freestyle libra - DAFNE Online

January 26, 2016 16:49

Trish Skidmore
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals 18 posts

Hi can you tell me if the Freestyle Libre is available on the NHS free please.

Thank you Trish

February 03, 2016 10:03

Phil Maskell DAFNE Graduate
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 194 posts

I'm not an HCP, but I can answer that, No. Abbott are trying to get it, but don't hold your breath Sad

That aside I do pay for it and find it really useful.

EDIT: NHS need to way up the cost of long term issues, my HbA1c has gone from 8ish to 5.9 since using it.

February 08, 2016 19:33

Peter DUAG Committee Member
University College London Hospitals (UCLH) 109 posts

Trish, The other possibility is to ask the DSN at your next appointment whether they have any which can be borrowed. Some DAFNE centres are now offering this.That would at least give you some visibility of your 24x7 data and help you decide if you wanted to invest in one.

December 13, 2017 10:05

Rafa DAFNE Graduate
St Vincent's Healthcare Group 99 posts

I just ordered one myself over here in Ireland. HbA1c is in the low 7's so praying this will help get it down. Had my regular eye check and have been referred to the eye hospital as they need to take a look. They mentioned I may need treatment so need to take a look.

December 13, 2017 22:57

Warwick DAFNE Graduate
Diabetes Australia-Vic, Melbourne, Victoria 423 posts

I haven't used the Libre, but use another brand's CGM and it has been incredibly helpful in seeing patterns. I used to have cereal for breakfast and assumed that my insulin was handling that well as my pre-breakfast and pre-lunch levels were similar, but I was shocked to see on CGM that my BGLs were hitting 17 for a couple of hours after breakfast before returning to normal levels. I cut out the cereal and changed to eggs and now I have a flat line after breakfast.

Also really helpful for seeing trends during exercise - flat lines on my cycle to work but downward trends on my cycle home from work. It has been really helpful so that I can make educated changes to my insulin regime and diet.

December 14, 2017 01:00

torana DAFNE Graduate
Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 53 posts

Hi Rafa, You’ve done a fantastic job getting the HBA1C down to the low 7’s. I find to get it even lower on a consistent basis requires a huge effort and extreme care not to have too many hypos yet I tend to agree with Warwick that by cutting back on carbs throughout the day and hence lowering insulin levels to correspond is worth a try. I know this sounds a contradiction but in the morning my bg’s are high even after a low carb meal of approx .5 of a gram so I have been increasing the insulin to bring down the BG levels. It appears it’s horses for courses and trial and error but whatever works is the best solution for me. I have also been on the freestyle libre for some months and it’s invaluable to wear it a few weeks before a consultation to get a window into what exactly is happening in a 24 hour period and hence over a fortnight.

January 13, 2018 13:05

ytyynycefn DAFNE Graduate
Royal Glamorgan Hospital Diabetes Centre 9 posts

Hi, I’ve just been issued it on prescription on a three month trial basis in South Wales. If I can bring my terrible (~10) HbA1c down by 2.5 I’ll be able to have it long term. So it’s available, but limited to cases like mine and people who fingerprick test eight or more times a day. So far!

It’s brilliant. My management is already so much better.

January 15, 2018 09:17

novorapidboi26 DAFNE Graduate
NHS Lanarkshire 1,819 posts

ytyynycefn said:
Hi, I’ve just been issued it on prescription on a three month trial basis in South Wales. If I can bring my terrible (~10) HbA1c down by 2.5 I’ll be able to have it long term. So it’s available, but limited to cases like mine and people who fingerprick test eight or more times a day. So far!

It’s brilliant. My management is already so much better.

Is your management better because you can now get ahead of any highs or lows before they manifest properly.....?

what has the Libre brought that the DAFNE principles couldn't get right for you...

My health board are still thrashing out a few details before its readily available but there will be criteria to get one obviously....

I have clinic on Wednesday and will be asking about it then.......

January 15, 2018 17:13

ytyynycefn DAFNE Graduate
Royal Glamorgan Hospital Diabetes Centre 9 posts

[Shared diary only visible when logged in]

novorapidboi26 said:
ytyynycefn said:
Hi, I’ve just been issued it on prescription on a three month trial basis in South Wales. If I can bring my terrible (~10) HbA1c down by 2.5 I’ll be able to have it long term. So it’s available, but limited to cases like mine and people who fingerprick test eight or more times a day. So far!

It’s brilliant. My management is already so much better.

Is your management better because you can now get ahead of any highs or lows before they manifest properly.....?

what has the Libre brought that the DAFNE principles couldn't get right for you...

My health board are still thrashing out a few details before its readily available but there will be criteria to get one obviously....

I have clinic on Wednesday and will be asking about it then.......

My management is better because I’m actually checking my blood sugars lol.

I’ve been in burnout for a few years and had adopted the “if I don’t know what it is, I don’t need to worry about it” approach - pretty much since doing the DAFNE course in the first place. Like not opening the brown envelopes that come through the door telling you you’re in financial trouble! It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle the calculations, I’m very good at maths. It was the constant finger pricking required - to do it properly I found my fingers getting shredded. My hands get very dirty with my work, and I was getting infections; I also need precision with my work (I’m a jewellery silversmith) and sore fingers meant I was fumbling my creations and ruining them - and that gets very expensive when you’re working with precious metal! So I stopped testing regularly, just took my BI and the occasional QA when I was having loads of carbs. I also have Asperger’s, which means that I have poor “executive function” - basically doing the things I need to do to take care of myself become massively difficult. However, the Libre has changed all that, I’m scanning all the time and have a very detailed picture of what is happening. In the four days I’ve had this sensor in, the wild fluctuations have decreased drastically and I’ve actually been in my target range for the last 20 hours, except for a small 8.1 spike after lunch, which I took 1 unit of insulin for. It seems to be all about small corrections. If you message me your email address, I will happily send you some photos of the graphs on my meter to back up your case - I’ve (hopefully) included my diary in this reply.

August 22, 2018 15:45

fred67 DAFNE Graduate
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 4 posts

Announced last year everyone to get on prescription, if you meet criteria, here Glasgow, I meet criteria, mostly, no hypo awareness, and that I do more than 6 blood tests each day...it is pretty much a postcode lottery at the moment, although more areas seem to be giving them on prescription, many are 3 months trial though,,,join freestylelibreuk on Facebook, lots more info there...I get mine 10th September, around 2 months waiting..

January 26, 2016 16:49 Trish Skidmore Sheffield Teaching Hospitals 18 posts	Hi can you tell me if the Freestyle Libre is available on the NHS free please. Thank you Trish
February 03, 2016 10:03 Phil Maskell DAFNE Graduate Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 194 posts	I'm not an HCP, but I can answer that, No. Abbott are trying to get it, but don't hold your breath That aside I do pay for it and find it really useful. EDIT: NHS need to way up the cost of long term issues, my HbA1c has gone from 8ish to 5.9 since using it.
February 08, 2016 19:33 Peter DUAG Committee Member University College London Hospitals (UCLH) 109 posts	Trish, The other possibility is to ask the DSN at your next appointment whether they have any which can be borrowed. Some DAFNE centres are now offering this.That would at least give you some visibility of your 24x7 data and help you decide if you wanted to invest in one.
December 13, 2017 10:05 Rafa DAFNE Graduate St Vincent's Healthcare Group 99 posts	I just ordered one myself over here in Ireland. HbA1c is in the low 7's so praying this will help get it down. Had my regular eye check and have been referred to the eye hospital as they need to take a look. They mentioned I may need treatment so need to take a look.
December 13, 2017 22:57 Warwick DAFNE Graduate Diabetes Australia-Vic, Melbourne, Victoria 423 posts	I haven't used the Libre, but use another brand's CGM and it has been incredibly helpful in seeing patterns. I used to have cereal for breakfast and assumed that my insulin was handling that well as my pre-breakfast and pre-lunch levels were similar, but I was shocked to see on CGM that my BGLs were hitting 17 for a couple of hours after breakfast before returning to normal levels. I cut out the cereal and changed to eggs and now I have a flat line after breakfast. Also really helpful for seeing trends during exercise - flat lines on my cycle to work but downward trends on my cycle home from work. It has been really helpful so that I can make educated changes to my insulin regime and diet.
December 14, 2017 01:00 torana DAFNE Graduate Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 53 posts	Hi Rafa, You’ve done a fantastic job getting the HBA1C down to the low 7’s. I find to get it even lower on a consistent basis requires a huge effort and extreme care not to have too many hypos yet I tend to agree with Warwick that by cutting back on carbs throughout the day and hence lowering insulin levels to correspond is worth a try. I know this sounds a contradiction but in the morning my bg’s are high even after a low carb meal of approx .5 of a gram so I have been increasing the insulin to bring down the BG levels. It appears it’s horses for courses and trial and error but whatever works is the best solution for me. I have also been on the freestyle libre for some months and it’s invaluable to wear it a few weeks before a consultation to get a window into what exactly is happening in a 24 hour period and hence over a fortnight.
January 13, 2018 13:05 ytyynycefn DAFNE Graduate Royal Glamorgan Hospital Diabetes Centre 9 posts	Hi, I’ve just been issued it on prescription on a three month trial basis in South Wales. If I can bring my terrible (~10) HbA1c down by 2.5 I’ll be able to have it long term. So it’s available, but limited to cases like mine and people who fingerprick test eight or more times a day. So far! It’s brilliant. My management is already so much better.
January 15, 2018 09:17 novorapidboi26 DAFNE Graduate NHS Lanarkshire 1,819 posts	ytyynycefn said: Hi, I’ve just been issued it on prescription on a three month trial basis in South Wales. If I can bring my terrible (~10) HbA1c down by 2.5 I’ll be able to have it long term. So it’s available, but limited to cases like mine and people who fingerprick test eight or more times a day. So far! It’s brilliant. My management is already so much better. Is your management better because you can now get ahead of any highs or lows before they manifest properly.....? what has the Libre brought that the DAFNE principles couldn't get right for you... My health board are still thrashing out a few details before its readily available but there will be criteria to get one obviously.... I have clinic on Wednesday and will be asking about it then.......
January 15, 2018 17:13 ytyynycefn DAFNE Graduate Royal Glamorgan Hospital Diabetes Centre 9 posts	[Shared diary only visible when logged in] novorapidboi26 said: ytyynycefn said: Hi, I’ve just been issued it on prescription on a three month trial basis in South Wales. If I can bring my terrible (~10) HbA1c down by 2.5 I’ll be able to have it long term. So it’s available, but limited to cases like mine and people who fingerprick test eight or more times a day. So far! It’s brilliant. My management is already so much better. Is your management better because you can now get ahead of any highs or lows before they manifest properly.....? what has the Libre brought that the DAFNE principles couldn't get right for you... My health board are still thrashing out a few details before its readily available but there will be criteria to get one obviously.... I have clinic on Wednesday and will be asking about it then....... My management is better because I’m actually checking my blood sugars lol. I’ve been in burnout for a few years and had adopted the “if I don’t know what it is, I don’t need to worry about it” approach - pretty much since doing the DAFNE course in the first place. Like not opening the brown envelopes that come through the door telling you you’re in financial trouble! It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle the calculations, I’m very good at maths. It was the constant finger pricking required - to do it properly I found my fingers getting shredded. My hands get very dirty with my work, and I was getting infections; I also need precision with my work (I’m a jewellery silversmith) and sore fingers meant I was fumbling my creations and ruining them - and that gets very expensive when you’re working with precious metal! So I stopped testing regularly, just took my BI and the occasional QA when I was having loads of carbs. I also have Asperger’s, which means that I have poor “executive function” - basically doing the things I need to do to take care of myself become massively difficult. However, the Libre has changed all that, I’m scanning all the time and have a very detailed picture of what is happening. In the four days I’ve had this sensor in, the wild fluctuations have decreased drastically and I’ve actually been in my target range for the last 20 hours, except for a small 8.1 spike after lunch, which I took 1 unit of insulin for. It seems to be all about small corrections. If you message me your email address, I will happily send you some photos of the graphs on my meter to back up your case - I’ve (hopefully) included my diary in this reply.
August 22, 2018 15:45 fred67 DAFNE Graduate NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 4 posts	Announced last year everyone to get on prescription, if you meet criteria, here Glasgow, I meet criteria, mostly, no hypo awareness, and that I do more than 6 blood tests each day...it is pretty much a postcode lottery at the moment, although more areas seem to be giving them on prescription, many are 3 months trial though,,,join freestylelibreuk on Facebook, lots more info there...I get mine 10th September, around 2 months waiting..