which test do you go with ie the scan which is showing hypo or high or the test which may or may not be different?

Would you mind (and if you have time) taking us on a journey of your first few days with your scan test results and the arrows with each test - also any hypos or highs and the difference if any on the finger prick test at this point?

 

[SB2015]

Hi @Ellie Jones Glad that you have now got your Libre2 to try, and I hope that it works better for you than the earlier versions.

Although the DSN is happy for you to use the Libre readings for dosing, do what you feel comfortable with. It is YOUR diabetes, to deal with the way that you want to, so don’t rush into doing things you are not comfortable with.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[rebrascora]

@Ellie Jones I am not sure if you are aware but if you lie on your sensor or apply pressure for any length of time you will get what is called a compression low, so if the red lines you were getting during your first trial of Libre were happening overnight it is likely you rolled over in your sleep and were lying on it. Not sure if they mentioned that in the webinar but I imagine the Libre 2 suffers from the same issue so thought I had better mention it.

 

[rebrascora]

I check my Libre against a finger prick maybe once every 3-4 days at a time when my levels are nice and stable but otherwise I am happy to use the Libre reading for everything, but that is partly because I follow a low carb diet so I am not using significant doses of quick acting insulin (usually no more than 3-4 units) and my levels tend to drift rather than rise or fall sharply. A hypo usually just needs 1 or 2 jelly babies to bring me up so again it is difficult to over treat and Libre usually exaggerates hypos with me anyway, so 1 JB is usually enough if it is between 3.5 and 4 when a finger prick would usually show me as low 4s anyway.

As @SB2015 says, it is down to you to do what you feel comfortable and confident with, when you are using it.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope Libre2 works well for you @Ellie Jones 🙂

I found it better than Libre 1 for me - more generally in line with fingerstick results. I have still had the odd dodgy L2 sensor though!

 

[Ellie Jones]

@rebrascora no they didn't mention that little bit, but I had seen something mentioned on another post. So thought really carefully where to put in the hope that if I do roll, that I don't compress it. So fingers crossed.

Been interesting so far, as its reading a little lower (when I allow for a little lag time) but good to see how the line is working though. But did forget to kick my alarms in, will do that in a bit

 

[DaveB]

I only x-check my Libre 2 with a finger prick test if it reads low and I'm about to drive. Apart from that any reading difference is as likely to be the meter +/- 15% error as the Libre 2. I've not so far had any problems from lying on the sensor

 

[Supratad]

@Ellie Jones I am not sure if you are aware but if you lie on your sensor or apply pressure for any length of time you will get what is called a compression low, so if the red lines you were getting during your first trial of Libre were happening overnight it is likely you rolled over in your sleep and were lying on it. Not sure if they mentioned that in the webinar but I imagine the Libre 2 suffers from the same issue so thought I had better mention it.

Well I never knew that.
I had one morning where uncharacteristically my blood was shown to be falling rapidly, 3.0↓. I necked 4 glucose tabs before doing a finger prick test, which then showed my blood to be 10, like 3 mins later.
Of course, within an hour of my breakfast I was nudging 16-17.

That might explain the weird morning low.

 

[helli]

Well I never knew that.
I had one morning where uncharacteristically my blood was shown to be falling rapidly, 3.0↓. I necked 4 glucose tabs before doing a finger prick test, which then showed my blood to be 10, like 3 mins later.
Of course, within an hour of my breakfast I was nudging 16-17.

That might explain the weird morning low.

Do you check lows and highs on Libre with finger pricks before correcting?
This is the recommendation I was given and my experience has shown that it can report extra low when low and extra high when high.

 

[Robert459]

"...but if you lie on your sensor or apply pressure for any length of time you will get..."

I have trained myself to only lie on one side and my back. It is a relief to lie on the other side after two weeks.

I lost a couple of sensors after lying on them so adopted the aversion (maybe wrong word) technique, maybe inversion 🙂

 

[Ellie Jones]

The sensor hasn't been too bad since I started it, and been interesting seeing the graph line. I'll give it a couple of days, to double check, but it seems that my morning basal is out, and needs adjusting.

@Robert459 I'm impressed when a muscular/Skeletonal specialist nurse, who'd I seen for a trapped nerve in the elbow and trigger finger advised me, as wasn't happy putting me forward for the operation to sleep with my arm straight and it might actual free the trap nerve! Even the consultant who carried my operation was gobsmacked by this bit of information when no splint have been. provided. Sadly to faffing around prior to the op, as meant that I have lost some function in my hand, and if I'd followed the advice from the nurse and not gone for the operation I would have lost the function in my hand.

 

[JulieH]

@Ellie Jones I am not sure if you are aware but if you lie on your sensor or apply pressure for any length of time you will get what is called a compression low, so if the red lines you were getting during your first trial of Libre were happening overnight it is likely you rolled over in your sleep and were lying on it. Not sure if they mentioned that in the webinar but I imagine the Libre 2 suffers from the same issue so thought I had better mention it.

Thank you for this information. My 11 yr old grandson is getting on really well with his Libre 2.
However most nights the low alarm goes off a couple of times but when we check with a finger prick his BGL is fine.

 

[Kaylz]

I still prick when about to bolus as I don't fully trust it, current one was reading 1.5-2mmol lower than bloods consistently for 7 days and then the 8th went to 3-4mmol, today it's 5mmol and constantly alarming when I'm no where near hypo so reported and getting replaced xx

 

[Ellie Jones]

With checking the sensor is reading a little lower than finger prick, but you're talking under 2mmol/l which is acceptable to work with, and use during work hours or at times when I need to eat but finger pricking isn't going to be easily done.

Mind you, seeing how your blood glucose reacts during the day, is on one hand interesting but on the other, leaves a feeling eeck, how on earth am I'm going to tame them.

 

[rebrascora]

With checking the sensor is reading a little lower than finger prick, but you're talking under 2mmol/l which is acceptable to work with, and use during work hours or at times when I need to eat but finger pricking isn't going to be easily done.

Mind you, seeing how your blood glucose reacts during the day, is on one hand interesting but on the other, leaves a feeling eeck, how on earth am I'm going to tame them.

I think you need to be realistic about that and understand that non diabetic peoples' blood varies a lot too so you are not looking to flat line it or even anything near that, you are just trying to keep it between 3.9 and 10 most of the time.

 

[Ellie Jones]

@rebrascora

Nope i really don't have the expectation of doing something that a non-diabetic can't do, when I say taming its more about unpicking the information the sensor is providing, so that I identify. what might be is it being caused by my basal settings on my pump being out, or was it a miscalculation of carbs, or whether my bolus carb ratio's are out, or perhaps how I'm programming my bolus isn't covering how I'm adsorbing the carbs in the manner I was expecting.

First is sorting out ensuring that my basal is optimised, to give me a good grounding to sort out the rest, which I know this aspect is going to take time to gather and translate into any adjustments I need to make to my basal pattern. So hoping the sensor enables me to do this, the fasting part of this process has never bothered me, but the faffing around with finger prick testing on an hourly bases is a nightmare, something I can't do in work (colleagues would throw an head fit, if every hour I disappeared to take a test).

Once my basal is optimised, then I can start looking at carb/insulin rations, and other factors.

 

[trophywench]

Ellie - that's why the Libre is brill - however much we test our BG whilst doing basal tests, there are still gaps for much more actual time, than there are tests since each test only tests the blood that gets on the test strip at that precise moment - so be generous and say that's 10 seconds out of every hour. So there are 59 minutes and 50 seconds out of every hour with no BG measurement recorded. With the Libre graph all 60 minutes of the hour have results recorded, even if we haven't scanned the sensor during that hour!

First establish whether the Libre scans match your BG though - that is the first hurdle with every new sensor ! This one of mine, so far, does match and the wobbly line was proceeding nicely until I ate my lunch then went diagonally up for an hour and only reduced after the hour.