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Libre vs. Dex: A Sugar Surfer's Experience


Sugar Surfing™ was born out of asking a question. After adopting an early generation real-time CGM almost 10 years ago, I was also wearing an old insulin pump (Deltec Cozmo). The question I asked was simple: which one of these two devices attached to my body was more important to me? Both were helpful, but which one could I best do without?

After over 30 years of pumping insulin I chose to go back to multi-dose insulin (MDI) and just wear a CGM device. Using the data and trends visible from the CGM, I was able to discern a set of personal self-care guidelines based on close observation of my unique eating behaviors, activity and insulin dosing decisions. What soon became clear was that my blood sugar dynamics were similar, but never identical from day to day. There was always some degree of uncertainty. But since I could visualize the glycemic trend line, I could see these changes before they could come to fruition. It wasn’t long before I was preventing problems before they happened. I would define that as “pre-empting” in the book Sugar Surfing.

Recently, I asked myself another question. After years of Sugar Surfing with a current generation CGM (Dexcom G5 as shown above on the right), how would the Abbott Libre Freestyle (as shown above on the left) system compare? This is not a new technology around the world, but only recently approv