Hi John
I use the Freestyle Libre Flash glucose monitor - the "white button" that attaches to the back of the upper arm. I have been using it on and off for a couple of years - mostly if I was travelling or out of my normal routine. Mainly because of the cost - $90 and they only last 14 days. In March they were added to the subsidised list of diabetes technology aids. If you meet the government's criteria - incl being Type 1 and having a concession card etc - they are free and obtained through orders you place with participating pharmacies. The NDSS site has the information on eligibility and the form to be completed for approval for the subsidised scheme. This has to be signed by your GP (or your endo I assume , if you have one). The NDSS site has info on how it all works. It is NOT done directly through Abbott. You have to be an NDSS member to get the subsidy.
Since March I have been using a sensor all the time. There are a few issues, but it appears that pumps, more sophisticated CGMs, etc all seem to have their issues. Your problems may be because the sensor has not been applied properly. Your CDE will be able to assist with this and making sure you can manage it yourself. My CDEs do lots of hands on stuff for people using flash monitors, pumps, etc. I dont know about endos. One of the critical things is keeping well hydrated as the sensor "feeler" sits in the interstitial fluid and if you are not well hydrated it is less accurate. Because it sits in the interstitial fluid it is not as accurate as blood and this is why you have to do finger pricks to get blood readings before calculating carbs and insulin dosing for those carbs. My CDE also inputs the insulin units/carb ratio and BGL range in the reader and we tweed this as necessary every 3 months or so. I can change the range myself and if necessary she could tell me how to adjust the ratio if I cant get in, or I can just adjust the dose myself at the time.
I love being able to just drop the reader (also does blood and ketone tests) in my pocket and go. The other good thing is that it shows whether levels are going up, down or are stable. The reader is about 10 minutes behind blood readings so it can be higher if going up or lower if going down. If not hydrated it can be less accurate.
It takes 1 hour from application and registering the sensor on the reader for it to start recording readings. I find that the first 6 to 12 hours readings are often pretty rubbish and, on me, they can be stupidly low (2.8 when on blood I was 6.2)... now I start my sensor in the morning and it is usually pretty OK by the time I go to bed. My advice would be to not start a new sensor at night. Obviously, you check with a blood test if you think it is wrong.
All in all I am pretty happy with it. A pump does not appeal to me at this point in time. I have only had to use multiple injections for a bit over 5 years so i guess I dont have injection fatigue yet. Also, the cost of a pump is pretty serious. My CDE has been encouraging about a pump, particularly after she finally got me to try the Libre flash, but is beautifully respectful of my reticence.
If the sensor seems to be coming loose or your bump it or you are just a bit worried about it staying on, you can put a bit of tape on either side of the centre hole. You just need to be careful of not pulling the sensor off if you need to change this tape. I cant remember the name of the tape to use but it is the same that people who have pumps and CGMs use. I am sure others on the site will know what it is. My CDE gave m some when I first started using the flash monitor but I cant find it at the moment.
I hope you have more luck with the flash monitor in the future if you decide to try again and hopefully you can get it through the subsidised scheme.
If you want to know anything else please ask.
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Rochelle
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Original Message:
Sent: 16-05-2020 15:34
From: Johannes
Subject: Freestyle Libre
I would like some feedback from people who use the Freestyle Libre to monitor their BGL. I have recently started to use the Freestyle Libre. The first sensor I placed worked well but when I put on the second sensor it wouldn't give me a result for about 6 hours after which it worked fine but after only 5 days my reader told me my sensor was defective and needed replacing. Has anyone had similar problems? At $92.00 for each sensor I don't expect them to fail and have to replace them.
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John G
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