I have been on the Dexcom without success, despite trying both the G4 and the G5 over about a total of a 3 year period. In the past 2 years I have been using the Abbott FreeStyle Libre (14 day) with a modicum of success. It generally runs 20 points below my actual BG (as per finger sticks), but it has been able to give me a decent sense of where my BG is about.
One of the problems I have, though, with the Libre system is that it must be scanned in order to give a BG reading. Unlike the Dexcom, it does not have alarms, etc. I am totally Hypo-Unaware, and this has been a real challenge for me. Sometimes I donāt know I am having low BGs until I am in my 40s.
Now the FSLibre 2 is out, and through my Medicare, I qualify for it at 100% coverage. I have totally signed up for it and am expecting to start on it in about a month. However I know nothing about how well it works. If it continually reads low, as does my current one, will I be hearing alarms day and night that are mistaken?
Has anyone used this system yet? Or heard about it from anyone else or another source?
Please chime in. I am eager to hear anything you might have heard about it!
I am still on a Dexcom but I wanted the Libre for when I snorkel. My Dexcom will just not work in the ocean and I really wanted to know my blood sugars when Iām out there. The Libre has worked great for my purposes. You can scan it underwater and it reads it.
I used to wear the 10 day Libre before my Dexcom and my dog wears the 14 day Libre as sheās diabetic.
I have found the Libre2 to be not much more accurate than the 10 day one. Which is usually 10-25 points off. It varies still. You still canāt calibrate it unless you use something like xdrip. But it has one high and one low alert it sounds as long as you are within 20 feet? You set the high and low you want on it.
I use the miao miao with the tomato ap (which isnāt the greatest, people prefer xdrip) on my dog with her 14 day Libre and I can set different highs and lows at different times of the day and I get alerts. I will probably keep her on that as it gives me more leeway in the different alerts I can set at different times and calibrate it through that. I would switch her to the Libre 2, but after January itās price will go up and I already have a miao miao for her. I will probably revert myself to the 14 day one as I have turned off the alerts on it anyways as I like my Dexcoms alerts better.
I would be happy to answer any other questions you have, I am on my Libre2 sixth sensor?
Thanks so much for your input. I am used to the 10-20 point inaccuracies. I just expect them and add on to get my more appropriate BG#.
I was just wondering if the Libre2 was any more accurate and if the alarms helped at all. My tendency to go low is really what I need it for.
I really wished that the Dexcom worked for me, but it never did. I couldnāt get ANY accuracy from it at all, no matter where I put it on my body (and I think I tried everywhere except between my toes )
I also prefer the Libre because it is SO easy to put on and there is only a 1 hour warm-up period. And I love that I can ut it so easily on my upper left arm without any trouble at all. I am crazy for the inserter, too. Easy as anything compared to al the ridiculous steps of the Dexcom.
Also, at least for me, I could wear it while swimming without any problems, and even when I was running in the extreme heat it never came loose or fell off (I even have found it challenging to remove!)
You set your low alert. The Libre is usually under what you actually are, like the other Libres have been. I think the lowest you can set it is 65. So I guess it depends what numbers you like to stay at? It really doesnāt seem like itās more accurate to me. But as you know each sensor can vary and they have varied and each of us can get different results for some reason. I donāt have a 24/7 view of that though as I really just am eyeing it a couple of afternoons a week.
The Libre definitely stays on better. I do use Skin Tac on it now as I am in the ocean 3 hours at a time. But I use Skin Tac on my Dexcom and wear them for 25 days plus usually. Skin Tac has been wonderful!
Skin Tac is great, no doubt. I just have never had the need to use it, even when swimming 2 hours at a time 5 days a week. Guess Iāve just gotten lucky on that issue.
I tried using the libre2, but often missed the alarms at my loud work. i especially missed seeing my glucose on my watch, and had to stop using it, but Iām sure it works for a lot of usersā¦especially the type1s who never used xdrip or a Dexcom
Hi Daisymaeā¦I am a type 2 but after 47 yrs I now use insulin 3-4 times daily. Free Style Libre 2 offers several alarms that are useful in monitering your bloodsugar levels. My main complaint is that the Free Style Libre has failed to work on several occasions forcing me to get a manual backup to test my bloodsugar level. The experience with Abbott has been useful and they have replaced my supply but that time talking with them is consuming taking 10-12 minutes after the many prompts to get the ārightā person. Hope this helps stans
I am 74 years old and am not very tech savvy. my A1c is 6.9. After years of it being higher. The libre2 has made all the difference for me. Easy to use and understand. I do a finger stick in the am to make sure my meter and sensor are about the same and they are. Good luck to you and enjoy your libre2
Nope. Iām near sighted and I can see the letters clearly enough. The problem is not with my eyes but with how my brain processes what my eyes see. Some sort of age encouraged dyslexia perhaps?
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I can hardly read without āem these days! 
