Continuous glucose monitor??

[Qwaszx]

Anyone used one, that can recommend?

I'm T2, and just cannot get my levels below 9. I've always eaten healthily, so the advice I was given at dx, to cut out pizza and takeaways, really didn't apply. I'm thinking if I try one I can see what food doesn't agree with me, and I can try to sort myself out.

Any experiences you want to share?

Thanks.

I'm type 1 and use a Libre. It's great! You can easily see the impact of various foods.

They are pricey. I'm funded now, but when I had to buy them a few years ago they were £50 each and last 14 days. I don't think a T2 will get funding so you'll have to pay out of pocket.

I should specify Libre is flash monitoring rather than continous, but for a T2 I wouldn't think a true CGM will offer any benefits.

You can get funding for the Libre as a type two but you have to be on MDI (multiple daily injections) of insulin and required to test 8+ times a day. Even then it’s a bloody hard slog to get your CCG to follow the NICE guidelines. Worth writing a complaint if you meet the criteria!

I don't have a diagnosis yet and like you was a fairly healthy eater and not overweight. I did a random test 3 months ago and it was 19.1!

Ive been following a keto diet and this has brought my levels down to high 6s/mid 7s 2 hours after eating. Also do a 6 to 8 hour eating window. I'm trying to gently up my carbs to a low carb diet for more sustainability but my blood sugar does tend to react still.

I'm also considering a monitor to try to see what is happening over the entire day so watching with interest for a hone posting with information.

Just sharing my experience regarding cutting carbs (and sugar) to see if that might help you get your numbers down a bit.

I'm a community nurse and we are starting to see the Libre be used in T2 diabetics who are on insulin. It's worth a conversation with your GP or diabetic nurse specialist to see if it could be an option for you, however I suspect that unless you are on insulin, they may not be willing to prescribe it. It has been a game changer for our patients though!

There is the Zoe programme, which uses blood glucose monitoring to identify foods that don't work for you - it looks pretty pricey though but might be worth a Google?

I completely forgot that T2s can be on insulin there 😳

My dx was during Covid. I saw the nurse 6 months ago. She said I may have to go on insulin, not my preferred life choice!

I know I would have to fund it myself, and I'm only thinking of having it for 3 weeks or so. I can keep a detailed food diary and not have to prick test every 5 mins.

I'm in a silly situation where an apple raises my sugars more than chocolate. But I much prefer fruit🍏 so I want to know what food suits me best.

Anyone else used one? Ease of use? Pros and cons?

Thank you all so far.

@ItsNotRocketSalad can you explain the difference between flash and continuous monitoring? I've not heard of the former.

Tbh, I don't really know how they work, but I don't know anyone irl with experience.

I understand I will need a reader. Does this need to be with / close by me at all times? How does with work with an app? My phone is locked away at work, so not to hand, or nearby. Does this make a difference?

TLDR: I need an idiot's guide😝

Apples are quite high carb/sugar, berries are better and I've heard that green apples are better than red.

CGM continually transmits data to your device whereas with flash, you only get your results when you scan it with your phone. The Libre stores eight hours of readings so if you don't scan it every eight hours minimum, you'll have gaps in your data. That's not a big deal though!

Here's a screenshot of a day when I missed a bit of data.

You can add notes and markers, e.g. so you can show on the graph that you ate two pieces of toast at 8am. That'll really help you work out the impact of food on your BG.

@ItsNotRocketSalad thankyou. So very helpful.

if you go on the freestyle libre website, you can get a free sensor for a trial I think.
I have worn one for the last 2 weeks for reactive hypoglycaemia (bought online £50), it has been so helpful at seeing patterns. Allowed me to see what certain foods were doing over 2-3 hours and overnight. I wish I had done it 6 months ago, I don’t understand why the NHS is not suggesting them.

Also you see the effect of exercise- a walk after dinner made mine drop loads!

Im Type 2 on insulin. . I was diagnosed April 22 when i ended up in hospital with DK without A

I did the free trial of the libre last month

I was 97% in range and 2% was too low rather than high so gave me the confidence to know i am doing it right
I spoke to my consultant for the first time since diagnosis and she said they cgms are coming.
Diabetes Uk are campaigning at the moment for tech to be more available
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/tech-cant-wait/about

I used the libre while I had gestational diabetes and needed insulin. I found it was too far out with readings compared with prick readings and I had to send 3 faulty ones back so it wasn't a great experience for me. But unsure if there's a difference in gd and other types of diabetes as its very tightly monitored due to risks to baby.

Following as an insulin dependent t2 with issues. Ive tried a libre trial a few years back and am considerung another or similar because serious silent hypos... i need one as accurate as poss because i cant always finger prick test and i found the libre seemed to lag by a few hours.

do any have things like high and low glucose level alerts while my GP practice person does her learning about insulin course to work out an alternative to novomix?

Thanks!

You can get a Libra 2 free, as a one off even with type 2.

I did this, then I paid for one and it was hugely useful. I found out bananas spike my glucose so I have cut them out.

Cauliflower cheese on the other hand lowered my glucose.

I now follow 2 rules

1. eat protein for breakfast
2. eat low, but not no carb.

I do have the occasional burger and chips, or trip to the carvery.

My original HbA1C was 69, I'm still taking metformin but my last two HbA1C were 35 and 36.

On my own finger prick monitor my fasting glucose was 12-13 at the start and is now under 7. In fact my GP has stopped prescribing me test strips.

I was diagnosed May 22.

For me it was well worth it. In fact I think all newly diagnosed type 2 should have 4 weeks monitoring.

OP you don't need to keep a separate food diary, you use the app on your phone to enter what you are eating and drinking.

as someone else said it is not continuous but as you are not using an insulin pump it probably doesn't matter.

What I found useful was the daily trends, trying to keep the line flat or within a range.

The libre 2 has alarms for low and high

Ive had to reduce my morning novomax down to 8 units now because i get low by lunchtime.

i need one as accurate as poss because i cant always finger prick test and i found the libre seemed to lag by a few hours.

The Libre lags by around 15 minutes. It's measuring interstitial fluid whereas finger pricks measure blood, so the Libre is never going to be as up-to-date as finger pricks. I assume other CGMs are also testing interstitial fluid, but I don't know for sure.

However, this shouldn't be a problem if you use the alarms correctly. Don't set an alarm for when you hit hypo levels but for 0.5 or 1.0 above that, so you have warning that you might be going low and can monitor closely or have some fast-acting glucose to head off the hypo.

Thank you for the advice - thats immensely helpful! I'll get shopping shortly!

^ i was constantly hyperglycaemic last time I tried a libre, because my readings were high my diabetes team said that the libre would probably read higher than fingerprick tests. The fifteen minute lag is probably right - i remember my brain wasn't operating properly for about a year in terms of logic and thinking straight.

Just before we decided i was some kind of insulin unresponsive medical freak and a few hospital admissions, we found out that i simply hadn't been injecting properly for about twelve months and neither I not any of the HCPs involved had realised, even when I injected myself in front of them. . Oops.

Worth paying attention to how many carbs are in different foods. The Carbs and Cals app is good. Lots of fruit is quite high carb.
Food with fat in (like chocolate) will raise your blood sugar over a longer period so it looks like it didn't affect your blood sugar, but it just keeps it a little bit high for a longer time.
A small amount of exercise (15 minute brisk walk) after a meal makes a huge difference. Slightly increasing your activity levels every day will also make you more sensitive to your own insulin.
Libre plus food and exercise diary for a month would probably be eye-opening!