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Securing Libre sensor

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
SB2015

SB2015

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I have just put on my first sensor for the Libre.

There was some suggestion that they do not stay stuck for the full 14 days. Has anyone used tape over it, or with hole in the middle to help it stay on.

Does anyone cover theirs in a shower to help it stay stuck.

I am waiting the 24 hours before activating to let it settle and then pin to do the first overnight basal test whilst asleep!!,
 
I tend to put a strip of micropore tape over it, just for belt and braces, because they are so expensive I couldn't bear it if it fell off. I don't bother with a hole in the middle. But last time I tried to prise mine off at the end of the 14 days, it took me ages. I'm sure they've changed the sticky stuff, it's never been so well stuck before. It took five minutes of picking away at it before I got a bit loosened, then the whole thing peeled off OK.
 
I've never put anything sticky over the top but I am considering doing so, will probably try tegaderm. Had a few which started to unstick and did have one just fall off 9 days early which was very annoying.
Jo
 
Mine are always so well attached that some skin comes off too when I finally manage to priiiiise it off...phew! So no extra tape needed here, or covering it up in the shower, etc. Good luck, SB!
 
We don't put anything on for baths or showers, daughter is doing swimming at school tomorrow though and we are going to put some Tegaderm on the top for that. Someone I know who has a Libre does that and says it works well. We've got 10 days to go on current sensor so don't want to risk losing it if we can help it!

I hope you will find your Libre as useful as we do, it's a godsend and an eye opener as well as making basal testing rather easy! I find just knowing whether your blood sugars are rising or falling is extremely useful. E.g.tonight, just put daughter to bed, she was reading 6.6 which I would have thought fantastic on a finger prick, but Libre showed down arrow which means she was dropping fast - not so good, especially after the mega-hypo we had a couple of nights ago 😱 So I suggested she eat one jelly baby before cleaning her teeth. Half an hour later she was reading 5.1 and level, so I think Mr. JB has done his job:D
Exercise was nothing to do with it this time though, think I might have to adjust her tea time carb ratio. Have already dropped her basal a bit because she spent most of last night in the low 4s and high 3s (corrected one hypo but she dropped again 😱). Unfortunately we are now into the realms of puberty hormones, a few weeks ago I had to ramp everything up quite a lot because I was struggling to get daughter into single figures, now it seems we are having to go back the other way for a while. And this is how it will be for the next few years, I'm told 😡
 
Well hope her father is accepting the full blame for her being a girl, Sally! LOL
 
I've never had any problems, although you may find you need to be a little more thoughtful when you take off a t-shirt or jacket. I have once properly detached one in its last four hours after it snagged on the arm of a t-shirt I was taking off.

I've also found that, aside from monitoring your blood sugar, a Libre sensor is also a handy device for monitoring just how often you walk into door frames!
 
Thanks for all the advice.
Sally have you thought of using a different profile for different times of the month.
I had one student who found that worked well for her.
 
LOL - thanks, we're not quite that far into puberty yet - but when the time comes I think it will be a good idea!
 
Oh yes. I have just read the footer on your message!! A little while to go before all that.

Thanks for your ideas and encouragement.
 
I've never put anything over it (I'm allergic to most adhesives). I go swimming and everything and it's not a problem.
 
I do use something over the top, as my skin is quite acidic and tends to works less well with adhesives.
I use Hypafix - bought a massive roll off Amazon for not much money. Works a treat.
 
trophywench said:
Well hope her father is accepting the full blame for her being a girl, Sally! LOL
Click to expand...
LOL indeed - hubby reckoned he didn't know that it's the man who decides the sex of the child - he said he didn't pay attention in biology lessons at school because he didn't think he needed to know about it!

Although boys do get puberty hormones too, just different ones o_O

@SB2015 - might only be a year or two before we begin all the monthly malarkey, she's definitely in line to start early 😱😱😱
 
On Swimming they told me I had to get out every 20 min to dry off the sensor, otherwise it would no longer work. Sally, how long is your daughter's swimming session? Does she do this?
 
Ah well an old lady who lived near us when I was little - told my dad one day 'That anyone can make a boy - it takes a Real Man to make a girl!' and my dad was exceedingly happy to hear that being dad to two girls.

It is true that the male sperm swim more strongly than the girls though, and should therefore have more chance of scoring a bulls eye - so it wasn't just an Old Wives tale! - even though it was attributed to the wrong reason!
 
SB2015 said:
On Swimming they told me I had to get out every 20 min to dry off the sensor, otherwise it would no longer work. Sally, how long is your daughter's swimming session? Does she do this?
Click to expand...
The swimming lessons are half an hour. The first week we had no choice but to just risk it (sensor only had 2 days left anyway), it stayed on and was fine afterwards, although there was a slight gap in the graph at the time of the swimming lesson, almost as if it didn't like being wet but recovered afterwards.
Today we covered it with Tegaderm and there is no gap, so it seems as if as well as keeping it stuck in it had kept it waterproof too! I didn't know about the 20 minute thing so didn't tell daughter to do it.
 
Just checked in the book of words, page 67 do not take your sensor deeper than 1 m or immerse it longer than 30 minutes in water Ie bathing, showering and swimming.
One of my sensors got wet once accidentally in the bath and it stopped working completely and that was only a couple of minutes as I dried it off immediately. For this reason I don't swim with sensor on, hence not been swimming since started on insulin because scared to leave sensor off for a few days. Also when bath don't get upper arm wet, make sure I have a bath the night the sensor expire se so remove and give arm a good scrub then before applying new sensor
Jo
 
Only used the one sensor so far so not a lot to go on but although it was stuck down really well I noticed after a few days the edges of the tape lifting slightly. Not sure it would have fallen off but not wanting to take the risk I used some of the micropore type tape over the sensor to make sure it held in place. I suffer my eczema anyway but it was a bad mistake on my part as my sensitive skin reacted with this tape causing an eczema type rash. When the 14 days were up the sensor came off very easily and wouldn't have lasted much longer.

When the next one goes on I'll just have to risk it without any extra tape.
 
Thanks for all the information. People's experiences are all so different. I shall just have to wait and see. I still have three more weeks post spinal op before they will let me swim so this is a good time to be starting with the sensor.
 
I find micropore tape doesn't stick very well anyway!
 
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