Libre sensor alarm

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Charl

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Type 1
Obviously for high and low readings, interesting to know people set there high alarm at, for instance set at 10 when alarm sounds carry out a correction dose, would this be done when your previous bolus is nearing it's end...5hrs ? or could it be done earlier, how much would you need to take into account when your next bolus, basel is due, certainly ain't easy this diabetes lark...cheers
 
Charl said:
Obviously for high and low readings, interesting to know people set there high alarm at, for instance set at 10 when alarm sounds carry out a correction dose, would this be done when your previous bolus is nearing it's end...5hrs ?
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Mine's set at 12. I had it set at 15 for a while but I found that wasn't working for me, though I understand how it might for some people. I don't necessarily worry when it goes off, depending on when it happens.
 
I have my high alarm set at 9.2 but that is because I follow a low carb diet so my food rarely spikes me that high initially but protein release 2-3 hours later can cause my levels to drift up to this level and need a corrective dose and I use Fiasp which turns into a complete wimp once my levels get above 10 and you would think I had injected water, so I really need to take action before I get above 10 otherwise I will be there for many hours and need 2 or 3 times as much insulin as if I catch it below 10.
My low alarm is set at 4.5 as I respond very quickly to a well chewed jelly baby or two and if I set the low alarm higher and it goes off, I often get distracted and forget to keep an eye on it and then end up hypo because I don't want to eat carbs when my levels are above 4.5 unless I have to. I am very happy tootling along on 4.8 or 5.0 and my low carb approach means I don't have many sudden drops. This works well for me but may not work for other people.

As regards worrying about when my next bolus or basal will be, your basal doesn't factor into this situation. You take it when you normally take it and when you inject bolus insulin has no real bearing on it. As regards doing a correction between meals, you can certainly do it but you have to remember that that insulin will still be working when you inject for the next meal so you would not do a correction with that next meal, just inject for the carbs you are going to eat, because that mid meal correction is still working...... For instance if you at lunch at 12noon and by 4.30pm your levels were at 15 and most of the bolus insulin had been used up, then a correction dose at that time would be fine. However that correction dose will be active for 4-5 hours depending upon your insulin, so if you are going to eat 3hours later at 7.30pm and your levels are still high, say 11, then you would only inject enough insulin for the carbs in your meal and not include a correction to bring that 11 down a bit more because there is still insulin in your system from that correction at 4.30pm which should continue to bring it down, so the evening meal bolus should only be for the food you are going to eat. Hope that makes sense.
 
rebrascora said:
I have my high alarm set at 9.2 but that is because I follow a low carb diet so my food rarely spikes me that high initially but protein release 2-3 hours later can cause my levels to drift up to this level and need a corrective dose and I use Fiasp which turns into a complete wimp once my levels get above 10 and you would think I had injected water, so I really need to take action before I get above 10 otherwise I will be there for many hours and need 2 or 3 times as much insulin as if I catch it below 10.
My low alarm is set at 4.5 as I respond very quickly to a well chewed jelly baby or two and if I set the low alarm higher and it goes off, I often get distracted and forget to keep an eye on it and then end up hypo because I don't want to eat carbs when my levels are above 4.5 unless I have to. I am very happy tootling along on 4.8 or 5.0 and my low carb approach means I don't have many sudden drops. This works well for me but may not work for other people.

As regards worrying about when my next bolus or basal will be, your basal doesn't factor into this situation. You take it when you normally take it and when you inject bolus insulin has no real bearing on it. As regards doing a correction between meals, you can certainly do it but you have to remember that that insulin will still be working when you inject for the next meal so you would not do a correction with that next meal, just inject for the carbs you are going to eat, because that mid meal correction is still working...... For instance if you at lunch at 12noon and by 4.30pm your levels were at 15 and most of the bolus insulin had been used up, then a correction dose at that time would be fine. However that correction dose will be active for 4-5 hours depending upon your insulin, so if you are going to eat 3hours later at 7.30pm and your levels are still high, say 11, then you would only inject enough insulin for the carbs in your meal and not include a correction to bring that 11 down a bit more because there is still insulin in your system from that correction at 4.30pm which should continue to bring it down, so the evening meal bolus should only be for the food you are going to eat. Hope that makes sense.
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Got it now....Thanks
 
I set my high alarm at 11 these days and the low at 4.5. I had a tricky day today, as I was building my house this morning. The physical nature of the work lowered my levels quite quickly, so it was a pretty up and down sort of day.
 
Charl said:
certainly ain't easy this diabetes lark...cheers
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Completely agree @Charl

I don’t necessarily think there are right or wrong answers to any if these things - it’s constantly twiddling and fiddling to tweak what you are doing to try to get better results (or get back to “better results” that seem to have disappeared!)
 
My low is set at 5.3 which normally gives time for a biscuit/cracker rather than jelly babies or cola. Or for me to finish what I'm doing. I've also found that some sensors fluctuate wildly and it also gives me time to see if I really have on a downward trend.
High is currently at 12.3 which means I can go for a walk or think about a correction depending on what time of day it is.
 
Defo no right or wrong answer for this one - my low is set at 4.5 as I have high awareness of what is happening (Iknow others are not so fortunate) but will only treat if confirmed on finger prick at 3.5 or lower - my high is set at 15, which may seem high for some but it works for me as I'm not on low carb diet (although I don't eat refined sugars) and I expect a spike after eating - the insulin usually brings it back down in reasonable time - TIR 85% (It's taken me a while to get there though) - it is a very personal thing
 
I think how you react to a high BG depends on why it has happened.

I know that I have occasions where I have eaten the ‘wrong thing’ (for me) and just accept that this will cause a spike. I know that I have done an appropriate bolus, so I will let it run its course, and only be concerned if it stays high for longer than I expect.

If a high alert goes off (for me at 14) and I have no idea why then I will be checking my cannula site (on a pump) and insulin cartridge. It can also be because of impending illness and I am getting the rise about a day early as my body starts working on whatever is about to hit.

I am using HCL now so a lot of the work of sorting out spikes and illness is done for me, with micro boluses applied by the algorithm. I still go off piste at times and accept the consequences .

Whatever system we use it involves lots of tweaking, checking and changing and as you said @Charl it ain’t easy.
 
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