Freestyle Libre : First Impressions

DISCLAIMER : I am not an expert on anything Freestyle Libre, this is just my personal experience over the past two days. All opinions are my own, my views have occurred from first hand usage only. This product is self funded, I have had no contact with Abbott.

If you live under a rock...

The basics, ins and outs and conditions of a Freestyle Libre are over here or you could learn all about Flash Glucose Monitoring by clicking this.

Now I saw this device plastered all over my Twitter feed and I became increasingly curious as to just how good it is. I needed to know what the hype was about! One visit to Abbott's website and I was sold, as soon as I saw the phrase 'why prick when you can scan', I had a '**** it moment' (feel free to fill in the blanks). I thought you know what, I do 4-10 finger pricks a day, and my fingers are bruised and sore. No finger pricks screamed freedom for me, something I was craving to improve my self management.

The good stuff... 

I have to admit having no finger-pricks is awesome, I feel like I'm not testing my BG, it's like something from the space age! 

Inserting the sensor I can only describe as easy and painless, I was put off by the sheer size of the applicator, and it did take a lot of force to push the sensor onto my arm..but that's just me being a wus- not the product. The actual sensor is roughly the size of a £2 coin (in terms of width, diameter and height) and is very easy to hide. In terms of ease, I forget it is there. The only time I am careful of it is when I get dressed (because it's just the right width to get caught on my bra - is that TMI?) and when I shower. 

Due to not wasting £50, I have avoided getting it drenched so have a one handed shower - now that is TMI, I do apologise!

Celebrations!

So to the right you can see how me and Libs spent our first night together ;). On the graph on the handset you can see the post meal spike as I injected after eating - this is lesson number one! 

I now have access to huge amounts of data that I simply have not had previously, so it's important that I don't beat myself up over high glucose - I had never seen 80% of this data before! I think that is something you have to be prepared for.

So far, I've had the best couple of days as I have a new insight to my diabetes management, I love creating my #libreart on my daily graph, I love knocking my sensor and remembering how lucky I am. I love the convenience of the Freestyle Libre, I love that Libs is now a part of me. I love the security that this device gives me, I love analysing the data, problem solving every minute. I love how excited my family are about my Libre. I love watching my fingertips recover from 14 years of prick after prick. I love the position I am in, that I can afford it. I love showing Libs off and introducing others to the Freestyle Libre.

The leap of faith...

So if you are sat on the fence about this technology, do yourself a favour and take the leap. Yes it's expensive and it is a big change, but my god is it worth it! I keep thinking why didn't I do this years ago?! It's a no brainer. 

On average, a Libre costs £2 a day to run, which in my opinion is 100% worth every penny. I'm not over exaggerating when I say this device is changing my life as well as my general outlook on my diabetes. 

Just a quick shoutout to the GBDOC on Twitter, especially Adrian who has answered my every query and was my final kick up the bum to click the 'checkout' button ;) So thank you for sharing your experience, Mr Libre.

In fact whilst writing this I've been treating a hypo, scanning every 2 minutes to ensure I don't rebound from the fast acting glucose. Again, this just wouldn't have been possible with finger pricks - amazing.

Toodle-pip!

Amber xx

Twitter: @wingscanbreak