Libre sensor 2 failures

[lbd]

Hi. I've had type 1 diabetes for 33 years and started using the libre sensor a few years ago.

Has anyone else found the quality of the freestyle libre 2 sensors are really poor quality or is it just me? I have had many more failures than I did with the first version. Tonight after applying a new sensor and after the 60 minutes it wouldn't give me a reading and kept saying try in 10 minutes. I think I've had 5 failed sensors since using version 2 and didn't have any issues with the first version.
I eventually took it off and the glue membrane is still attached to my arm, there's quite a lot of blood around it too and quite painful.

I've experienced something like this several times and think it's a manufacturing problem. I've put on sensors before and the applicator doesn't free itself easily from the sensor, like it's stuck to both my arm and the applicator. For me, the quality of the applicator and sensors are much worse than the first version and feel a lot less reliable.
I'm not doing anything different to how I've previously applied them and will have to phone Abbott tomorrow to get a replacement.

On a tangent, I don't like phoning Abbott for a replacement because twice their customer service representatives were very rude. I ended up in an argument when one of them said "No one else reports failures, our sensors are fine". During lockdown their call centre seemed to be mainly based in east/central Europe somewhere and I am not sure if it is just their culture but it was really insulting.

I've a clinic appointment coming up soon and will raise this again but it's really annoying when you are on your last sensor

 

[Lucyr]

On a tangent, I don't like phoning Abbott for a replacement

I haven’t had any issues. If you don’t like phoning them why not just report it online?

 

[Lucyr]

Home | FreeStyle Libre | Abbott

Discover how to manage your diabetes easily with Flash & Continuous Glucose Monitoring - user-friendly & discreet sensor-based glucose monitoring systems.

www.freestylelibre.co.uk

 

[lbd]

I haven’t had any issues. If you don’t like phoning them why not just report it online?

It must be me then. I have just tried to scan the replacement sensor I put on and got "try scanning again in 10 minutes". My last sensor

Managed to get a reading now, thankfully. Sometimes type 1 is really annoying!

 

[Rob Oldfield]

From my experience, you're correct. I've had the same thing after switching from the 1s to the 2s in the middle of February. So far I've had one sensor that has survived the full 14 days. There are various threads on the subject mostly in the Pumping and Technology forum but it does also seem that it affects some people far more than others.

I've not had any problems reporting problems to Abbott. That is key as any replacements they send aren't charged to the NHS.

 

[rebrascora]

There are quite a few threads here on the forum about people having repeated problems with Libre 2 who did not experience problems with Libre 1. In fact I decided not to upgrade to the Libre 2 because the Libre 1 works really well for me, so I can't see the point of risking the upgrade. I don't feel I would benefit significantly from the alarms as my awareness is pretty good and sleep is more important to me that being disturbed by erroneous alarms through the night. I do experience occasional nocturnal hypos but I trust my body to wake me and so far it hasn't let me down. I appreciate for some people the fear of hypos and particularly nocturnal ones can be quite debilitating, so having that safety net of an alarm is a comfort, but personally, I don't feel I need it and especially if the Libre 2 turns out to be less reliable as that would knock my confidence in the product and give me less peace of mind, not more.

Hope you can get to the bottom of the problem. Some people find that using the reader instead of their phone helps to overcome some of the problems, which suggests it is a software problem for some. Others use a 3rd party app like XDrip which seems to give them better reliability and has the option to calibrate and turn it into a real time CGM rather than Flash, so they might be worth exploring if you are reasonably tech savvy.

As regards the applicator not lifting away cleanly after insertion, I find this every single time with the Libre 1. As a result, I hold the applicator firmly against my arm for a good 60 seconds before I gently wriggle it free, to give the sensor time to adhere to my skin a bit better. I believe there is less chance of disturbing the filament when you do have difficulty removing the applicator if you give the glue a bit longer to get ahold of your skin first.

Good luck with the new sensor. Hope it settles down. I would also like to mention that many of us apply our new sensor a day or two before activating it. This gives it a chance to bed in and any tissue reaction to a foreigh body being fired into it, a chance to settle down. Many find the reliability of the sensor, particularly in the first few days of use is much improved doing this and doesn't impact the lifespan of the sensor as the 14 days only start counting down once you activate it. ie it is the software that ends the sensor, not the sensor self terminating. In fact I believe the people who use XDrip can get an extra few hours out of a sensor beyond the 14 days.

Anyway, I hope some of the above is helpful. Have you considered requesting to go back to the Libre 1 if it was working well for you?

 

[nonethewiser]

Not to be different but find quality much better than 1 version, certainly accuracy wise & much closer to bg readings at high & low bg levels.

Only had one minor issue with libre 2 so very happy with device so far, do get occasion scan again in 10min message but that's due to fast changing bg levels as far as I'm aware, love alarm features & it has helped improve TIR.

It's one of life's mysterys why some have issues with libre 2 & others don't, someone said while ago that it could just be down to more people using libre than ever before, seems plausible to me.

 

[lbd]

There are quite a few threads here on the forum about people having repeated problems with Libre 2 who did not experience problems with Libre 1. In fact I decided not to upgrade to the Libre 2 because the Libre 1 works really well for me, so I can't see the point of risking the upgrade. I don't feel I would benefit significantly from the alarms as my awareness is pretty good and sleep is more important to me that being disturbed by erroneous alarms through the night. I do experience occasional nocturnal hypos but I trust my body to wake me and so far it hasn't let me down. I appreciate for some people the fear of hypos and particularly nocturnal ones can be quite debilitating, so having that safety net of an alarm is a comfort, but personally, I don't feel I need it and especially if the Libre 2 turns out to be less reliable as that would knock my confidence in the product and give me less peace of mind, not more.

Hope you can get to the bottom of the problem. Some people find that using the reader instead of their phone helps to overcome some of the problems, which suggests it is a software problem for some. Others use a 3rd party app like XDrip which seems to give them better reliability and has the option to calibrate and turn it into a real time CGM rather than Flash, so they might be worth exploring if you are reasonably tech savvy.

As regards the applicator not lifting away cleanly after insertion, I find this every single time with the Libre 1. As a result, I hold the applicator firmly against my arm for a good 60 seconds before I gently wriggle it free, to give the sensor time to adhere to my skin a bit better. I believe there is less chance of disturbing the filament when you do have difficulty removing the applicator if you give the glue a bit longer to get ahold of your skin first.

Good luck with the new sensor. Hope it settles down. I would also like to mention that many of us apply our new sensor a day or two before activating it. This gives it a chance to bed in and any tissue reaction to a foreigh body being fired into it, a chance to settle down. Many find the reliability of the sensor, particularly in the first few days of use is much improved doing this and doesn't impact the lifespan of the sensor as the 14 days only start counting down once you activate it. ie it is the software that ends the sensor, not the sensor self terminating. In fact I believe the people who use XDrip can get an extra few hours out of a sensor beyond the 14 days.

Anyway, I hope some of the above is helpful. Have you considered requesting to go back to the Libre 1 if it was working well for you?

Thanks for the detailed reply. I hadn't considered putting on the replacement a day earlier but may give that a try the next time.
I didn't have the issues you mention, re the libre 1 and not lifting away cleanly but I do the same as you and keep it pressed against my arm for a minute.

The last sensor seems to have settled down now and working so that's good. It feels like another world going back to finger pricking again!

 

[rebrascora]

That is strange because right from the start with Libre 1, nearly 2 years ago, the applicator has always snagged and not come away cleanly. This has not been mentioned very often on the forum and it was a great cause for concern, especially when I was self funding in the early days, as I was worried that I would botch the sensor due to something I was doing wrong. Most of the You Tube tutorials I have seen have lifted clean off, so I have no idea why every single one of mine in that 2 years period has snagged. Maybe I have odd shaped arms or something.... I am quite muscular. Thankfully as long as I am careful and give it that extra minute to adhere before I gently wriggle it free, it hasn't caused an issue, but when you see your skin and flesh lifting as you try to remove the applicator you realize that it must be putting a strain on the adhesive at it's most vulnerable time and it is a concern.

 

[harbottle]

Only had one minor issue with libre 2 so very happy with device so far, do get occasion scan again in 10min message but that's due to fast changing bg levels as far as I'm aware, love alarm features & it has helped improve TIR.

I've had the ten minute message with no change in BG levels. It sometimes happens when I'm having a bath - I have noticed from the raw data (via Shuggr) that baths/showers/exercise cause the figures to fluctuate a bit and the graph goes very messy for a period of time.