What Libre problems have you experienced?

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Northerner

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
A few weeks ago I had to get a replacement reader because the sound stopped working. Today I have had a sensor fail, 7 days in :( I started getting 'Sensor Error, please try again in 10 minutes', then a bout 90 minutes later I got the message 'Sensor not activated, please replace' :(

Called Abbott who immediately agreed to replace the sensor, which is good, but I was wondering what sort of problems others have had, or if they have worked flawlessly for anyone?
 
I hadn't had a problem with any of mine until a couple of months ago, when I had one that gave me a flat line in the low 3s the whole time right from the start. Abott replaced without question, they thought the filament might have got kinked on entry. ( Bloke on the phone said, I assume if you were really that low, you wouldn't be sitting having a coherent conversation with me!) The two since then have been back to being spot on.
 
I was on a trial for one and it failed, same message as Northeners, but I had knocked it gently with the reader and think that may have dislodged it 🙄
 
Knocking it gently shouldn't have done it, surely?

Just wasn't accurate whatsoever on me, or out by certain percentage, or anything you could make any sense out of.
 
trophywench said:
Knocking it gently shouldn't have done it, surely?

Just wasn't accurate whatsoever on me, or out by certain percentage, or anything you could make any sense out of.
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I reckon I had a duff one. Mine wasn't accurate whatsoever either, I had loads of 3.2 readings when I was in the 5's and 6's :confused:
 
My first reader actually went back as the touch screen didn't always work when I tried to put information in. I've had 1 sensor that gave the error message, which was replaced very quickly. (I've always found customer service to be very good).

The results are mixed, sometimes spot on for a day, quite often they're not that accurate, mostly at either end of the scale. It seems to make no difference if I wait 24, 12 or 1 hour before activating. However, I still wouldn't be without it. Like a lot of users, I like it for the arrows and to see what's happening over night.
 
Like Lisa I had to send the first reader back because parts of the touch screen were dodgy. I haven't had any problems with sensors so far although I do find they read low at the bottom end. This deters me from sharing the reports with my consultant who is always worried more than he needs to be about hypos at the best of times.
 
I have given up with the Libre, not had one sensor that has worked correctly, Abbott replaced a couple of them the others I just used to identify trends rather than relying on them for results.
 
I had one where the white bit with the filament in dropped out before application.
 
Oh, I completely forgot, I had to have the reader replaced because the on/off button started jamming. They sent me a new one under the second year guarantee, it was about 18 months old at the time. ( I hadn't worn it out through overuse, honest
 
The touch screen has developed an intermittent fault, when in log book it doesn’t alway want to go back to the previous records, I keep meaning to phone Abbott got a head like a sieve I have .
Fingers crossed my sensors have never been more than 2.0 out.
 
Over the time that I've had the Libre I've had to have several sensors replaced due to big errors. even with "good" sensors I would never bonus or eat carbs dependent upon what the Libre says because there are too many times when it isn't accurate enough. I use it to help guide me when to finger prick tests and I average 9-10 finger prick tests. To be honest it worries when people are completely reliant on the Libre and if I was forced to choose between finger pricks and Libre I would go for finger pricks because I find them to be more accurate. But the Libre has almost been a lifesaver several times when it has highlighted rapid changes that need acting e.g. Because of cannula failure and it is great for days when I haven't quite as much motivation as I should have for a lot of finger prick tests.
 
I don't think anyone should rely 100% on any CGM as none of them are as accurate as finger pricks; however in conjunction with a few finger pricks they are a brilliant tool for extra information. We have been using the Libre full time for about a year and a half now, and it reduces the amount of finger pricks we do by at least half. We always finger prick for bolusing, and also after hypo treatment as the sensor lag is most obvious then, I've had one still reading LO when the blood test was in the 6s! We find that mostly the sensors are within 2mmol of the finger prick reading, which is close enough most of the time, occasionally we get one which isn't so good, in which case we'll do more finger pricking with that one and just use it primarily for the trends. They do often read high at the high end and low at the low end, but if you know that you can work around it.

In terms of failures, in a year and a half we've only had 2 sensors that failed completely; one I think didn't go in properly, we inserted it and activated it (we never wait 24 hours, they seem to work fine straight away for us) and then within an hour it was coming out again and my daughter said it was hurting; I don't think we managed to get a reading off it at all so gave up and put another one in. The second failure was just a few weeks ago; inserted and activated it in the evening, scanned it about 6 hours later and got a normal reading, scanned it again about another 6 hours later and got the message "this sensor has stopped working. Please remove it and insert a new one." Which was followed by the reader showing "No active sensor" at the top. Both of these faulty sensors were returned and replaced free of charge. I did get a letter from Abbott (several months later!) querying whether I had sent the first faulty sensor back; interestingly the address which they told me to send it back to in the letter was not the same one that was on the envelope they had actually provided for me to send it back in! But luckily I had kept the post office receipt which showed "Abbott" and the post code that it was sent to so I was able to provide them with proof, and I haven't heard anything since, so hopefully they sorted it out!
 
Sally71 said:
I did get a letter from Abbott (several months later!) querying whether I had sent the first faulty sensor back; interestingly the address which they told me to send it back to in the letter was not the same one that was on the envelope they had actually provided for me to send it back in! But luckily I had kept the post office receipt which showed "Abbott" and the post code that it was sent to so I was able to provide them with proof, and I haven't heard anything since, so hopefully they sorted it out!
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There isn't a post office within miles for me, so they'll just get it put in the post box at the end of the road - hope I don't get a letter! 😱 🙂
 
Similarly to @Radders , mine are always on the low side and they have varied (at any time of the day for no reason) between 0.3 and 4.0 out. I've sent 3 back which were reading miles out which Abbott replaced with no quibbles.
I wouldn't show my consultant the info as he is also big on hypos. I use it for the trends, overnight info, and the directional arrows with the readings rather than for the readings themselves. For me, that extra info is worth the money when I can afford it!
 
My issue is that they don't stay on me for the fortnight. I use them only from time to time when feeling 'odd' or needing to kickstart discipline, but they tend to only last a week or so. I am quite active, inc swimming and running etc, so maybe that is something to do with it, that and enjoying a hot bath after a long run and sometimes knocking them on the side.
 
Greyhound Gal said:
Similarly to @Radders , mine are always on the low side and they have varied (at any time of the day for no reason) between 0.3 and 4.0 out. I've sent 3 back which were reading miles out which Abbott replaced with no quibbles.
I wouldn't show my consultant the info as he is also big on hypos. I use it for the trends, overnight info, and the directional arrows with the readings rather than for the readings themselves. For me, that extra info is worth the money when I can afford it!
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The majority of mine show 1 mmol/l below a fingerprick reading, but I can live quite happily with that and they are consistent. It probably helps me run my levels a little higher, because if I see a 4.0 I treat it with a jelly baby, whereas I would probably ignore a 5.0! 🙄
 
BigMalc said:
My issue is that they don't stay on me for the fortnight. I use them only from time to time when feeling 'odd' or needing to kickstart discipline, but they tend to only last a week or so. I am quite active, inc swimming and running etc, so maybe that is something to do with it, that and enjoying a hot bath after a long run and sometimes knocking them on the side.
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I think quite a few people have problems with them sticking. Mine have been largely OK, touch wood, just had one which was looser than I realised when I came to take it off. Some people stick various things over the top (tegaderm, mefix etc.), but the thing to bear in mind if you do that is not to stick anything to the actual sensor, otherwise the stuff you're sticking over the top might pull the sensor off if you need to change the 'dressing'! 😱
 
I've been using (constantly) since April and haven't had any problems with any of mine, either in terms of stickability or functionality. The ONLY thing I've had, with the sensor I'm wearing currently, is that it took about 6 hours after activation to start reading accurately - for the first 6 hours I got a lot of LO and readings in the 2s. Almost fell off my chair when I saw them lol! Luckily it's sorted itself out and I've been checking with finger pricks slightly more frequently than I would otherwise to verify but all seems ok now 🙂
 
Northerner said:
There isn't a post office within miles for me, so they'll just get it put in the post box at the end of the road - hope I don't get a letter! 😱 🙂
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It was decided with the first one that I should send the applicator back as well, as the problem was most likely with insertion rather than the sensor itself, so with all that in the envelope it wouldn't fit through the hole in a post box! And I decided to keep the post office receipt just in case, which turned out to be fortuitous indeed. The second time I only sent the sensor itself back and was tempted to just drop it in the post box, but then after what happened the first time I thought I'd better get a receipt again!
 
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