TYPE 1''s WHO FINGER PRICK AND DON'T USE THE LIBRE

[Sally71]

We used to use both, always finger prick for calculating boluses and when coming out of a hypo because it’s more accurate. We’d scan as well at mealtimes just to check that the sensor was reasonably accurate. Then the rest of the time we would just scan because it’s easier and you don’t need the numbers to be quite so precise, as long as it says low when she’s low and high when she’s high and in the middle when she’s in the middle that’s close enough most of the time.
Also knowing whether rising or falling can be extremely useful, if you get a 4.1 a finger prick can’t tell you whether you are going up or down and that is very useful to know, do you need to find the hypo treatment or not? Basal testing is a complete doddle with a sensor too, especially overnight, no need to keep waking yourself up to test every hour or two, just look at your graph in the morning, if it’s roughly level then your basal is correct!

Now we have Dexcom because it talks to the pump and the pump will cut off all insulin delivery if she’s dropping too low, and we find the Dexcom so accurate that we hardly do any finger pricks any more (every time we compare it with a finger prick it’s only 0.2 or less away)

Dexcom and Libre 2 also have alarms when you are heading too high or too low, so that if you can’t yet feel that something isn’t right it will tell you and you can do something about it before it gets really bad, don’t know how we managed without those before!

 

[trophywench]

Because on a pump we can change our basal rate by the hour rather than by the jab ie only once or twice a day, it facilitates better fine-tuning of our basal insulin too.

So if we always need a correction with eg our lunch bolus, we can have a look and see if that happens every day, if so, assess what time it starts increasing and adjust our basal insulin around that time to eliminate the increase. It's all 'test review adjust' in an advanced format.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

We used to use both, always finger prick for calculating boluses and when coming out of a hypo because it’s more accurate. We’d scan as well at mealtimes just to check that the sensor was reasonably accurate. Then the rest of the time we would just scan because it’s easier and you don’t need the numbers to be quite so precise, as long as it says low when she’s low and high when she’s high and in the middle when she’s in the middle that’s close enough most of the time.
Also knowing whether rising or falling can be extremely useful, if you get a 4.1 a finger prick can’t tell you whether you are going up or down and that is very useful to know, do you need to find the hypo treatment or not? Basal testing is a complete doddle with a sensor too, especially overnight, no need to keep waking yourself up to test every hour or two, just look at your graph in the morning, if it’s roughly level then your basal is correct!

Now we have Dexcom because it talks to the pump and the pump will cut off all insulin delivery if she’s dropping too low, and we find the Dexcom so accurate that we hardly do any finger pricks any more (every time we compare it with a finger prick it’s only 0.2 or less away)

Dexcom and Libre 2 also have alarms when you are heading too high or too low, so that if you can’t yet feel that something isn’t right it will tell you and you can do something about it before it gets really bad, don’t know how we managed without those before!

When you look at your graph in the morning is it the graph on the Libre app?

 

[Sally71]

When you look at your graph in the morning is it the graph on the Libre app?

No I just used to look on the reader itself. My daughter had the app on her phone, that might have shown it more clearly but for the purposes of a basal test you can see easily enough whether the line is level or not just by looking at the reader.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

If I were to use the libre again it would have to be whenever I do a finger prick ie on waking, before meals and bedtime but I would want to use the current BG rather than sensor glucose for bolusing

 

[Kaylz]

@

When you log your finger prick reading in the scan reading do you mean on the LibreLink app diary in the notes section?
Re the 2 readings ie the finger prick reading and the sensor reading which do you go with for bolus advice?
If the readings aren't close which do you go with then?

Yes on the librelink app, I use the finger prick to bolus but I calculate my own doses I don't use a bolus advisor and haven't for years now, if they aren't close then bloods is what I use xx

 

[Lisa66]

@Lisa66 please can I ask the same question ie if you're finger pricking and basing your bolus on the finger pricking/current BG why do you use a sensor?

Hi. Well for the same reasons others have mentioned really. It gives me more information....kind of putting meat on the bones of the finger prick result I guess.

I trust that the BG result is correct at the moment that I do it (before meals and before I go to bed), but I can adjust insulin accordingly if I need to by what the arrows are telling me. That doesn’t mean that on occasion when I’m out for the day, if it’s awkward to do a finger prick, that I haven’t injected based on Libre result...as again I’ll have the arrows to help me decide what to do, plus I can very easily scan my arm to see what’s going on later.

Today, a bit before I drove to the dentist I did a FP test which showed 5.4...lovely...however, I scanned my arm and it showed an arrow going down...so I had a snack which I wouldn’t have done otherwise. It’s helped me a lot recently as I make basal adjustments, as we head into the warmer weather, heading off many lows...and yesterday with my very random highs. It makes it much easier for me to see what’s going on and not over correct either way. In times before Libre, this would have taken so many finger pricks. I’ve set alarms on the Libre 2 to head of hypos...doesn’t always work, but better to find out ahead of time, rather than when I’m feeling hit and wobbly and taking longer to sort...especially when I’m out walking.

BUT, I completely understand why some people don’t get on with them, don’t find them helpful or reliable, don’t want something stuck on their arm or are just happy doing what they’ve always done and works for them....and I get that some people feel it makes them anxious. Personally, for me, for my diabetes I find it very helpful.

Maybe don’t even listen to all the opinions on here, (I’d get very confused) we’re not you and indeed sometimes too many opinions aren’t helpful...if you have a good relationship with your DSN have a good chat with her / him and stick with it and be happy...don’t over think things. You can always change your mind at a later date. 🙂X

 

[Martin62]

Hi, I'm just wondering apart from myself if there are any Type 1"s who does finger pricking instead of using the libre?

Hi, I'm type 1 and finger prick , had mixed results using the libre on a free trial and to be honest I can't really self fund it even if it worked perfectly.

 

[Sally71]

If I were to use the libre again it would have to be whenever I do a finger prick ie on waking, before meals and bedtime but I would want to use the current BG rather than sensor glucose for bolusing

That’s all we used to do, some days. But if you’re thinking about using the Libre again, you need to ask yourself why. If you want to use it just because you think everyone else does, is it really worth it? If all you are going to do is scan every time you finger prick, use the finger prick data because it’s more accurate, and then not take any notice at all of the extra data which the Libre gives you, then it’s a complete waste of time and money having the Libre. However, if you think you can see a use for some of the extra data and want to try again to put it to use, even if it’s only the up and down arrows, then good luck with it!

 

[mum2westiesGill]

That’s all we used to do, some days. But if you’re thinking about using the Libre again, you need to ask yourself why. If you want to use it just because you think everyone else does, is it really worth it? If all you are going to do is scan every time you finger prick, use the finger prick data because it’s more accurate, and then not take any notice at all of the extra data which the Libre gives you, then it’s a complete waste of time and money having the Libre. However, if you think you can see a use for some of the extra data and want to try again to put it to use, even if it’s only the up and down arrows, then good luck with it!

I wanted to try and get my head round the extra data it tells me to be able to make basal or bolus adjustments if needed - like you've said even if it's only the up and down arrows.
If I were to post photos maybe someone on here would be able to help

 

[SB2015]

@SB2015 if your finger pricking and basing your bolus on the finger pricking/current BG why do you use a sensor?

My sensor enables my pump to adjust my basal insulin every 5 minutes, as they talk to each other all the time, and most of the time I can just ignore them. The pump likes me to check in with a BG a minimum of twice a day, ( to calibrate the sensor as it is being used to work out doses all the time.) I just do a BG at each meal and it seems to keep it happy. This called a closed loop system Which I self fund.

Before that I had a pump Which linked to my handset and required a Bg test for a bolus calculation. Even when I started using
Libre sensors I still needed to do this. The habit has stuck.

so back to your question. Why use a sensor?
- shows me what impact certain foods/ portion sizes have
- helped to sort out how early to bolus
- shows me direction of travel of glucose values, especially useful for driving
- very east to check levels when exercising and eat extra carbs if necessary.
- use the graphs to review results and see if I need to tweak things

However it is not what everyone wants.
We each find what suits us.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

I only finger prick, I found the Libre hit and miss but would love the dexcom.

 

[Kaylz]

@mum2westiesGill you know we aren't allowed to give dosing advice so we can't say "you should change this, that or the next thing" as what works for one doesn't work for the next so this is something you need to work on to be able to manage yourself, it's your diabetes and nobody knows it like you do, so that would be my main concern if I were you xx

 

[Deleted member 25429]

@

Yes on the librelink app, I use the finger prick to bolus but I calculate my own doses I don't use a bolus advisor and haven't for years now, if they aren't close then bloods is what I use xx

Good to see you posting again Kaylz x

 

[Kaylz]

Good to see you posting again Kaylz x

Thank you! 🙂 xx

 

[mum2westiesGill]

@mum2westiesGill you know we aren't allowed to give dosing advice so we can't say "you should change this, that or the next thing" as what works for one doesn't work for the next so this is something you need to work on to be able to manage yourself, it's your diabetes and nobody knows it like you do, so that would be my main concern if I were you xx

Yes I know that @Kaylz re dosing advice - why can't we all be the same lol.
Btw do you carb count / match carbs to insulin?

 

[Lucyr]

I wanted to try and get my head round the extra data it tells me to be able to make basal or bolus adjustments if needed - like you've said even if it's only the up and down arrows.
If I were to post photos maybe someone on here would be able to help

As has been suggested before, you really need to do the online training before considering the libre again. You need to be confident to understand and act on the information it gives you in the moment, and be happy making those decisions yourself.

Knowing a bunch of diabetics online is helpful but we can’t give advice or be relied on for real time support at the moment you need it. By the time you’ve posted a photo and someone has read it and suggested what they would do, and you’ve then decided whether that applies to you or not, it’s mostly going to be too late to act on the information the libre has given.

 

[Leadinglights]

You still do not seem to have confidence in the decisions you are making and by seeking multiple answers are confusing yourself. By getting hung up on the minutiae you are not focusing a consistent approach that you stick with for several days to see if the adjustments are working for you.
You have to learn to manage your condition yourself and be confident to make any necessary adjustments. You will make mistakes but as long as you learn from them that is a good thing.
When I worked in a lab, I kept a rigorous note book of all I did so if something went wrong I could always look back to see what I had done and usually there was an explanation. It was splattered with comments like, that was stupid, what an idiot, you pillock.

 

[JJay]

@JJay
You still do finger pricks for bolus calculations so you do finger pricks before your meals. Do you also do a sensor scan at the same time?
When would you add a unit or two on? I know from my finger pricks that if my BG is over 10mmol to do a correction and that's what my MySugr app advises too.

@mum2westiesGill Yes I scan at the same time and enter the actual BG reading in the notes, along with the carb amount and dose. That way the DSNs can see a full picture on Libreview.

With regard to adjusting corrections advised by mySugr, you should only do what you feel confident with, and in consultation with your DSN.

As others have said, if you don't feel confident with Libre and using the information it gives you, then don't use it. It's your diabetes and your choice. And you won't be alone - only a minority of Type1s get them prescribed and not many more self-fund.

 

[Kaylz]

Btw do you carb count / match carbs to insulin?

Yes and have done since about 3 weeks into my diagnosis xx