Today I want to talk about my meter not working the way it used to and my efforts to get Abbott to allow me to change that. My meter is a Freestyle Optium Neo. It used to be able to allow me to log my insulin doses. I don't know why but at the end of March this year that function just disappeared from it. I have the Freestyle Auto-Assist software on my laptop and, as can be seen in the first photo, meter settings can be changed from here like date and time. I can also generate reports to see how my insulin doses (if the function still worked) and blood glucose are trending. The one I want is insulin settings.
This is where the long acting and meal doses can be set. I just need access to this in order to be able to log my doses in my meter again. I don't need a new meter. But there's a catch:
As you can see from the third image, I cannot access insulin settings without a code. I went on the Abbott freestyle website and got a customer service number. I called the number and got through to a woman who sounded Eastern European and English obviously was not her first language. She took the serial number of my meter, recommended I download the Libre view software and said she'd call me back the following day. My meter does not work with the libre software even though the Libre View website suggests it should be compatible. I discovered this by not being able to access my meter on the laptop from the usb connection from either Libre View or Auto-Assist when the libre software was downloaded. So I got rid of the libre from the laptop. Just as well because my diabetic nurse accesses my meter from Auto-Assist at our appointments. Meanwhile I went back to the freestyle website and got a contact email for customer service and explained the situation. The woman I called rang me back the next day and I explained the situation and how the libre didn't work for me. She told me I would have to contact my diabetic nurse to get her to contact an area representative for my region and get a code. She was unable to give me a code herself. The following day I got a reply to my email. It said: "Regarding your query, please be kindly informed that this access code can only be obtained from the healthcare professionals, therefore may we kindly advise you to contact your healthcare professional in order to set up or change the insulin dose values".
I can understand a newly diagnosed patient not being allowed access. But I have been managing diabetes for more than one and a half years and all I want is to be able to log doses in my meter again. When I was at my appointment with the diabetic nurse a month ago she said she didn't have a code for optium neo meters and didn't make an effort to get one, that I'm aware of, and that is why I went to the effort of contacting Abbott myself.
