# Libre- Help or hindrance?



## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 8, 2019)

As some of you know I have been give a Libre to help me with some wildly fluctuating B/G readings.
The trouble I find is that it is really quite inaccurate at times (some sensors are better than others). I know the readings are delayed by 10-12 minutes and the readings get less accurate at the extremes.
But as an example yesterday my Libre showed 7 point something and a horizontal line, so I continued in blissful ignorance but in fact when I did a finger prick later it showed 11 point something.
I often see 2's and 3's when I feel fine, do a finger prick and see 4 or 5, I have seen the graph line not go above 3 all night and I wake up feeling fine.
So I am ignoring highs and treating hypos that don't exist.
Does any one else get this.
I have been type 1 for over 30 years and things seam to get harder to manage every year.

Sorry for the negativity, but thanks for reading.


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## nonethewiser (Sep 8, 2019)

Report sensor, keep a record of bg libre readings as they will ask for them both.  Don't know about 10-12 mins behind, I find its more like 20 mins. Faulty sensors are common so need reporting.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 8, 2019)

While I recognise some of the challenges you mention, mostly I find over half of my readings to be within 0.5mmol/L from a fingerstick taken at the same time. The more stable my BGs the better the accuracy (probably because of the lag you mention). And generally I find the more time I wear sensors, the more stable my BGs become. 

Hope you find things settle for you and can overcome some of the frustrations and feeling of ‘data overload’.


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## Kaylz (Sep 8, 2019)

We were told at our education session ALWAYS finger prick to check a high, low or hypo and if the way you felt didn't match how you were feeling

During the night a lot have problems as they lie on the sensor producing what is known as a compression low

Are you making sure your well hydrated? as that is another factor that affects its accuracy

As @nonethewiser has said though if it's inaccurate, call Abbott and report it and you should be issued a replacement, I've only had to do it once but they require 3 comparisons to a finger prick, also are you using the updated software?
xx


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## Ljc (Sep 8, 2019)

Hi.  The horizontal arrow means changes are happening slowly,  I have removed some wrong info. 
Do report sensors that are too far out to Abbott will replace a faulty sensor, they usually need the faulty one back to test it.

People often find that sensors are less accurate if they are a bit dehydrated or laid  on them when asleep.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 8, 2019)

Thanks for all the replies.

My real concerns here are, if there are more than just an occasional duff sensor then I see it as bad information is worse than no information, and as my test strips are now heavily rationed I can't afford to use them very often and finally if I need to double check the Libre there is not much point to it.

Hydration: I did not know about that, but I don't think I am any different to any one else. But I have learnt something today.


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## Kaylz (Sep 8, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> Thanks for all the replies.
> 
> My real concerns here are, if there are more than just an occasional duff sensor then I see it as bad information is worse than no information, and as my test strips are now heavily rationed I can't afford to use them very often and finally if I need to double check the Libre there is not much point to it.
> 
> Hydration: I did not know about that, but I don't think I am any different to any one else. But I have learnt something today.


Some people just find the Libre isn't suitable for them 

why have they rationed your test strips? They shouldn't and cant really do that as even Abbott recommend using pricks when coming back up from a hypo etc as the Libre tends to take longer to get back up

I still prick 4 times a day when administering insulin, it's not a definitive way to end finger pricks but it's trends can be very useful 
xx


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 8, 2019)

Kaylz,

My diabetes specialist nurse persuaded my GP to allow the Libre on prescription because now I would need a lot fewer test strips.
I was finger pricking 6 times often more than that a day.


I will be offline now for a few  hours.


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## Kaylz (Sep 8, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> Kaylz,
> 
> My diabetes specialist nurse persuaded my GP to allow the Libre on prescription because now I would need a lot fewer test strips.
> I was finger pricking 6 times often more than that a day.
> ...


I'd query that, I too get the Libre on prescription but I haven't had my strips limited and am still entitled to 200 strips per month, you need those strips for hypo's, highs etc, I woke up low yesterday morning and had used 11 strips in 2 hours as I couldn't get my bloods up xx


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## Bruce Stephens (Sep 8, 2019)

Kaylz said:


> Some people just find the Libre isn't suitable for them



Yes. I've had one or two sensors where the first night was LO, and one of those was a bit off for the first few days. But otherwise they've been pretty accurate. I think it's intriguing that it just doesn't seem to work for some people. I imagine that's part of what the six month trial is: to try and find the people it doesn't work for, to avoid them wasting their time with it. (And, I'd hope, to collect statistics and to investigate why it's not working. An allergic reaction is easily understandable, but in the absence of that it's a sensor with a probe stuck under the skin, so what could be going wrong?)


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## Ljc (Sep 8, 2019)

Some of us find that if they apply a sensor and don’t activate it till the next day, they are more accurate from the beginning.
As others have already said they don’t work for e everyone .

I have had a couple of sensors that were too far out for a couple of days then came good.  One that I couldn’t trust . I have noticed an improvement since the upgrade.  Which reminds me, is your reader running the latest software


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 8, 2019)

Ljc said:


> Some of us find that if they apply a sensor and don’t activate it till the next day, they are more accurate from the beginning.
> As others have already said they don’t work for e everyone .
> 
> I have had a couple of sensors that were too far out for a couple of days then came good.  One that I couldn’t trust . I have noticed an improvement since the upgrade.  Which reminds me, is your reader running the latest software



I have the latest software.
I will apply the next sensor a day before activating and see how that is.
I must say all the sensors have read low, but this current one which is due for changing in 3 days is the worst one, never better than 3 sometimes 5 below my blood.

Is there any one who had better HbA1c results without a Libre rather than with who has not posted in this thread?
Just trying to see if we have any alternative views and opinions.


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## Ljc (Sep 8, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> I have the latest software.
> I will apply the next sensor a day before activating and see how that is.
> I must say all the sensors have read low, but this current one which is due for changing in 3 days is the worst one, never better than 3 sometimes 5 below my blood.
> 
> ...



My advice is if you get another that is so far out, do let Abbott know , they are very good , they take you few a few checks on the reader and will happily replace faulty equipment. Imo I would report this one. 

We do have some people on here who never had any success with the Libre , ie that readings were always to far out compared to finger pricks , atm I can’t remember who .


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## Bronco Billy (Sep 8, 2019)

It depends on the accuracy of the sensor. If it’s very close to a blood test reading, the libre is great. My children love it as it means fewer blood tests and is much more convenient as well. If they are low or high, we always do a blood test anyway to get the most accurate reading we can before taking action. Even an inaccurate sensor can be useful up to a point, as long as it is consistent. If you know it is, for example, 3 mml higher than the actual BG, you know that a reading of 4.1 means you’re not close to being hypo.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 8, 2019)

Ljc said:


> Hi.  The horizontal arrow means changes are happening slowly, when it’s absent it means levels are stable



I’m not sure that’s how I understand it Lin. I thought that the horizontal arrow was the lowest level of change the Libre could indicate (0.06mmol/L per minute I think). My understanding is that if levels are changing, or have recently changed abruptly, or are a bit wibbly and there is no easily identifiable direction but the change is greater than 0.06 up *and* down then the Libre doesn’t show an arrow. It usually reappears within a few minutes though.


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## Ljc (Sep 8, 2019)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I’m not sure that’s how I understand it Lin. I thought that the horizontal arrow was the lowest level of change the Libre could indicate (0.06mmol/L per minute I think). My understanding is that if levels are changing, or have recently changed abruptly, or are a bit wibbly and there is no easily identifiable direction but the change is greater than 0.06 up *and* down then the Libre doesn’t show an arrow. It usually reappears within a few minutes though.


Thanks Mike . I will double check.

Thanks for putting me right.  I have removed the wrong info.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 8, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> Is there any one who had better HbA1c results without a Libre rather than with who has not posted in this thread?
> Just trying to see if we have any alternative views and opinions.



I have had lower HbA1c results while on a pump and using BG checks, but I was having far more low level hypos, so I would say that my diabetes management is much improved with the addition of continuous data as it allows me to reduce and avoid time spent in hypoglycaemia.


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## TheClockworkDodo (Sep 8, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> My diabetes specialist nurse persuaded my GP to allow the Libre on prescription because now I would need a lot fewer test strips.
> I was finger pricking 6 times often more than that a day.


That sounds as though your GP doesn't understand how the Libre works, and how much you still need to test when using a Libre - I would definitely ask your GP for more strips on your prescription if I were you, and explain that the Libre is not sufficiently reliable to replace strips with readings from it - it's an extra not a substitute.  Not having enough strips could be dangerous.

I am using fewer strips since getting the Libre - but most of the time I was testing 8-12 times a day.  Most of the time now I'm testing 6-8 times a day, but I might still test 12 times or more in a day if I have a stubborn hypo or hyper.

I do find the Libre really useful, especially the arrows and the extra info like time in target, but if I had to choose between my Libre and my test strips I'd definitely take the test strips, because they're that much more accurate, and with frequent hypos and limited hypo awareness I need accuracy.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 9, 2019)

Bronco Billy said:


> It depends on the accuracy of the sensor. If it’s very close to a blood test reading, the libre is great. My children love it as it means fewer blood tests and is much more convenient as well. If they are low or high, we always do a blood test anyway to get the most accurate reading we can before taking action. Even an inaccurate sensor can be useful up to a point, as long as it is consistent. If you know it is, for example, 3 mml higher than the actual BG, you know that a reading of 4.1 means you’re not close to being hypo.



That's the problem, they are not consistent in the error.



TheClockworkDodo said:


> That sounds as though your GP doesn't understand how the Libre works, and how much you still need to test when using a Libre - I would definitely ask your GP for more strips on your prescription if I were you, and explain that the Libre is not sufficiently reliable to replace strips with readings from it - it's an extra not a substitute.  Not having enough strips could be dangerous.
> 
> I am using fewer strips since getting the Libre - but most of the time I was testing 8-12 times a day.  Most of the time now I'm testing 6-8 times a day, but I might still test 12 times or more in a day if I have a stubborn hypo or hyper.
> 
> I do find the Libre really useful, especially the arrows and the extra info like time in target, but if I had to choose between my Libre and my test strips I'd definitely take the test strips, because they're that much more accurate, and with frequent hypos and limited hypo awareness I need accuracy.




The direction arrow is helpful, as well as the graph line.
I will contact Abbot about the inaccurate readings but continue to use the information from the graph and maybe just ignore the numbers.


And speak to my GP regarding test strips, or buy my own if I can find a place to but I am suspicious of buying counterfeit products like this from the internet.


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## Northerner (Sep 9, 2019)

I've come to the conclusion that it's probably not that the sensors perform inaccurately, but whether they get inserted correctly. Certainly, if a sensor is reporting erratic, clearly inaccurate numbers then report it and request a replacement. When you remove the sensor it's worth taking a look at the filament to see if it is bent or kinked in any way - all the ones I've had where the scans were completely out turned out to have either a slight or a big bend in the filament. I don't think this is any particular fault of the person when they attach the sensor, simply that it's not failure-proof, so may not be perfect, or even totally ineffective. When a sensor is working well it is much more accurate now than it used to be when I was self-funding them over a year ago, so the software changes have helped. My current sensor has been faultless (now 4 days to go, and hoping the next one will be as good!  )


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 9, 2019)

Northerner said:


> I've come to the conclusion that it's probably not that the sensors perform inaccurately, but whether they get inserted correctly. Certainly, if a sensor is reporting erratic, clearly inaccurate numbers then report it and request a replacement. When you remove the sensor it's worth taking a look at the filament to see if it is bent or kinked in any way - all the ones I've had where the scans were completely out turned out to have either a slight or a big bend in the filament. I don't think this is any particular fault of the person when they attach the sensor, simply that it's not failure-proof, so may not be perfect, or even totally ineffective. When a sensor is working well it is much more accurate now than it used to be when I was self-funding them over a year ago, so the software changes have helped. My current sensor has been faultless (now 4 days to go, and hoping the next one will be as good!  )



That is a very good theory and I reckon you are probably right.
I am always surprised that the sensor probe is able to penetrate without bending or deflecting as it is quite soft and flexible.


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## Bruce Stephens (Sep 9, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> I am always surprised that the sensor probe is able to penetrate without bending or deflecting as it is quite soft and flexible.



I assumed the applicator has something like a metal tube which takes the probe under the skin (and that's partly what the hole in the sensor is about: to allow that metal to retract).


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## mikeyB (Sep 9, 2019)

It’s not a metal tube, it’s a simple needle. The probe sits round that needle, and stays in place when the needle withdraws. 

If you’ve ever had a Venflon inserted in hospital for a drip, it’s exactly the same principle. The needle within the tube is used to place the the tube in the vein, then the needle element is withdrawn.

With the sensor, the probe is so fine, it’s easily bent, not in the application, but in the removal, unless you remove the sensor vertically. We don’t - we lift one edge and rip it off. Sometimes after one or two goes. 

All that is why when a sensor appears to be lifting off, sticking it down again bends the probe and can give you inaccurate readings.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 10, 2019)

I applied a new sensor last night and activated it this morning.

This is the result, on waking my blood showed 5.8.
That must have been an exceptionally bad sensor.
Incidently, the probe was perfectly straight when I removed it very carefully.


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## Kaylz (Sep 10, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> I applied a new sensor last night and activated it this morning.
> 
> This is the result, on waking my blood showed 5.8.
> That must have been an exceptionally bad sensor.
> ...


i wouldn't see that as an exceptionally bad sensor, you only applied and activated it last night, it can take 24 hours to bed in and become accurate and you really should've given it time to settle before removing it, Abbott wont replace that and now your down a sensor so will have to result to finger pricking which you've mentioned your limited to doing


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 10, 2019)

Kaylz said:


> i wouldn't see that as an exceptionally bad sensor, you only applied and activated it last night, it can take 24 hours to bed in and become accurate and you really should've given it time to settle before removing it, Abbott wont replace that and now your down a sensor so will have to result to finger pricking which you've mentioned your limited to doing



You have misinterpreted my post Kaylz,

The red line below 3 all night is the old duff sensor, the higher line after the gap is the new sensor.
I took a reading off the old sensor, 2.4 as the red line shows, then activated the new sensor that had been applied the day before. The reading after the gap is the new sensor.
The old sensor that was showing bad results expired today anyway.


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## Bruce Stephens (Sep 10, 2019)

Kaylz said:


> i wouldn't see that as an exceptionally bad sensor, you only applied and activated it last night, it can take 24 hours to bed in and become accurate and you really should've given it time to settle before removing it, Abbott wont replace that and now your down a sensor so will have to result to finger pricking which you've mentioned your limited to doing



The graph includes two sensors: the old one's always low, the new one looks more plausible.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 10, 2019)

Bruce Stephens said:


> The graph includes two sensors: the old one's always low, the new one looks more plausible.


Correct.


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## Northerner (Sep 10, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> You have misinterpreted my post Kaylz,
> 
> The red line below 3 all night is the old duff sensor, the higher line after the gap is the new sensor.
> I took a reading off the old sensor, 2.4 as the red line shows, then activated the new sensor that had been applied the day before. The reading after the gap is the new sensor.
> The old sensor that was showing bad results expired today anyway.


I hope it continues to work well for you


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 10, 2019)

Benny G said:


> Well done, this does highlight the factory batch calibration issue.
> When changing to a new sensor, if your glucose level is usually pretty steady, the line from old sensor to new sensor should be continuous.
> I use a blucon with my libre, so there is no warm up hour of missing readings, I can see if the two sensors were calibrated at the same level



Can you elaborate on Blucon please?


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 10, 2019)

Benny G said:


> Hi, I am about to set off to work so will be busy all day, but i can leave a link for blucon
> https://www.ambrosiasys.com/
> You can also look at the miaomiao page
> https://miaomiao.cool/



That's helpful, thank you.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 20, 2019)

This sensor appears to be going the same way. It has been getting lower and lower over several days.


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## Kaylz (Sep 20, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> This sensor appears to be going the same way. It has been getting lower and lower over several days. View attachment 12338


maybe the Libre just isn't suitable for you x


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 20, 2019)

Might be worth making sure you are keeping well hydrated. This can have a major effect on sensor performance


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## grovesy (Sep 20, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> This sensor appears to be going the same way. It has been getting lower and lower over several days. View attachment 12338


One of our regulars who is not around at the moment @trophywench could not get on with the Libre.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 20, 2019)

grovesy said:


> One of our regulars who is not around at the moment @trophywench could not get on with the Libre.



I would be interested to know why she rejected it. Same reason? I wonder.


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## 1oldgal (Sep 20, 2019)

just thought I'd put in my six penneth, I found that if I changed my sensor when my bg was either low or going down it would take the new one up to 36 hours for it to charge up and read above LO. I changed the timing to just after lunch when my bg would be on the rise and I have had fewer problems kick starting the sensor. Of course this could be purley coincidental but its working for me at the moment.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 20, 2019)

1oldgal said:


> just thought I'd put in my six penneth, I found that if I changed my sensor when my bg was either low or going down it would take the new one up to 36 hours for it to charge up and read above LO. I changed the timing to just after lunch when my bg would be on the rise and I have had fewer problems kick starting the sensor. Of course this could be purley coincidental but its working for me at the moment.



Your six penneth is most welcome.
My previous sensor was reading low from the start, this sensor seamed to start off OK but get progressively more inaccurate (reading low). It's about a week old now.


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## grovesy (Sep 20, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> I would be interested to know why she rejected it. Same reason? I wonder.


She has not been around for a few weeks but she often is away at this time of the year.


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## Bruce Stephens (Sep 20, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> It has been getting lower and lower over several days.



That's consistent with the application not working quite right (so if the little probe didn't quite go in all the way), and I could imagine movement (if the glue didn't work quite as strongly with your skin) gradually allowing the probe to be removed from under the skin. (Obviously that's not the only explanation it would be consistent with.)

I'm a bit surprised we don't hear a bit more from Abbott (and others), presuming it's something we could act on (or, for that matter, if it's something we can't do anything about). Maybe there are lots of different (mostly rare) things going on.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 20, 2019)

When this sensor expires I am not going to renew it.
I will ask to have my test strip allowance increased instead.
The reason being.
I have just come home from walking the dog on some hard going coastal path, very hilly and quite remote. The libra was saying 2.2 and falling, but I felt fine and this just confuses me.
If my blood was really 2.2 I would not have made it home. I did have Jelly Babies on me, but did not eat any.
It's a shame because the graph is useful, but I also need to know the numbers accurately.


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## mikeyB (Sep 21, 2019)

So what was your BG with a test strip? I’ve been 2.2 and not felt hypo - that’s on BG testing, not the Libre. If I tested 2.2 on the Libre I would be eating Jelly Babies. If you didn’t, you are crazy, particularly with a downward arrow. It’s easy to fix an over correction, but dangerous to ignore a hypo warning.

I assume you wouldn’t drive on 2.2 just because you felt fine. You would be breaking the law.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 21, 2019)

When I got home my BG was 5.8, that was after walking another mile or so ( I live near the coast path and walk it every day).
If you did not have a Libre and felt fine you would not eat Jelly Babies would you, this is why I find the Libre confusing. And bad information is worse than no information, also a high is easy to correct, but if you are doing it several times a day unnecessarily, that's equally crazy.

"I assume you wouldn’t drive on 2.2 just because you felt fine. You would be breaking the law."...... but I wasn't 2.2 and I wasn't driving anyway.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 21, 2019)

Sorry to go on about it, but I really wanted this to work.

These two readings were taken 15 minutes apart, but at lunch time the two meters showed 7.1 and 7.7.
I just don't trust it because if the readings are sometimes wrong and sometimes right the graph is not showing a true pattern either.


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## TheClockworkDodo (Sep 21, 2019)

I have to say I'm with Guzzian on this one.  If I tested 2.2 on the Libre I would not be eating jelly babies (well, I wouldn't anyway, but drinking grape juice or whatever), I'd be testing my blood sugar on my meter, and there's a good chance my meter would say 5.8.  I've had several sensors which read a lot lower than my meter without having any kind of consistent pattern in relation to my meter, and it's very annoying.  And after a couple of days of thinking "my Libre says 2.2, I need to test right away!" and testing and finding I'm actually 5.8, or 8.2, or 6.7, or whatever, I do eventually think "my Libre says 2.2.  Again.  My sensor is not working" rather than wasting more test strips.  It would be different if I were driving, of course, but then I'd test anyway if I were driving, there's no way I'd rely on my Libre.


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## Kaylz (Sep 22, 2019)

I too am with Guzzian and TheClockworkDodo, we were told at the education session by the dietician holding it and the Libre rep present to always double check a high or low with a finger prick and also if a scan didn't match how we were feeling, no way would I rely 100% on a scan


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 22, 2019)

I’m with @mikeyB *except* on the rare occasion (I think two sensors since 2014?) where results have been consistently lower on Libre than fingerstick. 

I think this depends on what your experience is of the likely differences between the technologies. The numbers will ALWAYS be different (they are reading different things, and there is a time delay between values in interstitial fluid vs capillary blood etc etc) but for me the vast majority of results are usable close. And if a fingerstick shows not hypo when Libre says below 4, in the vast majority of cases a fingerstick will also be saying sub-4 within 10 minutes or so.

If you’ve tried all the tricks to get the Libre to read closer to fingersticks and are still getting unusable data from them @Guzzian, it looks like those sensors just don’t work for you. You might have more success with Dexcom, Medtronic Guardian Connect, or even Medtrum.


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## Ljc (Sep 22, 2019)

Providing my sensor is a gud un, most if them are , I am with @everydayupsanddowns and @mikeyB.
However if my symptoms don’t match what the scan says I do a finger prick. 

@Guzzian , I am sorry to say it does look like the Libre doesn’t work well  for you , which is a shame.  Their are a few people on here who have given up on the Libre as it’s just too inaccurate for them.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 22, 2019)

It’s probably also bearing in mind that different BG meters have different overall predispositions too (and suit different people’s bodies with different strip chemistry). 

When I’ve moved from one BG meter to another I’ve often cross-checked between them to understand whether this or that meter generally reads higher, lower, or more or less the same as another. 

Additionally BG meters always suggest rechecking if a reading doesn’t match how you are feeling and only the meter I currently use (Contour NextLink) has proven to be so consistent that I rarely double-check now. On other meters if I rechecked I would quite often get a different number - sometimes substantially so. 

If you are not cross-checking your meter against itself and against other meter brands all the time (and against lab values), then there is little way of knowing exactly which number is ‘right’.

Meter and sensor technology is really only able to offer ‘ish’ values. They are invaluable in daily management, but each technology has a margin of error. 

The important thing really is whether you trust the information as useful. If you’ve stopped trusting Libre it’s probably worth stopping.


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 22, 2019)

The trouble I have is if the Libre is telling me I'm hypo and I act on it by taking glucose this obviously raises the blood sugar, but if the Libre is wrong in it's reading and I am in fact at a good level eating Jelly Babies, glucose tablets or what ever is going to put me at a unacceptably high level. And this could be every time I test for days at a time.
That much is very obvious.
But, if the Libre is having a good day and reading correctly I need to confirm this with a finger prick.
So rather than reduce the number of finger pricks and paraphernaliar I have added to it.

I must add that I have been type 1 for 30 years and never required outside help or hospital admission for a hypo or hyper without a Libre.

Everydayupsanddowns, I have PM'd you.


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## Ljc (Sep 22, 2019)

Guzzian said:


> The trouble I have is if the Libre is telling me I'm hypo and I act on it by taking glucose this obviously raises the blood sugar, but if the Libre is wrong in it's reading and I am in fact at a good level eating Jelly Babies, glucose tablets or what ever is going to put me at a unacceptably high level. And this could be every time I test for days at a time.
> That much is very obvious.
> But, if the Libre is having a good day and reading correctly I need to confirm this with a finger prick.
> So rather than reduce the number of finger pricks and paraphernaliar I have added to it.
> ...



It is  such a shame when something that you hoped would help , ie more info , convenience etc ends up causing you more agro .


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## TheClockworkDodo (Sep 22, 2019)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> And if a fingerstick shows not hypo when Libre says below 4, in the vast majority of cases a fingerstick will also be saying sub-4 within 10 minutes or so.


That seems backwards to me - the Libre is usually 10 minutes behind the meter, not 10 minutes ahead of it 
And it might be true for the vast majority of cases of people using the Libre (though given that the Libre is behind the meter, not ahead of it, that seems a bit unlikely to me) but it's not true for the vast majority of my tests - I do a lot of testing with my meter as well as scanning, and I've had quite a few sensors when after a few days the Libre just started reading hypo all the time.  And I may have a lot of hypos, but I am not hypo all the time!


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## Deleted member 13600 (Sep 22, 2019)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> That seems backwards to me - the Libre is usually 10 minutes behind the meter, not 10 minutes ahead of it
> And it might be true for the vast majority of cases of people using the Libre (though given that the Libre is behind the meter, not ahead of it, that seems a bit unlikely to me) but it's not true for the vast majority of my tests - I do a lot of testing with my meter as well as scanning, and I've had quite a few sensors when after a few days the Libre just started reading hypo all the time.  And I may have a lot of hypos, but I am not hypo all the time!



Are you a mind reader!!!
Those are my thoughts exactly, but I didn't want to appear too argumentative.
I am no expert, or Doctor but I do have 30 years experience of the effects of diabetes on my body.
Also reading some other forums and internet stuff you and I are not alone in this by any means.
Thanks for adding your experience.


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## Kaylz (Sep 22, 2019)

Although I generally have success with sensors they can fail, take this for instance

Not once in the period was I hypo by finger prick nor anywhere near hypo! 
I love my Libre most of the time but there is no way I could rely on it 100% to make judgement to bolus, even 1mmol out could make the difference of a correction dose so it just isn't worth it although I do get fed up of people saying I and others who still finger prick shouldn't get it
xx


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 22, 2019)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> That seems backwards to me - the Libre is usually 10 minutes behind the meter, not 10 minutes ahead of it
> And it might be true for the vast majority of cases of people using the Libre (though given that the Libre is behind the meter, not ahead of it, that seems a bit unlikely to me) but it's not true for the vast majority of my tests - I do a lot of testing with my meter as well as scanning, and I've had quite a few sensors when after a few days the Libre just started reading hypo all the time.  And I may have a lot of hypos, but I am not hypo all the time!



Sorry for the confusion - I was thinking more about a downward trend than the time lag. 

The main time I notice the lag is coming up out of hypo where Libre can still read low when fingerstick reads in the 5s. I’ve double-treated more than once.


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