Freestyle Libre Sensor Failures

Welcome to FUD @Buzz @Luna @JoniAndBrent! May your searches yield good info, and the humble FUD team of a bit wacky souls fill your hearts and minds with good info and discussion.

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I use the meter to start the sensors. If I start them with the app the meter wonā€™t read them. I did not have a problem until recently. One sensor said it was incomparable with either the meter or the app. The very next sensor worked fine for about a week then suddenly started indicating I had dangerously low glucose. Like 45. I didnā€™t have any test strips where I was so I immediately ate some honey. Tested again and same low result I got home and used a test strip and my sugar was actually 289! The sensor still indicated glucose was 50 or so. So the sensor failed. These damn things are not cheap and communication with Abbot is a pain in the ass.

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i actually had a lot of bad libre sensors, however, they do seem to be a lot more error prone to contraindicationsā€¦ any nsaids other than tylenol, antibiotics (tooth issue for me), etc can easily give false low readings ot false highsā€¦luckily for me, my insurance company finally approved the dexcom g6 for me through the pharmacy, but for quite a while i was trying to use the libre with bubble and it was usually reading false lows

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I am on my 4th month and having many failures. I just got my new shipment and this is the 3rd one in a row failing after the initial 60 minute wait.

I am having the same issue and use the app on my phone. I think it is the sensors. My doctor wants me to switch to the Dexcom, which I think I will do.

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I have been using FreeStyle Libre 14 day for about 2 years , I have had at least ten sensors fail most with 6 or 7 days left. It is a great system, when it works. but when it doesnā€™t, it is at the very minimum aggravating ā€“ and at the worst very dangerous. I have had readings that are 70,80, or more points low compared to finger stick testing.

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KDillard,
Your experience sounds very similar to mine. Iā€™m at my wits end trying to get a response from customer service. Iā€™ve had more than 8 failures in the last year.

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Hi Chris, I have had a sensor fall out of the applicator before I was able to attach it. They sent me a replacement and the replacement read LO and never read above that. I have had several good ones and several that read way high or way low compared to my blood reading and about 1/4 that donā€™t make it the 14 days. Itā€™s very frustrating considering the price of these. Not sure where to go from these.

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They are definitely having some kind of production issue. A bunch of people in the UK are now having issues with their sensors and they have recently started switching a bunch of them to the Libre2. The ones still on the regular Libre donā€™t seem to be having an issue.

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I have used the Freestyle Libre 14 day system for over 2 years and everything was fine until about 10 mos. ago. Now it seems every other one ends prematurely, sometimes by 6 or 7 days. Today, a new twist. I have used the Libre app for Android for the last 3 or 4 mos. Start it with the reader, then use the app, with all the nice charts, graphs and ability to insert notes. Checked my sensor with the phone app and said ā€œsensor endedā€. 9 days early! I think, another bad sensor. Just about to remove it and I saw the Freestyle reader nearby. Just for kicks, I tried it on the ā€œdeadā€ sensor. Got a reading. Tried it again. Another reading. Phone app still says sensor ended. Apparently, the phone app and reader interact differently with the sensor. So, Iā€™m stuck with just the reader for 9 more days, but itā€™s working. I will contact Abbott support and see what they say.

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Welcome to FUD @Beccer181! Sorry the Libre tech with your phone is working great, but posts like yours keep a lot of people informed. Thank you!

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Contacted Abbott support for the app. Explained the problem I have been having and my ā€œdiscoveryā€ that the reader still worked when app did not. The tech was not interested, only that the app was currently working with the new sensor I have applied. Only concern was any questions regarding how to use the app. He had no records to see if this had been reported previously.

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Iā€™m so glad I found this forum because Ive had to have them send me three replacements for failed sensors. And Iā€™m on my second one in two days that has clealry failed. I have one more to try, and if it doesnt work Iā€™m going to see if I can switch to something else. So disappointing.

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Uugh, that sounds rough. Do know that we have had bad lots of sensors from Dexcom too. Bad manufacturing practices happen to any tech this complicated. I wouldnā€™t write them off until you try another lot of sensors. Welcome to FUD @Deannebays! Glad you started posting.

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I found this long running conversation while looking up an error. It makes me sad so many people have had issues with these sensors. both the libre and libre 2. I started with the libre pretty much as soon as it was available in my country ( canada) and switched to the libre 2 when it came out. I must be one of the lucky ones because I only had 2 libre sensors fail over the years and only 2 of the libre 2 also fail. I canā€™t remember at this point what went wrong with the first 2. Of the libre 2 failures one the contraption just wouldnā€™t let go of the sensor so it was more of a mechanical issue. The one I received tonight was " You sensor is not working. Replace your sensor ā€œ. Which is something iā€™ve never had happen before. It is almost as if it only lasted ten days instead of the 14. Any one eles have experienced that error?
i do get the " check again in ten minsā€ error once in a while. Most frequently i get that error when I have accidently knocked the sensor or caught it on something. I usually discover i have pulled the little piece out that reads the glucose level.
I will also add that i use the cell phone as a reader.

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I still think they are facing more manufacturing issues nowadays, more people are using it, shortage of labor etc etc. But sometimes they have a bunch of failures.

I had a bunch of Libre2 fail at the beginning and had switched back to the 14 day ones. Recently, 4 of the 14 day ones I picked up, all same lot number, all failed, 3 wouldnā€™t even start with the 4th one starting and failing almost immediately. When I pulled them off, every one of them, the cannula had bent and not inserted right. The new batch has been working fine.

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Welcome to FUD @cDrysdale! Appreciate your contribution to our site.

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I have experienced that before. Sometimes thereā€™s an issue with the sensor that can cause this error. The times I had that, Abbott replaced the sensors for free. I donā€™t know about Abbottā€™s policy in Canada though, as I live in Europe.

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I am sending back 3 Libre2 sensors that all failed today, after the previous one failed a day early (after having given me 3 days of false low glucose alarms). Thatā€™s 5 failures out of the last 8 sensors. Everywhere I look, it seems that users are reporting a 40-50% (!) failure rate with this product. I donā€™t understand why Abbott is allowed to continue selling it - we are relying on it for our health. Itā€™s obviously a rampant issue, and itā€™s obviously not new. How do they get away with it?? Sorry that my first post is a rant, but Iā€™ve literally spent an entire morning and most of the afternoon on this. I am extremely frustrated.

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Welcome to FUD @Strat1117, we are here just for things like this. We have had a number of Dexcom sensor failures in a row, but that was a bad batch, and we havenā€™t had that problem in a while. Do you think it is just a bad batch, or are you aware of a bigger problem? It is really frustrating when it happens.

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