New to Libre2

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Ellen Palmer

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I was fitted with Libre2 yesterday. I have it 24 hours as I heard it takes that time to settle down. However, it is still inaccurate when comparing to finger prick. It just said I was 3.9, took a finger prick test and that was 5.5. Earlier it said I was 4.3, finger prick was 3.6. How long does it actually take for it to settle down? Are they worth having? I'm not impressed at the moment :(
 
Those results sound pretty normal @Ellen Palmer The benefits IMO are the direction arrows and the ability to look at the graph and see the trends of your blood sugar over 24hrs. Your results are what I was getting when I first got the Libre and I found them sufficient. If unsure, I fingerpricked. The Libre then became very inaccurate for me, like 3 or 4mmol out, but when it worked it was good, as long as I remembered it’s limitations.
 
Those are fairly typical, I think. Think of it not so much as replacing test strips (which themselves have inaccuracies) for giving spot values, but rather showing what's happening when you'd previously not have measured at all. Even with the spot value you don't just get "3.9", you get 3.9 together with an arrow: an indication of the change.

Realistically, in terms of what you'd do, how much difference is 5.5 and 3.9, or 4.3 and 3.6? Would your health be any different if you acted based on the Libre reported values instead of what your test strips said? (I seem to remember a study suggesting that doing that is fine, even when the CGM is less accurate than test strips though I don't have a reference for that.)
 
Bruce Stephens said:
Those are fairly typical, I think. Think of it not so much as replacing test strips (which themselves have inaccuracies) for giving spot values, but rather showing what's happening when you'd previously not have measured at all. Even with the spot value you don't just get "3.9", you get 3.9 together with an arrow: an indication of the change.

Realistically, in terms of what you'd do, how much difference is 5.5 and 3.9, or 4.3 and 3.6? Would your health be any different if you acted based on the Libre reported values instead of what your test strips said? (I seem to remember a study suggesting that doing that is fine, even when the CGM is less accurate than test strips though I don't have a reference for that.)
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Bruce Stephens said:
Those are fairly typical, I think. Think of it not so much as replacing test strips (which themselves have inaccuracies) for giving spot values, but rather showing what's happening when you'd previously not have measured at all. Even with the spot value you don't just get "3.9", you get 3.9 together with an arrow: an indication of the change.

Realistically, in terms of what you'd do, how much difference is 5.5 and 3.9, or 4.3 and 3.6? Would your health be any different if you acted based on the Libre reported values instead of what your test strips said? (I seem to remember a study suggesting that doing that is fine, even when the CGM is less accurate than test strips though I don't have a reference for that.)
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Well if you were out and about and the Libra said 4.3 but you were actually 3.6 and you waited longer to act, you could become unwell and possibly collapse. So that would impact on your health and anxiety. I've only been diagnosed since Sept so it's all new and a bit nerve wracking at times bring to grips with that and Libre2 now. .
 
Inka said:
Those results sound pretty normal @Ellen Palmer The benefits IMO are the direction arrows and the ability to look at the graph and see the trends of your blood sugar over 24hrs. Your results are what I was getting when I first got the Libre and I found them sufficient. If unsure, I fingerpricked. The Libre then became very inaccurate for me, like 3 or 4mmol out, but when it worked it was good, as long as I remembered it’s limitations.
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Thank you. I was hoping for less finger pricking but with these anomalies, it's not looking that way at the moment.
 
Ellen Palmer said:
Thank you. I was hoping for less finger pricking but with these anomalies, it's not looking that way at the moment.
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I am using the dexcom not libre but I have a similar but inverted situation. I am caught in a legal tussle at the moment that centres on my ability to control my diabetes and I must avoid low readings. I had a reading on my dexcom of 2.6 a week ago and although I started to take sugars in much earlier it kept dropping. My finger prick reading was 5.3, dexcom 3.1 and finger prick reading 4.9, dexcom 2.6. These data points are critical for me so I photographed the readings, when I spoke to Dexcom they said that the differential should never be more than 15% out and to take the sensor off and replace it if it happens again.
I finger prick 4 -6 imes daily but a cgm is extremely useful.
 
Ellen Palmer said:
Well if you were out and about and the Libra said 4.3 but you were actually 3.6 and you waited longer to act, you could become unwell and possibly collapse. So that would impact on your health and anxiety. I've only been diagnosed since Sept so it's all new and a bit nerve wracking at times bring to grips with that and Libre2 now. .
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If you’re out and about and your Libre says 4.3, you should eat and check anyway. Even if it were actually a 4.3 unless it’s going up, you’re going to need more glucose/carbs to walk, talk and think. Also, you should feel the 3.6. If you’re not feeling approaching hypos in the low 4s you’re probably running too low.
 
Ellen Palmer said:
Well if you were out and about and the Libra said 4.3 but you were actually 3.6 and you waited longer to act, you could become unwell and possibly collapse. So that would impact on your health and anxiety. I've only been diagnosed since Sept so it's all new and a bit nerve wracking at times bring to grips with that and Libre2 now. .
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True, but it would probably be wiser to act if anything's saying 4.3, just in case. I'm perhaps just less trusting of test strips, knowing that 4.0 just isn't that far away from 3.6 in terms of the error bars.
 
Ellen Palmer said:
Well if you were out and about and the Libra said 4.3 but you were actually 3.6 and you waited longer to act, you could become unwell and possibly collapse. So that would impact on your health and anxiety. I've only been diagnosed since Sept so it's all new and a bit nerve wracking at times bring to grips with that and Libre2 now. .
Click to expand...
It sounds like you’re just looking at the number not the arrow. Also, you’re assuming a fingerprick is completely accurate. If you did multiple fingerpricks you could easily have one finger say 4.3 and a different finger say 3.6. None of these things are 100% accurate

Note the below is an example of the questions you could ask yourself I’m not literally asking you these questions.

You need to look at the overall picture not just the number. So if libre says 4.3, what direction is the arrow, is it going up or down? Are you active and walking about, or about to drive, or sitting on the sofa having just had a snack, or about to eat your tea? When did you last take insulin? The circumstances as well as the arrow, and the insulin on board, together help you inform your decision on what action to take.

Having said that, if the libre is stressing you out then you don’t have to use it, you do still have the option of sticking to fingerpricks.
 
Ellen Palmer said:
I was fitted with Libre2 yesterday. I have it 24 hours as I heard it takes that time to settle down. However, it is still inaccurate when comparing to finger prick. It just said I was 3.9, took a finger prick test and that was 5.5. Earlier it said I was 4.3, finger prick was 3.6. How long does it actually take for it to settle down? Are they worth having? I'm not impressed at the moment :(
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Hi Ellen,
Like you I am new to all this, diagnosed October. We have had a huge amount of stuff to get our heads around and sometimes a new thing being added in can seem overwhelming.
I’ve had my Libre for about six weeks and it does take some getting used to the differences between it and finger pricks. But it is a definite game changer. When out and about if it tells me I’m going low (warns me at 4.4) then I will eat a jelly baby or 2, or a couple of biscuits, especially if the arrow is pointing down. If I feel myself going low and it hasn’t pinged me I look at it and decide if I need jelly babies based on arrow direction.
The readings when I finger prick are always different, and I use those combined with the Libre arrow direction to decide what to do.
 
Thank you. I'll persevere and try to take the whole picture into consideration. I think anxiety plays a part some of the time with me as well as it is definitely a lot to take on board. I'm sure it will soon be second nature. I'm still in the honeymoon period without insulin as well
 
Lucyr said:
It sounds like you’re just looking at the number not the arrow. Also, you’re assuming a fingerprick is completely accurate. If you did multiple fingerpricks you could easily have one finger say 4.3 and a different finger say 3.6. None of these things are 100% accurate

Note the below is an example of the questions you could ask yourself I’m not literally asking you these questions.

You need to look at the overall picture not just the number. So if libre says 4.3, what direction is the arrow, is it going up or down? Are you active and walking about, or about to drive, or sitting on the sofa having just had a snack, or about to eat your tea? When did you last take insulin? The circumstances as well as the arrow, and the insulin on board, together help you inform your decision on what action to take.

Having said that, if the libre is stressing you out then you don’t have to use it, you do still have the option of sticking to fingerpricks.
Click to expand...
Time will tell, I'm sure. Thank you x
 
Inka said:
If you’re out and about and your Libre says 4.3, you should eat and check anyway. Even if it were actually a 4.3 unless it’s going up, you’re going to need more glucose/carbs to walk, talk and think. Also, you should feel the 3.6. If you’re not feeling approaching hypos in the low 4s you’re probably running too low.
Click to expand...
It's hit and miss, sometimes I feel that I'm going low at 4.3, other times I am only starting to feel it at 3.6 with a little vision disturbance. Thank you x
 
Since interissual fluid (IF) lags behind blood glucose then if your sugars are falling, and you have taken blood glucuse and your cgm says 3.4 and your monitor says 5, it could be one or more of the following
A/ your glucose is going up but it hasn't reached your IF yet
B/ your cgm is extrapolating ahead and has overshot (more a libre thing, i don't think dexcom has such an algorithym)
C/ margins of error
I think A and B are more lkely
 
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