My HMO only pays for One Touch, so I went to Amazon for Contour strips. $20 for 100 strips?! They also wont pay for Novolog again next year. I won a grievance board hearing to be able to pay for it this year, but if I get the same plan next year, I am going to have to hope my stash gets me through.
My wife gets 500 contour next strips off medicare every 3 months
Is that through Medicare directly? Paying the 20% not covered by Part B?
My Medicare Advantage plan flat out rejects claims for any and all test strips except the two they have approved for coverage.
She gets the strips and insulin under part B - 500 every 3 months - she is on a pump
the 20 percent medicare does not pay is picked up by a supplement plan
And in glancing at her claim history it looks like no one is paying for the strips
the pharmacy has claimed they just give them away -
I see the insulin but not the strips
I tried a BluCon link unit, I was not very happy with it. Too many problems keeping it linked & working with my android phone. I ended up getting accidently lost in the wash, really, no JOSH-n).
Then I got a MIAOMIAO unit and GLIMP software (free on Google play). The maiomiao Glimp combo makes the Libre a FULL fledged CGM, in my opinion. I do 3 BG checks, a low (60-90), a mid range around 100-130 and a high. I enter them into my GLIMP software and it applies BG corrections, for much more accurate results.
The MiaoMiao was a bit more expensive, but to me it has been worth it. you can also set ALARMS with Glimp, and enter more data then I care to bother with. There are a couple thing I would like to see added, its not perfect, but I think its the best I have experienced so far.
I thot xdrip was better
Glimp for my wife is basically useless - too far off most times even with calibration.
Look into xdrip as I believe it has alarms
Thank you! Ive been using the Spike ap with my Libre and find it improves accuracy.
I bounce between high and low so easily and my husband would continually ask (every 5 minutes), “what’s your blood sugar?” Now, I have the voice set to speak on Spike, and he knows my blood sugar every 5 minutes weather he wants to or not.
The Spike with the Libre has improved my life. I can now keep my blood sugar from going too high or low.
Again, thank you for this post : )
I have been using the freestyle libre since may, and find it to be very helpful, however, it sounds like you might have some sort of contraindications issue…Tylenol, blood pressure meds, something that’s affected the readings…is my guess…its supposed to be better, but there are many different posts about this alone. I also use xdrip+ and find it reads better and you can calibrate, however you have to download the apk for android or use spike for apple. I’m also type 1 and find the alarms helpful which it offers,you would have to purchase either a blucon or miao miao to use alarms…those are basically NFC to Bluetooth converters that link to your smartphone
40 yrs, type 1. I recently became “hypoglycemic unaware”. Wrapped my car around a tree and missed an active school crosswalk by 1 block due to a >30 bloodsugar. Libre has saved my life. True, it can be 20, 30 mg/dl off but now I at least know where my b.s. is headed and what it was 10 mins ago. I check around 40-50 times a day now and I have had MUCH better control. If you are a “spot checker” for your b.s. this may not be the system for you but for someone like me that needs to check at least 3X an hour it is a GODSEND. The ability to use my cell to check it is perfect. Now whenI pull out my phone to check the time, or a text, or play a game…I check my b.s.
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PLEASE walk me thru what your talking about. I want a dexcom desperately but they are price prohibitive. It sounds like what you are detailing is a workaround. Help?
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@MohawkJoe Do you mean having a Libre so you can calibrate and have alarms? You can buy at a one time purchase a miao miao2 or some use bubble now to put on a 14 day Libre and then you have an ap on your phone (free) to do calibrations and have alarms. The ap on your phone will depend what kind of phone you have so make sure to check what’s compatible with your phone. The miao miao site will tell you. I am not as familiar with bubble but I know a bunch of people have started using it instead of miao miao.
But a miao miao2 stays in communication with the Libre sensor for a continuous feed through an ap to your phone and you can set different alerts.
The new Libre2 has 1 high alert and 1 low alert setting and I don’t think they are compatible yet with any extra attachments. The Libre2 is very new and doesn’t even have an ap yet for your phone.
I’d love to recommend my setup to everyone, however, I can’t because you need to stay on android 9. Im guessing you are in The u.s. and either use the u.s. 14 day libre, or the u.s. libre 2. In the u.s. Xdrip and miaomiao2 only works with u.s 14 day libre, using the oop algorithm app, and upgraded firmware…the problem is the oop algorithm only works on android 9. Most phones automatically update to android 10, and it is extremely difficult to stay on android 9, or downgrade to android 9. However, if you can find a phone like a Razer 2(discontinued) that will never upgrade to android 10, or know someone who can help you to downgrade to android 9 if you mistakenly upgrade, then buy a bubble or miaomiao2, use xdrip for free, and buy an android wear watch
Ty! ty!
I’m guessing it depends what phone you have for what you need. The Miao Miao site does tell you. I have a Dexcom for me but for my dog who is diabetic I use a Miao Miao2 with a 14 day Libre and the free tomato ap. I’m pretty sure the Libre2 is still too new to have anything work with it yet.
I have been using the new Libre2 on me for snorkeling and I haven’t found it any more accurate than the 14 day Libre.
I would make sure the libre is sealed using some sort of waterproof tape, as I have read that it us not approved for salt water, and in that instance, he received a false high and was very bitter about the whole situation… I tried to use miao miao’s tomato app, and was severely disappointed in the lack of low predictions, the ringtones that you have to pay extra to use are never saved and have to be set back up frequently, the watch doesn’t work, and you constantly have to fight with it to pair the Bluetooth… and this was using an android phone with 8gb of ram… the tomato app is tworst app ever.
I also forgot to mention that nightscout doesn’t work on the tomato app…and this was after I paid for the unlimited extra features that I regret paying for
I don’t pay for the premium part of the tomato ap. I used a song I already had and shortened it to 6 seconds and used that. That works fine except if my sound is off on my phone. Don’t ask me how I did it as a friend that was more tech savvy than me did it.
I don’t think tomato ap is great but it has worked fine. You are more limited with an iPhone.They now have an x drip for the iPhone I guess but something was weird about using it still.
Nothing is approved for salt water but I never have had any issues with it effecting it. I used to go into the ocean with the 10 day one and it never bothered it. And now with the better waterproof pouches I take the reader out with me and I am out there for 3 hours twice a week and it hasn’t changed it working. Off by 20 points before it gets in the ocean and off by 20 after. I remember reading about someone that had complained it not being covered by Libre if you went into the ocean and remember thinking maybe he got sand in it.
I do not use any extra cover for it and there are a bunch of people that have worn it in the ocean with no issues. I just originally had troubles finding out if anyone had tried scanning it underwater. But you can and it works great. I use a Stash Pouch for the reader.
Since 2018 discovering xdrip, I’ve been using at least 3 different ringtones for predicted low, high, and low. Where I work is very loud, so I usually wear noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones and if I hear “everytime i come in the kitchen, you in the kitchen” from Friday, I know my blood sugar is dropping, and I have distinct ringtones from other movies for high and low…xdrip also has persistent high, dropping fast, rising fast, etc…the problem with the tomato app was the ringtones would never save, the watch never worked, nightscout never worked,etc…