Diabetes: Discussion thread.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by jakkes

also DFB FGXR6 the hole on the libre is not supposed to be covered thats why some of the patches have a cut out it's like a breather hole for the plastic part it only needs to a tinny cut out if doing it yourself i sometimes still work in building industry and casually in boilers in the power industry so i was knocking these off easily
i found rock tape to be the easiest cheapest most accessible and taking your T-shirt/singlet off is the worst culprit to ripping them off

I believe that advise was for original Libre sensor, the Libre 2 can be fully covered.

https://rockadex.com.au/collections/...atches-10-pack

"Libre patches manufactured on a 3M medical grade hypoallergenic long wearing tape that wont fray. Patches will come precut to the selected option. Yes you can use the full coverage ones on any device it does NOT have to have a cutout."

[jakkes]

Seems they have changed their procedure as iv returned many of these about 8-10 and they started giving insertion procedure at the end of the phone call for the last two I had replaced and they strictly instructed me not to cover the hole

[prydey]

My daughter has been on libre2 for quite some time and never had any issues with hole being covered. Nothing in the instructions about keeping it uncovered either.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by jakkes

Seems they have changed their procedure as iv returned many of these about 8-10 and they started giving insertion procedure at the end of the phone call for the last two I had replaced and they strictly instructed me not to cover the hole

I started out with the breather hole patches but went to the full coverage ones after Prydey mentioned his daughter used them. The full coverage patches suit my lifestyle better and mean I don't have to worry about knocking them off at work.

[DFB FGXR6]

Significant day for me, CGM sensors are now subsidized for all Type 1 diabetics from today, July 1 2022.

Because I am an existing user, I'm eligible for a "streamlined access pathway, which may enable faster subsidized access to FreeStyle Libre 2". This will save me having to see my Endocrinologist for approval.

This will end up saving me the better part of $200 a month, $2400 a year.

[prydey]

Yes it's great that is finally a reality. It made no sense to only have it up to a certain age when it's a life long condition.

[DFB FGXR6]

Received notification today that I had qualified for the "streamlined access pathway" for Libre sensors.

I will be able to shop for these at my local chemist from July 11 at a cost of $32.50 per month. That compares to $194.10 including shipping per month previously.

Now - $390 per year
Previously - $2329.20 per year
Difference - $1939.20 per year!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Received notification today that I had qualified for the "streamlined access pathway" for Libre sensors.

I will be able to shop for these at my local chemist from July 11 at a cost of $32.50 per month. That compares to $194.10 including shipping per month previously.

Now - $390 per year
Previously - $2329.20 per year
Difference - $1939.20 per year!

So you'll have $1900 worth of more detailing gear per year then...

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by prydey

So you'll have $1900 worth of more detailing gear per year then...

Maybe? Although I'm being pestered for an overseas holiday.

[DFB FGXR6]

Had a massive hypo today at work. I could feel it coming but didn't know how bad it was until I stood up from bending down and felt my brain miss a few beats. It had been very busy chasing customers all over the place, I was doing some quite physical work in-between and I'm very stressed and run down at the moment. Combine all of that with just a touch too much insulin at lunch and the hypo was the result.

My reading was 3.7 with an arrow pointing down, due the lag factor in these glucose sensors, the reading would have been even lower. Took a 250ml bottle of apple juice, two lollies and two muesli bars to bring it back up. Big hypos like that are also very fatiguing.

Not a good experience.

[Citroënbender]

That’s a serious drop, glad you caught it before physical injury resulted.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Big hypos like that are also very fatiguing.

Not a good experience.

Yeah, my daughters often end up with a headache after a bad hypo. Suger gets your bgl back up but the rest of your body takes a bit longer.

Out of interest, what lollies do you have?

We buy these
https://www.glucoblast.com/shop-now/...oblast-tablets

We used to buy another brand, that both daughters liked, but now they're obsolete. I forget what they were called but looked identical to the above mentioned ones.

They fit in a tube, similar to an m&m tube. Quite a discreet size.

My eldest has recently gone back to good old jelly beans, or some glucose equivalent.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by prydey

Yeah, my daughters often end up with a headache after a bad hypo. Suger gets your bgl back up but the rest of your body takes a bit longer.

Out of interest, what lollies do you have?

We buy these
https://www.glucoblast.com/shop-now/...oblast-tablets

We used to buy another brand, that both daughters liked, but now they're obsolete. I forget what they were called but looked identical to the above mentioned ones.

They fit in a tube, similar to an m&m tube. Quite a discreet size.

My eldest has recently gone back to good old jelly beans, or some glucose equivalent.

These were what I had in my bag when at school, mainly so it didn't look like I was pigging out on lollies -



These are probably the most effective for me, quite powerful...........and taste good too.

[prydey]

Glucojel is what my eldest has.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Completely off topic, but my old man used to love anything that was aniseed or licorice. That included black jelly beans. Whenever I visit his grave, I like to take some black jelly beans with me to 'share' with him. Glucojel are the only brand of black jelly beans I can get these days, so they're my go to.

[DFB FGXR6]

Another thing in Glucojel's favor is that they are still generously sized compared to the pathetic Allen's equivalent.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Had a massive hypo today at work..

Can you set an alarm on your phone with the libre2 cgm? My eldest uses them but she always has her phone on vibrate so I'm not sure what hers does.

My youngest has the dexcom brand and can set high and low alarms on her phone. We also can get the data shared to our phones. I have the alarm set to 3.6 on my phone. I think she has it a bit higher on hers so that we (her parents) are only being notified when it's gone real low. It's quite handy, esp for people who don't have symptoms leading up to a hypo.

Having said that it's only really helpful if you have your phone on you at all times. I understand that's not always possible.


The sensors come in real handy too because you can have false hypos. If you have a rapid drop in blood sugar you can get the same symptoms but still be in the range and steady. If you treat based on feeling you can end up in a bit of a roller coaster. Now with the sensors you don't have to reach for a finger pricker or anything, just scan with your phone for an instant reading.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by prydey

Can you set an alarm on your phone with the libre2 cgm? My eldest uses them but she always has her phone on vibrate so I'm not sure what hers does.

My youngest has the dexcom brand and can set high and low alarms on her phone. We also can get the data shared to our phones. I have the alarm set to 3.6 on my phone. I think she has it a bit higher on hers so that we (her parents) are only being notified when it's gone real low. It's quite handy, esp for people who don't have symptoms leading up to a hypo.

Having said that it's only really helpful if you have your phone on you at all times. I understand that's not always possible.


The sensors come in real handy too because you can have false hypos. If you have a rapid drop in blood sugar you can get the same symptoms but still be in the range and steady. If you treat based on feeling you can end up in a bit of a roller coaster. Now with the sensors you don't have to reach for a finger pricker or anything, just scan with your phone for an instant reading.

When I first started to use these sensors, I set up the alarms for both high and low readings. I turned them off within a day as they were driving me mad. I lucky I can feel both high and low sugars so I'm in decent tune with what my body is doing. The reality with these sensors is that they are so much more convenient than what I had done to manage the disease for 30 odd years. So, grabbing my phone out and doing a quick check is far easier than going inside, washing up and doing a blood test, or probably worse, guessing. The lack of guessing now is what takes away a lot of the problems I was having.

You are very lucky to have the technology available to help manage your daughter's diabetes. My parents had nothing like that, and while I have not brought the subject up with them, I can only imagine how hard it must have been.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

You are very lucky to have the technology available to help manage your daughter's diabetes. My parents had nothing like that, and while I have not brought the subject up with them, I can only imagine how hard it must have been.

Yeah, I don't need reminding how lucky we are and how much harder it used to be.


Another device recently approved for use in Australia is omnipod
https://www.omnipod.com/en-au

Unfortunately I don't think it's subsidised and is expensive I think for what it is, however it offers similar freedoms to a pump. It's basically a single use pump controlled by your phone. This device is stuck on top your skin so is more secure than a traditional pump.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by prydey

Yeah, I don't need reminding how lucky we are and how much harder it used to be.


Another device recently approved for use in Australia is omnipod
https://www.omnipod.com/en-au

Unfortunately I don't think it's subsidised and is expensive I think for what it is, however it offers similar freedoms to a pump. It's basically a single use pump controlled by your phone. This device is stuck on top your skin so is more secure than a traditional pump.

That looks very appealing, I like the idea of not having a tubed deliver system offered by a pump. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

[DFB FGXR6]

Bought my first two Libre2 sensors under the new PBS system today.

Paid $15 each for them compared to $94.50 each plus shipping. I also like that I can order them via my chemist's phone app, negating the need to get them direct from Abbott and all the complications that brings.

[DFB FGXR6]

Was told by my Endocrinologist yesterday that the next generation Libre will be about half the size and will not need to be scanned for a reading, your phone will have a live feed.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Was told by my Endocrinologist yesterday that the next generation Libre will be about half the size and will not need to be scanned for a reading, your phone will have a live feed.

They changed the terminology a bit back once sensors became part of a closed loop. So the current libre are now known as a flash sensor or something, and those like the dexcom (and future libre) are cgm, or continuous. It's a technicality as the flash ones are still continuously monitoring but you have to scan them to get the reading.

My youngest is on the dexcom g6 which is closed loop with her pump. Also Bluetooth to phone and we even got her a garmin smartwatch (venu sq) so she can just look at her wrist instead of getting her phone out. It's great.

The pump my youngest has (tandem t slim) now has software that controls insulin going in, above the settings of the pump, based on the cgm readings. CGM's are now considered accurate and reliable enough that the pump can be autonomous. So if it sees levels creeping up it will automatically dose to keep things in range. Still need to bolus when eating though.
Previously pumps would only suspend insulin when going low but with this new software it takes care of highs as well.

[prydey]

Insulin pumps and airport staff. Always the lottery. I get that they have a job to do and must deal with all types of people, day in day out, however, if you aren't a people person, then choose a job where you aren't dealing with people.

Pumps are never to be removed and put through the scanner. There is the potential for the pump to get damaged. This means they have to go through the walk through, and they always trigger it. We always give the person attending a heads up, and they're normally pretty cool, just give you a wave down with the wand and send you on your way.

Today, dropping my eldest off at the airport, my poor 13yr old got totally humiliated. As usual, we explained prior to her walking through that she had an insulin pump. No problems, come through. As normal, it beeped so she got pulled aside. Now the airport was busy so she got handballed off to another person and I think there may have been some miscommunication... She got the full pat down, waving the wand all over, made her remove her shoes and put them back through the scanner, drug tested (swabbed) her pump and clothes etc. Made her feel like a criminal and of course, being a 13yr old girl, ended up in tears.

She lives with this condition every day of her life and is so ultra sensitive to feeling different, so the whole airport experience was actually quite traumatic esp since the airport was quite busy and we weren't in a room or anything, just in front of everyone.

Just having a vent.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by prydey

Insulin pumps and airport staff. Always the lottery. I get that they have a job to do and must deal with all types of people, day in day out, however, if you aren't a people person, then choose a job where you aren't dealing with people.

Pumps are never to be removed and put through the scanner. There is the potential for the pump to get damaged. This means they have to go through the walk through, and they always trigger it. We always give the person attending a heads up, and they're normally pretty cool, just give you a wave down with the wand and send you on your way.

Today, dropping my eldest off at the airport, my poor 13yr old got totally humiliated. As usual, we explained prior to her walking through that she had an insulin pump. No problems, come through. As normal, it beeped so she got pulled aside. Now the airport was busy so she got handballed off to another person and I think there may have been some miscommunication... She got the full pat down, waving the wand all over, made her remove her shoes and put them back through the scanner, drug tested (swabbed) her pump and clothes etc. Made her feel like a criminal and of course, being a 13yr old girl, ended up in tears.

She lives with this condition every day of her life and is so ultra sensitive to feeling different, so the whole airport experience was actually quite traumatic esp since the airport was quite busy and we weren't in a room or anything, just in front of everyone.

Just having a vent.

I'm sorry you both had to go through that.

The staff member in question was out of line and I would be reaching out to the appropriate company in question, they need to put more appropriate procedures in place for the subject in question.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I'm sorry you both had to go through that.

The staff member in question was out of line and I would be reaching out to the appropriate company in question, they need to put more appropriate procedures in place for the subject in question.

Agree. We didn't make a scene or anything but did ask to speak to a supervisor, who couldn't really give a toss.

It's a reasonably common theme on the diabetes discussions on Facebook and other platforms, so my wife tells me.

My eldest, who was the one flying out, and is also type 1, had to check in, so she came through slightly after us. Being 21 she is capable of explaining her own situation and we watched her come through without a fuss.

Not to mention the countless other people that triggered the red light at the walk through, and just got a quick wave down with the wand and sent on their way.

Very annoyed.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by prydey

Just having a vent.

People are pretty ignorant when it doesnt affect them.

My dad was involved in a serious crash, and the car was impounded for investigation. He went to the impound to get his insulin from the car, and the officer didnt want to let him have it because anything in the car was 'evidence'.

They asked him 'what will happen if you dont get it?'

'well, I might die...'

[DFB FGXR6]

Having a bit of fun with the colour of my patches.................

[prydey]

Haha, why not I reckon. Good conversation starter.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by prydey

Haha, why not I reckon. Good conversation starter.

You know, I have not had anyone ask what it's for, which I guess is good.