Libre sensor readings

[Charl]

Me again, sensor fell off other day replaced it with a new one, it's been active around 36hrs, Readings are way out
Sensor..21.9
Meter..13.9
Sensor...20.9
Meter..13.8
Sensor...20.4
Meter...14.7
I have no replacement at the moment, pharmacy expecting them to be in stock on Thursday, considering I ordered nearly a week ago is a disgrace, how long should I be waiting before I take it off and chase up yet another replacement, will the doctor enquire as to why I'm going through the sensors so quick.

 

[helli]

When my levels are in double figures, I only rely on finger pricks as most CGMs (including Libre) are not designed to work accurately at these levels.
Like you, I find they over-egg the highs.

I would focus on getting your levels down to designed levels before deciding upon the accuracy of the sensor.

Libre (and other CGMs) are amazing pieces of kit but only if you understand their limitations. Otherwise, they will just be a frustration.
As a reminder, the key limitations are
- they are designed to work at "normal" levels (between about 4 and 9). Outside of this range, they are unreliable. This is why it is recommended to double check all highs and lows (unless obviously hypo) with a finger prick before treating.
- for some of us, they can take up to 48 hours to bed in. This is why some of us apply them for a day or two before activating.
- CGMs read interstitial fluid rather than blood and use an algorithm to calculate the BG. Interstitial fluid runs about 15 minutes behind blood t recognise changes in BG. Libre takes this into consideration by extrapolating the current trend. This works fine unless the trend changes direction in the last 15 minutes. In that case, Libre can appear to lag further and over estimate the highs or lows. This can mean that a hypo appears to go deeper and take longer to recover.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

will the doctor enquire as to why I'm going through the sensors so quick.

Probably. You should be reporting sensor failures to Abbott (and they should be replacing them). As @helli notes, really these are most useful within the normal range (3-10, say), and I wouldn't take a reading of 21.9 that seriously (other than "you're way too high"). I wouldn't care much if a test strip said 13.9 at the same time: they're both really saying "too high" and not that much else.

 

[Bubbleblower]

In Europe Abbott no longer replaces any sensors at all.
Indeed a disgrace, but the criminals from Abbott can do whatever they want.

If you can, read: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/business/abbott-baby-formula-lawsuits-jones-day.html
(unfortunately it's behind a pay wall now, I can no longer read it myself) to learn more about their company culture.
May be someone can copy it so we can all read it.

The sensors are also way off within the normal range by the way, especially if your BMI is low.

 

[helli]

In Europe Abbott no longer replaces any sensors at all.
Indeed a disgrace, but the criminals from Abbott can do whatever they want.

If you can, read: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/business/abbott-baby-formula-lawsuits-jones-day.html
(unfortunately it's behind a pay wall now, I can no longer read it myself) to learn more about their company culture.
May be someone can copy it so we can all read it.

The sensors are also way off within the normal range by the way, especially if your BMI is low.

This is not my experience.
My BMI is low and I found the Libre incredibly useful.
They were not way off for me.

I understand the frustration of the factory calibration as we are not all like "factory man" but interested to read that may be due to BMI. Do you have an article or research paper that discusses this?

I also found that Abbott were good at replacing the sensors (they replaced every fault I reported) and I live in Europe.

 

[rebrascora]

In Europe Abbott no longer replaces any sensors at all.

What do you base this on? As I understand it, we are considered to be in Europe and they replace them for us and I find Libre extremely accurate for me and the system works incredibly well for me and improves my quality of life and confidence to manage my diabetes well, enormously and I am grateful to Abbott for developing it and the NHS for making it available on prescription. You do have to understand it's limitations though as @helli has very carefully explained above, but even then. it will not suit everyone, but there are plenty of us who find it a gamechanger for our diabetes management.

You may also be encouraging someone to breach copyright by asking them to copy info which is held behind a paywall.
Personally I find your whole post unhelpful and unduly negative. Some of it may be based on your own experience and I appreciate that Libre does not suit everyone but your post is written as if this is the case for everyone and that is absolutely not true.

 

[Lucyr]

will the doctor enquire as to why I'm going through the sensors so quick.

They shouldn’t because you shouldn’t be ordering extra from the dr when they fail you should be getting replacements from abbot. Some issues can be reported online but for inaccurate sensors you need to ring, have 3 pairs of comparison readings ready, taken when you’ve had plenty to drink and the arrow is horizontal

 

[Bubbleblower]

You may also be encouraging someone to breach copyright by asking them to copy info which is held behind a paywall.

Just read it, for you it is not behind a paywall.

My BMI is low

It is a matter of luck I guess, in general the MARD gets higher as the BMI gets lower:
Assessment of factors that determine the mean absolute relative difference in flash glucose monitoring with reference to plasma glucose levels in Japanese subjects without diabetes

The problems I had with the sensors were so big that I even sacrificed several of them and bought an extra reader to be able to show how faulty they were, here are 2 sensors on the same arm at the same time:

I found the Libre incredibly useful.

Me too (if accurate), since they stopped replacing them my A1c rose more than 10%.

Imagine that happening to you and you can't do anything about it except complain on a forum.

 

[Charl]

Set sensor alarm to 5.6 I usually have it on 5, took reading via sensor it says 7, took finger prick reading it says 5, if I wait till alarm I'm going to be well into hypo, was woken this morning didn't feel OK, tested with meter it said 3.7 sensor said 5.7

 

[Birdwatcher]

In Europe Abbott no longer replaces any sensors at all.
Indeed a disgrace, but the criminals from Abbott can do whatever they want.

If you can, read: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/business/abbott-baby-formula-lawsuits-jones-day.html
(unfortunately it's behind a pay wall now, I can no longer read it myself) to learn more about their company culture.
May be someone can copy it so we can all read it.

The sensors are also way off within the normal range by the way, especially if your BMI is low.

Hi,

I have had a different experience. A month ago I contacted Abbott in Finland because of a failed sensor (it could not be activated at all). I got a new sensor by post, also the person in support was very kind.

 

[Bubbleblower]

Hi,

I have had a different experience. A month ago I contacted Abbott in Finland because of a failed sensor (it could not be activated at all). I got a new sensor by post, also the person in support was very kind.

I had that experience many times as well, 4 out of 5 sensors were replaced (I still replaced about 10 sensors myself the past 2 years), but in the Netherlands they stopped doing that September last year.

May be they got fed up because they needed to replace so many sensors, apparently I have a very strong foreign body response. But that is not my fault and also Dexcom has less problems with that (judging by the fact they allow more insertion sites, while the FSL has to be precisely in the right spot).

If it was a consumer product you would get a legal warranty.
IMO sensors should get a warranty as well, so they always have to replace them if they fail.

 

[Tdm]

Had lots of dodgy libre readings, but dexcom is great and off off you can calibrate..i think there are 3rd party apps that let you calibrate libre