Diabetes no longer controls my life, thanks to technology

By Mike Davies who lives with Type 1

Disclaimer: The information provided is not intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. Please consult your healthcare professional about your diabetes management. Individual symptoms, situations and circumstances may vary.

Approved on 22/05/2023

How did you find out you had type 1 diabetes and how were you diagnosed?

• I made an appointment with my GP as I felt weak and was losing a lot of weight unexpectedly. My wife had just had a baby; I felt so weak that I couldn’t even pick up our baby properly. The GP ran some tests to understand what was behind the symptoms, I was sent to the hospital to see a consultant who told me I had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I’ve had Type 1 diabetes for about 30 years.

How did you manage your diabetes in the early days?

• In the early days post diagnosis, I was finger prick testing regularly, sometimes up to twenty times a day! After a year, the finger prick testing started to take its toll on me, and so the testing declined to about 4/5 times per day. I wanted to test to see how I was doing, but it was a lot of hassle.

How and when did you hear about the FreeStyle Libre system?

• I started mountain biking four years ago with friends, and afterwards we would go to our local pub for a drink. One of my friends in the pub was talking about their diabetes, and mentioned they used the FreeStyle Libre system to monitor their glucose levels. So I enquired about the product with my diabetes consultant, and started using the FreeStyle Libre system about three years ago. Last year, I switched over to the FreeStyle Libre 2 sensor. 

What has worked well and have you had any challenges?

• For a long time I was on an older mixed insulin regime. When I started using the FreeStyle Libre system, I realised that I needed to adjust my insulin therapy. The FreeStyle Libre system has made a big change to my diabetes, and the way I have controlled my glucose levels.

How has using FreeStyle Libre changed how you manage your diabetes?

• The FreeStyle Libre 2 sensor is so easy to scan, I’m able to monitor myself more often than before when I was finger prick testing. The FreeStyle Libre 2 system doesn’t just give me my result now, i.e. the glucose reading, it also allows me to view the graph to understand what has happened over the last eight hours from the time I last scanned the sensor^Φ. Mountain biking is often a very dirty activity, so I can’t always finger prick test to check my glucose levels^†. Now I just get my phone out and scan my sensor during my rides. The alarms make it even easier now for identifying hypos without even needing to scan the sensor^◊,*. I also share my data from the sensor readings with my consultant at the hospital^₼.

Does your diabetes impact those around you? If so, how?

• My wife is there to support me. I do let acquaintances know that I have Type 1 diabetes. My wife is mindful when she is cooking dinner always trying to make healthier choices to avoid spikes in my glucose levels. She is also very aware of the symptoms to look out for when my glucose is going low, and what to do with the glucose gel to boost my glucose levels up to a range where I’m comfortable being in. Friends around me are also aware of my hypo symptoms just in case of an emergency.  

Any final thoughts?

• Diabetes management has changed so much over the last 100 years. I feel very lucky to be living with diabetes now having access to amazing technology such as the Freestyle Libre 2 sensor and insulin therapy.

Mike Davies lives in Cheshire with his wife and dog. The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of Abbott.