FreeStyle Libre experiences

@Jen, I’m sorry but I can’t find your comment about using both the G6 and Libre anywhere. I just wanted to respond so you didn’t think I was… not responding. :smiley:

For me, my G6 falls under Durable Medical Equipment (as would the Medtronic Guardian… if…I were to…:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:), and the Libre falls under my Pharmacy Benefits. So I sport both. Life is short.

Again, similar experience as @Jen. I bolus off the Libre and average ~10 finger sticks a week. I do check the lows and highs before correction, though, because I’ve had a history of false lows and highs w/the Libre. The 10 day sensor read lower than my BG a lot, and the 14 day reads higher. :woman_shrugging:

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this is very good info to know. my 14 day Libre has been about 10 points higher than my finger sticks. ( it finally became in sync, but for whatever reason, this morning after bfast it went bonkers again. dont know why.)

just want to add this bc it has been both annoying and amusing:

i think my FSL hates the pool. really. i’m being serious. unless you have another piece of information that i am not privy to yet :wink:

every day when i am getting ready to walk to the pool (and this has happened 3 consecutive days in a row now) my fsl starts getting wonky. really wonky. all throughout the previous evening, all throughout the overnight, all throughout the morning all is well. it does read 10 points higher than my meter, but thats not the point. the point is that when i begin prepping for the pool, my fsl starts climbing up. up and up and up. even the arrow starts to point up! it is so rediculously high and out of range that i could through it against a tree. or whatever.

but then, once i have been home for 1/2 hour, in goes in sync again. has anyone, anyone, had a similar experience as this? an explanation, perhaps? i think its just bonkers. like it has a mind of its own.

I experience this every morning but did with the Dexcom as well. Within 10-15 minutes after waking the reading is accurate.

finally got sick of the fsl misreading my bgs. so i decided to remove it and try out a new one. (Abbott sent me a replacement).

all of my fears about it coming off in the pool kind of melted away; the old fsl was so hard to pull off. i was truly, and happily surprised.

i am praying that i get better syncing with this new one than i did with the other. of course, i will keep in mind that the first 24/48 hours will be wonky (but they couldnt have been more wonky than the other one that i just pulled off.)

fingers crossed :crossed_fingers:

one more question about insertion:

does anyone find that right after insertion that the area hurts a bit; kind of stings where the introducer needle goes in?

This is so surprising to me - did you have anything over it? Mine always starts peeling away within a couple days, so I put a patch over it from the start. Maybe I need to be swimming more. :wink:

Unfortunately, for me that’s a yes, definitely. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt much or for very long, sometimes it hurts a ton (like when I get a bleeder). I’ve had ones that ached for a couple days, to the point where I almost called Abbott to see if they’d replace it. I don’t have a lot of “real estate” on my arms, so I’ve always attributed it to my skinny arms.

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i’m exactly the same. skinny and defined muscles (from swimming).

so i put on a new sensor this afternoon before swimming, and i had the same experience with it going completely wonky during my walk to the pool, my time at the pool, and on my way home from the pool. it is slowly getting back into sync again, but i will hold out with my expectations of immediate correlation to my meter until 48 hours have passed.(but who knows, maybe this one will be the one to start being in sync right away; fingers crossed)

nope. i had nothing over it and i didnt even bother using SkinTac. it stayed on tight.

That is so weird, @daisymae. Do you do anything specific before you go to the pool? Take any sort of medication or anything else that might interfere with the sensor? Since it’s happening before you even get into the water, it has to be something internal. Adrenaline, maybe? Or maybe it’s friction against your clothes as you walk to the pool? Are you testing with a meter to see if the readings (or at least the trend) is mirrored on the meter?

yes, i am definitely testing with my meter to double check the crazy readings!!!

but, just a note: i took off the slightly waky sensor and put on a new one. the first 24 hours were a little loopy, but now its been spot on keeping in mind the lag time. its very very helpful. i am eager to see what happens when i leave for the pool tomorrow. :sunny: i’ll report back!

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am now on my second fsl sensor, and it is working so accurately i could probably bolus off of it.

but, i am going to the pool today, and i am curious to see if i have the same problem i had with my former sensor : crazy high and wonky readings while walking, going, and coming home from the pool. will this sensor hate the pool the way that the other one did? :rofl:

i am very happy to report that i am on a “good” sensor :smiley: it has been spot on and it worked on my way to the pool, in the locker room, at the pool, and after the pool. it has no sticking issues; its holding tightly.

only issue i have with it is that i can feel it when i am swimming laps. i am aware that it is on my arm bc there is a bit of a drag in my stroke. other than that, i am one happy customer :sunny:

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Can you try moving the spot just the slightest when you put in the next sensor?

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this is the second sensor i have swam with, and i had a similar problem wearing the first one while i was swimming. the interesting thing about it is that when i am not in the pool, i dont even notice that it is there.

what would you say your average is for totally wonky readings compared to fingersticks?

my fsl is pretty much in sync now 90% of the time. i just have to account for the 15 min lag time.

PS:

its been 9 days on this sensor and 8 days of swimming 90 minutes each day, and the fsl has proven to be very adherent. keeping my fingers crossed.

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About the Libre - the user has to wave the reader over the sensor. How do you address this while you’re sleeping?

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There are no alarms for the base model :frowning:

I understand that there are no alarms. That’s ok with me. I wonder if the Libre is continuously collecting ISF data? Is the purpose of the waving to get the ‘instantaneous’ reading?

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