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Options to Libra 2

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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TonyB

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Being a pensioner, not a poor one but just a bit above getting any "Benefits" of any kind.I am finding £100 a month a bit of a stretch on my Spending money.
Is there a cheaper way to continously measure my blood sugars. ?
You read about these Wrist Watches on Amazon that do the job but read on and get told they do not work
Any suggestions as £1300 a year for a disc to stick on your arm is expensive
 
The “best” cheaper i option I found when I was self funding was to not use a Libre all the time.
I used my Libre as a tool to learn how my body coped with different foods and activities but didn’t need this all the time.
I would spend two weeks with a sensor analysing the results and learning the best approach for the food I ate over the next four weeks without a Libre. Then I would repeat again learning more about food and activities with the next two weeks of Libre.
Assuming your diabetes is not managed with insulin, without the risk of hypos, do you need Libre all the time.
 
TonyB said:
Is there a cheaper way to continously measure my blood sugars. ?
Click to expand...
Do you need to continuously monitor your bgs? What are you doing with the information, what decisions are you using the data for?
 
Once , things settle down if they ever do and I am happy with after meal spikes I will stop the Libra 2--- BUT Hypos do creep up on me usually in the middle of the night . Not often. Occasionally at work early pm. I have Jelly Babies with me Always but not a roll or anything to back them up.
 
TonyB said:
Once , things settle down if they ever do and I am happy with after meal spikes I will stop the Libra 2--- BUT Hypos do creep up on me usually in the middle of the night . Not often. Occasionally at work early pm. I have Jelly Babies with me Always but not a roll or anything to back them up.
Click to expand...
how are you using the libre information to stop after meal spikes if you don’t use blood insulin? Could it be whatever dietary changes you are making that are causing the hypos?

Many of us coped with hypos for many many years before cgm, so long as you have warning signs the occasional hypo isn’t a concern and I wouldn’t say the libre is a requirement for them. If you don’t have any warning signs for hypos then you can perhaps use this to get you cgm on prescription, but will also likely lose driving licence.

You don’t specifically need a roll or sandwich after a hypo. If it’s a long time till your next meal and so you do need some slow carbs you could carry a cereal bar or wrapped biscuit or similar.
 
TonyB said:
Once , things settle down if they ever do and I am happy with after meal spikes I will stop the Libra 2--- BUT Hypos do creep up on me usually in the middle of the night . Not often. Occasionally at work early pm. I have Jelly Babies with me Always but not a roll or anything to back them up.
Click to expand...
Are the hypos through the night genuine hypos or "compression lows" ie a false low reading caused by lying on the sensor in your sleep? It is really important to double check any low Libre readings through the night with a finger prick before treating unless you genuinely feel hypo, because false low readings due to lying on the sensor in your sleep are a common failing of the sensors.
 
TonyB said:
BUT Hypos do creep up on me usually in the middle of the night . Not often.
Click to expand...

Do you also have a fingerprick meter @TonyB ?

Overnight, if you lie on the sensor it can compress the interstitial fluid ans prevent it flowing properly around the sensor filament, which can give rise to false low readings.

On the sensor trace, this can sometimes look like a steady-ish line with a sharp dip downwards, then back up again.

And yes those alleged non-invasive glucose watches aren’t regulated, and are not worth wasting your money on.

I do wonder if a fingerstick meter with affordable strips might offer you a cost-effective option? Something like the Gluco Navii, Tee2, or Contour Blue with 50 strips for £10, would be the equivalent of almost 250 strips for the cost of a 14 day sensor.

With before and after checks 3 meals every day, and a couple of extra random checks, you’d get over 31 days from those, sonabout half the cost, for very good coverage.
 
TonyB said:
Being a pensioner, not a poor one but just a bit above getting any "Benefits" of any kind.I am finding £100 a month a bit of a stretch on my Spending money.
Is there a cheaper way to continously measure my blood sugars. ?
You read about these Wrist Watches on Amazon that do the job but read on and get told they do not work
Any suggestions as £1300 a year for a disc to stick on your arm is expensive
Click to expand...
My main Diabetes Nurse has talked my Doctor into putting my Libra 2s on Prescription. Thats a weight off my mind and bank balance.
 
TonyB said:
My main Diabetes Nurse has talked my Doctor into putting my Libra 2s on Prescription. Thats a weight off my mind and bank balance.
Click to expand...
That's great news @TonyB - you obviously find it a benefit to your diabetes management so well done to your DSN who has persuaded your GP to prescribe it (and definitely don't go anywhere near those dodgy watches!)
 
TonyB said:
My main Diabetes Nurse has talked my Doctor into putting my Libra 2s on Prescription. Thats a weight off my mind and bank balance.
Click to expand...
thats great news @TonyB to hear they are now going to prescribe your CGM’s :party:
 
Just had my first failure of the Libra 2 Plus.
Replacing the run out one . Pushed the applicator onto my arm took it away and the needle fell on the floor.
Good job it was the first on out of the box. Second one no problem
Just contacted Abbots on the phone and they are sending me a replacement.
 
mashedupmatt said:
That's great news @TonyB - you obviously find it a benefit to your diabetes management so well done to your DSN who has persuaded your GP to prescribe it (and definitely don't go anywhere near those dodgy watches!)
Click to expand...
I have certainly looked at all the 'Dodgy Watches' on line. Also noted the the amount or people
who have said 'They don't work'.
Pity ...it would be handy if someone could produce a working one.
 
TonyB said:
Just had my first failure of the Libra 2 Plus.
Replacing the run out one . Pushed the applicator onto my arm took it away and the needle fell on the floor.
Good job it was the first on out of the box. Second one no problem
Just contacted Abbots on the phone and they are sending me a replacement.
Click to expand...
Did the sensor stick when the needle fell on the floor and if so, did you try it to see if it worked. The needle is part of the applicator not the sensor, so it may have still delivered the filament into your arm OK but just not retracted properly into the applicator afterwards. Just thinking for future reference in case you didn't check to see if it worked before discarding it.
 
rebrascora said:
Did the sensor stick when the needle fell on the floor and if so, did you try it to see if it worked. The needle is part of the applicator not the sensor, so it may have still delivered the filament into your arm OK but just not retracted properly into the applicator afterwards. Just thinking for future reference in case you didn't check to see if it worked before discarding it.
Click to expand...
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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