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Libre sensor

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Susie35

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My husband has been a diabetic type 2 for over 20 years. In 2011 we had a holiday in USA and saw the advertisement for the Libre sensor. As you could only get this on prescription and being on holiday was not registered could not obtain one however luckily and many years later in 2018 he mentioned this machine and sensor to his diabetic nurse at the local surgery and was offered one and we have not looked back. The only thing is because he is type 2 we have to buy the sensors you can get them on prescription if you are type1. No more him pricking fingers and you can get your reading 24/7. The charge for sensors is 49.98 and it lasts for 14 days. I do not think this is fair. What are others views please.
 
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Wow, where are you? Type 2's don't usually get prescribed them and many Type 1's fail to obtain them on prescription, is he on any medication to treat his diabetes? xx
 
I think the Libre wasn’t launched in the US until 2017, a couple of years after it was approved here, so I wonder if it was one of the other CGMs you saw. It’s been difficult to get the Libre prescribed even for Type 1s here, I self funded for a couple of years before I managed to get it prescribed, and then it took me a whole year to jump through all the NHS hoops to get my hands on a prescription.
I’m not saying it shouldn’t be, it would be lovely if everyone who would benefit from one could get one, but we are still quite a long way off, at the moment, the aim is to get 30% of Type 1s prescribed it, which still means 70% of them don’t!
 
Does he find it accurate enough not to even check by finger pricks even occasionally?
 
Hi Robin definitely saw this method in USA in 2011 and we have been paying since 2018. His diabetic consultant at Russell's Hall hospital told him over 18 months ago that they were trying to pressure the health authority to authorize the prescription and told Paul that once the trust agreed he would certainly put them on prescription for him. Our local surgery prescribe them for type 1 so does my daughter in laws sister who is type 1 as I have recently purchased the type 2 and given her the type 1 reader. It had been magic for her and she has now got appointments with her diabetic doctor going forward as they can download the readings. There is no need to prick your fingers if you use this method the machines even highlight when when your bloods are too high or too low.
 
Susie35 said:
There is no need to prick your fingers if you use this method the machines even highlight when when your bloods are too high or too low.
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There is a need to prick, if on a hypo causing medication especially, the Libre does not eliminate the need to prick your finger and low and high readings should always be confirmed via a finger prick, Abbott themselves recommend this in the small print, also if treating a low BG you should recheck via finger prick as the Libre has a time lag behind bloods as they are measuring completely different things, I recently saw someone end up in hospital with DKA and BG's in the 30's because they had fully trusted their Libre reading in the 7's so I can't stress enough how important it is that people still use finger pricks at times to check
 
Susie35 said:
Hi Robin definitely saw this method in USA in 2011 and we have been paying since 2018. His diabetic consultant at Russell's Hall hospital told him over 18 months ago that they were trying to pressure the health authority to authorize the prescription and told Paul that once the trust agreed he would certainly put them on prescription for him. Our local surgery prescribe them for type 1 so does my daughter in laws sister who is type 1 as I have recently purchased the type 2 and given her the type 1 reader. It had been magic for her and she has now got appointments with her diabetic doctor going forward as they can download the readings. There is no need to prick your fingers if you use this method the machines even highlight when when your bloods are too high or too low.
Click to expand...
I would be suprised if any Health Authority rountinely prescribed them for every Type 2 , as many don't even get prescibed a meter to use the finger tests, unless they are Insulin or Hypo causing medication.
 
Then it obviously depends on your circumstances as on no occasion when hubby has been in the hospital have the staff pricked his fingers they have used the reader and the diabetics department at the hospital or gp and daughter in laws sister gp and hospital who are different from hubby's are fully behind it.
 
Susie35 said:
Hi Robin definitely saw this method in USA in 2011 and we have been paying since 2018. His diabetic consultant at Russell's Hall hospital told him over 18 months ago that they were trying to pressure the health authority to authorize the prescription and told Paul that once the trust agreed he would certainly put them on prescription for him. Our local surgery prescribe them for type 1 so does my daughter in laws sister who is type 1 as I have recently purchased the type 2 and given her the type 1 reader. It had been magic for her and she has now got appointments with her diabetic doctor going forward as they can download the readings. There is no need to prick your fingers if you use this method the machines even highlight when when your bloods are too high or too low.
Click to expand...
Ah, Libre as we know it was approved in 2017 in the US (later than here in the U.K.)

Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Approved in US to Replace Routine Fingersticks

Launch by end of 2017 in major pharmacies at lower price than other CGMs; No fingerstick calibration needed, 10-day wear, 12-hour warmup
diatribe.org diatribe.org
But I hadn’t realised there was a previous Abbott product called the Freestyle Navigator, which was more like a CGM than a Flash system, and a rival to the Dexcom CGM, in that it had a transmitter as well as the sensor, and needed calibration.
I can only relate what happens here in Oxfordshire. My GP can't prescribe the Libre, except under the direction of a Consultant. I had to be referred back to the hospital to get mine, and I won’t get upgraded to the Libre 2 until I have my next hospital consultation.
 
Robin said:
Ah, Libre as we know it was approved in 2017 in the US (later than here in the U.K.)

Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Approved in US to Replace Routine Fingersticks

Launch by end of 2017 in major pharmacies at lower price than other CGMs; No fingerstick calibration needed, 10-day wear, 12-hour warmup
diatribe.org diatribe.org
But I hadn’t realised there was a previous Abbott product called the Freestyle Navigator, which was more like a CGM than a Flash system, and a rival to the Dexcom CGM, in that it had a transmitter as well as the sensor, and needed calibration.
I can only relate what happens here in Oxfordshire. My GP can't prescribe the Libre, except under the direction of a Consultant. I had to be referred back to the hospital to get mine, and I won’t get upgraded to the Libre 2 until I have my next hospital consultation.
Click to expand...
Partha Kar is saying on Tweeter tonight that the same places that resisted prescribing the Libre are now resisting swapping patients over to the Libre2.
 
I have been saying that, and it's the same one's who didn't want to fund training for their staff to learn how to deliver carb counting/dose adjustment courses, at UHCW the 2 DSNs and dietician volunteered to pay their own transport, accommodation and food for a week to attend training by BDEC and design their own take on BERTIE, otherwise we still wouldn't be able to have it. nor would they authorise any of us having insulin pumps until NICE said they had to.

My third pump - and the first time I haven't had to sign to say that I will insure it and that I understand they can decide not to fund it any more and take it off me. I did have to sign a 'we can take it off you' agreement when I got my Libre.

Coventry & Rugby CCG AKA Damocles.
 
Susie35 said:
My husband has been a diabetic type 2 for over 20 years. In 2011 we had a holiday in USA and saw the advertisement for the Libre sensor. As you could only get this on prescription and being on holiday was not registered could not obtain one however luckily and many years later in 2018 he mentioned this machine and sensor to his diabetic nurse at the local surgery and was offered one and we have not looked back. The only thing is because he is type 2 we have to buy the sensors you can get them on prescription if you are type1. No more him pricking fingers and you can get your reading 24/7. The charge for sensors is 49.98 and it lasts for 14 days. I do not think this is fair. What are others views please.
Click to expand...
I don’t think it’s fair that type 2 have to pay for them either but nothing is particularly fair for type 2. I was told by a DSN that only a pump would solve some of my issues but that I’d have to pay being type 2 and obviously couldn’t afford it. Libre sensors I also have to pay for, and being type 2 am not allowed on any carb counting or insulin adjustment courses even though I use the same medication regime as type 1s. It’s just the way the system works, that as type 2 are seen as causing it ourselves we aren’t eligible for any of these technologies.
 
@Lucyr the way you speak and put your comments across it appears that your under the illusion that it's all rosy for a Type 1 and we get it easy, this isn't the case and although yes we are funded for pumps it doesn't mean a Type 1 will get one, also if they are successful it hasn't been an easy process and they have still had to fight for it with many not winning the battle so I wouldn't say it's "fair" on Type 1's either to be honest but that's the world we live in
 
Kaylz said:
@Lucyr the way you speak and put your comments across it appears that your under the illusion that it's all rosy for a Type 1 and we get it easy, this isn't the case and although yes we are funded for pumps it doesn't mean a Type 1 will get one, also if they are successful it hasn't been an easy process and they have still had to fight for it with many not winning the battle so I wouldn't say it's "fair" on Type 1's either to be honest but that's the world we live in
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I’m not saying it’s perfect for T1s either, what I’m saying is that if in the OPs case the DSN had recommended a libre sensor, or in my case the DSN had recommended a pump as being the best solution, a T1 would most likely be able to get those. It’s getting the DSN approval that it’s the right course of action that seems the hard part for T1s, there is options for them to get technologies if it helps. For T2 it’s just a flat no, regardless of how much the DSN thinks it would help you.
 
@Lucyr I can't speak for others with type 1 but, in my case, I get nothing because my DSN says it would help. I need approval from my consultant for any treatment and, as I see a different consultant every year, I have no consistency from them.
 
Lucyr said:
I don’t think it’s fair that type 2 have to pay for them either but nothing is particularly fair for type 2. I was told by a DSN that only a pump would solve some of my issues but that I’d have to pay being type 2 and obviously couldn’t afford it. Libre sensors I also have to pay for, and being type 2 am not allowed on any carb counting or insulin adjustment courses even though I use the same medication regime as type 1s. It’s just the way the system works, that as type 2 are seen as causing it ourselves we aren’t eligible for any of these technologies.
Click to expand...

Yes I find this really frustrating too @Lucyr :(

The right technology should be offered to the right person regardless of which ‘diabetes type’ box their tick happens to be in IMO.

There are frustrations of access all round, of course, but the blanket ‘no’ for many motivated, proactive T2s - whether that’s for test strips, carb counting courses, or other technologies - has always seemed very unfair to me.

Prescription access to Libre for a proportion of T1s who meet certain criteria is only fairly recent of course, and for many years there was deemed ‘insufficient evidence’ because of the fairly high cost of the monitoring technology.

Sadly I believe it will be a long while before that changes for T2 :( :(, because the bulk of the evidence/research for Libre is for T1 populations so doesn’t apply... and because there is that background of peculiarly constructed studies that was taken to show that self monitoring for T2s “didn’t help” unless they were on hypoglycaemic meds - which couldn’t be further from the experiences on the forum - where checking BG levels around food is so often an absolutely key part of diabetes management.

Hopefully things will move in the right direction, but I fear it will be a gradual process. :(
 
I'm about to move onto the Libre 2. My health board NHS Lothian, prescribe them as they found the overall control and health benefits for us Type 1 are superb. I can understand why they just prescribe to type 1 as in Scotland there is just over 20k folk with type 1 but over 300k and growing with type 2. The cost for prescribing would be far too much.
 
@Stavross actually Scotland are the only nation that will consider prescribing a Libre to Type 2's if they are on intensive insulin therapy xx
 
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