WHat were your overall impressions of the libre? Was it reasonably accurate? Particularly for post prandial levels? How’d it compare to your meter readings overall?
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It was was pretty much always fine for telling me if I was low, normal, high, or really high. Getting more accurate than that could be a crapshoot. Sometimes it was consistently off (like always 50 points high), other times it was spot on. I’d say it was reasonably accurate around 75% of the time. Just like with the Dexcom it is not necessarily accurate when blood sugar levels are changing.
It was usually inaccurate for the first day. I started inserting mine the night before and activating it the next day and that seemed to help.
I do like how flat it is and insertion is really easy too.
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Yeah the physical dimensions of it sound like a really nice benefit to me… the Dexcom transmitter really bugs me
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The insertion is way easier/more pleasant than Dexcom and it is much flatter. It is easier to knock off though and I don’t find the adhesive lasts the full 14 days. I knocked my first 2 off early and have had to use Tegaderm in the 2nd week to keep my sensors on. The accuracy is slightly worse than Dexcom overall but still reliable most of the time. I find it is better at catching spikes than Dexcom was - for example, Dexcom might say I’m hovering around 7 for an hour while the Libre will show I’ve actually gone up to 9 and back down to 7 within the hour, which corresponds with my meter. It also doesn’t read as low as Dexcom did at night for me. I would often wake up with Dexcom showing 4 or 5 and really be 7 or 8, but the Libre isn’t as far off. I have only gotten 1 sensor to last the full 14 days, most start giving me frequent sensor errors (equivalent to ???) once I get past 10 days. I’m wondering if this is why the FDA went with 10 days instead of 14. Customer support is near non-existent, at least in Canada. It took 2 months of emails and phone calls to get my sensors that fell off early replaced. Dexcom always answered right away and sent me new sensors within a day or two.
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Those are all problems that plague me with the Dexcom too, maybe the libre would be a good option… I think I’ll give it s try
Yeah, definitely give it a try. I think my control is slightly worse overall, not because of the accuracy, but because it doesn’t have a high blood sugar alarm! My sleep is much better though…
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Where are you “supposed to” wear it and where do you find it does or doesn’t work well? Although you’re in cadnada? So it might have slight differences in labeling such as where to use it on body… with the Dexcom I didn’t mind it at all while it was on my thigh but I’ve recently discovered it works far better on my stomach, but I hate it there…
The false low alarms At night just drive my crazy… I don’t know if there’s some kind of fluid shift that completely throws it out of whack the minute my body goes horizontal or what, but it’s so obnoxious I’ve actually gotten to the point of just turning it off at night
@Sam I do believe that it MUST be worn on the outer arm just below the shoulder. No ifs, ands or buts. And no thighs, stomachs, or butts either.
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Doc, can you send a pic of the guns?
Here ya go Sam
Just as I figured
Yeah, that’s why I like a tubed pump, for the flat insertion site. Actually the clamshell Enlite/Guardian transmitter is also relatively low-profile. It sticks out a little more than the Libre but I can still sleep on it without it bothering me.
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Haha I assume you’re like me where lows are usually more annoying than serious. I was doing that too, I couldn’t take it anymore! Even when I actually was low I found the alarm annoying because I already knew and was treating it. I’ve only tried the sensors on my arms, I find some sensors more accurate than others but haven’t found the place I put them makes a difference yet.
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It seems like neither Dexcom nor Libre are very reliable during rapidly changing BG’s. I suspect that it has something to do with the equipments’ algorithm. Since neither one of them are measuring BG’s directly, but are rather measuring ISF fluid, it’s understandable the discrepancies that are occuring. It seems like it’s a matter of personal preference. My feelings are that I would like to be alerted to dramatic rise or dramatic drops in BG. If Dexcom or Libre are not reliable for that, I’m unsure of their benefit to me. They work quite well under almost steady state conditions (except for when I slept). Like @Sam, I too was annoyed by the false low alarms. But would I want to risk missing a true low BG? So after some consideration, I stopped using my Dexcom and finger stick more often when I’m eating “unpredictable” foods or engaging in BG risky behavior.
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What’s useful to me though is the trend information, being able to see how my nights went when I wake up and being able to see what my BG is discreetly when I’m with other people, at work, on the subway/bus, etc. Even without the alarms and the accuracy issues these features are invaluable to me.
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I’d agree with that. Some people freak out when I discreetly check for my BG under the dining table. They don’t see anything. They just hear the small beep from the freestyle lite meter. And boy…some people really freak out if one were to inject! The whole go to the restroom to inject can get old quickly especially if one realizes that the restroom is either too small, too dark, and without a suitable place to put anything.
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I might be a little OCD but doing anything medical in a public restroom would really give me the heebie jeebies.
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I inject in public restrooms. I try not to touch anything. I try to frequent establishments that don’t actually have sharticles floating through the air even in the restrooms
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OMG - I am getting grossed out just thinking about it.
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That means no Dyson dryers, per published research.
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