Continuous Glucose Monitoring FAQs

Answers to the burning questions you’re bound to have when monitoring your glucose!

I’ve been wearing a CGM for diabetes management for over 5 years, day-in and out, and have a subscriber base of 3,800+ members to my Libre Life newsletter. So, I have plenty of experience of using CGMs to draw upon.

Now I’m going to answer some of the common questions asked by new CGM users which aren’t fully addressed by the manufacturer, and which can often give a quite different answer from a real-life perspective.

1. So, what is a CGM?

Let’s start with the basics as we’re often being dazzled with scientific terms or over-complicated explanations.

CGM stands for continuous glucose monitoring. It is basically a sensor that sticks to your arm to measure glucose levels and these are shown on an app. Using a CGM enables users to monitor their glucose levels continuously 24/7.

Before you ask…there is a needle, but this is only used to insert a small filament into the skin that takes measurements from the fluid around the cells just under the skin. The needle is only used as part of the application process and it retracts back into the applicator once the filament has been inserted and this is thrown away (safely).