12/27 Tessa AMPS 121 +1 96 +2 76 PMPS 147- increased dose and Libre wonkiness

tessa's mom

tessa's mom

Member Since 2022
Tessa keeps laying on her sensor so I keep getting false low glucose alarms. At just before +2 I got one and we manually tested her and her number was 109 according to the ReliOn. The Libre was saying 54. I kind of can't wait for this sensor to be done so I can place the next one in a better spot. She never had any false alarms (that I know of) with the first 2 sensors. She didn't get into the greens very often with those though so maybe I'm wrong.

She's definitely eating better today, she ate at AM shot time, +1, +2 and I'll probably give a bit more food at +3 and +4 unless her numbers start rising quickly.
 
After the 5th false alarm of the day, I took off the self adherent bandage I had wrapped around her just in case that was applying too much pressure and throwing off the readings. Hopefully the shirt will be sufficient in keeping the sensor on and hopefully that was the cause of the false alarms because they're getting VERY old. Her blood glucose is not low, I've tested her manually 3 times today and every single time has been well within the safe range. The lowest manual test was 83, highest was 109.
 
tessa's mom said:
Tessa keeps laying on her sensor so I keep getting false low glucose alarms. At just before +2 I got one and we manually tested her and her number was 109 according to the ReliOn. The Libre was saying 54. I kind of can't wait for this sensor to be done so I can place the next one in a better spot. She never had any false alarms (that I know of) with the first 2 sensors. She didn't get into the greens very often with those though so maybe I'm wrong.

She's definitely eating better today, she ate at AM shot time, +1, +2 and I'll probably give a bit more food at +3 and +4 unless her numbers start rising quickly.
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Paws crossed for the new dose! Eating! :):) I have seen Libre sensors read a lot lower than a glucose meter in the lower numbers. It’s always good to check. But you hopefully will have better placement next time.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Paws crossed for the new dose! Eating! :):) I have seen Libre sensors read a lot lower than a glucose meter in the lower numbers. It’s always good to check. But you hopefully will have better placement next time.
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I'm starting to think that this sensor might just be a dud because it seems to read too high on higher numbers and too low on lower numbers. But sometimes it's spot on so I don't know.

I downloaded her LibreView data to input in her spreadsheet and it is saying she was at 44 at +5 which I am highly suspicious of. 15 minutes later it gives a reading of 59 and 15 minutes after that 79. I think it was another compression low but I don't have a manual test to back it up.

I'm unsure whether I should treat that number as a reason to drop her dose because I didn't know she had it until I downloaded her data and I don't have confirmation with a manual blood glucose test. She hasn't eaten anything since +4 so if she truly dropped that low, her numbers came back up quickly.

Any suggestions?

Also, I left the +5 today as white because I wasn't sure whether it should be in the darker or lighter green since I don't know what her number actually was there.
 
I think it is a dud. Can you get a replacement from the company? I hear of a lot of people doing this. At this point, I would replace it in a better location and see if things don’t improve with a new sensor.
 
Was the 93 at +6 a manual/meter reading? If so, I personally would not reduce because she’s having a fantastic cycle if I consider only the meter readings and ignore the Libre readings. You have good solid upper greens for +2, 4 and 6 that were taken with the ReliOn. All good numbers. :D
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Was the 93 at +6 a manual/meter reading? If so, I personally would not reduce because she’s having a fantastic cycle if I consider only the meter readings and ignore the Libre readings. You have good solid upper greens for +2, 4 and 6 that were taken with the ReliOn. All good numbers. :D
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93 was a Libre reading. The last manual read I have is 94 at 11:05am (just after +4) when the Libre was reading 56. The Libre read 100 at 11:20am so I guess there's a tiny chance that she was legitimately that low and the manual reading was ahead of the Libre reading (since interstitial readings lag behind blood glucose readings) but it doesn't seem likely, especially since the Libre was showing the down angled arrow indicating that her numbers were dropping more when the 50 reading was obtained.

I'll see how the rest of this cycle goes before I make a decision, I'll probably stick with 2 units unless I get a manual reading that is lower than expected.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I think it is a dud. Can you get a replacement from the company? I hear of a lot of people doing this. At this point, I would replace it in a better location and see if things don’t improve with a new sensor.
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I am contacting Abbott about a replacement now. They replaced the one that fell off early so I assume they'll be willing to replace this one too. The only thing preventing me from going ahead and putting a new one one is that her skin is not fully healed in the area I want to put the next one. It looks very close to being fully healed but there's some scabbing that still needs to fall off naturally. I'd say within the next few days it should be good to go.
 
Stuck with 2 units for her PM dose. Interestingly enough, the Libre is now pretty spot on with the ReliOn meter. I am so confused now, how the heck is that sensor so wrong most of the day and now it's really close?
 
tessa's mom said:
Stuck with 2 units for her PM dose. Interestingly enough, the Libre is now pretty spot on with the ReliOn meter. I am so confused now, how the heck is that sensor so wrong most of the day and now it's really close?
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That is really confusing! Still, I am glad you stuck with 2 for tonight anyway.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is really confusing! Still, I am glad you stuck with 2 for tonight anyway.
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The best I can come up with is that the Libre has trouble with low numbers but the jumping up and down quickly is very confusing and makes it seem like the sensor is bad. I wasn't able to call Abbott today. I tried their customer service on Facebook because I saw that was a recommended way to get help but they said that I needed to call because my issue was more "complex" so I'll have to call tomorrow sometime.
 
tessa's mom said:
Stuck with 2 units for her PM dose. Interestingly enough, the Libre is now pretty spot on with the ReliOn meter. I am so confused now, how the heck is that sensor so wrong most of the day and now it's really close?
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Libre sensors have a tendency to have wonky numbers after they are first applied, but then get situated. Sometimes it takes about 24 hours to get accurate readings, which is why it usually has the "check glucose" alert during that time. I wear one myself, and I heard that sometimes it might be beneficial to leave on a new sensor for 24 hours before activating it to get better accuracy!

Sometimes the wonky readings are also due to the site not having enough fat for the filament, it getting bent with installation, and they do have a tendency to read lower with the lows and higher with the highs. But yes, Abbott would replace the inaccurate ones- say it fell off/needed to be removed, was in the required application site, and THEN mention the inaccuracies. I heard from docs that sometimes they'll refuse to replace the damn thing if you dont say that it "fell off" (as in, you removing it) and was in the instructed location site when they go through the troubleshooting script.
 
apollonia-artemisia said:
Libre sensors have a tendency to have wonky numbers after they are first applied, but then get situated. Sometimes it takes about 24 hours to get accurate readings, which is why it usually has the "check glucose" alert during that time. I wear one myself, and I heard that sometimes it might be beneficial to leave on a new sensor for 24 hours before activating it to get better accuracy!

Sometimes the wonky readings are also due to the site not having enough fat for the filament, it getting bent with installation, and they do have a tendency to read lower with the lows and higher with the highs. But yes, Abbott would replace the inaccurate ones- say it fell off/needed to be removed, was in the required application site, and THEN mention the inaccuracies. I heard from docs that sometimes they'll refuse to replace the damn thing if you dont say that it "fell off" (as in, you removing it) and was in the instructed location site when they go through the troubleshooting script.
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Thanks! This one has been on for a week so it should be plenty accurate by now. I am curious to see if the filament got bent when I applied it. I'm a bit hesitant to take this one off just yet because I'm still waiting on the adhesive remover spray I ordered earlier this week (recommended by the Libre for pets FB group) and I'm trying to be as gentle as possible with removal since her skin got very irritated by the first 2 sensors. I did not use vet bond on this one though and the first 2 did have vet bond so that could have been what caused that.
 
tessa's mom said:
Thanks! This one has been on for a week so it should be plenty accurate by now. I am curious to see if the filament got bent when I applied it. I'm a bit hesitant to take this one off just yet because I'm still waiting on the adhesive remover spray I ordered earlier this week (recommended by the Libre for pets FB group) and I'm trying to be as gentle as possible with removal since her skin got very irritated by the first 2 sensors. I did not use vet bond on this one though and the first 2 did have vet bond so that could have been what caused that.
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Gotcha! In that case, she might have bumped it too and that can ALSO cause inacuracies. The sensors are very helpful but also so so finicky.

If you stop by a pharmacy there should be something near the alcohol swabs that are called "adhesive remover wipes" and if you squeeze the liquid to absorb underneath the sensor, rubbing the sensor/skin to assist in peeling it off, it makes it much easier. The skin will be greasy afterwards, but with my skin sensitivities it helps so so much. Just another option for you!

PS: you might not actually need to remove the sensor just yet for Abbott to replace it, you can just claim that you did so they'll mail a new one to you ;)
 
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