Diabetes Tech

FreeStyle Libre Not Working?

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I’m appealing to the search engines with the title of my post today, because this is what I was hoping to find when I turned to Google for help with my FreeStyle Libre a few weeks back.

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I was about halfway into a sensor that I had purchased, when suddenly my reader stopped working. The screen wouldn’t start up when I hit the home button. There had been a few instances in the days leading up to this where my screen had blacked out for five or ten minutes at a time, but it always came back to life. I might also mention that this culminated on a Saturday morning, and I soon learned that I wouldn’t have access to customer service until 8am on the Monday.

When my reader still wasn’t responding well after an hour, I was frustrated. I reached out to @FreeStyleDiabet on Twitter with no reply (I’m not too sure where in the world this account is based).

I tried charging the battery with no success. I got an idea from the instruction manual that the device might be temperature sensitive, and kept it in my pocket while I was sleeping one night with no luck either.

I had no idea where I would stand in getting replacements for my reader and the $95 sensor I couldn’t make use of. Abbott were a little coy at the blogger event in Sydney regarding faulty sensors, and we were told that it would depend on individual circumstances.

When I got in touch with Customer Service on the Monday, they shipped me a new reader and replacement sensor on the condition that I send the faulty one back via supplied packaging. The replacements arrived via express delivery two days later, and I started the sensor up once again.

The replacement sensor, however, was wildly out of range. Most of the time, the readings on the Libre were far higher than what I actually was. I was constantly seeing numbers in the mid to high teens (and even 20s) after meals, and this really took a bit of a mental toll on me. I was pricking my fingers almost as much as I would without it, because I couldn’t trust the numbers. I was driving myself crazy, thinking about the prior two sensors I had used and whether the readings were this far out (and it didn’t only happen when glucose was high!)

I gave customer service a call once again, explaining my problem. I was reminded to factor in the 5-10 minute lag time, which I was confident I had. I was then asked to provide three Libre readings and their respective finger stick readings, and I was put on hold to do a control test. The customer service rep then came back and told me that he would send me a replacement sensor free of charge because I was reporting readings higher than the acceptable difference of 1-2mmol.

I was really impressed at how quickly I was issued with a replacement sensor over the phone. I had meter reports prepared prior to calling, almost expecting that I would have to send through evidence of inaccurate readings. Both times, my replacement products were shipped by overnight express to my doorstep instead of the usual 6-9 day delivery window.

However, I would have expected customer service available to me on weekends, even if just for a couple of hours. I also think that Abbott need to be more realistic about their products developing faults. The returns policy, which you can read here, is rather brief and doesn’t give the customer a feeling of confidence or support when the tech fails.

That being said, I am super grateful that Abbott resolved both of my problems with very minimal hassles.

Pump Doubts

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After a few infusion site failures of late, I’m starting to become really self conscious. After every new site change, I become really paranoid of whether it’s a failure or success.

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I poke my infusion site, trying blindly to detect a kinked piece of teflon that should be sitting underneath my skin. I prod around the infusion site on my stomach, trying to feel bruising and pain. I stand still while my pump is delivering an insulin bolus, waiting on edge to detect any stinging. I lift up my jumper compulsively, watching the colour of the skin underneath my site like a hawk.

I think about whether the skin tissue underneath my infusion site is strong enough to handle 3 days worth of insulin boluses. I frequently glance at my Total Daily Dose history on my pump, questioning whether it’s too high. I feel guilty for the carbohydrates I am consuming, for the sake of the subsequent insulin boluses that will have to go underneath my skin.

I check my levels like crazy after a site change, impatiently looking for signs that the insulin is heading successfully underneath my skin. I keep an eye on glucose movements like a hawk. In a moment of paranoia on Saturday, I even ripped out a perfectly good infusion site because the correction was taking too long to work it’s magic.

I draw dots on my stomach in permanent marker, in a desperate bid to keep on top of site rotations. I stare persistently at the real estate on my stomach, deliberating over just the right spot to place my new infusion site. I worry about how soon I will be able to re-use an area of real estate again.

In moments of site failures, I question whether this is really worth it. I think about results around my diabetes, and I’m almost certain that I won’t see any improvement yet. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had fleeting thoughts that maybe this is not working for me. I worry that I won’t be able to make this work for me. I stand in my room for minutes on edge, pacing, deliberating over a site change or a shot of Lantus.

But when I think about going back to Lantus, I think about the level of control I will lose around my basal insulin rate. I think about how unfocussed I was on injections, blindly guessing and correcting all the time. I think about all of the time and investment I’ve put into this insulin pump, and I know that I’m not ready to pull away from it just yet.

Macgyvering a Glucose Check

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I was in the middle of a pretty important staff meeting at work the other day. From memory, I believe I had just eaten a few skittles to bring my glucose levels away from edge of hypo territory. I was sitting there, listening intently, but also wondering whether the skittles had done their job.

The looks I get when using my Libre around others are absolutely hilarious. This was a pretty serious discussion, and I didn’t feel like it was the right time to be pulling out an out-of-this-world device and scanning my arm.

I was trying to push the thought of my BGLs to the back of my mind, but I couldn’t. I thought about getting up and leaving, but I didn’t want to miss any of what was being discussed (rare for a staff meeting, right?).

My Libre reader was sitting in my front shirt pocket. I stuck my hand in my pocket and switched it on. I brought my Sensor-bearing arm a little closer to my pocket. I navigated my reader over to the sensor on my arm, and successfully obtained a blood sugar result.


All without the reader ever leaving my pocket.

Happy Wednesday.

FreeStyle Libre: Second Time Round!

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At lunch time on Saturday, my meter came back with a 3.8. Not satisfied with the result, I walked over to the other meter sitting on my desk, which came back with a 4.7. I decided to do a best of 3 with the second meter, which produced an identical 4.7.

As I picked up the collection of discarded test strips strewn on my desk, it occurred to me that I am using test strips like water at the moment. I mean, I do use test strips like water. But I have never relied on them as much as I have now. And it kind of scares me.

I’m still fine tuning my insulin pump. I’ve made a lot of progress in the past week or two, but I’m not quite there just yet. I’m a perfectionist, I suppose. My diabetes educator has even gone on to suggest as much, having taken a step forward with the insulin pump. I can see it myself, in the great attention to detail I apply towards my basal rates and blood glucose monitoring at the moment.

Yet it scares the hell out of me, that somehow, this might become the new normal. I am scared of relying on glucose monitoring so much, instead of having confidence in my own actions. I am scared that I am becoming too compulsive and obsessive with my diabetes. Most of all, I am scared that I might never get this right.

I’ve recently used my second FreeStyle Libre sensor that I received from Abbott at DX2 Sydney, and naturally, I’ve discovered a few things that I didn’t the first time round. You can find out more about what the FreeStyle Libre is in my first review here.

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The Libre has been a life saver for me at work. I don’t need to walk over to my desk to check my blood glucose levels. I don’t need to worry about how dusty my hands are. It takes a lot of the pressure away from basal testing, where I would ideally stop what I’m doing to check my glucose levels every half hour. It offers a level of convenience that glucose monitoring doesn’t. Not to mention some the weird looks I get!

Most of the time, the results have been extremely accurate – to the nearest 1mmol. However, there have also been times where the accuracy has been difficult to trust.

It’s been hard to rely on the Libre’s readings when my glucose levels are moving significantly, particularly in the first 2 hours after meals. At work, I’ve often felt the need to go and double check with a finger prick before making a decision on a reading of 14 after breakfast.

I’ve also found that the Libre pronounces very small movements in glucose levels. For instance, I remember having an espresso with a tiny amount of milk one morning. I watched my Libre trend upwards to 9 or 10mmol, when in reality the movement wasn’t so big. It did eventually “catch up” with my meter, but I had to remember that the drop did not actually represent my blood glucose dropping.

That being said, I really need this extra flexibility with my blood glucose monitoring at the moment. I recently purchased another two sensors, which will hopefully make things a little easier for me over the next couple of weeks.

I’m just hoping that this reliance on heavy glucose monitoring doesn’t become the new normal. I really want to go back to having more confidence in my own diabetes decisions.

An Exclusive Path to Improved A1C Outcomes?

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I was recently e-mailing a blog reader who was investigating a national diabetes management system. As I began to respond to the e-mail, I found myself feeling compelled to add more and more perspective to the question being asked of me.

Diasend is the data management system I use with the team at my diabetes clinic. It allows me to upload the data from all of my diabetes devices – my blood glucose meters, my FreeStyle Libre and my Insulin Pump. I can manage my diabetes data in one place. For instance, I can look at my blood glucose level at 10pm last night, the basal rate of insulin being delivered at the time, and my most recent carb intake and bolus insulin dose.


Even better is the fact that I can choose to share this data with the team at my diabetes clinic. Prior to an appointment with my diabetes educator, I am able to upload all of my devices to Diasend. Gwen can better prepare for our education session, and I don’t need to wing my way through her questions around blank spaces in my logbook with umms and ahhs. It does force me to be more transparent around my results and the context surrounding particular occurrences, but I do have a great deal of trust in most of my team.

The e-mail went on to suggest that a management system such as this one on a larger scale could result in improved A1C outcomes in patients. In some instances, I could envisage this being true. However, I felt compelled to explain that an A1C result is not necessarily the sole indicator of how well an individual or healthcare team is managing diabetes.

How many times have I gone to test my blood glucose, expecting the moon and the stars, only to come back with something completely unexpected? Then I’ve had stellar A1C results in the past that have been praised, when deep down I know that I’ve been having far too many hypos.

There are so many issues surrounding diabetes, that many of us deal with concurrently. Mental health and emotional health, for one. I have a few good connections in the DOC who deal with more than one autoimmune condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis or coeliac disease. Then there’s all the regular checkups we have to maintain. The time and the financial burden we must invest into staying healthy.

The quality of my healthcare team makes all the difference, too. Some healthcare professionals can barely scrape the surface of what’s written in my chart. Others see the whole person behind the condition. They talk to me. They gather the full picture of what’s going on. They are empathetic. They give me their time, and their undivided attention. They go above and beyond their duty to help me succeed.

However on top of all of this, we still do our best to live happy and fulfilling lives. That, in itself, is absolutely amazing.

In my opinion, there is no exclusive path to improved A1C outcomes. But dealing with each of the bricks that cement the final result together definitely helps.