Hey guys! First day on the Freestyle Libre and I am really interested on the Blucon Nightrider to go with it. Anyone with any experience on this topic? Are there other options?
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I have tried it and it is so far the most compact solution that turns Libre into a CGM. The official app is not good, but you can install xDrip for Android or iosxdripreader for iOS in order to get calibration and very good readings with upload to nightscout enabled.
Many people are looping with this setup.
Check more on fb group Ambrosia Users.
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More discussion of the Blucon Nightrider can be found at the Diabetes UK forum. There’s also another lengthy discussion at FUD.
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and it’s not very encouraging, seeing all the complaints about accuracy, which seems to be a common theme on pretty much every discussion of the Libre that I’ve run across on line.
Your assessment seems much different than my own. Healthcare systems in many parts of the world are very supportive of the Libre technology. I believe that both France and Japan financially support users. A number of US diabetics have been ordering the Libre overseas as an out-of-pocket cost for some time.
Earlier this year, Abbott published a study that said real-world data from 50M users showed higher testing frequency AND improved A1c numbers using the Libre.
I do believe that some users have experienced inaccurate results. But I’ve seen no evidence that this is widespread. Why did the FDA finally approve what much of the world has been doing for years? Is this based on false data, a conspiracy or what?
The FDA also approved Medtronic’s soft sensors and Enlite which didn’t work worth a darn for many of its users and when I say many I think I’m being very generous to Medtronic instead of saying most
OK, point well taken. But what about the other countries and the people who have continued using them out-of-pocket for several years.
Could you point me to some of the studies that show how badly these sensors are performing?
I’m not doing the “leg-work” to comb through all the sites that have first person accounts of issues with the Libre. I have no personal animus towards it; I’m just reporting that I’ve read a LOT of negative experiences with it. Kinda like how I’ve reported on my own negative experience with over a year of using Enlites. I don’t need a “study” to tell me what I’ve experienced and neither do all the patients on the Libre that have sub-optimum experiences.
If the Enlites worked as well as they supposedly work (according to FDA submissions), they would have worked an order of magnitude better for me. Studies and/or FDA approvals mean very little to me.
oh,and another thing. My wife worked for a doctor (actually he was also my doc for a while) who was doing a study and it was clear that he was falsifying results. FYI: that is very common.
Studies are right up there with polls, in my experience. They MIGHT have correct results, but that may just as well be totally off-base. Look no further than the 2016 presidential election polls that had Hillary winning.
Following. Is it now covered by insurances?
I’ve personally found the Libre to be a million times better and more accurate than the Enlites (and a billion times better than the original Medtronic Sensors).
I’ve not had accuracy issues, find them far more comfortable, have had no “losses” due to door frames or activity.
I think some people have physiology that suits one method of monitoring more than others. I’d be keen to try a Dexcom at some point, but I simply love the no calibration idea of the Libre.
I get alarm fatigue very quickly (even with all alarms possible silenced), so really appreciate the lack of nagging from the Libre.
I’ve got a BluCon, but haven’t been able to make it work as yet, but suspect it’ll just irritate me once I do get it functional.
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Thanks for all of the replies! This is now my 2nd week on the Libre and I loooooooooove it (previous CGM was Medtronic Enlite). It has been quite accurate for me aside from the initial set up were the BGs were off for about 24hrs but after that it went right in sync. My decision to go for the Libre was mostly because it was a more affordable option than the Enlite since my insurance is crappy and I pay out of pocket for my supplies. I’m definitely going to stick to my Libre and over the course of the next couple of months I’ll try the nightrider.
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Thanks J for letting us know about your experience with it. I am glad to know that you have been getting good results with it. On another group some have used it and also love it and are getting good results. One person posted that he had one reading that was off by 70 points but all the ones that came before and after were really good. My opinion is that it is like any other meter, sometimes they give funky results. I find that to be the case with the standard meters quite often. If this is at least as good as them, then I think it will be wonderful.
A lot of peoples insurances are covering this. The people at the DME supply place for my insurance are putting the forms through for me right now to see if mine will cover it. Mine falls to deductible, but my deductible will be fulfilled really soon this year, so if they will cover it, I am going to get it for at least this year.
Some insurance companies are covering it as DME, while others are covering it, and other CGM’s under pharmacies starting this year.
Due to the affordability of this I think it be a game changer for a of people. For those without insurance, and maybe those with it, this would be cheaper than test strips if they test as often as they should with test strips. It should be cheaper for me as long as my deductible is met with other stuff first. Since my pharmacy benefits don’t have a deductible when using mail order, it would be cheaper for me if they switched it to pharmacy benefits at the same tier as test strips. I have no way of knowing what tier it would be for pharmacy benefits though.
You’re absolutely right. Now mine was through pharmacy and it didn’t cover it but the out of pocket cost is not too bad considering the price of more “prestigious” CGMs. For my meter it was $60 and $37.50 per sensor.
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I’ve recently begun using Libre (I’m on my first sensor) and I’m also loooooving it! I especially like the ease of overnight checking, absence of alarms and small presence on my skin (even tho it’s meant only for the one area of the arm - I’d sure like to be able to put it in other locations).
As for the variance between my meter and the Libre, I figure it’s like everything else. For instance, I’ve never understood why, when at the endo, my meter reading and their’s might be 40 points off. I would only know which reading is right if I felt low.
I have some insurance benefit and the 90-day supply cost was just under $300.
Hi J,
To answer your first question I have been a devoted Dexcom user for 10 months but have just started to use the Libre/Nightrider/xDrip+ combination and am currently wearing both.
Just starting my second Libre sensor and I believe for me in the UK this is the financially the best solution as I may be able to get the sensors free from our National Health Service.
I note that many people are not totally happy with the Libre sensor but my first one has been very accurate much more so than the Dexcom that I am wearing at the same time, which I have to re-calibrate twice a day.
What is more the Bluecon Nightrider enables you to re-calibrate if the information from the Libre is way out from the fingerstick test. I am using the Contour Next for my fingerstick tests because in a couple of surveys this came out as the most accurate with a within 5% accuracy rate (both Dexcom and Libre) were about 12%).
After 35 years of being on insulin without many problems there were a couple of occasions where I needed assistance from paramedics 10 months ago so I am only interested in systems with alarms.
So my initial impression of the Nightrider is that it is just as good as the Dexcom although I find the screen a bit over the top very smart and colourful but I was pleased when I found I could switch off the lines predicting where your BG is going. The Dexcom is a very simple and clear read.
The big advantage that I understand Nightrider has over Dexcom and Libre is that for carers they can follow the blood glucose readings in real time - so if thir child’s BG is low and falling they do not see it in 3 hours time as with Dexcom but right now. However I have not progressed to the stage where I can see this.
Still very much a work in progress.
The main problem with Bluecon is that mine took six or seven weeks to be dispatched and reach me in the UK with minimal feedback from Ambrosia.
Cheers,
Stroudie
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I have been impressed with the nightrider. The nightrider app is not good and that is being kind. The spike app that works with the nightrider is awesome and has helped me out a great deal. It is talked about on YouTube. I was having severe nighttime lows and the alarm on the spike app has cut all lows from going too low without me knowing. I have it alarm at 75 and it works perfect for me. I wish I could have had this 37 years ago. (Back When I use to take pork insulin 
).
I have seen several times where ambrosia customer service is not so hot - for this reason I not will consider it - waiting for eversense under medicare
Hi Joe,
Not sure what is going on here my post of six months ago has suddenly been repeated several times. Quite a lot has happened since I put that one up.
I agree about the Spike app or xdrip+ for us android users and the addition of Nightscout for carers and clinicians is really great and I gather the Linkblucon is still not that good. Over the months there has been general unhappiness with Ambrosias and the Blucon. Complaints about it losing blutooth signals and being difficult to re-connect, poking the pin in and not seeing the light flash and scanning multiple times without connecting. The other complaint which affected me was suddenly getting through batteries in one or two days 
.
On the plus side I had 3 months of decent performance with my first Blucon and my second was going well for 5 or 6 weeks when I made the change to what seems to be the main contender now the MiaoMiao. Not only is this lower, doesn’t feel uncomortable when you roll on it at night, but it is re-chargeable and waterproof. Here in the UK it costs about £165 which is pretty much what the new waterproof Blucon costs, where you still have to change the battery every 14 days.
I have been very unhappy that over 90% of Type 1s and probably even more medical personnel are unaware of CGM and the way it revolutionises diabetes management. To address this I have set up my own website bgonmywatch.com to cover the whole subject and walk people through getting all this unregulated stuff.
If you go there you will find links to all manufacturers, facebook pages devoted to each of the various products, reviews of new systems (Medtrum full CGM for less than ÂŁ1000 per annum but probably not worth trying yet) and an attempt at comparative costings on an annual basis here in the UK.
My mission is to try and get media publicity to tell my fellow T1’s about how they can change their lives forever, particularly those who have dodgy warning signs and kids. If anyone out there has media connections I have drafts of articles for newspapers and an outline for a TV documentary but so far not managed to spark any interest.
The aim would be arouse interest and then give them the basic information on the website about how to get set up with everything from the Dexcom G6 (now able to follow in real time) to the almost free Libre + MiaoMiao if you can get it on prescription here in the UK.
Anyway look at the website and read the article All about CGM and check out the links page - it is a very basic set up but I hope the information helps people 
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I called Eversense to ask if they were working on Medicare approval - Of course the answer had to be YES, but I just wanted it verified.
I have been using the Libre for several months now. For me I find it varies from only 10 points off to a max of 55 points off, ALL lower than BG. Most fell 20 to 35 points low.
When I start a new sensor, I do a BG check, at least on a low reading, sometimes also a reading. Then I make a label with the correction, say +25. means add 25 to Libre reading, for aprox BG. One day I had a Libre =60, BG =105, a Libre # 15 minutes later to allow CGM-v-BG lag, and it was still at 60. A FULL 45 points off.
My current sensor is the first non-arm attempt. Seems to be working the same on my belly.
I bought 2 readers, one labeled L & 1 labeled R. That way I can start a new sensor 12 hrs before the in use censor ends, eliminating the gap in CGM coverage.