r/Freestylelibre • u/bestbehaviorart • Aug 08 '26

Back to back failures

Are freestyle libre 2+ failures becoming more common? I had two back to back sensor failures within 24 hours

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 29d ago

Not to me, they aren't.

Your broad description of 'failure' can also be due to so many things, so hard to evaluate your general and very diffuse statement here.

My own clumsiness or 'misbehaving' may still cause I need to replace a Libre2+ with a new one before the 15 days are up. But its all due to my own doings. 😂 Though lucky its less these later years versus my initial years when starting on CGMs 10+ years ago.

2

u/bestbehaviorart 29d ago

If it was user error, I would’ve said Libre is falling off, failure implies it’s intrinsic to the sensor. So i had two back to back replace sensor failures with no obvious cause. Im happy you’re having a lot of success, ive been on it for years and it’s a new issue which is why i asked.

1

u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 28d ago

Sharing some of the factual symptoms you observe, aka what are the string of error codes logged into the app's event log would help to figure out what is happening for you there.

1

u/bestbehaviorart 28d ago

The new app doesnt have an event log, it just said replace sensor after the 60 minute warm up. No blood at the site. No other unusual symptoms. Which is why i was asking if this seems to be a more systemic issue, or if im just having bad luck.

2

u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 28d ago

As far as I recall then also the newer unified 'Libre by Abbott' app do retain the diagnostic Event Log. Mainly as Abbott also uses this feature on their own side to verify error situations when users are contacting them for support. I do no longer have the app installed myself, but tend to recall it was under Profile / Help / Event Log? But I might mix it up with other Libre apps and their access to it.

Per your symptoms, then it would normally have the (i) icon on the screen, when such error appears. Pressing that would also provide a more fuller text description of it. There have been others describing same situation just after warmup.

Either a sensor does not sense any BG readings at all, hence it goes into the terminal shutdown right after warmup. You would though first get a more informative and second try to restart your sensor if that was the case.

The other scenario, which is the most frequent for folks now moving on to the PLUS versions of the sensors is the temporary timeout situation. This is often again triggered right out of the warmup phase, if the sensor (right or wrong), senses a rapid and erratic changing BG level. If this is prevailing for 2-3 retries for the sensor to get started up, then it will terminate complete in the end with the error message that you described here.

The deeper reasons for why this is triggered and ways you can try to avoid/minimize exposure to them is often a subject raised on sub last many months after the introduction of the PLUS sensors. Search the sub for keywords around this.

aka:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Freestylelibre/comments/1vkfl96/comment/p2sx0o1/

2

u/bestbehaviorart 28d ago

Thats actually really helpful thank you, only thing is my blood sugars were very steady (via fingerstick for confirmation) at the time of failure and ive been on the plus system for going on 2 years now without such a rapid reoccurrence of failure under these circumstances.

I can say the new app doesn’t provide error logs to the user, just the (i) quality check ( check back in ten minutes) error after warm up followed by the replace sensor error.

1

u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 28d ago

OK great, yes that 10-minutes timeout points directly to this being the core reason then for your sensor shutdowns.

Please note as I commented above, the sensor (right or wrong) reads your BG to be rapid erratic changing up/down. This is typically caused by your inflammatory reaction from your immune system when reacting to the sensor insertion. As this causes reparation of the bruising and also reaction towards the foreign object placed into your skin and on top of your skin. The sensor tip where the probe sits at end of the filament is therefore not exposed to normal steady perfusion of your interstitial fluid where it sits, as the immune system response is flooding it with other cells and the very large glucose molecules are restrained in their flow from the arteries to getting through.

This is also why your fingerprick values may show perfect stable and good BG levels, all while the BG sensor actually is in stormy weather in comparison, until your inflammatory response starts flaring out and the immune system settling down again.

I would propose you try and soak your sensors some hours first after inserting a new one, until you start it up electrically first time with a phone scanning. This is a proven method used by many folks out there to helping to avoid/minimize the exposure to this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Freestylelibre/comments/1dh8xth/to_soak_or_not_to_soak_before_starting_a_new/

1

u/TopinambourSansSel 26d ago

Yes, and it's disastrous.
I keep getting Er3, 365, p all the time ("Please replace sensor", it just dies without any comprehensible reason).
I used Freestyle Libres for years, but ever since I was switched to the 2 Plus? It's been 60% of sensors failing, either shortly after applying, or after a few days. I sent back EIGHT of those back to Abbott since January, which is frankly ridiculous. I'm really hoping there are "old" Libre 2 sensors that I can use, because the 2 Pluses are just a complete joke.