I’ve been using Libre for around five months now and it is great. Convenience and frequency of testing and the insight into rising or falling sugars is a big step forward. When Abbott had problems with distribution at the end of the year I didn’t imagine how much I had formed new routines around the scanning and how different it would feel without the sensor.
Back to finger-pricking then, and that of itself is a pain. Testing is much more involved than a casual swipe of the iPhone under and armpit but one gets used to that. Fewer tests a day and the static nature of each result leaven me less informed. The most telling difference of me is the awareness of control – the time in target statistic has become my go-to measure, and without the Libre’s continuous record it can’t be assessed.
Single point tests are ok at the time, but I found myself wanting to test again in 30 minutes to see where I was heading. The single most useful insight the Libre gave was into overnight profiles. This helped me to know what was going on whilst sleeping, adjust evening sugar levels to get the best balance and avoid waking up with low sugars which had become a regular experience. It even prompted discussion with the specialists to change my basal insulin type for a slightly longer lasting alternative. The effects have been good so far and I feel better balanced and controlled, which would have been really tough on the intermittent finger-prick tests.
It’s only a week, but I miss the Libre already and hope that Abbot get their act together soon. It is a really useful part of my new regime.
Update – a few months after this post was originally published, there was a change of eligibility criteria in my area and after a long process of demonstrating high levels of finger-prick testing I was admitted to the prescribed programme. Since then I have been a continuous user and can’t imaging life without the better insight and awareness that the Libre system provides.
More posts will follow as I reflect on how it goes and how it evolves.