Freestyle Libre 3 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System

I never write reviews, I think it’s a highly altruistic thing to do, but never have the time or inclination. However, this item has quite literally changed my life as it has given me an insight into the inside workings of my body. I am a doctor myself, but being pre diabetic for years, I was unable to get my GP to prescribe me Metformin, been told that it is not licensed for prediabetes. I’m not obese but I am south Asian, and the criteria for obesity have been adjusted to 23.5. None of this was taken into account by my GP Surgery. I started to have macular degeneration, and risk losing vision, due to ongoing damage from pre-diabetes, yet the NHS will not prescribe what is known through research and the diabetes prevention study, as effective preventative treatment. This gadget give me enough insight into my blood sugar profile to actually have the confidence to fight my own battle and get the prescription for preventative treatment that I should have been known for years. It has also helped me manage my diet and lifestyle more efficiently. So this is not just for insulin dependent diabetics, it is a useful gadget for anybody with some background clinical knowledge. Also for those who want to understand their inside workings is better.

For a product so expensive the performance is AWFUL.It’s fairly easy to set up though terrifying when you first get it out the pack, I was nervous to put this in but honestly you can’t feel a thing which is super surprising because I’m normally a big baby when it comes to things like this. The idea with the app and everything is great but unfortunately the performance doesn’t hold up.This product is supposed to last you 14 days mine stopped working after 2, if you look online there is several people who have the same issue consistently and the company apparently is very good at replacing dodgy sensors but in all honesty I don’t really wanna use the product again after my experience.I set the low glucose alarm to go off when I was below 3.9 mmmol/L and it was beeping at me so many times throughout the day leading to me freaking out, I’d then check with a traditional monitor and it would be completely fine.It would also say low the alarm would go off then I’d check on the app and within a few minutes that low reading would completely disappear and it would show as 4.8 or 5.0 or something within the range which I found odd.If you need to wear a CGM it is obviously important you get accurate results, you don’t with this product so it is not worth the money.I also had weird pains throughout my left arm whilst wearing this that disappeared after I removed it, sure this could be placebo but honestly I wasn’t bothered by its presence at all so I’m not so sure. I had pulsating and aches like I had never experienced it was very strange, it could be possible that I had poked it on a nerve and there is also the possibility of the EMF from the product effecting me in some way as it is over the safe recommendation.

I was slightly nervous about buying this, having read some negative reviews here about sensor failures, but I ordered, it arrived, and it worked flawlessly for the full 14 days. So I did not need to check out the after-sales service.I bought some waterproof plasters on Amazon and used one to protect it when showering, so maybe that helped. The sensor was easy to setup and worked fine with my Pixel 8.I don't have, nor am I worried about, diabetes; I am only interested in monitoring my blood sugar levels from a self-care point of view. The app gave me a GMI score of someone who is pre-diabetic, but reading online indicated that this is misleading for someone who has not been officially diagnosed with diabetes.It was fascinating to watch how my blood sugar level reacted to the various foods I consumed over the two weeks.

The use of these devices should be life changing for diabetics, however the reality falls short. In clinical practice I have found the libre2 will often read low, and advise a cbg blood test before any intervention. I had great hope for the libre3 with its supposed low MARD of about 7%, however this rating of inaccuracies should be closer to 90%. I bought one to see if there’s any adverse pattern to my blood sugars with diet ( I am not diabetic) but comparing calibrated and quality controlled blood sugar readings, which do reflect what I expect from my hba1c, of 34, with the libre3 tissue fluid glucose shows a difference of between 1 and 2 on all but 1 comparative reading. 4.6 vs 5.9, fasting, 5.8 vs 7.7 an hour after a carbohydrate containing dinner, and so on, many libre3 readings up to 9, I did not have the cbg test yo hand to compare at this level , but with a flat trend, the worst discrepancy was after fasting for several hours which should have allowed for équilibration between blood and libre devices, giving readings of 4.5 vs 6.7. If these devices can not be relied upon to give a reading that is comparable to a quality controlled cbg device, there should be a way to quality control and calibrate if readings are off, or there needs to be warnings on the packaging, “these readings may bare no relation whatsoever ti your actual blood glucose “

I started using the Freestyle Libre 2 several months ago on medical recommendation to monitor my glucose levels as a Type 2 diabetic. However, a number of the sensors failed to connect or remain connected and several sensors were replaced free-of-charge. I switched to the smaller and dearer Freestyle Libre 3 which is both easier to apply and very reliable. Having a constant readout of my blood sugar has proved educational and much easier to maintain control than the finger prick testers.