Freestyle Libre?

[OnceMoreIntoTheBleach]

Anyone using this? I just got it yesterday on trial. All fine on a practical level, but even when taking the lag period into account, libre readings are consistently 1-3 points lower than blood test. I'm wondering if it will settle down. I do hope so, as I love being able to scan!!

Lucky you! Wish I could trial it. Have you looked on Diabetes UK website or forum? There's responses to this on there

I will look on there, thanks! I think they are rolling it out to a number of places so I would say make sure to let your team know you're interested so you can be on the list when it happens in your area.

Mine has settled down now, couple of days in and it seems to be measuring quite accurately, so I'm a convert!

Good to hear! I'm going to ask my DSN when I see her next

It's bloody brilliant!!! I can't praise it enough. I've been self funding mine for 6 months and I've converted almost all the type 1s I know. Even the kids at school!

My hba1c has dropped from 7.9 to 6.5 and I believe will be lower again. I had a Medtronic cgm before during my last pregnancy but the libre is so much more comfortable and cheaper.

Their customer service is fantastic. I have had a few in the summer fall off and they have always sent replacements.

My dsn and consultants have hinted they believe that they will be nhs funded very soon. I really hope so as £100 a month is hard. But I can just about afford it.

Oh. And of all the people I have converted. All were given a trial sensor and their own scanner. This is in several different locations around the uk. So definitely ask cats

Yes, part of the problem is the cost. I really hope the NHS start funding them soon. I heard nothing but praise for them.

User that's great to hear, thank you!

Can I ask, did you/do you have issues with accuracy when the sensor is first applied? Mine seems to have settled down now, but it took a couple of days.

I am loving it now though, I'm a little bit addicted to the 'swipe'!

Yes! I love being able to scan when driving etc. It's very addictive.
I think the sensor reads lower than my meter pretty much the whole way through. But my meter is always higher than all other Meters. So if I go to clinic etc, my meter will be higher. I once complained to the company and I was told it was within tolerance. Doesn't really help me if their meter says 4.5 and I'm actually 3.1 on another meter and about to drive.

So....yes. when I first put a sensor on, it takes 24 hours or so to settle. But I still get an overall trend.

When you download the scanner to the PC it will predict an hba1c. Mine predicted just 0.2% out on the actual figure. So I think the sensor is pretty accurate.

I've used mine for just over a year and am very pleased with it. I do 2 weeks on, week off which takes the cost to about £1000 a year. At over 70 I'm not prepared to wait for the NHS to decide!
I was given the introductory pack free by the diabetic nurse and have spoken to them about the differences in measurements. They pointed out the variations between meters and even the difference that may occur when a blood sample is taken from a different site. I think you just learn to live with a different set of figures.
The big plus for me is being told whether the measurement is going up, down or is level. 4.5 but going up requires a different action from 4.5 and going down!
I also find the graphs showing peaks and troughs really useful.

I'm getting the meter and one sensor from my DSN next month and can't wait! I won't be able to afford the sensors all the time but will probably do 2 on 2 off as well.

I love it, but find it frustrating that I still need to do traditional testing before driving etc.

Hopefully it'll become NHS funded soon.

To avoid the 'bedding in' inaccuracy, apply the next sensor 24 hours before your other one runs out, then one finishes just up the new one as usual. I get much better results that way.

I'm trailing one at the moment and love it!

How's everyone getting on with their Libres? I've just got one today (free trial, but managed to use the voucher against the starter pack so got a second sensor by paying something like £17). It's been reading quite a lot less than my finger monitor (as I've now been calling it ) but hoping this will improve. Love the trend arrows - they're the big selling point for me as hoping it'll help me stop over-correcting or eating something 'just in case' I'm heading hypo.

Hello,
Those who are buying it themselves where do you get yours from? Was trying to buy it from their website and twice my bank blocked the payment (money in account, let me pay other stuff etc). Anyone had same issues?

I trialed one a couple of months ago and found the readings a lot lower than my finger prick tests but I found the trajectory arrows very handy for heading off hypos. I'm going to ask my GP to try to get funding for one in November when they become available on NHS, although my DSN says the criteria will be hard to meet.

Just to say I was at my NHS funding meeting this week - I have nothing to do with diabetes, was there for a different drug - and they have every intention of the funding criteria being incredibly tight.

For our CCG alone, funding Freestyle Libre would be apparently £millions. It's not going to happen. They were proposing very very tight criteria such as patients with learning difficulties.

Didn't catch what the other groups might be as I was busy preparing my presentation but it was very clear they were only intending to fund 'a handful' of patients on it with clear evidence they could only manage their diabetes in this way.

I thought as much Hulder

Sorry

I'm not diabetic and had no idea what one was. Looking it up afterwards, I have to say, if I was type 1, I would absolutely be doing what you are doing and buying one myself.

I went on a study day recently where they covered carb counting and DAFNE and the work you all have to do everyday, I think you are all amazing.

When I spoke to my DN this week she said that 2 local consultants are preparing a business plan to put to the local health authority. The cost to the NHS will apparently be £11 cheaper than for current self-funders. Among the criteria she mentioned were people who need to blood test 9 or so times a day (mainly children) and people who use or would be eligible for a pump even if like me they choose not to use one. There were others that I don't remember. She was expecting to know more after Christmas.
Fingers crossed!

My son just out in his first libre yesterday. Painless!!! 12hrs in and we can already see the value....much easier to pick up trends and reassure yourself as to whether you're going up or down.
We bought the starter pack. It's not cheap. We don't intend to use it all the time, just when a bit more flexibility with BG testing is needed and to help identify trends.
There is a slight difference in numbers shown on the libre to a finger prick (but then 2 meters will give differing results), so just got to factor in that the libre may say 3.9, but he may actually be 4.6 as an example.
Interested to see how many days 'up to 14 days' really means in terms of durability.
We may continue to self fund. But currently am impressed.

Hi, I have been type 1 for 31 years now. I tried the libre but it was only lasting 3 or 4 days before I knocked it off, or it lost it's stick and I was having to cover it up with tape etc to increase it's stick. Wondering if anyone else has had this problem? I gave up with it because of it

I've been t1 for 34 years Lost it's a drag isn't it?!

I started using the Libre a week ago, within 12 hours I'd managed to knock the first sensor off, I think because I applied it in the evening then showered the following morning which loosened the adhesive. I called them and they've sent a replacement no questions asked, and in the meantime I applied the 2nd sensor I had and that's been on since last Thursday with no problems - applied it Thursday morning post shower and didn't get it wet till the Saturday, which I think helped.

I bought a Libre starter kit 3 weeks ago, after being T1 for 21 years. It's innaccurate, but consistently innacurate for me, which means I can just subtract a little to get my true BG reading (Libre seems to read one mmol higher on me for some reason.

The amazing insight you can get into how your BG trends through the day is invaluable. My next HBA1C will be lower as a direct result of the Libre, I've no doubt.

I've been recommended this by another Diabetes forum I'm on:

www.ambrosiasys.com/

This company was formed by a bloke who used to work for Abbott apparently. They sell a tiny clip-on device called NightRider for $110, which reads the Libre sensor every 5 mins, and communicates the result by Bluetooth to your phone! It turns libre into a CGM, as you can link Android apps like Glimp to it.

So it can ring your phone if you go hypo in the night!

I've no connection to Blucon, and haven't received my Nightrider yet (ordered it though), but I think it's worth a look, and I've seen great reviews of it on forums.

A tip I got from a Type 1 forum I'm on said that the Libre patches are cheaper at Superdrug. We self fund for ds so I went in to check and they are £35 instead of £50. Haven't ordered any yet but will do so, especially as Abbott are restricting how many you can order and have closed their orders to new customers.