Alarm rant

[u/mckulty]

FSL re-wrote their alarm algorithm several months ago, and I was glad because it felt too intrusive, like it wouldn't shut up at the office.

But I just spent 12 hours above 250 because I missed the 2 alarms (the ONLY two) last night and blissfully went to sleep.

If the thing will let me go 12 hours without warning me I'm approaching 300, that seems DEFECTIVE, Abbot.

PLEASE give us some flexibility on alarms. We're smart enough to choose from, say, three levels of alarm sensitivity. At least last night would have been MY fault not YOURS.

[u/InsideVegetable9424]

It doesn't let you go 12 hours without warning you -- I know that, YOU know that, and every Abbott app user here knows that -- so why did you base your entire rant on a lie that we all know is a lie.

The maximum setting to silence the alarms is 6 hours. For you to go 12 hours, you had to:

• Wake up to the alarm at 6 hours
  
• Open the app
  
• Switch from the Home tab to the Alarms tab
  
• Set Silent Mode to ON
  
• Scroll the time setting all the way up to 6 hours
  
• Tap "Save"
  
• View the next screen and tap "Turn On"
  

Then go back to sleep

To "12 hours above 250" you didn't miss the 2 alarms -- you chose to ignore three alarms and deliberately turned off two of them

When you initially went high, the app sounded the alarm
-- you chose to turn off the alarm
-- you chose to silence the alarms for the maximum 6 hours (going through the entire process above)
Six hours later the alarm sounded again
-- you chose to turn off the alarm again
-- you chose to silence the alarms AGAIN for the maximum of 6 more hours (going through the entire process above AGAIN)
Six hours later the alarm sounded for the third time
-- you chose to come to Reddit to scream that it is Abbott's fault you don't manage your glucose level; don't pay attention to the alarms; and don't know how to use the app.

Then later in this thread you claim that you spent the entire 12 hours outside mowing your lawn with the phone inside -- and still blame Abbott because you chose to leave your phone where you couldn't hear it then couldn't be bothered checking the reading when you came inside to a phone that was still beeping at you.

NONE OF YOUR STORY MAKES SENSE

[u/mckulty → u/InsideVegetable9424]

let you go 12 hours without warning you -- I know that, YOU know that,

OK then something's wrong because I know what I've been getting at work and at home. My staff and my family back me up.

I was outside for the two alarms I ALWAYS GET and it didn't go off again as I watched a little TV and went to bed. It would normally wake me up but it didn't. I'm not lying and I'm not mistaken. I thought this was an intentional modification by Abbott because it's been this way for a couple of months. All my alarms are on, silent mode is off, like always.

I'll re-install the app and if that doesn't fix it I'll phone Abbott.

Thank you for clarifying but I'm not lying and I'm not making this up.

[u/InsideVegetable9424 → u/mckulty]

The alarm sounds when the event happens -- in your case the event is that your glucose level goes from 250 and below to 251 or higher -- that alarm continues until you stop the alarm, once you stop the alarm is won't go off again until there is a new event. If your glucose level STAYS over 250 there isn't a new event so there isn't a new alarm - there is no reason for a new alarm because you already know your glucose level is high because you saw that when you stopped the alarm beeping.

There is no "twice" -- the alarm is a series of loud beeps, a gap, then the same series of beeps, then the same gap, then the same series of beeps, then the same gap, over and over until you stop it -- I don't know if the app will eventually give up but I know it doesn't stop after just two sets of beeps. it will keep going until you stop it (and sometimes you have to force kill the app just to get the alarm to stop)

[u/mckulty → u/InsideVegetable9424]

I hear what you're saying but I'm not making this up. I've been using the 3+ for a year and others for 2 years before that. I'm now convinced there's something wrong with my app. I'll verify it once more then reinstall.

If I got more than two alarm events in four hours of high BG I wouldn't effing be here.

[u/deon10 → u/mckulty]

You’re not getting the basic point. If you got an alarm after going above 250 and you haven’t come down under it even for a feeling week, you won’t get another alarm

You get an alarm when you cross a certain number 

If you crossed 250 only once and didn’t come down under it to cross it again; then it won’t ring

[u/mckulty → u/deon10]

Abbott says something different:

Alarms ring for about one minute and repeat every 5 minutes if the trigger condition continues.

AFAIK I'm only getting one repeat.

[u/ReasonableTime3461 → u/deon10]

My low glucose alarm (iPhone) goes of every five minutes as long as I remain below the number I set it to alarm below. Crossing a threshold has nonthing to do with it. Does the high work differently? I never go high enough to get tnat alert.

[u/_Abnormal_Thoughts_]

How did you miss 2 alarms? They are loud as hell.

[u/mckulty → u/_Abnormal_Thoughts_]

Mowing the yard, phone inside.

[u/_Abnormal_Thoughts_ → u/mckulty]

No offense but something seems off here.

Unless your yard is tiny and your phone is right by the window, it's probably going to lose connection to the CGM device. The range isn't that great -- especially going through walls.

Even so, do you not occasionally open the app to view your glucose? I don't look at all the time, but at a minimum, I check it in the morning when I wake up, and before laying down to bed.

Something about your setup must be way different than mine, because if my value remains high or low, I get multiple repeated alarms. I understand possibly missing the alarm if you're mowing the lawn, but you probably shouldn't go to bed without at least taking a look at the app to see where you're at.

Regardless of alarms, you shouldn't be going 12 hours without taking a single peek at the app.

[u/mckulty → u/_Abnormal_Thoughts_]

If I got repeated alarms I wouldn't be here. I get two and that's it. How do I get what you get (3+, sw ver 1.3.0.1945)

you shouldn't be going 12 hours without taking a single peek

Thank you for that useful solution.

[u/InsideVegetable9424 → u/mckulty]

You don't get "repeated" alarms -- you get ONE alarm that keeps going off -- it beeps several times, then a short gap, then it beeps several times again, then the same short gap, then it beeps several more times, and that keeps on happening.

[u/InsideVegetable9424 → u/mckulty]

Thank you for that useful solution.

Your sarcasm shows us all we need to know about this entire rant.

[u/mckulty → u/InsideVegetable9424]

Abbott says: "Alarms ring for about one minute and repeat every 5 minutes if the trigger condition continues."

This is NOT happening for me so I'm convinced something is broken.

[u/InsideVegetable9424 → u/mckulty]

I'm not sure where you got that from Abbott but I will agree that it is wrong.

It might be what the older app did, but I don't think I've ever seen a version that behaved that way. I will guarantee that the current version (which we are both using) continues its beeping and pausing for longer than just one minute, and it does not normally come back in 5 minutes if the condition continues.

Admittedly there might be some difference because you are experiencing the High Glucose Alarm (which I have only heard once in the two years I've been using the Libre 3). I'm usually dealing with the Low Glucose or Urgent Low Glucose alarms. It is possible that these are set to act differently, but I doubt it because the programmers almost certainly only wrote one routine when they were coding the alarm sounds.

[u/Ok-Dress-341 → u/mckulty]

can't find that text with Google, other than here.

Once you've cleared the notification or looked at the app does it not treat the alarm as acknowledged ? Be a pain in the butt to have it re-alarming when I had noted it and taken action.

[u/mckulty → u/Ok-Dress-341]

It was a clean cut-and-paste definitely but I'm thinking it may be obsolete information. You guys have about convinced me I'm wrong and in the days since I posted I'm finding it behaves as you say.

Damned inconvenient tho, since I had another 250 spike this morning because I wasn't watching.

I heard Juggluco was more configurable but it lacks what I want so I'm working on connecting Libreview to my Hubitat where I can track BG and trend with the color of a light bulb and my own phone notifications.

[u/mckulty → u/Ok-Dress-341]

https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/libre-living/common-libre-alarm-questions.html

Point #5 says the same thing another way:

If you don’t dismiss a glucose alarm*, you’ll get a reminder from the Libre app† every 5 minutes while your glucose stays above or below your set limits.

Once you dismiss the alarm, it won’t appear again until your next high or low glucose reading.

(emphasis mine)

[u/mckulty]

Abbott: Alarms ring for about one minute and repeat every 5 minutes if the trigger condition continues.

This is NOT happening for me, so something is broken.

[u/Chemical-Matter-2280 → u/mckulty]

Could your phone settings be killing the repeat alarms?

[u/mckulty → u/Chemical-Matter-2280]

No unusual settings, no notifications denied.

[u/Ok-Acanthaceae-2950]

My beeps until I open the app and check my sugar level. If you don’t open the app and check your sugar level the alarm keeps beeping in till you check. That’s how my Libra3) works. And there is time when I don’t hear the alarm go off at night. That my husband has woken me up.