No more alcohol wipes with Freestyle Libre 1 and 2

[nonethewiser]

Always use alcohol wipes so will self fund when stopped, definitely helps with adhesion removing oils & deodorants. Still think its cost cutting measure more than anything else.

 

[pm133]

Those alcohol wipes will be costing Abbott a couple of pennies, if that. A truly insigificant amount compared to the profit they are making on the products.
This isn't going to be a cost thing I wouldn't have thought.
I'm more persuaded that it will be a regulatory thing, which is a nightmare for pharma companies when it comes to making even minor modifications to products or processes. Handing some of that control over to another organisation for such a minor thing as an alcohol wipe is not a good risk to be taking so I can understand their position.

I don't use them anyway. Not had any problems with adhesion yet. Removing them is another matter!!

 

[trophywench]

I reckon I've read somewhere that it IS a regulatory issue, because Abbott don't make them hence can't oversee their production and handling before they receive them.

 

[AliW]

I haven't read every single post in this forum, sorry.
My thoughts are that they will hardly save much money on doing this, so I take their excuse at its word, and think they are just plainly incompetent and lacking in care.
If they really wanted to save the planet and needless cost they should stop manufacturing environmentally damaging, plastic throwaway insertors and instead produce reusable ones at a fraction of the price. They could supply just the inner pad (suitably sterilised) which we could mount on a reusable insertor. What say?!

 

[trophywench]

Like I said, it is nothing to do with money. Who uses them anyway?

 

[BigMalc]

I use them, well I say use them. I stick them in my first aid kit!

 

[Lucyr]

Like I said, it is nothing to do with money. Who uses them anyway?

They’re the perfect size for cleaning blood off your finger after testing when out and about now that we can’t lick them any more

 

[helli]

Just wondered whether surgical spirit will help those who want to continue with "alcohol wipes".
I have always been concerned by the additional waste from individually wrapped wipes.
But you could get a bottle of surgical spirit and just use a tissue.

 

[trophywench]

Surgical spirit hardens the skin - rub it on the sides and back of heels to prevent blisters whilst doing very long walks - start doing it well before the walk.

Snag - takes ages for the hard skin to revert back to soft again.

 

[dante01]

Surgical spirit hardens the skin - rub it on the sides and back of heels to prevent blisters whilst doing very long walks - start doing it well before the walk.

Snag - takes ages for the hard skin to revert back to soft again.

Diabetics shouldn't do such things with their feet anyway. Having hardened skin on your feet can disguise or make it harder to notice and diagnose foot ulcers developing beneath the hardened skin!

They stopped prescribing alcoholic swabs for use by type 1 diabetcs injecting insulin decades ago. You don't need to swab the skin and it does more harm than good if continually doing so on a regulat basis.

The main purpose awarded to the swabs in relation to the Libre sensors was to remove any adhesive residue that may have remained from a previous sensor. You can actually get a products such as Lift Plus that do this without alcohol and which are approved for use in medical scenarios. It is basically what is used to remove adhesive residue and or patches in hospitals and what most insulin pump patients have prescribed when they start on an insulinn pump. Not only is it useful when wanting to remove the adhesive residue, it is also handy when wanting to remove the sensor itself. It will make it easier to loosen the sensor and remove it.

While the use alcohol based swabs isn't really a necessity, keeping the skin in the area you ae apply a sensor clean is of some importance. All you really need to do is clean the area with fragrance free soap that hasn't a moisturising element incorporated into it. The absence of fragrance or moisturising agents is simply to aid the adhesion of the sensor and not something that would otherwise harm you or make you more prone to an infection.

If insistent on still using alcohol to swab the area then simply buy a bottle of isopropyl from a pharmacist and use cotton wool dampened with it. You don't need to use or buy swabs.

 

[PhoebeC]

I haven’t been using anything, I just clean my arm. Like you say I don’t clean the area before I injicwt my insulin so I viewed it as the same thing

 

[trophywench]

Well neither do I use anything - I remember my GP saying to me that 'as long as one is socially clean no need to do anything else before jabbing' to which I asked 'what the hell does socially clean mean - not an expression I've heard before? - apparently washing regularly and not smelly etc! - but as the OP is saying her Libre sensors simply fail to stick and fall off, simply trying to be helpful is all.

I've never ever been even asked if pump cannulas stick OK, let alone had anything prescribed to unstick them or remove residue, so clearly I'm not most pump users. Anyway if you have adhesive residue from anything, by far the easiest/kindest way of removing it is with a clean finger dipped in Vaseline, smeared over said residue, left for a minute, then wiped off with same finger, followed by damp flannel. No idea if eg Sudocreme works as well as Vaseline always did and still does.

 

[Kaylz]

No idea if eg Sudocreme works as well as Vaseline always did and still does.

Wouldn't know about Sudocreme but baby oil also works a treat and moisturises too xx

 

[dante01]

You should avoid using anything that moisturises the skin or leaves the skin oily if intending to reapply a sensor in the same area. The oil in the moisturising product makes it less likely that the adhesive with adhere to the skin. It is specifically why Abbott advise against cleaning the area with soap that may include a fragrance or a moisturising element to it.

 

[Kaylz]

@dante01 nobody suggested it if you were applying in the same area but most people don't use the same area as your also advised against that

 

[dante01]

Most people will repeatedly locate the sensor on the same arm (usually the left). It is mainly because it is far easier and more intuative to use the right hand to hold the meter or your phone while scanning the sensor. The opposite is obviously the case if you are left as opposed to being right handed. While inadvisable to locate the sensor exactly where it was previously located, there's enough space on your arm to locate it far enough away from where it was previously located without it causing an issue. It isn't like it is when injecting insulin and you are only applying the sensore once every 14 days so you are unlikely cause issues.

 

[helli]

Most people will repeatedly locate the sensor on the same arm.

That is the opposite of my experience and my observation.
Many people alternate their arms so they can allow one sensor to bed in before activating it.
That gives nearly 2 weeks for the unsensored arm to recover.

As for cleaning/alcohol wipes - my understand is the main purpose is to remove any grease which may stop the sensor sticking properly. This thread is the first time I have seen anyone (including Abbott) suggest that their purpose is to remove any glue from previous sensors.
I apply my sensor as soon as I get out of the shower. I avoid using any soap/shower gel that includes moisturiser and do not moisturise my arm before applying the sensor. It sticks well.

 

[dante01]

Here's a link to the Lift Plus product I mentioned earlier. It is available on prescription:

Lift Plus® | Opus Healthcare

LiftPlus® - A highly effective medical adhesive remover that helps reduce the pain associated with the removal of medical appliances

www.opus-healthcare.co.uk

They do a swab as well as a spray.

 

[dante01]

That is the opposite of my experience and my observation.
Many people alternate their arms so they can allow one sensor to bed in before activating it.
That gives nearly 2 weeks for the unsensored arm to recover.

As for cleaning/alcohol wipes - my understand is the main purpose is to remove any grease which may stop the sensor sticking properly. This thread is the first time I have seen anyone (including Abbott) suggest that their purpose is to remove any glue from previous sensors.
I apply my sensor as soon as I get out of the shower. I avoid using any soap/shower gel that includes moisturiser and do not moisturise my arm before applying the sensor. It sticks well.

Yes, Abbott do suggest the swabs are or were included to remove oily residue:

Since the alcohol wipes are removed, have the instructions to apply the sensor changed?​

No. The instructions for sensor application remain the same—wash the area with a plain soap (non-moisturising and fragrance free) and dry, clean with an alcohol wipe to remove any oily residue that may prevent the sensor from sticking properly and allow the skin to fully dry before applying the sensor. Please refer to the sensor insert for step-by-step instructions.

FAQs | FreeStyle Libre | Abbott

Read our FAQs on FreeStyle Libre 2 and 3 sensors, the FreeStyle Libre 2 Reader, Blood Glucose products, flash glucose monitoring and living with diabetes.

freestylediabetes.co.uk

This is true, but the fact is that the sensors do also leave remnants of adhesive on your skin when you remove them.

As to where you locate it, Abbott have no objections to it being the same arm. The only advise they give it that the site isn't the same place each time you apply the sensor.

To prevent discomfort or skin irritation, you should select a different site other than the one most recently used.

They suggest at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) away from an injection site so I'd assume that to be the same as far as how far away another sensor would need to be applied from where one was previously located? Two weeks is plenty of time for the site to recover.


And you only shower once every 2 weeks do you or are you discarding sensors before they've expired and whenever you shower?


According to Abbott, baby oil is indeed an option if looking for something to remove the adhesive or loosen the sensor when removing one:



Also note that Abbott also suggest using medical adhesive removers similar to the Lift Plus option I mentioned. No idea as to whether or not the options they list are available on prescription though?

 

[mikeyB]

None of those adhesive removers are expensive. I don’t see why they should be on prescription, any more than toilet roll should be prescribed to folk with IBS. I don’t find the sensors leave any residue on the skin, as it happens. Used to leave red circles, till they upgraded the adhesive, which was a useful guide to switching sites.