Re: Meters

[Guest guest]

On Saturday, May 31, 2003, at 07:17 AM, Hlmn@... wrote:

> Are you washing your hands before testing. I don't ask because of

> germs, but because you can have food and other residue that will cause

> significant errors?

> IMHO, a meter that you don't have confidence in its accuracy is almost

> worse than none.

> Many meters can be gotten with no cost after rebates. It may be worth

> your while to get a better one. Look for ads in Diabetes magazines or

> the internet.

Well , medicaid won't pay for the stuff quite yet, until it gets more

severe. My earlier years of hypoglycemia didn't count either. only

severe diabetes.

I have this brand of meter twice, both years apart. i used it before,

and the low readings like 23 did indeed correspond to feeling really

cruddy, but this time I am finding that I get the symptoms I think of

as low blood sugar but the readings are in the 80's to even 100-teens!

this may not be inaccurate, after all the doc said my body appears to

be prediabetic, but it leaves me wondering if there is some reason that

I am getting these symptoms at higher amounts than before, or if they

come from another health condition (and there may be other things going

on but have to find and treat each thing one at a time....)

New to diabetes and Puzzling things out....

-Sherri

[Guest guest]

On Saturday, May 31, 2003, at 07:17 AM, Hlmn@... wrote:

> Are you washing your hands before testing. I don't ask because of

> germs, but because you can have food and other residue that will cause

> significant errors?

> IMHO, a meter that you don't have confidence in its accuracy is almost

> worse than none.

> Many meters can be gotten with no cost after rebates. It may be worth

> your while to get a better one. Look for ads in Diabetes magazines or

> the internet.

Well , medicaid won't pay for the stuff quite yet, until it gets more

severe. My earlier years of hypoglycemia didn't count either. only

severe diabetes.

I have this brand of meter twice, both years apart. i used it before,

and the low readings like 23 did indeed correspond to feeling really

cruddy, but this time I am finding that I get the symptoms I think of

as low blood sugar but the readings are in the 80's to even 100-teens!

this may not be inaccurate, after all the doc said my body appears to

be prediabetic, but it leaves me wondering if there is some reason that

I am getting these symptoms at higher amounts than before, or if they

come from another health condition (and there may be other things going

on but have to find and treat each thing one at a time....)

New to diabetes and Puzzling things out....

-Sherri

[Guest guest]

At 08:08 PM 6/1/2003, Sherri wrote:

>I have this brand of meter twice, both years apart. i used it before,

>and the low readings like 23 did indeed correspond to feeling really

>cruddy, but this time I am finding that I get the symptoms I think of

>as low blood sugar but the readings are in the 80's to even 100-teens!

>

>this may not be inaccurate, after all the doc said my body appears to

>be prediabetic, but it leaves me wondering if there is some reason that

>I am getting these symptoms at higher amounts than before, or if they

>come from another health condition (and there may be other things going

>on but have to find and treat each thing one at a time....)

Hi Sherri,

The recommended method of verifying the accuracy of your meter is to take

it with you to the doctor when a glucose test is going to be performed

there. Right after they draw the blood for your " office " test, poke your

finger and test with your meter. If your results are with + or - 20% of the

lab results, your meter is considered accurate. An example: if the lab

comes back and says your glucose level was 100 mg/dl, your meter would be

considered accurate if your reading was between 80 & 120 mg/dl.

One other factor to be considered is the type of meter you are using. If

your meter is calibrated for " plasma " readings, your results can be

compared directly with the lab's results. If your meter is an older style

that is " whole blood " calibrated, your reading will automatically be about

12% lower than the lab results. This 12% difference means that your meter

is accurate if your reading was between 70 & 106 mg/dl.

A question I have is, which meter are you using?

I don't want to overdo it here... ) If you need more info, just ask.

Rick

[Guest guest]

On Monday, June 2, 2003, at 03:42 AM, diabetes_int

wrote:

>

> One other factor to be considered is the type of meter you are using.

> If

> your meter is calibrated for " plasma " readings, your results can be

> compared directly with the lab's results. If your meter is an older

> style

> that is " whole blood " calibrated, your reading will automatically be

> about

> 12% lower than the lab results. This 12% difference means that your

> meter

> is accurate if your reading was between 70 & 106 mg/dl.

>

> A question I have is, which meter are you using?

>

Hmm it sold for $8.80 and it is labeled as whole blood reader. Its the

Relion models sold at Walmart.

What meters are recommended by folks here for cheap cost of strips and

reliable readings?

-Sherri

[Guest guest]

On Monday, June 2, 2003, at 03:42 AM, diabetes_int

wrote:

>

> One other factor to be considered is the type of meter you are using.

> If

> your meter is calibrated for " plasma " readings, your results can be

> compared directly with the lab's results. If your meter is an older

> style

> that is " whole blood " calibrated, your reading will automatically be

> about

> 12% lower than the lab results. This 12% difference means that your

> meter

> is accurate if your reading was between 70 & 106 mg/dl.

>

> A question I have is, which meter are you using?

>

Hmm it sold for $8.80 and it is labeled as whole blood reader. Its the

Relion models sold at Walmart.

What meters are recommended by folks here for cheap cost of strips and

reliable readings?

-Sherri

[Guest guest]

The Hamburgs wrote:

> Hmm it sold for $8.80 and it is labeled as whole blood reader. Its the

> Relion models sold at Walmart.

>

> What meters are recommended by folks here for cheap cost of strips and

> reliable readings?

> -Sherri

Sherri,

" Whole-blood " calibration (such as yours) will have readings " about "

12% less than " Plasma-calibrated " readings. Plasma readings are

comparable to the results you get from your lab. Using a " whole-blood "

meter is not a problem as long as you understand what the results mean

and can relate them to your situation, i.e. feeling hypo, etc.

I have been using an Accu-Chek " Advantage " now for over 5 years. In

fact, I have two, one for home & one for work. When I have checked

them together, they seem to read within +/- 5mg/dl of each other and

+/- 5mg/dl from my Dr's lab. That's pretty good accuracy for something

that the manufacturer specs at +/-15%. They both give good, repeatable

results.

Don't know about the cost of the strips as my insurance covers them

(with co-pay). It is my understanding that for the major brands the

cost of the strips is pretty close. It is the cheaper ones that have

cheaper strips (I think, hearsay only).

I have also heard good reports on the One-Touch " Ultra " .

Now, regardless of the cost, if your meter isn't giving accurate &

reliable results that you can trust, then it just isn't doing its job.

It may be better to test a little less often (to keep the cost down)

with a better meter that you can rely on.

Just MHO, of course.

, T2, dx'ed 5/98, controlling with LC, average bg 100mg/dl, last

HbA1c 5.6%