Re: Freestyle

[Guest guest]

I was taught that with any alternate site testing monitor that you use your

fingers within the first 2 hours after a meal and then you may (if you

choose) use an alternate site after that.

There are 2 kinds of blood in your arms and hands. One is venious (sp) and

the other capillary. I think the capillary ones are in your fingers.

Capillary blood shows glucose changes sooner than venious. After 2 hours,

they are the same or close to the same in glucose content.

If you don't feel well, you should always use your finger to test.

Freestyle is for use on fingers and alternate sites. It has different caps,

the clear one is for arms and the dark one for fingers. After sticking

yourself on the arm, you leave the monitor touching your skin and press down

which forces blood up through the prick. If you don't get enough, lift the

sticker thing (the name escapes me now), wait a few seconds and press again.

This gives the veins time to fill up again.

The darker cap has a smaller opening which makes it easier to tell exactly

where on your finger it is going to stick. The clear one has a larger

opening so you can use it to press out the blood.

[Guest guest]

The FreeStyle monitors are accurate and, in my opinion, very

repeatable. I have both the original FreeStyle monitor and the

FreeStyle Tracker system which are used daily. The results from the

finger sticks are the most accurate and consistent.

If your BG is stable and not changing, like a fasting BG reading,

samples from the fingers or from your arms or other alternate site will

be approximately the same. But if your BG is changing, like in a Hypo

situation or shortly after a meal, the alternate site values will lag

the finger values by as much as 30 minutes. For example, if you tested

at both sites (finger and alternate) just before a meal, and then again

after 30-45 minutes after the meal, the before meal BG values will be

in close agreement, but the after meal BG values will be quite

different due to the lag between the finger and alternate site. The

finger BG value will be the most accurate value when your BG values are

changing.

Both monitors are very accurate, averaging within 10 ml/dl of my lab BG

results, and when I checked for 'repeatably', they varied only about

+/- 3 ml/dl. I did two sets of repeatability tests, one using one drop

of blood and a second set using a fresh drop for every test. When I

did the single drop test, I used one large drop and rapidly made

multiple tests from that one drop. The results were interesting; the

readings showed a steady increase in the BG values. For example, if the

first reading was 100, the subsequent readings would be 101, 102, 103,

104, and 105. These results were repeatable, but statistically wrong.

They should have been randomly distributed around a central number.

When I preformed the test using a fresh drop of blood for each test, I

got the expected statistically distributed data. For example if the

first number was 100, the subsequent numbers might be 98, 103, 102, 99,

and 101. I think what happened with the first test was that the drop of

blood was drying slightly between tests and concentrating the BG ever

so slightly between tests. But the second set of tests, being

statistically independent tests, showed the expected random test

distribution and the results were repeatable.

> Could anyone clarify? I thought I read that the Freestyle monitor was

> not

> accurate if used on the fingers as it was calibrated for other sites?

> My DH

> uses Freestyle and loves it.

> Thanks,

> Janet

>

> I am sure the person teaching you said to use your finger if it is

> within 2

> hours of eating and then you could use an alternate site if it is over

> 2

> hours. This is because blood glucose changes in your fingers first.

> Then

> after 2 hours, it is about the same as the blood in your arm.

>

Maurer

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" This life is a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have

received further instructions on where to go and what to do. "

An Ancient Proverb

Maurer

---------------------------------------

" This life is a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have

received further instructions on where to go and what to do. "

An Ancient Proverb

[Guest guest]

Thanks guys for your helpful response.

My DH hates sticking fingers and was not happy about the news that he had to

use fingers within two hours of a meal or if he should feel " strange. "

He asked me where I got this information. Asked if I got it from Freestyle!

I said, No, from the Net. Then I asked if he didn't have two different tips

for it. And he admitted he did.

So we both thank you--I guess! LOL

Janet

This life is a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have

received further instructions on where to go and what to do. "

An Ancient Proverb

[Guest guest]

Yes, you can test on the fingers.

Skye