Right now I got the FreeStyle Libre for a week and although there are some things for improvement, I really like it.
Why use it ?
As you may know I got diabetes and using the Omnipod. Although I do some running and watch my health, my hba1c value wasn’t great the last 6 months. During the nights I had sometimes some peeks and we couldn’t explain why. That’s why we decide to use a continue sensor to measure my glucose level. Right now the FreeStyle Libre is doing the job. When you are not stable or you want to have more insight about your values, then this is the product for you ! (I am not being sponsered by FreeStyle. I am just an early adaptor!)
What is it ?
You use an applicator to put the sensor to your arm. Right now this is the only place were it’s been tested by FreeStyle. In the beginning I had some pain during running, but after two times I don’t even know the sensor is there.
The first time I was kinda afraid of the unknown but I didn’t feel a thing.
After 1 hour you can read your values.
Just hold the reader a few centimeters from the sensor and you will hear a sound. Now you can see the graphs on the readers. The sensor can hold up to 8 hours of information, so you will have to a reading atleast every 8 hours. But the more you measure, the more you will know regarding your food etc.
When you connect the reader to your computer you can generate a lot of reports. Pretty cool !
Stabalize your health
Because you have very nice graphs and you can put some note in the reader, you will have more information about your body. How is it reacting to carbs or tequila ! Tequila really let my values drop !
(Just a shotglass, not a whole bottle…. Drink moderate…)
Together with the hospital we’re analyzing all the data and create a new plan how to setup my Omnipod and change my bolus.
Insurance
I life in the Netherlands and unfortunally the sensor won’t be paid by the insurance… yet. There are some testing and CZ is looking at it. The cost of one sensor, which last 15 days, is 60 euro. That’s a lot of money, but hey, it’s to monitor my health. What is more important ? Maybe I won’t be using the sensor back to back. One week is possible without the sensor.
If there was no cost or cheaper, I would use it all the time.