FreeStyle Libre experiences

My ideal range is 80-120 (but set range to 70-140). The only times I get below 80 are hypos, of course, and fasting (either wake up or between meals if I don’t snack). Since I’m not on basal, I can’t really do anything about the morning fasting, and I guess I’ll just have to watch more closely between meals to stay at 80 or above.

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@Pianoplayer7008, this is a great thread. Will you document your progress with the Libre step by step, as @Jen is doing with her Tresiba startup?

I would love to read your progress and experiences. I think many of us would be very interested in learning through you!

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I’d love to read along as well. If my insurance covers the Libre, I may be switching over from Dexcom (or maybe using Dexcom on an as-needed basis only).

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I’m happy to! I can share my daily logs comparing the Libre to my meter, too (there’s a lot today due to the little rollercoaster I’ve been on…).

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Well, I guess I’m the oddball out, as I heard from several people the Libre runs higher than their meter/Dexcom, but all day today it has run lower for me (generally 20-30mg/dL lower). It’s fairly accurate at showing whether I’m trending up/down or staying level, which I guess is helpful, but I ended up testing (with my meter) more often than normal because of all of the false (and real) lows. I’m definitely experiencing more than the usual amount of “help” from my pancreas, as I had two doses of Afrezza the whole day, still managed to stay in range when I had no insulin on board, and went low after the meals with Afrezza. My husband and I were laughing tonight at the not great timing of starting this sensor and my pancreas reviving (not great for experimenting/learning purposes).

The numbers:
8:25 (fasting) - 61 Libre/88 ReliOn
9:55 (1hr pp) - 129 Libre/136 ReliOn
11:00 - 66 Libre/87 ReliOn
11:15 - 47 Libre/59 ReliOn
11:30 - LO Libre/62 ReliOn
11:45 - 64 Libre/ 100 ReliOn
12:00 - 135 Libre/185 ReliOn (yay cereal…)
1:30 (1hr pp) - 78 Libre/101 ReliOn
1:55 - 44 Libre/61 ReliOn
2:35 - 57 Libre/85 ReliOn
5:55 - 65 Libre/88 ReliOn
7:40 (1 hr pp, no IOB) - 78 Libre/110 ReliOn
8:40 - 100 Libre/133 ReliOn
9:00 - 130 Libre/118 ReliOn

I’d love to post the graph for the day to show just how long the Libre read low today, but my phone is being odd, so that will have to wait. One thing I’m glad of - the fact that the Libre doesn’t have alarms for lows. :laughing:

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A functioning pancreas beats out a cgm any day of the week.

If it was me, I would decrease the administered insulin further and see what response you get.

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Except it’s not exactly functioning - it’s functioning just enough to belatedly spurt out insulin and drop me low a couple hours after meals, or to juuuuust handle lower carb snacks/meals (the last Afrezza dose I took today was at 11:45; didn’t take any Afrezza or Novolog after that, and not on basal, so everything for the 2nd half of the day was without IOB).

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You have to figure what works best for you.

For us, if we are repeatedly going low, the answer is almost always a decrease in insulin in some fashion.

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My pancreas did this a few weeks ago - came back to life for a couple days, I only had to take insulin for sugary stuff (which I don’t eat much of anyway), and then went back to normal. I guess I’ll be trying the same thing for now.

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First overnight with the Libre, and it’s still staying low - reading in the 40s most of the night (current read is 47, meter says 82). It’s now been 24hrs with this sensor, and I’m not sure if I should just hang in there for the full 10 days or try a new sensor to see if this is going to be an issue for me with the Libre in general.

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I would give it at least 3 days. Assuming it is not negatively impacting your life and you can basically ignore the readings if desired.

When testing or trying to figure things out, I am a huge fan of beating the dead horse then backing up and beating on it again. Then one more time just to make sure it was not just playing dead.

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BTW - Are you on aspirin (salicylic acid) therapy? There is a contraindication of such with the Libre system. Although it does mention “high levels” so potentially just a baby aspirin (81 mg dosage per day) which is often times used may not be a huge impact or perhaps even noticeable. In any event, the Libre system does say high levels of salicylic acid (aspirin) may lower readings while high levels of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) may raise readings.

As always, seeing is believing and each person may be impacted differently.

On the plus side, the Libre system does not appear to have any contraindication for acetaminophen (Tylenol).

Actually, the lack of a contraindication for acetaminophen is quite interesting as the Libre Pro system (FDA approved on Sept 28, 2016) DOES have such label warning while the Libre system (FDA approved on Sept 27, 2017) approved a year later does NOT have the warning/issue with acetaminophen.

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That made me lol.

Nope. I noticed that warning, too (and the lack of Tylenol warning, which was also interesting to me). I never take aspirin, so I should be ok there. I take vitamin c when sick, so I’ll try to remember it might raise levels (because that’s what every diabetic needs when sick, ha!).

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@Chris, I’ll second that! It is easier when random spurts of insulin production aren’t a factor.

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Day 2 numbers:

Fasting - 47 Libre/82 ReliOn
1hr pp - 75 Libre/114 ReliOn
2.5hr pp - 127 Libre/135 ReliOn
Pre-lunch - 87 Libre/141 ReliOn
1 hr pp - 93 Libre/137 ReliOn
Pre-dinner - 81 Libre/111 ReliOn
1 hr pp - 86 Libre/120 ReliOn
1.5 hr - 85 Libre/114 ReliOn
Before bed - 76 Libre/90 ReliOn

I had hopes things would line up at some point yesterday, as several people said the Libre was just off the first two days (and I even drank water on a timer all day to make sure I was well hydrated). Starting day 3 and it’s still very off - says I spent the whole night <60 (I didn’t), and this morning is reading 50s while meter says 80s.

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I can’t speak to the accuracy of the ReliOn Prime (I’ve only use the Relion Micro), but I can speak to the potential flakiness of devices reading interstitial fluid. That’s my normal experience with Dexcom. Apparently for some people it isn’t as useful as it is for others.

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I am beginning to wonder if I’m one of those people. Someone mentioned that the initial “off” period can be due to the skin damage from insertion - inflammation throwing things off. Considering I have a lot of inflammatory issues in general, and the sensor hurts if bumped at all, I also wonder if it could just be that my skin is too sensitive to it, and that’s what’s throwing it off. I almost always have pain with fingerpricks and injections still, even a year into this, so I could see that being the case if that’s a valid possibility.

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Where are you doing it? Try the sides of your pinky and ring fingers instead of the pad. Those areas may be less sensitive.

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I almost always use the sides of my fingers (I generally rotate through the fingers of one hand each day), and I use the lowest depth setting possible. I don’t really consider myself someone with low pain tolerance, but this sometimes makes me reconsider. :laughing:

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Are you using a 33 gauge lancet?