Preface: This is my second post on the Freestyle Libre 14 day system.  My first post was about the cost of the Freestyle Libre system and sensor.  Have you ever bought something and wished you had bought it sooner?  That’s how I felt with this… Knowledge is power and this gives me so much knowledge!

It’s AMAZING

• I’ve got my blood glucose reading in my pocket.  Literally.  The Freestyle Libre reader is smaller than my cell phone.  I carry it in my pocket all of the time.   It’s smaller than my hand, so I can actually quickly scan the sensor on my arm, even without people noticing usually!  (By default, it beeps when scanning, but this can be turned off in the settings.)
• No more anxiety over me wondering what my blood glucose is….
• My fingers are healing up from the frequent testing I’ve been doing.
• I am using CGM tape (an adhesive patch) over the top of it to ensure that it stays in place.  That is working very well.
• The adhesive patch is skin color and so, it doesn’t really stand out.  (They have pink and blue adhesive patches too, if that’s your thing.)

Does it work all of the time?

No, not 100% of the time, but like 97+% of the time.   On a few occasions, the reader said “Sensor error”.  On these occasions, I think my blood glucose was changing very fast.  I had just eaten food and was in the middle of exercise.

There are other times when the sensor gives a reading but it has a symbol indicating that you should check your blood glucose before administering insulin.  The symbol looks like a magnifying glass and a blood drop.  I mostly see this indicator after I’ve eaten.  It is also present during the first 12 hours after you put on the sensor.  So, for the first 12 hours, you should still check your blood glucose the old fashioned way before making a treatment decision.  I have compared the reading on the Freestyle Libre to my One Touch meter, and it has been very close.

What’s the best thing about it?

I love seeing the graph and the trend arrow.  I can see when my blood glucose is dropping quickly, and will eat something to correct that.  I can also see when my blood glucose is increasing quickly and make changes to correct that.

I feel less anxiety and I feel that I have more freedom.  Exercise is easier to plan for.

More to read ~ Links from around the web

Abbott Freestyle Libre results vs BG meter – Review part 2 from Mike.  He does a great in depth description and comparison.  Note that this from 2014, so there have been advances in technology since this was written.

FREESTYLE LIBRE: MY THOUGHTS AFTER 14 DAYS – Shelby shares what she’s learned about how food affects her blood glucose readings.

‘CGM Lite’: The Freestyle Libre!  Nancy discusses the pros and cons of the Freestyle Libre as she found from her experience with her daughter, who has also used a Dexcom CGM.  She says that the freestyle is easier to apply, but is lacking alarms.