CGMs struggles and frustrations (Not Important!!)

[Shwayna]

Hello again,

Firstly, I have contacted my vet about these problems I'm having. I'm just frustrated, and failing to put the CGM sensor on is just a slight tipping point. Advise is of course welcome, but I'm not expecting responses!

Today I finally was able to get another Libre 3 plus for Jojo, and I messed up putting the sensor on . This is my first time attempting to put the sensor on, and I didn't expect it to be so difficult! I read the advice about putting the Libre 3 on, made sure the fur was shaved as much as possible, cleaned it, applied skintak, and then tried. I have a feeling I may have hit his shoulder, or that I pulled up too quickly. I finally received the Relion premier, so today will be the first day I actually get to use it.

I put a support request for the one Jojo knocked off, and this one, so I'm hoping Libre will send two new ones, but who knows when those will be delivered. Truthfully, I'm not fully sold on the CGM as much as I was yesterday and before. Jojo's glucose seems to always be between 380 through 400+, but mostly above 400, so I can't even see what his glucose is actually at! Even when he gets insulin, it doesn't seem like it goes out of the HI range, maybe to 397, but then it'll be back in HI. I feel like I can't get accurate readings for his vet, and I can't even tell if the 1 unit of insulin is bringing the glucose numbers down, or if maybe the sensor is reading wrong? I'm hoping the Relion can give me more information when he's above the 400 range.

I suppose I'm also hesitant to make a spreadsheet for all of you. I'm beginning to doubt if I'm even getting the syringe in his skin and actually administering the Insulin, and even if I am administering it, I can't see what changes it's doing because the Libre won't read above 400! I'm worried I'll give an inaccurate spreadsheet, but I also don't want to wait to make one because I know it's a vital tool.

I apologize for ranting, I'm simply frustrated, with most of it coming from the fact the Libre app won't read any higher than 400. I'm hoping the Relion is more reliable, and hopefully it actually reads over 400. I'm anxious to see what the readings on the Relion are, and I'm hoping I can actually see if the Insulin is helping lower the numbers.

I would appreciate if someone could help me out with knowing if I should make a spreadsheet now with the few days of the CGM readings I have and include the Relion readings that will be started today, or if I should wait a few more days until I have a few days of readings from Relion and just use the data from that?

Thank you so much guys! Sorry for the long post

 

[CORKY]

Yiu are not ranting, and if you think you are, we have done the same. And you are right the ReliOn IS more accurate, and cheaper. When Corky was first diagnosed, he came home from the hospital with the CGM by night time it had fallen off, then every other one that was placed would stop working before the 14 days, I had the low alarm at 90, and in the middle of the night it would off with 50-40BG, I had many sleepless nights, cried my eyes out, would run around the house like a chicken without a head, I spend the first few months like that at the point of a breakdown, until I found this Forum and the ReliOn Premier, I was given the best advice, that his vet never did, actually he fired me, ( even if there are random tests)he wanted nothing to do with diabetes, in this Forum I followed every instruction, bombarded with posts, and someone was always there for me, The member that connected with me said these words " STEP BACK, BREATH IN BREATH OUT, CATS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO STRESS, YOU STRESS THEY STRESS" and I wanted desperately to make him better and every time I had to test shoot, I would repeat that phrase, and it worked.
The spreadsheet is very important, we base our advice on it, we are very numbers oriented, it helps us as well as you to see how the insulin is working in your cats' system during the day, even if you only have random testings, and it helps to give dosing advice. If the spreadsheet overwhelms you, we are more than happy to create it for you, and the link below is for you to create your signature, this way we can all be on the same page. I promise it gets better and easier, I am sending you a link also on how to shoot your cat, most of all members shoot while the cat has his face in the bowl eating

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-shoot-your-cat.290439/help-us-help-you.216696/

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Welcome to the Forum!
We understand your frustrations.
I am a long time Libre user, and yes they can be challenging, but also a life saver.
My cat hates to be poked or confined (most cats are fine with the pokes).

My number one tip in applying a Libre is to have a toothpick (or a nail file, or flat butter knife or cheese knife) handy.
As soon as I press down, BEFORE I attempt to lift off the cap, I slip the edge of the toothpick in under the cap and "Grab" the edge of that paper disc and hold it there and THEN I lift off the cap.
Holds it in place every time.

That being said, if you can use the Relion to test your kitty going forward, AWESOME!

Add yes, set up the spreadsheet so it's ready to go. And just put whatever data you have...once you start getting to a better dose, yuo will see the glucose numbers come down and you will see numbers under 400 (or HI on the Libre).

We look forward to helping you and your kitty (what is their name?)

 

[Shwayna]

Welcome to the Forum!
We understand your frustrations.
I am a long time Libre user, and yes they can be challenging, but also a life saver.
My cat hates to be poked or confined (most cats are fine with the pokes).

My number one tip in applying a Libre is to have a toothpick (or a nail file, or flat butter knife or cheese knife) handy.
As soon as I press down, BEFORE I attempt to lift off the cap, I slip the edge of the toothpick in under the cap and "Grab" the edge of that paper disc and hold it there and THEN I lift off the cap.
Holds it in place every time.

That being said, if you can use the Relion to test your kitty going forward, AWESOME!

Add yes, set up the spreadsheet so it's ready to go. And just put whatever data you have...once you start getting to a better dose, yuo will see the glucose numbers come down and you will see numbers under 400 (or HI on the Libre).

We look forward to helping you and your kitty (what is their name?)

Hello, thank you for the help!

I will remember to have something on hand to help grab the edge of the disc. This was my first time trying to put the monitor on, so it felt quite chaotic!

As a long time Libre user, you definitely understand the struggle of the monitor reading HI. For making my spreadsheet, I am wondering if I should just label HI as that, "HI", and color it to red myself, or if I should just put 400? I admittedly did try to look at your spreadsheet so I could try to figure it out myself, but I couldn't fully figure it out.

Again, thank you so much for your help! My chunky kitty is named Jojo. I didn't fully think to put his name as my username before I created my account lol!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

You can just put 400 on the spreadsheet. As long as you indicate on top that it's the Libre, we know what that means. Besides which, it's not really relevant how high Jojo is if that high, it is just "too high". She said having a kitty who in the beginning gave a lot of "Hi" on the hand held which meant over 600.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Hello, thank you for the help!

I will remember to have something on hand to help grab the edge of the disc. This was my first time trying to put the monitor on, so it felt quite chaotic!

As a long time Libre user, you definitely understand the struggle of the monitor reading HI. For making my spreadsheet, I am wondering if I should just label HI as that, "HI", and color it to red myself, or if I should just put 400? I admittedly did try to look at your spreadsheet so I could try to figure it out myself, but I couldn't fully figure it out.

Again, thank you so much for your help! My chunky kitty is named Jojo. I didn't fully think to put his name as my username before I created my account lol!

I think you may be able to edit your username in your profile. You could add Jojo’s name if you like.

Yes I understand the over 400 struggle.

As Wendy just mentioned, it’s not necessarily the most significant thing what the number is over 400, I agree with Wendy. I just say to myself well it’s just too high and we need to get it down.
That’s why I just put 400 and let it code the cell red and call it a day.

Hopefully, as I mentioned, he’ll start to see other colors start entering your chart once his glucose becomes lower.