libre 2 continuous monitoring V reader for older people - how can my mum check her own blood sugar + remote monitoring

[trophywench]

'They' said tis was going to happen and voila, it didn't. I set my own phone to read it and it drove me and my husband/visitors nuts for the next fortnight beeping to tell me it was too far away from the sensor every time I went for a wee, get the post from the front porch, or had the temerity to go in the kitchen to prepare a meal and not want to expose my phone to hot steam/hot or cold water/my greasy fingers.

 

[trophywench]

@rebrascora - this was just before Xmas, so DON'T DO IT !!!!!

 

[rebrascora]

'They' said tis was going to happen and voila, it didn't. I set my own phone to read it and it drove me and my husband/visitors nuts for the next fortnight beeping to tell me it was too far away from the sensor every time I went for a wee, get the post from the front porch, or had the temerity to go in the kitchen to prepare a meal and not want to expose my phone to hot steam/hot or cold water/my greasy fingers.

If I am understanding correctly, all you had to do in that scenario was to turn off the signal loss alarm.

 

[LexyT]

You didn't misremember Bruce, as I got into a quite heated discussion with the person over it because, despite the fact that they didn't use a reader, they were adamant that it is now possible to start a sensor with the phone and use both. I still really don't think it is, but I will give it a go this weekend just to confirm one way or another, much as I absolutely hate the phone app and having to carry my phone with me all the time and remember to charge the phone every night. 🙄

To be fair this is what the diabetes nurse told me...but it wasn't the case sadly. Like @Bruce Stephens says, maybe it is with the Libre 3. It's developing all the time, which is wonderful!

 

[LexyT]

Yes definitely

The iPhone she keeps with her install librelink on. It’s a yellow icon.

Then the iPad in the house install LibreLinkUp app on. It’s orangey colour icon, and the same “follower” app that you use. Use your follower account details on the iPad, you can open the app, do the never Lock Screen thing, and just leave it plugged in.

The iPad app will display in portrait mode, even if it’s landscape. If you have an iPad available you should be able to download it and test it out at your house to see what I mean and whether it would work for her.

You are SO incredibly helpful! Thanks so much, this has really lifted my spirits as it makes me think there is a way!

 

[Lucyr]

'They' said tis was going to happen and voila, it didn't. I set my own phone to read it and it drove me and my husband/visitors nuts for the next fortnight beeping to tell me it was too far away from the sensor every time I went for a wee, get the post from the front porch, or had the temerity to go in the kitchen to prepare a meal and not want to expose my phone to hot steam/hot or cold water/my greasy fingers.

Just turn the signal loss alarm off

 

[JJay]

@JJay - This looks ideal! I think she would be able to see this if it was illuminated. Sounds like a stupid quesrion but do you have libre link on the watch or on the iphone, which then links to the watch?

You have LibreLink and LibreLinkup on the phone and the Sweet Dreams complication on the watch (the Sweet Dreams app has good instructions for this but the developers are incredibly helpful if you get stuck!). The possible drawback of course is that the phone and watch need to be in fairly close proximity all the time.

 

[JJay]

Do you know if it's possible to remove the time and just have the blood glucose reading on? I'll read up...

I'm afraid not. There are other watch faces where the time would be less prominent, but unfortunately, so would the BG reading.

This is the Modular face:

 

[trophywench]

Just turn the signal loss alarm off

Well yes - I know that now! but didn't when I installed it on the phone. My prescriptions simply changed from Libre to Libre 2, and this forum told me you could use both your phone and the reader so after I had a new phone on which you could install Apps, I thought I'd try it, so I did cos it couldn't be that difficult. I didn't know, then. Nobody has ever either mentioned the PDF 90-ish page handbook or where you find it. I used to automatically also have the choice to also see a nurse every time I saw a consultant - now I apparently need to make separate appointments if the doc can't answer the questions, but of course I have no idea whether whoever I happen to see will be able to answer my Qs or not!

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, that's my understanding. I was mentioning it because I was sure someone had commented that that had changed: that you could now start a sensor with the phone and then also use the reader to scan it. But perhaps that was Libre 3, or perhaps I misremembered (or the commenter got it wrong).

Just to clarify Bruce, I have started my new Libre 2 sensor with my phone and can confirm that it will not connect to my reader as well. It just gives a message saying that the sensor has been started with a different device and therefore cannot connect to this one, so I am stuck with my phone for a fortnight.... which I suspected would be the case. Can't remember now which member was so adamant that it could be done.
Interestingly the rtCGM seems to be working better than it did last time I tried it which was during the upgrade to CGM last June/July and for a few weeks afterwards, but I suspect there has been an update since then. I will however take a lot of convincing not to revert back to my trusty reader in 14 days time. Having the option of 2 linked devices is better than just one and the reader is just so much smaller and more comfortable to use. trying to keep an open mind though. 🙄

 

[Lucyr]

Nobody has ever either mentioned the PDF 90-ish page handbook or where you find it.

It’s in the app, under ‘help’ in the menu

 

[Lucyr]

Just to clarify Bruce, I have started my new Libre 2 sensor with my phone and can confirm that it will not connect to my reader as well. It just gives a message saying that the sensor has been started with a different device and therefore cannot connect to this one, so I am stuck with my phone for a fortnight.... which I suspected would be the case. Can't remember now which member was so adamant that it could be done.

Sorry but would have thought it would be fairly clear this couldn’t have changed, since the readers would presumably need replacing or updating if Abbott planned to change that?

 

[rebrascora]

Sorry but would have thought it would be fairly clear this couldn’t have changed, since the readers would presumably need replacing or updating if Abbott planned to change that?

As always, Lucy, your logic is faultless!
Not being overly tech savvy myself, I suppose I was thinking that perhaps something had changed within the sensors, but you are right, the reader would have to change. Plus the guy that I was arguing with a few months back was absolutely adamant it was now possible which I guess had me doubting myself, especially when Bruce brought it up on this thread, so I thought I had better try it and see, so that I could be certain when disputing it next time.

 

[Lucyr]

As always, Lucy, your logic is faultless!
Not being overly tech savvy myself, I suppose I was thinking that perhaps something had changed within the sensors, but you are right, the reader would have to change. Plus the guy that I was arguing with a few months back was absolutely adamant it was now possible which I guess had me doubting myself, especially when Bruce brought it up on this thread, so I thought I had better try it and see, so that I could be certain when disputing it next time.

Very noble of you anyway to take one for the team in finding out for certain

 

[trophywench]

Whereas I just tried it for me!

Lucy of course is logical BUT since I hated the interface with my phone so don't use it any more, just for that one fortnight - I haven't ever read through every word of the App. Literally just clicked on the icon, won't communicate with the server it says. I'll stick to the website. Anyway, is it perfectly OK to incinerate the electronics then, since I bung the used sensors in my sharps bin, which is tiny (GP says the only type they're prepared to prescribe as any larger ones are too expensive) but otherwise its household waste again. In any case I would have nowhere to keep a bigger one without it sticking out like a sore thumb!

 

[rebrascora]

@trophywench I believe that the sensors should not go in a SharpSafe as firstly they are not sharps and secondly they should not be incinerated because they contain batteries which may pose a hazard. I think household waste or battery recycling are the two options.

I have a strong feeling the algorithm in the LibreLink app is different to the reader. I had a hypo yesterday whilst mowing the orchard. Twice I got my phone out and checked because I was quite sure I felt an impending hypo but the app gave me readings of 5 and 4.8 with an horizontal arrow but after the second check I had a couple of JBs because I really did feel strong warning signs and 5 mins later it hit me quite hard which is unusual for me as I can normally treat hypos and carry on as normal. I did continue mowing because I was running out of time to get finished but it wasn't nice at all. Interestingly the Librelink graph doesn't show me as hypo at all whereas the reader often shows me hypo when I barely feel it and often my levels are above 4 when I double check with a finger prick.
Then last night I had a nocturnal hypo at 4.30am. No insulin in my system as no evening Levemir. My phone was absolutely screeching at me and I couldn't figure out how to work the app and got so wound up trying to stop the alarm and operate the app, it took me ages to realise that I actually needed to eat some JBs, It was pretty scary as I didn't know what I was doing and of course the Amitriptyline makes me groggy and doesn't help. I have nocturnal hypos very often (despite my best efforts) and with the reader there is no problem at all and I am very relaxed and just eat a JB or 2 and go back to sleep within minutes. I am very calm and unfazed by it. Last night really rattled me, because I hadn't a clue what I needed to do. Looking at my logbook this morning I have 14 entries between 0437 and 04.55 where I was inputting that I had eaten 5g carbs, just to try to shut the thing up! I only ate 2 jelly babies in total and that was towards the end where I eventually grasped that treating the hypo was more important than dealing with the app. I woke up on 7.7 so I coped with it OK in the end, but I feel ill this morning from the trauma of it.
It also occurs to me this morning that I don't have my low alarm set where I usually have it on my reader,it was 4.2 instead of 4.5, so that probably added to the confusion a bit. Sorted that now, but will definitely be going back to my trusty reader in a fortnight. I am not ashamed to say it was scary! Not the hypo as it wasn't a low hypo and no insulin in my system to drop me significantly lower but the frightening part was not knowing what to do and how to deal with the app and the shrill alarm adding to my fear and knowing that my brain wasn't making any sense of it and I was trapped going around in circles with the app. It has really knocked my confidence in the system to the point that I am toying with taking it off, but I don't have a spare so would be back to finger pricking.... and that is after just one day! I had a similar incident last summer when I used my phone because I lost my reader and I got sucked into the same cycle of deal with the app instead of dealing with the hypo and again it scared me. Can sort of understand how it must feel to suffer dementia and be losing your mind because I just could not make sense of anything. And yet when my reader goes off in the night I can accurately calculate how many JBs or indeed units of insulin I need within seconds of scanning and deal with it and be back to sleep in a couple of minutes without any trauma or panic at all.

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread but just feel like I needed to document that experience as it might be helpful to others and particularly the OP's mother who also seems to be comfortable using the reader and whilst I can understand you wanting to track your mother's levels and it may seem nothing to you to change her from the reader to the app, I want to illustrate that it can make a HUGE difference mentally for the person involved and it might not be best for your mother to do so.

 

[victorhamesse]

I'm thinking of doing the same sort of thing. So let me summarise to see if I have the steps right (I'm OK with tech)

1. Get a Libre 2.
2. Install LibreLink and LibreLinkup on the iPhone (v12). Keep both running.
3. Install Sweet Dreams (or Gluroo) on an Apple Watch (yet to buy another one). Probably just a SE version.
4. Speaking "Siri" (or some such) to the Watch will allow me to then speak "Get Blood Sugar" (or some such) to the Watch that gets the reading from the LibreLink on the iPhone that gets the reading from my arm and then speaks it to to me. No problem if the Watch is next to me and not on my wrist ?

No problem wrt the iPhone as I always have it with me (keeps count of activity etc). I mute it at night (avoids junk email notifications etc).

Please amend this list if in error.
Cheers

PS Just found this youtube link on the Gluroo site wrt setting it up on an Apple Watch - have yet to watch it.

 

[Lucyr]

I’m not sure about step 4 as I haven’t used Siri on my watch, but I see the bg right on my watchface (it’s updated every 20 mins or when I press it, using sweet dreams currently) and can speak hey siri to my phone to have it read aloud