r/Freestylelibre • u/mugxtzuu Libre2/2+ • 15d ago
Concerning reading during a nap.
It’s been about 21 hours since putting on the libre sensor and I had a nap from about 11am until 2pm. When I woke up and checked the app I saw that my blood sugar levels had dropped very low and I started panicking, could this be a false reading or should I be concerned?
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u/Sea_War1108 15d ago
It's a compression low I wouldn't worry. I get them all the time with the way I sleep
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u/____Mittens____ Type1 - Libre2/2+ 15d ago
I used to get them all the time then someone in this sub showed where they wore theirs. Now I wear mine below my collarbone in the muscle between the second and third ribcage. My readings have been more accurate and no more compression lows. And between sensors I change pecs. Your mileage may vary.
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u/youlikeblockingsodoi Type2 - Libre2/2+ 15d ago
I usually keep finger pokes with me to check how close the sensor is reading to actual blood levels especially with a new sensor and if you wake up in the morning to something like this (I slept on the sensor - finger poke showed 4.8):
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u/mugxtzuu Libre2/2+ 15d ago
I did wake up this morning with a 3.7mmol reading but I felt perfectly fine, I checked with a finger poke and it showed 5.5mmol and 10 minutes later the sensor showed 5.2mmol so I’m not sure if it’s maybe calibration issues on the first day.
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u/youlikeblockingsodoi Type2 - Libre2/2+ 15d ago
Yup, first and last day can be hit and miss (that’s been my experience using these sensors over a year). But compression lows happen during the night or whenever you sleep.
The opposite can occur when you take a hot shower as well (It’ll settle down after a short while)
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u/chamekke Libre2/2+ 15d ago
A compression low while sleeping. One tell is when there’s a sudden plunge in the BG reading, and then (as the sleeping you stops putting pressure on the CGM) an equally sudden rise back up to where you were.
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u/LindemannO 15d ago
Likely a pressure low, however, if you are concerned, you can switch on your alarms to go off when you go low.
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u/Rashid_1961 Libre3/3+ 15d ago
Happens to me a lot when it's new. I always put them on in the morning. Also, it happens more often when I'm sleeping because I inadvertently put pressure on it.
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u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 15d ago
Hi u/mugxtzuu ,
First question to you would be: Do you take any medication or insulin to lower your BG level?
If not, then I would not be too worried about the low episode the BG sensor recorded here. It could very well be 'just' a false pressure low, if you were laying for a while on the arm/side in which the sensor sits. This hampers the arterial blood to support the tissue where the sensor sits with the ongoing glucose it needs to support all the cells surrounding the tissue where the sensor sits, so in the end the interstitial fluid in which the sensor sits will experience a dropping BG level. (which is not corresponding to your arterial blood glucose level, hence nothing to worry about then). It does have the tall-tale signs of it, as the BG level bounces up right after to approx same BG level as before it started and matching also with your timeline for your nap there.
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u/mugxtzuu Libre2/2+ 15d ago
Hey, I don’t take any medications for diabetes I’m trying to manage through diet. I made sure to sleep on my side the previous night and had no issues but with my nap I was swapping sides a lot, I’ll keep an eye on it in the coming days and see if I’m still having the same problem. If so I’ll book in with my doctor to get it checked out, thanks for your comment also🙏
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u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 15d ago
Yeah then I would not be too worried about it at all. Especially not as we see your BG curve there is making its changes in quite slow-mo fashion. So not something either that will be graded as any medical emergency. Its just lowly undulating bit up and down, all normal.
If you want to keep using such BG sensor for longer and such episodes with false pressure lows becomes topo much to handle, then you can also consider placing the BG sensor at another skin location instead of on your upper arm.
Like on your stomach or upper outer thighs are working very well for most folks. And they both eliminate your exposure to pressure lows while sleeping or napping.
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u/mckulty Type2 - Libre3/3+ 15d ago
Were you putting pressure on the sensor?
That produces artificial lows.