Check your glucose with a painless scan - instead of a fingerstick.
The Abbott FreeStyle Libre has come as an entirely new concept in glucose monitoring by providing much greater data than blood glucose testing whilst being more affordable continuous glucose monitors(CGM).
The FreeStyle Libre provides ‘flash glucose monitoring’ with glucose readings provided by scanning a sensor rather than pricking your finger. You can order your FreeStyle Libre sensor now
What are the benefits of FreeStyle Libre?
Due to way the Libre works, there are a number of benefits:
- Reduced need to take so many pricking glucose test
- Provides graphs of how your sugar levels have been varying – in a similar way to how a CGM does
- Scanning the sensor shows how much your results are trending upwards or downwards
- More affordable than a CGM
- Sensor is waterproof in up to 1m of metre for 30 minutes
Why Sensor Glucose does not equal Blood Glucose
Your sensor glucose (SG) readings are taken from your interstitial fluid, and not from your blood, like fingersticks. Interstitial fluid is the fluid that surrounds the cells of your tissue below your skin, and usually glucose moves from your blood vessels and capillaries first and then into your interstitial fluid. It’s helpful to think about it like a rollercoaster where the front car is the blood glucose (BG) and the car in the back is the sensor glucose (SG):
Blood Glucose and Sensor Glucose:
What’s The Difference?
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When on the rise, the BG value is greater than the SG that follows behind it. But when moving down the tracks, the BG in front is now less than the SG value.
A few points to remember when using CGM
- SG and BG readings will rarely match and are expected to be different
- A greater difference between SG and BG will be seen when your glucose is changing quickly, such as after eating or after taking a bolus of insulin
- And most importantly, always confirm with your BG value before deciding to correct a high or treat a low glucose
Here’s A Tip: Knowing the direction and speed of your glucose changes will be more useful than focusing on individual BG or sensor readings. When using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) trends are the key. In fact, seeing trends and patters in your glucose is likely one of the primary reasons you started using CGM therapy. Trends highlight the direction that your sensor glucose readings are moving and the speed at which they are changing. Fingerstick blood glucose readings and sensor glucose readings are only snapshots of your glucose at that very moment. Trends can tell you if your glucose has been rising, falling, or appears to have been stable over several minutes, hours, and even the day.
So it’s important not to focus too much on the individual sensor glucose numbers (as it is likely to be different from your BG meter reading) and more on trends and patterns in your glucose levels.
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How the FreeStyle Libre works
The FreeStyle Libre works by having a small round sensor applied to your arm.
The sensor is a round disc, 5mm high and 35mm diameter
Its easy to operate . Can click on the link to guide how to use Abbott FreeStyle Libre Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM)
Are glucose readings different between CGM and BGM?
Instead of taking glucose readings from your blood, CGM sensor glucose readings are taken from the interstitial fluid (ISF), a thin layer of fluid that surrounds the cells of the tissues below your skin. Blood glucose readings tend to be about 5 to 10 minutes ahead of interstitial glucose readings. For most treatment decisions, sensor readings from the FreeStyle Libre 14 day system can replace fingerstick readings.*
* Fingersticks are required for treatment decisions when you see Check Blood Glucose symbol, when symptoms do not match system readings, when you suspect readings may be inaccurate, or when you experience symptoms that may be due to high or low blood glucose.