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Muck on the filament

H

helli

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
For boring and irrelevant reasons, after a few years of using the Medtrum CGM, I have temporarily be using a Libre 2+.
This my first experience of the 2+ and I was nervous of returning to a CGM that was "factory calibrated" because I always found the Libre 2 to be randomly variable when compared with finger pricks, even when fast changing BG, compression lows, interstitial delays and "bedding in time" were taken into consideration.

For the first week I was pleasantly surprised at how close my finger prick readings were to the LIbre 2+.
However, I am now on Day 9 and the pleasantness has soured - currently, LibreLink is saying 11.3, finger prick is saying 7.1. A few hours ago, one said 5.4 and the other said 8.1. I started to notice a divergence yesterday afternoon.

In another thread, @harbottle mentioned
Over the two weeks, the sensor readings tend to be less accurate over time, especially towards the end of the the life-span (Due to 'muck' on the filament.)
Click to expand...
This is not something I had read previously (thanks for the insight harbottle). I am starting to suspect I have a mucky arm as this experience is not unique to Libre - I noticed something similar with the Medtrum CGM but the ability to calibrate allows me to overcome the variations.

I know I can report this to Abbott and they will probably replace the sensor. I also know I could use a third party app with Libre (I used to do this) to get calibration ability. But I wonder if my arms are muckier than most. Is this something others have noticed? Noticed the variation in the readings over time; not my mucky arms.
And, given it is "internal muckiness", is there anything I can do to minimise the affect? I am well hydrated and externally clean.
 
I’ve never noticed that with my Dexcom. In fact, I often notice it the other way round, ie my sensor suddenly becomes super-accurate for the last day or two. I’m trying to imagine internal arm murkiness and failing, but it might be worth preparing your arm the day before insertion so that there’s no dry skin and it’s clean and free of moisturisers. One thing I will say is that most shower gels leave a kind of film on your skin. Bar soap is much better IMO.
 
Inka said:
I’ve never noticed that with my Dexcom. In fact, I often notice it the other way round, ie my sensor suddenly becomes super-accurate for the last day or two. I’m trying to imagine internal arm murkiness and failing, but it might be worth preparing your arm the day before insertion so that there’s no dry skin and it’s clean and free of moisturisers. One thing I will say is that most shower gels leave a kind of film on your skin. Bar soap is much better IMO.
Click to expand...
Before applying a sensor, I usually wipe my arm with surgical spirit to remove any external muck although I don’t use moisturiser on my arms and really dislike any “greasy” shower gels or creams. So I don’t think it is anything external getting on the filament when I apply it.
 
Yes. I read a paper a few years ago that looked into the readings and they suspected that after 2 weeks the immune system had built 'stuff' around it and it affected readings as it changes how the fluid gets into the filament.

I think lots of other things can affect them over time as well - oils getting into the injection site, etc.
 
harbottle said:
I read a paper a few years ago that looked into the readings and they suspected that after 2 weeks the immune system had built 'stuff' around it and it affected readings as it changes how the fluid gets into the filament.
Click to expand...
And yet Eversense produces one that lasts a year. Different (it's embedded) but is presumably not that different.
 
It's completely different:

Don't use an enzyme to detect glucose (It uses a fluorescent based mechanism that isn't as susceptible to body's foreign body response.)
Has to be calibrated daily with a finger-prick
Has a silicon coating based coating on the filament that helps prevent as much build up.

gluroo.com

Eversense CGM: Should You Look Into It? - Gluroo

Here's a detailed overview of Eversense 3. Read on to find out if the first long wear CGM is the right choice for you.
gluroo.com gluroo.com
 
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