# Newly Diagnosed - Libre or Dexcom?



## Darcysmun (Apr 25, 2020)

Hi everyone. My daughter just diagnosed 4 weeks ago. Her levels are still very up and down and we are waiting on the libre to. Be posted out as I'm still checking bloods every 2hrs and it's exhausting but she's very anxious about hypos during the night and very scared that I won't get to her in time. Have any of u used libre or the dexacom g6 as we would love your opinions on these. Also I have heard there is something u can get for the libre that alerts u when bloods are low or high?????


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## Deleted member 27171 (Apr 25, 2020)

Hi @Darcysmun 
there is an add on to the Libre called miao miao that alerts high and low but costs about £150 and isn’t an approved product so not available on prescription. There might be others that people know of and I’m sure someone will say so here if there is. The Libre2 (not sure of UK launch date) will have this feature anyway so might be worth waiting for that.
we used that with my son for a bit but didn’t find it great just from a user friendliness perspective particularly for the alerts to us rather than him.
we’ve used the g6 for about 6 months and much prefer it. the alerts are particularly good as more scope for own settings. It’s also designed as a cgm (continuous glucose monitor - to check all the time and give alerts) which the Libre isn’t.
It is hard, particularly in the beginning when still trying to find the right doses and learning how different things affect bgl, but it does get less exhausting. 
how old is your daughter?


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## Deleted member 27171 (Apr 25, 2020)

Just to add. The Libre should help relieve you of the need to check  so often at night, even if you still check a couple of times to begin with as it will let you know if her levels are dropping/increasing so you’ll know when it’s ok to leave it a bit longer and the daily trends might help to reassure her too if she can see what her levels are doing between tests. So hope your not waiting too long for it to arrive and can get a bit more sleep soon!


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## trophywench (Apr 25, 2020)

Aww, sorry your daughter's joined our merry band.  Nobody gets things sorted in the first few weeks whether they're Einstein or normal people like ourselves - this really is a marathon, not a sprint!  

Alan on here was actually due to run the Stockholm marathon a week after he was diagnosed and his fitness for that only masked his symptoms for longer and made his eventual necessity to dial 999 more dramatic, is all really.

Like everyone - she'll get there as soon as her body can.  Her Specialist nurse is both your biggest mate - don't be afraid to ring her whenever you need her, cos she'll still be there for you even in 'this lot'.


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## Thebearcametoo (Apr 25, 2020)

Darcysmun said:


> Hi everyone. My daughter just diagnosed 4 weeks ago. Her levels are still very up and down and we are waiting on the libre to. Be posted out as I'm still checking bloods every 2hrs and it's exhausting but she's very anxious about hypos during the night and very scared that I won't get to her in time. Have any of u used libre or the dexacom g6 as we would love your opinions on these. Also I have heard there is something u can get for the libre that alerts u when bloods are low or high?????


Hi, have you got a good relationship with your diabetes team? Checking every two hours is a lot and may be causing everyone more anxiety than helping. I know how hard the first few months are we had periods of huge anxiety for all of us when my daughter was diagnosed.

Does she have any hypo awareness? What sort of numbers is she at first thing in the morning and which insulins is she on? Have you been shown how to carb count and are you getting comfortable doing that?

It’s normal for her levels not to be sorted at this point.The data collected will help her team to adjust her insulin ratios etc so that you get nearer to being in target more often but it will take time to get it sorted.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Apr 26, 2020)

Welcome to the forum @Darcysmun

Sorry to hear about your daughter, but glad you have found the forum.

Hope the Libre helps give you some peace of mind - and reduces the burden of regular checking. It’s important to remember that this is just information, it’s not a judgement of effort or your BG management strategies - it will just give you pointers and ideas of how to respond, and what you can try next.

As for Libre vs Dexcom, different sensors seem to suit different people - so I guess the best thing would be to start with Libre if you can get that on prescription and see how that works for you. Dexcom you would most likely have to self-fund Dexcom as they are not regularly offered on the NHS. There are 2 add-ons for Libre which you could look into (MiaoMiao and Blucon) but these are not official, and some people have questions over performance but you’d have to research and try it for yourself if you were interested. 

I’ve split your posts into your own thread So that you can get more tailored replies.


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