I’m wearing one right now - cost £57.50 directly from Abbots. It’s an invaluable tool to see what’s going on in your body and how your lifestyle affects your health, especially as we get older and our glucose metabolism becomes less efficient. The secret weapon against glucose spikes is going for a walk - you can get away with almost anything if you go for a brisk walk immediately after eating!
@@stb3987 Depends on what you eat and your metabolic state. If I eat high glycemic foods on an empty stomach, my levels will start climbing within 15-30 minutes and peak well within an hour. If I start doing any exercise when my levels are already coming down, I end up with hypoglycaemia - other people will react differently, but most people peak at around the one hour mark - if you want to avoid the spike, you have to start exercising earlier! A sure way to avoid any spike is to eat while you’re walking/hiking - I’ve tried this with a chocolate bar - hardly any rise at all!
@@n88srnYou can't get it on prescription if you have type 2 diabetes. You can get a non continuous monitor on prescription, and you may be able to get the test strips and lances on prescription.
You shouldn't need a prescription to obtain a glucose monitor. That is using the prescription system as a monopoly. Prescriptions are supposed to exist for precision and danger prevention. Not so that you can have a monopoly on a product. Patents are what that are for.
@@taunjiachandler6607 I think they did mean “patents” - the point they made was that companies who want to have a monopoly on a product shouldn’t make it prescription only, but rather put a patent on it - although I expect it was the health authorities that made it prescription only because of shortages - so that people who really need it (diabetics) would have access to it - but we could argue that prevention is just as important!
Dexcom Stelo Glucose Biosensor System was recently FDA approved for over the counter without a prescription. Will be available to purchase in Summer 2024.
Recommending this to people who don't need it hopefully doesn't turn out in another shortage for actual diabetic patients like it happened with ozempic.
@lejon2345I agree with both sides, a medicine is different to a one time buy. If you have a life threatening need that clearly trumps prevention but there should be easier access to things that can help assist preventive care. It's also important that folks understand what it is and how to use it.
The patches only last a month. Once you’ve tested the way your body responds, there isn’t much need to wear one after that. It’s better to do a few months or self monitoring and fix the pre diabetes issue before it starts, than to spend a lifetime having to wear one after developing diabetes.
I’m in the USA, am pre-diabetic so I have my doctor to write the prescription for the Freestyle Lebre 3, then I pay CVS the 3 month supply. One month supply without insurance help is $70. It is a crime shame the insurance company wants me to develop diabetes in order to help me to pay for the CGM. No problem… I’ll give up the $70 a month to heal myself with it. The CGM has taught me valuable information about my glucose, at real time.
It is not cheap at all in Australia, you can only order it from abbots and it’s about $100 for 1. To make life easier in my pregnancy with diabetes I used the cgm costing me $200 per month. I feel like abbots and Aus government is extorting us!!!
I'm a type 1 diabetic and I didn't have to pay a cent to get my Dexcom. I was given a prescription for it as well. It's easier for type 1 diabetics to get it than people with type 2 diabetes...so I've heard. And the craziest thing I had to prove...is if I was a diabetic 🙄. I was born with this disease...check my medications...what is there to prove?! But overall it's very good to have because it saved my life MULTIPLE TIMES. Especially when I was pregnant with my first son. I happened to take a nap. A few minutes later...I didn't feel so great and I didn't feel my baby kick like he normally did. So that worried me 100%...when I checked my Dexcom...my blood sugar (glucose) was 23!! When I stood up, I felt like I was intoxicated but I wasn't. Thankfully I was able to make it to the kitchen to grab a snack. And thankfully my son started kicking again 🎉.
So scary 😨 my mom, AND 2 of my children are type 1. I'm excited for my kids to finally try the pump. My mom hasn't even had a cgm yet, but hopefully soon
@@melodyandbryanphillips8304 I used to be on the insulin pump but I had a very bad rash so the doctors decided to discontinue it. Now, it's harder for me to get an insulin pump. Your mom will get it. It just takes patience. But keep calling those people because they like to procrastinate when it comes to approving the prescription they received.
One thing with Dexcom is that you must be aware of its variability. Accuracy is not 100%. We used it for my mom and there were times it showed her BS was 50 but when checking with the regular fingertip testing, it was about 60. While I love the fact that it’s continuous monitoring, it’s worth noting that there is a significant degree of variability, about 8-9% to be exact 8% with arm placement and 9% with abdomen placement. ALL, Please keep this in mind.
@@SuzieQ593 I definitely know that it's not 100% accurate. My doctor and I went over the cautions. I'm not depending on it for life but it does warn me when my blood sugar is going dangerously low. Like for example, if it reads "urgent low soon" while it shows me 60...I check myself with my glucose monitor and it tells me that my sugar level is in "47" range or lower. So don't worry I know but thank you for the warning.
In the US, I was quoted over $200 because, although I have a prescription, I do not have diabetes. I contacted Abbott and they said I don’t qualify for their discount program because I don’t have diabetes. That price is 1.5 years old.
Gee wiz, I ate ice cream and measured my blood sugar and it was high. I ate spaghetti and my blood sugar was high. Do I need a glucose monitor to tell me how crappy my diet is? I ate eggs and bacon for breakfast and my blood sugar was normal. I ate steak for dinner with sautéed zucchini and my blood sugar was low. I like eating foods that spike my glucose so I will monitor it and say oh my glucose levels are high. Seriously, the easier solution is to not eat pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast...for example. Carbs spike insulin. Low carb high fat, keto and carnivore diets will fix insulin resistant diseases. I keep thinking I should go to the doctor and get a blood test. But my LDL is high. Doctors don't know or look at HDL triglycerides ratios. I mention it and they get nervous. The medical industry wants to sell statins and insulin and blood pressure medication. Avoiding high carb diets and seed oils gets you healthy.
You’re absolutely right! It’s not very difficult but not everyone is as aware or educated on nutrition, diet and ironically, the role the ‘healthcare’ industry plays in our health.
hypochondriac! The entire reason she promotes glucose monitors is because it can detect spikes that may be indicative of diabetes in the person’s future!
Disagree. I was insulin resistant and, wearing it for a period, helped me understand many things. Especially, that it takes at least 12 hours of fasting to stabilize glucose. Or that I can exercise also after many hours of fasting.
@@user-wr3ij3rl7qGlucose spikes can affect you in different ways, and as we say, prevention is better than cure. So with your ridiculous conclusion, you prefer to wait until you have a heart attack to buy this kind of equipment?
@@aventureracletteIf you fall under the category who is at risk of developing diabetes (obese, family history etc) - just get checked by professionals. For example HbA1C blood test - it shows the average of your blood glucose for the past 3 months. If you have spikes or issues with glucose, trust me it will be shown if you interpret it correctly. OBVIOUSLY high carb intake will somewhat spike you, you can also check glycemic index of the products you eat (available for almost each product, you can check that) - each type of food will affect your blood glucose regulator differently, so eating low glycemic food is healthy (well, duh😂) I just genuinely don't see the point of wearing a Libre monitor for healthy individuals. And yes, as a diabetic I wore it for some time - made me feel extra anxious because i was just constantly 24 checking how my glucose was😢
You can buy a good monitor for about $20 here in the states. You don't always need a prescription. Only if you have an insurance company that will cover diabetic supplies
I believe you’re talking about a glucometer where you need to keep pricking your finger, she is talking about a continuous glucose monitor. As a type 1 diabetic, I can tell you the difference is huge.
The US doing everything it can to make being healthy difficult. O think its close to 50% of Americans have Diabetes. And it's increasing. How about making it available without a oerscription? Of course not, there's money to be made.
I find Dexcom CGM a better way to follow your patterns. As a type one diabetic, you can use it even if your type too I’ve tried Libre 2 and it’s pretty accurate, but it doesn’t have the alarms needed to alert me when my sugar is going extremely low, but if you were to Diabetic and not on insulin labour two would be a cheaper alternative or you could just get a manual glucose monitor which is much cheaper, but you would not be able to follow your pattern very well. I have to use both just in case my CGM is not reading properly and as Diabetic you know when you’re low or when you’re high so to make sure I don’t give myself too much insulin I use the Dexcom CGM.
In India you can just buy one from online shopping sites or apps.. or can buy from pharmacy at 10 to 15 euros.. 😌 don't know why in US everything is difficult in medical field
In America, you need a prescription to check your glucose level and being healthy. Are the farmaceutic companies worry to lose all the sick people at once? 😂
It's going to end up like an Ozempic situation. Many diabetics I know that require Ozempic to treat their disease not can't get it due shortages but because people who aren't diabetic have been using it off label and now insurance companies are no longer covering it as they consider it to be for cosmetic purposes.
@@hectorurdiales4570 Not yet, there wasn't a shortage of Ozempic in the beginning either. But more disturbing is the way that insurance companies changed their view from a necessary life-saving medication to an option Cosmetic one and then started delisting it. Bad prescribing practices are what drove Ozempic into the first shortages. As some who is living with diabetes it makes me very angry when people who have no need of device or medication start using it unnecessarily.
@@bluewrites2278 Say in another post. There are different aspects to the use of this machine, undoubtedly less important in use than a diabetic, but in prevention it can also SAVE LIFE ! Different diseases, but the same origin. You are not alone, and Hector IS right! There's not shortage of sensor stock, do you feel insecure?
Sorry my medical insurance does not cover this and I can’t afford it out of my pocket. I had a friend who let me use one and for the two weeks I saw how up and dowm my blood spikes were. After 2 weeks It’s back to pricking my finger.
About $80 Canadian dollars. I prefer the Dexcom g7, way way more accurate than the libre two! I self fund (I am diabetic but it’s not covered unless you’re a type one) and it honestly keeps me sane.
In Brazil, no matter if you have a prescription or not, it will costs something about 70 dollars, and we dont have free style libre 2 here. An insulin pen costs about 150 dollars and everything is very expensive for diabetics 😣
Nobody buys these just to play with them - they’re way too expensive for that, but priceless to help prevent diabetes. Prevention is key when it comes to T2.
@@itsdarparpthose medical devices are for people with type 1 diabetes which has nothing to do with diet/lifestyle. With type 1 you will need to take insulin as the body is not producing it, if you take to much you go low on glucose and die, thus the invention of those devices. Type 2 diabetes is mostly related to insulin resistant (can be caused by bad lifestyle/diet) but mostly no need to take insulin, so no need for the devise, same for those lifestyle hipsters who think they need to check how their body reacts to food.
So I could just get the Freestyle Libre on it’s own? I was worried that there were some hidden costs or that I needed a subscription for the app or sth like that bc my other option is ultrahuman which is like the European equivalent to levels (I’m in Spain) but it’s quite some more money than the sensor on it’s own
Can you please give us more information about taking vitamin b complex daily. Is it affecting any glucose level , would it be harmful to use in longterm. Can’t work without vitamin b , feel so weak and powerless without it but also I am scared to have side-effect in long term
Could be interesting - but need more information about this monitor: what is with the data - are they only for me - visible in an app - or can someone else read or use my data...
A GCM serves no purpose really. "Look, I had sugar!" It's too late. It's like a sleep monitor telling you last night you slept like crap - it's too late.
No. Some of the CGMs in Europe are subscription based. You pay either a bi weekly or monthly fee. They are not cost effective if you have type 2 diabetes which is diet controlled.
Is the Freestyle Libre 2 useful in case you want to continuously measure your glucose? I get the idea you need to hold a device against it and get a reading at that time but not for the other moments you're not measuring or am I wrong on this?
On 30 bucks for 2, a whole months worth with prescriptions and my Goodrx no insurance so the discounts great. Problem is Freestyle libre is not thstbgreatnor acurate gonna switch and Dexa. It cost a little more whenni asked but still cheap and where Ilm at in the states. The area i sm at is upper middle class to upp class and nice, weird because downtown in the bad places itʻs a bit more at same store chsin 🤔
Your hospital plan should be able to give you one for free if your doctor requests it. BUT YOU HAVE TO REQUEST THEM TO DO THAT...AND TESTSTRIPS & LANCETS ARE FREE IF PERSCRIBED BY YOUR DOCTOR... 😮
The 2 is a single measurement device that you have to press your phone to your arm to take. Just a quick check, good for before/ after meals or exercise. The 3, takes continuous measurements. You connect it to your phone, and can see the trends over time without holding your phone against it. I prefer the 3.
If we didn’t have to have dr. To sign off of it, we might be a healthier country. As it would have secondary effects on menu items and contagious health behaviors that would just in long run on average make us all healtheir
