Mackay HHS senior library manager Leesa Philip wasn’t surprised to be diagnosed as diabetic 16 years ago. She has a long family history of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
“I’d actually been watching and waiting for it to show up since I was 13,” she said.
For the last 18 months, Leesa has been using a new tool in her diabetes management; a Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system which helps her manage her glucose levels without the need for frequent finger pricks.
The FreeStyle Libre 2 system is used by people with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and includes a sensor that is worn on the upper arm and reader device. The sensor measures glucose levels and stores the readings in one-minute intervals, 24 hours a day.
To get a glucose reading, the user holds the reader near the sensor. The reader displays the current glucose level, a trend graph and an arrow that shows the direction and speed of the glucose level change.
Leesa said the CGM helped her understand how her glucose levels responded to food, activity and insulin and could detect episodes of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
“It’s actually amazing to be able to replace the finger prick testing so I don’t have to stab myself multiple times a day,” she said.
“For me as a type 2 diabetic that is relatively stable, I was only doing a blood sugar reading by finger prick about once a day. For someone with type 1, every time they are going to eat they need to test so it’s repeatedly.
“CGM takes away the necessity for that and then there’s the fact that every time you puncture your skin you are doing yourself damage and inviting infection. So anything you can do to reduce that is obviously a good thing.”
The greatest benefit of the CGM and reason Leesa opted to use it after encouragement by a diabetes educator was that it provided “so much data to work with”.
“It really helps you understand your diabetes; what your body is doing and why. That information can then also be shared with your health team,” she said.
“It allows you to get on top of blood sugar issues quickly and you can set an alarm if your levels go under or over.
“It’s a great aid to help manage my diabetes and gives me a much better idea of what food does, so I can be much more selective about whether I eat that or not. It quickly also shows me how my body responds to stress and medications.”
Another benefit of the CGM was the potential to delay detrimental outcomes of long-term diabetes such as eye and diabetic foot issues.
Looking after yourself and your diabetes takes time, effort and juggling, Leesa said. It involved working closely with a health care team including GPs, endocrinologists and diabetes educators, taking your medications and checking your blood glucose levels as recommended.
It also meant having a plan in place for when blood sugar peaked or dropped – for Leesa that includes a “medicinal box of Chupa Chups” at work and barley sugar in the car.
Making the time to understand diabetes management and how to make healthy choices can reduce the risk of health complications, she said.
Type 1 diabetes is covered under the National Diabetes Scheme (NDSS), type 2 is not.
“The CGM is not cheap; the sensor has to be replaced every 14 days and costs about $120,” she said.
“Being sick is really expensive, plus there’s the flow-on cost to the healthcare system as well.
“Early detection and managing diabetes effectively with the use of new technology like a CGM can also help slow down degeneration and any subsequent secondary complications of the disease, which means I’m far less likely to need higher-end treatment,” Leesa said.
“So it’s really in my best interests; the CGM plays a big part in that.
“The healthier I keep myself, the less I need to show up here at the hospital or ED, so that’s good for everybody.”
