Libre 2 App July Upgrade Errors - combined thread.

[rianos]

After another long call with Abbott today they eventually admitted the BT issue is down to the app. This was the 'Digital Health Solutions' number 0800 612 3006, rather than the standard customer services number. Can't say there was much difference between the two. They said there will be an app update asap but wouldn't say when.

Has anyone given up & asked to be switched to Dexcom? If so, how are you getting on?

I had no problems upgrading the libre app but i’ve found that the readings have effectively just been a random number generator ever since. I assume the algorithm changed and for whatever reason it doesn’t work for me. For example this morning it was telling me I was 3.1 when my glucometre was saying 6.4 and this was during a time of stable blood sugar.

I got a trial of the dexcom G7 I just finished yesterday and thought i’d try the libre 2 one last time before paying nearly £1,700 a year for the G7 but it looks like I have little choice.

The G7 was far superior in virtually every way - 30 mins warm up time at which point it agreed perfectly to my glucometre and was only ‘out’ by a significant amount once during the 10 days and was fine after I did a calibration. The app is infinitely better than the libre app as are the alerts. On the iphone you can also have a widget to show your sugar and graph on your home screen without even needing to open the app and it also integrates with carplay so you can ask siri your sugar when you’re driving (which will be handy for me driving to the south of france in a couple of weeks) so i’ve decided i’m going to pay for it and abandon the libre. The only negative other than the price of the G7 is the adhesive - I found it very very poor compared to the libre and will definitely need a patch but other than that I think it’s light years ahead of the libre.

For balance I should point out my mum is also a diabetic on the libre 2 and hers always seems to align very closely with her glucometre, it seems like for whatever reason it just doesn’t for me.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I assume the algorithm changed and for whatever reason it doesn’t work for me.

I think there hasn't been any change to the algorithm for over a year now. It is the case that most people find the occasional sensor that doesn't seem to work right, and some people find none of them do and so have to switch to a Dexcom (usually One, now, since that's also easy to get on prescription). (I think some people don't find that any CGMs work well enough to be useful.)

 

[rianos]

Oh this hasn’t just been with one sensor. Since the update the first sensor I tried had an error from the start, the next one consistently read about 25-45% above a glucometre (I only caught on as I went low because of the false readings) and took it off after a number of days of randomly generated numbers. I then tried the dexcom and found it much more accurate, immediately from the 30 minute warm up period and decided to give the libre another chance (thinking it was maybe just two bad sensors) but the current one seems even worse and has been up to 82% inaccurate which seems downright dangerous. It was telling me I was sub 3 when in reality I was 6.4! I never had an issue with such inaccurate readings before the update so can only assume something other than the user interface must have changed.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I never had an issue with such inaccurate readings before the update so can only assume something other than the user interface must have changed.

I've not read anyone else reporting that. There has been an acknowledged issue on Android with odd readings; the solution is just to reboot your phone, though, which presumably you've done?

 

[JohnS]

Oh this hasn’t just been with one sensor. Since the update the first sensor I tried had an error from the start, the next one consistently read about 25-45% above a glucometre (I only caught on as I went low because of the false readings) and took it off after a number of days of randomly generated numbers. I then tried the dexcom and found it much more accurate, immediately from the 30 minute warm up period and decided to give the libre another chance (thinking it was maybe just two bad sensors) but the current one seems even worse and has been up to 82% inaccurate which seems downright dangerous. It was telling me I was sub 3 when in reality I was 6.4! I never had an issue with such inaccurate readings before the update so can only assume something other than the user interface must have changed.

I had exactly the same problem with 2 x Libre sensors ( my June/July prescription). Both were from the same factory batch and both played up. The first one refused to work at all. The second one was giving me readings 3 - 4 units out (when compared to a finger prick). Abbot replaced both without too much problem and the ones they supplied work perfectly. A Friday batch perhap?

 

[Mike88]

I had no problems upgrading the libre app but i’ve found that the readings have effectively just been a random number generator ever since. I assume the algorithm changed and for whatever reason it doesn’t work for me. For example this morning it was telling me I was 3.1 when my glucometre was saying 6.4 and this was during a time of stable blood sugar.

I got a trial of the dexcom G7 I just finished yesterday and thought i’d try the libre 2 one last time before paying nearly £1,700 a year for the G7 but it looks like I have little choice.

The G7 was far superior in virtually every way - 30 mins warm up time at which point it agreed perfectly to my glucometre and was only ‘out’ by a significant amount once during the 10 days and was fine after I did a calibration. The app is infinitely better than the libre app as are the alerts. On the iphone you can also have a widget to show your sugar and graph on your home screen without even needing to open the app and it also integrates with carplay so you can ask siri your sugar when you’re driving (which will be handy for me driving to the south of france in a couple of weeks) so i’ve decided i’m going to pay for it and abandon the libre. The only negative other than the price of the G7 is the adhesive - I found it very very poor compared to the libre and will definitely need a patch but other than that I think it’s light years ahead of the libre.

For balance I should point out my mum is also a diabetic on the libre 2 and hers always seems to align very closely with her glucometre, it seems like for whatever reason it just doesn’t for me.

@rhianos Thank you. How did you wangle a trial of D7?

I had a bad run of 3 L2 sensors back in Feb 23 that were running up to c. 45% out. I had become too trusting given previous parallel finger prick testing. I now keep a closer eye on that & since then haven't had that problem recur, luckily. As long as I had 3 sets of erroneous readings with comparator finger prick results taken 10-15 minutes earlier Abbott replaced the sensors FOC. So the only cost was the additional battle scars on my arms.

I now have rt-CGM running. I deleted LL, switched phone off/on, reinstalled LL, phone off/on again & boom. All data, except the previous 8 hours, will be lost from the app. It makes little sense though, as I have done this a few times this week to no avail. I have given up on Shuggah for the time being, as the gain for me was not worth the price of losing rt-CGM.

I guess I have to remember that we are still at the vanguard of the technology & experiencing 'early adopter pains'.

Thanks again & best of luck.

 

[barrym]

As I understand it, the new LibreLink app shows a smoothed real time (if that's not a contradiction) both in figure and graph.

If you look at something like Juggluco it shows an incredibly rough graph of each 1 minute reading. If a scan is taken with the Juggluco app it is the calculated 'smoothed' numbers and the curve plotted smooths all the spikes.

Fo the new LL to show the graph it does, I think it has to do the smoothing with each 1 minute reading as oppose to a rounded value of 15 readings for the stored values for scans.

I could be well off here and would appreciate being corrected if I have it all wrong.

 

[rianos]

@rhianos Thank you. How did you wangle a trial of D7?

I had a bad run of 3 L2 sensors back in Feb 23 that were running up to c. 45% out. I had become too trusting given previous parallel finger prick testing. I now keep a closer eye on that & since then haven't had that problem recur, luckily. As long as I had 3 sets of erroneous readings with comparator finger prick results taken 10-15 minutes earlier Abbott replaced the sensors FOC. So the only cost was the additional battle scars on my arms.

I now have rt-CGM running. I deleted LL, switched phone off/on, reinstalled LL, phone off/on again & boom. All data, except the previous 8 hours, will be lost from the app. It makes little sense though, as I have done this a few times this week to no avail. I have given up on Shuggah for the time being, as the gain for me was not worth the price of losing rt-CGM.

I guess I have to remember that we are still at the vanguard of the technology & experiencing 'early adopter pains'.

Thanks again & best of luck.

I'm not sure if we are allowed to post links to other forums but I saw a post in the type 1 thread on diabetes.co.uk mentioning a G7 trial with a link and I filled out my details and someone from Dexcom called me to chat through my details and needs etc and arranged to send me out a sensor to trial and I believe will be calling me next week to discuss my thoughts.

I think I'm going to buy a months supply for when I go on holiday next month and then decide whether to continue using them indefinitely.

 

[Mike88]

I'm not sure if we are allowed to post links to other forums but I saw a post in the type 1 thread on diabetes.co.uk mentioning a G7 trial with a link and I filled out my details and someone from Dexcom called me to chat through my details and needs etc and arranged to send me out a sensor to trial and I believe will be calling me next week to discuss my thoughts.

I think I'm going to buy a months supply for when I go on holiday next month and then decide whether to continue using them indefinitely.

@rianos Brilliant! Have found the link & signed up. Thank you. I'm hoping the latest debacle with FSL2 weakens their reputation & the NHS gets back into commercial negotiations with Dexcom about the 7.

Thanks again & best of luck

 

[JoJoC]

I've finally got the update in the app. I'm on android 13 and checked the app today and it was there ready to download. Just says it'll work continously from the next new sensor. Due to change on Friday, so fingers crossed everything goes to plan!

 

[Nayshiftin]

The update happened automatically...my fav part of the email is: it might give you the wrong reading! I'm so glad I've got a reader. Guess who'll be asking to switch to Dexcom 1 at their next appointment? Yes, me! What a faff...😳🙄

So if you were thinking of trying would the Dexcom one be the one to start? Looking at a self-funding one.

 

[Tdm]

Not sure its been discussed but i had to go onto libre temporarily and downloaded libre link. My phone had terrible wifi connection which went back to normal as soon as i deleted librelink

 

[Bloden]

So if you were thinking of trying would the Dexcom one be the one to start? Looking at a self-funding one.

The Dexcom One is the only Dexcom that's available (or soon to be in my area) on prescription to Type 1s - I can't remember the cost if self-funding. I tried it last year - the reader doesn't give as in-depth info as the Libre reader and my mobile isn't compatible with the app, but if my consultant offers it to me at my next appointment...I might take her up on the offer. I'm hoping she can offer me the Dexcom 6...we'll see.

In answer to your question (got there eventually!): I'd go with the cheapest to start with, in case you don't like using this type of monitor. Weirdly, I hated the Libre when I first had it - it caused me a lot of stress, even though it took away a lot of the stress at the same time. Good luck!

 

[Nayshiftin]

The Dexcom One is the only Dexcom that's available (or soon to be in my area) on prescription to Type 1s - I can't remember the cost if self-funding. I tried it last year - the reader doesn't give as in-depth info as the Libre reader and my mobile isn't compatible with the app, but if my consultant offers it to me at my next appointment...I might take her up on the offer. I'm hoping she can offer me the Dexcom 6...we'll see.

In answer to your question (got there eventually!): I'd go with the cheapest to start with, in case you don't like using this type of monitor. Weirdly, I hated the Libre when I first had it - it caused me a lot of stress, even though it took away a lot of the stress at the same time. Good luck!

Thank you. I am really in a quandry now as i need less not more stress. Also i think the Dexcom might be too expensive. Good luck

 

[Bloden]

as i need less not more stress

It was just my personal experience @Nayshiftin. I was under a ton of stress when I was first diagnosed (my endo and DSN were just plain nasty people) and the information overload was just too much. I wouldn't be without the Libre now.

There's a two-week free trial you can do with the Libre - why not sign up to that and see how you get on? 🙂

 

[Carlos]

Anyone suddenly having frequent signal loss errors? I started seeing those yesterday afternoon. After not opening the app for a while I get the three dash message and I need to scan the sensor. Everything was working well until yesterday. This morning I also got a message from the operating system saying that LibreLink was using too much of the processor time, and battery seems to be draining very quickly.

I just got an email from Abbott saying that there's an update for Android to fix the issue with displaying old data. I checked and it looks like my app must have updated itself, as I have the new version, so I am thinking that the new update has introduced the disconnection issue, and the system overload as well. 😡

I just checked my update history and it looks like I already had this new version from the 24th of July, so no new update. It has just suddenly decided to be a pain .

 

[Tdm]

Yes, i had signal loss, lasted about 10min each time ...thankfully back on dexcom now and 3 nights of libre disturbed sleep

 

[Brava210]

I had a trial Dexcon one from Diabetes nurse.
It just didn't work for me, the accuracy was about 4 units out.
The app constantly showed "No Signal" too.
But I know its better for some.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I had a trial Dexcon one from Diabetes nurse.
It just didn't work for me, the accuracy was about 4 units out.
The app constantly showed "No Signal" too.
But I know its better for some.

I've constantly struggled with Libre 2 not being in harmony with my body and I was switched to Dexcom One. I did a full 90 days and got a slightly better accuracy than previously with Libre 2, but still far from regularly close. I am self-fundng my first Dexcom G7 sensor and so far very impressed, so much so that I've ordered another 3 sensors to see if this is my way forward.

It has been a revelation having consistent and accurate CGM readings and NOT having to finger prick every time I bolus.

 

[mikeyB]

The only negative other than the price of the G7 is the adhesive - I found it very very poor compared to the libre and will definitely need a patch but other than that I think it’s light years ahead of the libre.

Every Dexcom G7 Sensor pack contains an additional patch that fits over the sensor to give better adhesion. I use it every time I fit a new sensor.