[DougWebb]

The Libre sensor can be purchased without a prescription, and used with a free smartphone app. This link is for the V3 sensor. I bought the older 14-day sensors from this mail order pharmacy while I was using them. Cheaper than my local pharmacy or many other sources, even with shipping cost.

https://myehcs.com/product/freestyle-libre-3-sensor/

[sfifs]

Libre is very good but I unfortunately developmed an allergy to the glue they use. So you have to test and see.

Also these devices have a bias and a drift and are useful for trending, not for exact results all the time. However to monitor how blood sugar trends semi-quantitatively and identify which foods cause how much spike etc, more than sufficient.

[jawngee]

Flonase applied to the skin with a hydrocolloid bandage (we use Dynaderm) on top, then apply the freestyle on top of that.

A lot of people are very allergic to freestyle's adhesive. The above is the common way to deal with it. Like there is a whole facebook group filled with thousands of people on the topic.

[code_duck]

I developed a reaction to Dexcom adhesive after a few months of use. It slowly got worse to the point where I couldn’t leave one on for more than 4-5 days and it would leave a welt that took 15 days to heal. I haven’t ever used Flonase but the hydrocolloid does a great job. I wouldn’t be able to use them at all otherwise (and I have type 1 diabetes, so it’s important).

[autoexec]

I'd be extreemly careful about using a cell phone app to track any health data at all. The Glucomate app seems to have a pretty reasonable privacy policy at first glance, but I have no idea what kind of app the The Libre uses or what their policy is, but in any case it's worth pointing out that there are countless companies who would love to get their hands on this type of data some of which could impact your ability to get insurance or the rates you'll pay for it. Even advertisers would love to take advantage of you while your levels are (or are expected to be) low and your defenses are down.

[maxerickson]

If insurance companies are setting premiums based on personally collected data from random apps, the thing to do isn't to advise people to avoid them, the thing to do is to figure out how to feed the random apps data that looks healthy.

Of course health insurance isn't allowed to consider such data, and it's unlikely to be of much value to life insurance (because it has no provenance).

[autoexec]

For a very long time insurance companies have been using information collected from data brokers and who knows where that data comes from. I'm guessing they'll use any data they can get their hands on that might in any way help them justify taking more of your money while ignoring or downplaying the rest, but gaming your data wouldn't be a terrible idea if you can pull it off.

> Insurers contend that they use the information to spot health issues in their clients — and flag them so they get services they need. And companies like LexisNexis say the data shouldn't be used to set prices. But as a research scientist from one company told me: "I can't say it hasn't happened." (https://www.propublica.org/article/health-insurers-are-vacuu...)

[andreareina]

There's at least one OSS app that can pair/read them but I don't remember what it's called.

ED I think it was xdrip https://xdrip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

[je42]

Yep using xdrip together with android aps.

Both apps would not get the ux design award :)

But are very functional and fast to use once one got adjusted.

Xdrip can read libre 2 eu - not libre 3 afaik

[lolc]

There now seems to exist an app that can read Libre 3 and feed to Xdrip, APS. I want to try it soon. Unfortunately you still need the official spy app to initialize the sensor.

[je42]

for libre 2 if you use the bluetooth mode. You actually would install the libre app for initialization and then deinstall it so that it doesn't interfere.

nice, whats the name of the app?

[lolc]

For the Libre 2 I use the dedicated hardware reader to initialize the sensor. This lets me avoid using the Abbott app altogether.

The app for Libre 3 is called Juggluco. But really I haven't tested it, so this is just from reading about it.

[ramraj07]

The page literally says prescription required though? Insane price however.

[DougWebb]

Wow, you're right. The 14-day sensor didn't require one, but that's not available anymore.