Right now, if you want a mg/dl units on the display, you’ll need to buy it from a source located in a country that uses those units. Some countries that use the Libre use mg/dl and some mmol/L. I think a quick Google search could reveal which countries use which glucose measurement unit.
Do you live in Europe or one of the countries that sells the Libre? If not, you’ll need a willing ally that lives in one of the Libre countries to facilitate the initial purchase and consequent supply orders.
That’s helpful! I am based out of India. But, I have several folks in London who would be more than wiling to order it for me and send over the supplies on a regular basis. I just may have to consider ordering the reader from another country that uses mg/dl.
I had people ready to purchase and mail me the FreeStyle Libre but when speaking to the local distributer they were told that it needed “temperature control” and so mailing it wasn’t recommended and even putting it in luggage wouldn’t work. Seems like the only way to get it would be in someone’s carry-on bag. Sounds like quite a task that I don’t think will happen anytime soon. 
I don’t know in which country that is, but my friend in Sweden gets them in completely regular packaging, without any special temperature control/freezer packs. When my husband or I have brought them over to the States, the boxes were always in our checked luggage. Never had a problem.
To be fair, the boxes do say “4-30 degrees Celsius” (=40-80 F), so I can understand that an official distributor might feel they have to warn a customer about that. But typically manufacturers place these constraints to say what conditions they have tested for and guarantee, which doesn’t automatically mean that everything outside the limits won’t work right. And when one is forced to go outside official distribution channels, a certain level of risk is implied. I’d still say go ahead and give it a try with a couple.
I got a Libre sensor! Mine came from Germany and seems to be working so I wouldn’t worry too much about the temperature control. If it was sitting outside in freezing temperatures it might be a problem. Of course this is just my speculation. I know it is a lot of money down the tubes if a sensor goes bad.
I have a Samsung phone with NFC so I don’t need the reader - I was able to install LibreLink and run it all on my phone. It is pretty awesome. Had to find the apk and install it manually since it’s not in the app store stateside, but it went pretty smooth and I can get units in mg/dl and it’s in English.
Anyway, I am super excited. Don’t know if I’m willing to pay for a new sensor every two weeks but really looking forward to this 14 days of data.
Compare it to the blood test from time to time as mine usually differ 25-40 mg/dl.
So far on day 3, Nacho (my nickname for the Libre), to put it bluntly, has been way off compared to my meter!
Some data points:
meter = 56, nacho = 75
meter = 101, nacho = 150
meter = 165, nacho = 200
meter = 148, nacho = 234
meter = 200, nacho = 300
The good news is it’s pretty consistently off by 1.5, so I can divide libre readings by 1.5 to get an approximate meter reading. The trends are really useful. I had pizza tonight and am watching the delayed BG readings creeping up now. I might have to eat the leftover pizza tomorrow and see the effect of a second bolus 
Experimentation demands eating more pizza
So I’m still really happy with it, even though all the 200-300 readings make my BG control look rather disastrous… I am curious how much variation there will be with another sensor.
That is exactly what I experience as well and I think that this is caused by the hyper production that Abbott had to do due to huge demand. The initial deliveries in 2014-2015 were very good, usually in line with blood 90% of the time.
They should be able to fix this through a firmware update though, considering that the deviation is usually constant, as you mention.
This happened to me once consistently over the course of the two weeks but doesn’t the majority of the times when I compare BG values – I think it was a faulty “pod” in that case.
Sorry, I should have seen your subsequent post on this as well. Yes, this makes intuitive sense. I think if it happens to me again, I will ask my Swedish “supplier” friend to call customer service and see if he can get a replacement.
So far I’ve gone through four sensors - two of them were really close to my meter, usually within a couple percentage points. One of them was way off (but consistent) and died after 3 days. The other wouldn’t start, it was stuck in the countdown loop. So, 2/4 is not great but hopefully just a result of a small sample size.
I was walking down Main Street here where I live in Anytown, USA and a suspicious looking character in a black trenchcoat waved me over. I asked him what he wanted, and he opened one side of his coat only to have the entire inside covered with Libre sensors in their individual packaging.
He whispered he’d cut me a deal I couldn’t get anywhere else, and I told him I don’t have a reader, so no dice. He told me the guy with the readers was two blocks down wearing a tan trenchcoat.
I didn’t bite, so I’m still on the G5.
That’s a good way to encounter a flasher
Hey there. @MayaK and @Kenrick.
It’s against the rules to try and help people out with resources on here, so unfortunately there’s no way to make anything useful happen for you. Sorry I tried. Good luck and stay healthy
TuDiabetes and DHF have been advised by legal counsel that we should not allow illegal activities to take place on either TuDiabetes or EsTuDiabetes. By knowingly allowing illegal activities to take place the entire existence of the community is at risk. This illegal activity includes distribution and sale of prescription controlled items and items that are not approved for sale or distribution in the US. The Libre has not been approved for sale in the US and while the FDA has approved the import of drugs for personal use with certain limited exclusions, the Libre has not been approved for import and distribution. There is a process to get FDA approval for importing medical devices, but importing and distribution without approval is illegal.
The rules that have been established to prevent TuDiabetes from being used for illegal activities are stated in our terms of service. Violating these rules places our community at risk and we take it very seriously.
Hello Invictus…I see you are in Canada. I am very interested in getting the AFL for my 13 year old T1. I have a friend in France and thinking of asking them to order and send me. Are there any issues in having it imported into Canada? Are there any taxes or duties? Do they just send directly to my home address? Does Canada customs get involved? Any insight into the process would be greatly appreciated.
I’m currently on my third sensor. The first two I bought on my own, together with the meter. One of sensors travelled with me to China as I was curious to see what happened with jet-lag.
A couple of weeks after the second sensor had finished I had a regular checkup appointment with my doctor and he was as enthusiastic as I was with the Freestyle Libre. The device is currently not on the list of approved medical devices in Switzerland (LIMA), but some insurances may take it on board at their discretion, and my doctor wrote to my insurance. The insurance company got back to me surprisingly quickly (they’re usually slow and their standard reply to most requests is “no”) and approved use. I ordered a 3 months supply from Abbott in Switzerland, which arrived 2 days later.
Whilst the Abbot meter is my primary measuring device, I have downloaded the Android smartphone app, though it’s officially not available in Switzerland. I managed to find the .apk file and installed it myself. The smartphone app is useful if I want to take a measurement and haven’t got the meter with me, whilst the smartphone is nearly always nearby.
The big pros:
No more finger pricking (or hardly any)
No pfaffing around to take measurements - a measurement takes 5 seconds of time and there’s no preparation needed and you can literally take one anywhere.
In my opinion this is version 1 of a very new revolutionary technology. I guess Abbott are looking at the experiences users are making of this and that there are going to be many developments on this in the future.
I live in Canada and get my Freestyle libre sensors sent from Scandinavia with no issues whatsoever. No duty, no customs trouble yet. I don’t believe there is anything illegal about receiving the sensors. The person sending them to me marks them as gifts, lists them as toys and puts a nominal value on the customs slip. Once they were labeled as medical sensors with the real value, and even so there was nothing to pay. I am not worried at all and should I be asked to pay, no problem, I’ll pay. The annoying thing is that I have to pay the Scandinavian sales tax which is 25%. Even so the final price is a little less than buying through eBay from Germany, or wherever.
My experience with the Libre is only good. For me it is accurate enough and usually very close to blood test. It is inaccurate for the first day or so but you can fix that by attaching a new sensor a day ahead of activating it.
For your son (and you) the FL will be night and day. You can test during the night without waking him up and he can test himself 20 times a day or more without drawing attention to himself. My advice would be to get the plasters (third party) that help sticking the sensor on. Just google Freestyle libre plasters They come in different designs that will be more appealing than the vanilla plastic. Personally I put a big normal plaster over the thing. They are expensive and I already pulled one off that got caught on an edge.
Good luck!