Non Invasive BS Monitor

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Kevin Marx

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Type 2
I am wondering does anyone use a non-skin prick monitor for blood sugar checking?

I have been checking mine every day for about 2 years and I had my official doctor's diagnosis yesterday.

Is there a way to monitor without piercing the skin and a way that is reliable?
 
Simple answer is "NO" There are watches being touted but they are not in any way reliable. The constant glucose monitors that many of us use which consist of a sensor with and a phone app and are applied for a set number of days still pierce the skin, but it is just once when you apply each sensor and then you can get readings from it 24/7 whenever you like (and the data is all stored) over the lifetime of the sensor. The most common system is the Freestyle Libre and if you have a diabetes diagnosis and a suitable phone for the app, you could apply for a free 14 day trial. If you do a search for Freestyle Libre 2 you should find the info. It is made by Abbott Laboratories and one sensor lasts 14 days. There is a needle in the applicator which carries the sensor filament into your arm as the sensor is applied and then immediately retracts, so you don't see it and many people are not even aware that there is a needle. It isn't totally reliable but it is an amazing bit of kit providing you understand it's limitations which I will link below. Basically there are still times when you need to finger prick to confirm your reading if it says you are low or high and you need to take action, but most times I do 2-3 finger pricks a fortnight as compared to 10+ a day before I got Libre. It is however expensive if you don't qualify for it on prescription and many of us self funded before it was prescribed and some people still self fund, sometimes on an intermittent basis. They are the best part of £50 each. If you currently just test once a day or even twice a day, then it is likely not worthwhile, but for those of us on insulin it is invaluable. No harm in doing the free trial though.
I should also say that there are other makes on the market, Dexcom being the main competitor but their system is slightly more complicated because you need a transmitter which lasts 90 days as well as the sensor which lasts 10 days. Anyway, they are all pretty much the same price or more expensive than Libre.

Anyway, hope that info is of help to you.
The limitations of CGM (Constant Glucose Monitoring systems) are listed in this thread....
forum.diabetes.org.uk

CGM limitations and precautions

Moderator Note: This helpful reply was copied from another thread as it details some of the commonly experienced limitations of continuous glucose sensors. My blood sugar has been in perfect range for days now, but although I haven't changed anything, I'm starting to get very short periods of...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk
 
Kevin Marx said:
I am wondering does anyone use a non-skin prick monitor for blood sugar checking?

I have been checking mine every day for about 2 years and I had my official doctor's diagnosis yesterday.

Is there a way to monitor without piercing the skin and a way that is reliable?
Click to expand...

No, otherwise you’d be seeing them everywhere. Don’t be taken in by any that say they are. Finger-pricking or a Libre/CGM are your options.
 
@Kevin Marx as others have said, reviews of the non-invasive meters are terrible and not recommended for medical use.
Is there a reason why you are asking? Is it just interest or do you have problems with finger pricking?
AS mentioned above, there are CGMs but i liken using these just to replace finger pricks to getting a smart phone only to use for texting. The value of a CGM is seeing what happens between finger pricks.
 
rebrascora said:
Simple answer is "NO" There are watches being touted but they are not in any way reliable. The constant glucose monitors that many of us use which consist of a sensor with and a phone app and are applied for a set number of days still pierce the skin, but it is just once when you apply each sensor and then you can get readings from it 24/7 whenever you like (and the data is all stored) over the lifetime of the sensor. The most common system is the Freestyle Libre and if you have a diabetes diagnosis and a suitable phone for the app, you could apply for a free 14 day trial. If you do a search for Freestyle Libre 2 you should find the info. It is made by Abbott Laboratories and one sensor lasts 14 days. There is a needle in the applicator which carries the sensor filament into your arm as the sensor is applied and then immediately retracts, so you don't see it and many people are not even aware that there is a needle. It isn't totally reliable but it is an amazing bit of kit providing you understand it's limitations which I will link below. Basically there are still times when you need to finger prick to confirm your reading if it says you are low or high and you need to take action, but most times I do 2-3 finger pricks a fortnight as compared to 10+ a day before I got Libre. It is however expensive if you don't qualify for it on prescription and many of us self funded before it was prescribed and some people still self fund, sometimes on an intermittent basis. They are the best part of £50 each. If you currently just test once a day or even twice a day, then it is likely not worthwhile, but for those of us on insulin it is invaluable. No harm in doing the free trial though.
I should also say that there are other makes on the market, Dexcom being the main competitor but their system is slightly more complicated because you need a transmitter which lasts 90 days as well as the sensor which lasts 10 days. Anyway, they are all pretty much the same price or more expensive than Libre.

Anyway, hope that info is of help to you.
The limitations of CGM (Constant Glucose Monitoring systems) are listed in this thread....
forum.diabetes.org.uk

CGM limitations and precautions

Moderator Note: This helpful reply was copied from another thread as it details some of the commonly experienced limitations of continuous glucose sensors. My blood sugar has been in perfect range for days now, but although I haven't changed anything, I'm starting to get very short periods of...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your informative reply. Really appreciated
 
helli said:
@Kevin Marx as others have said, reviews of the non-invasive meters are terrible and not recommended for medical use.
Is there a reason why you are asking? Is it just interest or do you have problems with finger pricking?
AS mentioned above, there are CGMs but i liken using these just to replace finger pricks to getting a smart phone only to use for texting. The value of a CGM is seeing what happens between finger pricks.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for replying. I don't have an issue with finger pricks but would prefer not to have too and it is expensive.
 
Kevin Marx said:
Hi thanks for replying. I don't have an issue with finger pricks but would prefer not to have too and it is expensive.
Click to expand...
The main cost of finger pricking is the cost of the strips and there can be as much as 4 times the difference in the price of strips for different monitors so the one you have may be one with expensive strips.
The GlucoNavii or Tee2 are two monitors with the cheaper strips though it is worth shopping around as prices do very.
If yours has expensive strips you would soon recoup the cost of replacing the monitor.
 
Leadinglights said:
The main cost of finger pricking is the cost of the strips and there can be as much as 4 times the difference in the price of strips for different monitors so the one you have may be one with expensive strips.
The GlucoNavii or Tee2 are two monitors with the cheaper strips though it is worth shopping around as prices do very.
If yours has expensive strips you would soon recoup the cost of replacing the monitor.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
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