These things suck... I have had a failure rate of about 30% since I started using them, and they are $75 a piece. Telling my Dr to give me something else.

Beware if you get prescribed these things, they have a high failure rate, and of course you cant even communicate with the company if you don't have the serial number of the sensor, so don't throw your boxes away.

The serial number and lot number are stored on your phone in the Libre app when you scan the sensor the first time.

My wife uses them, and has done for over a year. Had 3 failures (two wouldn't read, and one fell off when she caught it on a door jamb), all were replaced without issue and new ones shipped immediately.

Using 'skin-tac' patches to assist with adhesion seems to have removed the problem of failing to read.

YMMV.

I had better luck with the Dexcom units.

I am using the scanner from Freestyle, not a phone.

And it wont scan at all, that's the issue. The first time it happened, it just kept saying error, replace sensor. I figured whatever, got a bad one, it happens. But now its 2 bad out of 6. This one just keeps saying replace sensor and its brand new

Possibly a bad reader. Try the app if you have a smartphone.

I have have been using them for about 3 years. Just switched from the 14 to the 2. I have only had 1 fail on initialization and it was replaced with a phone call. I use my smart phone with the app. I have lost a few sensors by catching it on a door frame or something but that on me, not on the sensor. Also, I am paying about $40 for 2 sensors at a local Was Mart pharmacy due to a discount code they applied to my prescription.

I have found them to be very reliable and accurate. There may be better CGMs out there but I have been very satisfied with the FreeStyle.

I would say it is your reader.
We have to use the reader for the boy since he goes between us and the grandparents with sports and the like and being tied to a single device sucks.
We have been through 3 readers in under 2 years.

As for price have your pharmacist find their coupon.
We pay $34 per Libre since insurance won’t cover them.

We found the Libre to be far more accurate than the Dexcom.

I wish they would make a dedicated Apple Watch app.
I would not mind buying him a used Apple Watch so we don’t have to remember to play pass the reader all the time but he is not getting a phone.

We have only had 1 or 2 issues and a quick call got them replaced quickly and easily.

I have used both the Libre and Dexcom. I had much better luck with the Libre and personally, I think the Dexcom sucks. As a Type 1, I want it to always work and not have to worry about it. I had a bad infection with a Dexcom sensor and never had anything close with Libre. I got the Dexcom to consider using the non-line pumps that are out now> The Dexcom 7 will be very similar to the Libre in appearance and hopefully a better sensor.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
I am using the scanner from Freestyle, not a phone.

Are you using the libre 2?

My sensors usually make it two weeks. Maybe a day short every few sensors. Some sensors go bad first day. I’ve had 3 go bad since I started and abbott ships a replacement out the same day I complain.

I use my phone. If you’re using the libre 2 sensor, send me your address. I will drop this off at the post office on Monday.

Went to pick up the boy’s Libre refill for the first time this year.
The Abbot coupon that the pharmacist located last year making them $34 now makes a 2 pack FREE!!

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Went to pick up the boy’s Libre refill for the first time this year.
The Abbot coupon that the pharmacist located last year making them $34 now makes a 2 pack FREE!!

Any idea what coupon that is? I'm paying $37.99/apiece at CVS with a coupon, and that was the best deal I could find. At least now they're giving me a 12 week prescription so I don't have to go back every other week.

I have had quite a few fail...either just stop working or fall off. Some have worked the full 14 days, but have read significantly higher or lower than my finger-prick sugar levels through their entire lifespan. Others have been spot on. It's kind of annoying, and I think they're primarily designed for sedentary people who don't move around or do anything active...if you exercise and sweat a lot, or doff/don a ballistic vest multiple times a day, fight with people, or go to DTs class, they don't hold up so good. I did get some of that special bandage stuff that sticks to itself but not to your skin to wrap around them when I notice the adhesive is starting to peel...that helps get me a few more days out of them sometimes.

I will say that Abbot has always sent a new one out quickly via a phone call, and just recently they added an online option that is even easier...no calling India, sitting on hold, and spending a bunch of time answering questions. The S/N is on the sensor...you're going to want to hold onto it anyway as often they send a kit to ship it back. It's also stored in the reader, and I'd assume the app as well (I use the reader as I don't have an iPhone).

They're expensive, and kind of a nuisance, but it still beats pricking your finger multiple times a day, and provides way better feedback on your blood sugar patterns. I'm really grateful that they exist.

Tell your Pharmacist it is a coupon directly from Abbot.
I don’t know anything more.
Next time I am at the pharmacy I will ask and see if I can get more info.

I might suggest dumping the big corporate pharmacy. We switched to a local independent pharmacy and save money across the board plus they know us personally.
We switched years ago after using Kroger. We needed a prescription that insurance would not cover and Kroger wanted $180 for a weeks supply. The local place wanted $90. I asked them to look at our other prescriptions. We saved money on all of them and switched.
Could not be happier.

Think they are a pain for you. Try a 9 year old boy that swims 3 times a week, plays soccer once a week, and baseball when soccer is not going on.
Then of course recess and constant wresting with his brothers.

However it is a necessity for him. We have to have he alarms. He is not diabetic but has reactive hypoglycemia and celiac which is an absolute nightmare combo so the alarms are an absolute game changer for us.

I wore the Libre for a couple weeks and with a compression T shirt did not have too much issue.

They gave me one of those things and it hurt like hell for the two weeks it was on.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
They gave me one of those things and it hurt like hell for the two weeks it was on.

You probably put it in the wrong spot. If it hits muscle, it hurts. I had one that I applied into a portion of my tricep, and I had the same experience. Move your arm around and figure out where the gaps are between the muscle masses and stick it there...if it goes in the right spot you don't even feel it.

quote:

Try a 9 year old boy that swims 3 times a week, plays soccer once a week, and baseball when soccer is not going on.

I feel for you. No matter how freaking annoying it is to be diabetic and deal with all the garbage that comes with that, I've told my wife numerous times that I'm glad it's me and not one of our kids. I can't imagine trying to help a kid through all the dietary and monitoring stuff I have to do.

The ability to get the alerts and other info is pretty awesome, though. I actually stopped a couple for speeding the other day, and the wife told me they were on their way home because their teenage daughter is type 1 and mom got an alert on her phone that she was at 380. She even showed me the chart. I'm not sure if it was libre or dexcom since I don't use the app, but I thought it was pretty cool that she was able to get that info even when she was miles away.

My brother uses something similar. He said they only last a couple of weeks. I think he said the one's he uses are 200 a unit. They couldn't put it on the back of his arm. It takes a certain amount of fat so they recommended it be installed on his stomach beside the belly button. What he uses is expensive but according to him its worth every penny to stop the daily finger sticks.

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
My brother uses something similar. He said they only last a couple of weeks. I think he said the one's he uses are 200 a unit. They couldn't put it on the back of his arm. It takes a certain amount of fat so they recommended it be installed on his stomach beside the belly button. What he uses is expensive but according to him it’s worth every penny to stop the daily finger sticks.

That’s likely the Dexcom.

I had a bad day with the libre. I swear they design these things for sedentary fat people who sit in air conditioning all day and never move.

It's freaking 90 degrees out here. I woke up this morning, ran 2 miles, then mowed the yard and weeded the garden. I jumped in the shower and when I got out I saw that the damn sensor was hanging by just a tiny bit of adhesive. Stupid thing had 5 days left.

I knew it was going to be a hot and busy day, so I waited until this evening to put on a new one. I went through the cleaning ritual and punched a hole in my arm...only for the damn reader to tell me that it's incompatible and can't read the sensor. WTF, I bought this thing at CVS along with 5 others all at the same time and so far the others have worked...how the hell is this one incompatible?

I did some looking online and it seems there are different firmware versions for the readers, but no telling how to download or apply the update. I filled out the support form on the website, and it told me to pull the sensor off, so I did. I've never pulled one off that soon after applying it before...my arm is now leaking blood everywhere, which is just freaking awesome. Figure I probably ought to wait for that to heal up before I put another one on...I usually alternate arms, but I've now had one come off each arm in the same day. I'm down two $40 sensors (which they will likely replace, but I'll have to spend half an hour talking to the lovely people in India again...maybe twice), I'm on duty from 6am until midnight tomorrow because of the stupid fireworks, and it looks like I'm going to be stuck pricking my finger all day for meals !

I feel you brother! Our boy is 9 and on swim team so he swims 6 days a week at least once a day and twice two days a week.
So they are coming off constantly. My wife deals with the replacement which they are actually very good at.
We’ve had a couple of dead brand new sensors and only one blood arm and that was putting it on.

They are a pain but they make his life manageable without them we did not know his blood sugar had spiked or dropped until it was too late and symptomatic.

Are insulin pumps a possibility? I know kids who do well with the pump. Tighter control and less fluctation with blood sugar levels.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Are insulin pumps a possibility? I know kids who do well with the pump. Tighter control and less fluctation with blood sugar levels.

Unfortunately he is not diabetic. And yes I say UNFORTUNATELY while that sounds strange at least it would be a diagnosis with a fairly simple way to work through it AND INSURANCE COVERAGE for the meters as we pay fully out of pocket currently.

He has what they call reactive hypoglycemia. Which essentially means at the stage in the game, with all the testing and procedures we have no clue why his blood sugar fluctuates with complete inconsistency in the fashions that they do and why gluten completely throws them through the ringer. While the Celiac lab tests are positive he is negative when he is scoped, yet ridiculously symptomatic when eating gluten.

It’s been a long road with very few answers, now they think it is possibly some sort of blood sugar related seizure disorder and he has an EEG scheduled.

The meter has been a huge help as we can set alarms so we can get sugar or protein in him based upon if he is dropping or rising.
Being that this all started when he was about 4 he has not been able to tell us how he is feeling to fend off the issues by giving sugar or protein and when he is symptomatic it is too late and we have a rough 10-15 minutes some times longer before we can get his levels stabilized.