AIBU as a Type 1 Diabetic, to be baffled the seemingly sudden influx of non diabetics using CGM's...?

[OSAP]

If your pancreas works, you don't need one.

Blood glucose isn't exclusively influenced by the food you eat so 'personalised nutrition plans' 'metabolic trackers' etc etc are a, usually expensive, gimmick.

Nobody seemed too fussed about their 'blood glucose' when it involved finger pricks, but the Freestyle Libre now seems to have become a must have accessory for the 'worried well' who now seem to need to know what their blood sugar is doing, all while not really understanding what most of it means.

@Anyotherdude and I don't doubt that living with someone with any diabetes is hard or having any kind of diabetes is hard.

I really hope you and the person you live with do manage to avoid the need of insulin for them because if they do end up on insulin you will perhaps realise why ppl on insulin (regardless of type of diabetes) are basically having to carry out the role of their pancreas.

Watching what spikes me and managing what I eat is the easy part of being on insulin for me and being diabetic. The hard part is knowing a slight mathematical error can fuck it all up. As I said, it's walking a tightrope 24/7, sleepness nights, going to bed wondering if you'll see the morning.. is my insulin out my system, will my sugars plummet, waking up shaking and sweating because you miscalculated your meal time dose.

Anyone who can live with that for years and not go crazy is special in my eyes. That's not to say ppl battling with othrr illnesses aren't special too

@Hellogoodbyehello4321 That’s just it: he got (started purchasing) the cgm because of going onto insulin and worrying that if he miscalculated, would be at risk of hypo.
The cgm probably would have helped him manage the 12 or so years after being diagnosed T2 and possibly also would have allowed him to avoid going onto insulin altogether.
The £100 every 28 days is worth it for the difference he has seen in managing his condition.

Sorry - typo It’s £100 for 14 days…

The G6 is a bit bulky but the G7 is the same size as the Libre (round disc) and not bulky at all.

G7 is slightly cheaper as well (£5 a month iirc as I had to self fund for the first 6 months as CCG only offered Libre at that time) so no additional cost to NHS. Ask your diabetes team to switch your DS @x2boys. It’s significantly more accurate than the G6 and only 30 mins warm up! Very rare there’s a faulty sensor too.

That's interesting, he's got an appointment soon ,I'll mention it.

@Anyotherdude I absolutely understand why someone would use a CGM in these circs. I dont think anyone on here that's criticising the trend for everyone using them would disagree either.

@Anyotherdude CGM isn’t £100 every 14 days

Yes.

@PotatoFan thanks! I’ll check with him - it’s quite expensive though…

I think part of the issue is the use of language. For example, I've had friends talk about 'sugar spikes' like they're some great evil rather than a natural process – you eat food, your blood sugars go up. You eat a load of unrefined carbs and they suppress your cortisol levels so you feel sluggish after and so on. Then what happens in a normally functioning body is that your pancreas produces insulin to break down what you have eaten, whether that's a piece of toast or a roast lunch. Diabetics, of all types, can't do that so instead they have to take meds or inject the insulin to replace the body's normal function. Obviously I am simplifying a little.

So all these people without diabetes panicking about their blood sugars going up to 12 or whatever are perhaps not understanding the process. There is a reason that diabetics are advised not to test until 2 hours after food, because it takes that long for blood sugars to settle down again. If they are still high a minimum of 2 hours later, then sure, maybe it warrants investigation, but going 'oh my god, I had lunch 20 minutes ago and now my blood sugars are 9.8, I must be diabetic' is really quite irritating to those of us who have spent most of our lives (or our children's lives) minutely managing our condition to iron out the rollercoaster effect of highs and lows. Well, I find it irritating at any rate.

Freestyle libre is around £52 a sensor which last 14 days, so you were right with £100 for 28 days before you corrected yourself

@thing47 I think you're spot on. Normal responses are being interpreted as something to worry about, or that is 'wrong' when it's really nothing of the sort.

The lady I know who was telling me about how great the Zoe app was was also telling me how it has told her that her body 'cannot handle' certain foods as it 'spikes my blood sugar'. I didn't want to get into a conversation about it, but I really did want to tell her that it's supposed to do exactly what it's doing and, as it then comes down again, IT DOESN'T MATTER.

After two days of 20 -25 bs. And today not getting it over 5. I will swap lives with anyone who wants to pretend they have diabetes. My mother also has altzeimers and was told by the chemist they can’t get libres at the moment. She is in a right state.

I have a T1 daughter and I also think it's ridiculous.

@thing47 - that's exactly it - when I met DH he would say how he felt bad when his BG was high and I didn't really get it, but he likened it to feeling really tired after Christmas dinner, except for me my body deals with it.

Why are you annoyed at other people wanting to try to be healthier and learn how food affect their BG?

If only there was a thread full of posts explaining this...

Even after reading the posts... my question still remains

I do wonder if anyone purchasing these should have to give their NHS numbers or medical exemption cards showing they're diabetic.... would cut the problem out immediately. Same with Wegovy/Ozempic prescriptions.

I'd suggest literacy lessons then.

Ha!

Irishapple - none of us diabetics have a problem with people learning how to eat a healthy diet.

What we object to is people without diabetes, whose body regulates blood sugar in a normal physiological way - trying to tell diabetics they understand what a low blood sugar is and how bad they feel, or a spike which sits within the normal range.
Those that peak over your phone and exclaim at how awful your graph looks and tell you how and what to eat.

When you can tell me what a bod sugar of 2.9 feels like, or why you wake up i the morning at 16, havig not eaten since 1900 the day before and then spend the rest of the day fighting to get it down below 10 - then I will listen to you.

In the meantime, please take your celebrity fad diet of 2023/4 and stick it somewhere - whist those of us who actuay use the technology for living, get on with our lives.

COI : 50 yrs. 9 months and 16 days of being a Type 1, tired of ignorance and arrogance from others teling me what a bad person I am - for "cheating" and not being perfect!

@irishapple What benefit would seeing perfectly normal responses to food give you? Blood sugar fluctuates regardless, but if your pancreas works properly it doesn't matter. For the majority, it's a gimmick.

And frequently worse than a gimmick because it feeds (sic) into people's health anxiety, causing them to worry about something which is part of the normal bodily function in people with a functioning pancreas.

Why do you need to know what food is doing to your blood sugar if your pancreas is regulating it? Not just completely pointless but potentially damaging for those who are already prone to unnecessary worry.

Personally, I was really interested to see how my normal breakfast causes my blood sugar to spike and then crash within an hour or two. Always making me feel lethargic and shaky and reaching for a quick fix of sugar. As a result of this, I tried a new breakfast which didn't have the same results and I felt much better and undoubtedly it is a much healthier meal now. I'm consuming less sugar which I know I could just do anyway, but the direct result of my poorly chosen breakfast on my blood glucose was clear as day and ultimately this made it easier for me to make the change and it's a change I will keep up.

I also observed other patterns which I was able to make changes as a result.

Not the perfect use of a CGM but as someone with a strong family history of diabetes, it was an eye opener and one that led me to make positive changes. Is that not allowed?