Blood Glucose Meters

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  • I just came back from a doctor's appointment and my nurse, who is also diabetic, has said she found the Verio One Touch to be very unpredictable. She said she has tested on 10 fingers and gotten 10 different results, and some of them were wildly different.

    They gave me the Bayer Contour to try. She says she finds that one much more reliable.

    Since I have both, I may try testing them both the next few times I take blood, just to see what happens.
  • bdubya55
    bdubya55 Posts: 506 Member
    Good luck with the Bayer Contour MissReena!, and hope you find this meter to be a good fit for you too.
  • Good luck with the Bayer Contour MissReena!, and hope you find this meter to be a good fit for you too.

    Thanks
    I just got the call from the Diabetes Association and they were calling to suggest I get a new meter. The acceptable range is 20%, and they said that the Verio was testing high enough that they don't feel it is giving proper readings.

    Not a huge fan of the batteries (rather than a charger) or the case, but i can find a case that works for me. The lancet seems really big compared to what I use, but it does seem to give a better sample. We will see how it goes :)

    And the association has the USB versions there if I want one. Apparently only the USB versions work with Macs. But I have an app I track with anyway, so it is not a deal breaker or anything like that.
  • Sweets1954
    Sweets1954 Posts: 506 Member
    I'm using the Bayer Contour. I had the Avia but my insurance wouldn't pay for the supplies. With the insurance I only pay $15 for 200 strips. I have only had to charge the battery once since I got it and find it very easy to use.
  • Gracemagic
    Gracemagic Posts: 8
    I have a Freestyle lite and a reli On meter...both read different numbers... I don't know which to believe.... and they vary by 20 or more points

    Also... Should we adjust our carb and sugar settings different than the basic MFP settings for our basic info? Only been using this for a month but have lost 14 Lbs.
    :drinker:
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Also... Should we adjust our carb and sugar settings different than the basic MFP settings for our basic info? Only been using this for a month but have lost 14 Lbs.
    :drinker:

    Did your doctor or nutritionist give you a target number for carbs? Mine told me (at my height, weight, and weight loss goal) to aim for a maximum of 180 and try to keep it fairly consistent from day to day. I did have to customize my macro goals on MFP to stay with that goal.

    PS: congrats on your loss so far!
  • For everyone having the issue with insurance not covering enough or anything for your test strips, here is what I do... I go on ebay.. always purchase brand new and never had a problem.. my insurance will only cover 50 strips a month and thats not enough to test even twice a day for the full month.. I usually pay between 15 and 20 for 50 test strips on ebay..
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    For everyone having the issue with insurance not covering enough or anything for your test strips, here is what I do... I go on ebay.. always purchase brand new and never had a problem.. my insurance will only cover 50 strips a month and thats not enough to test even twice a day for the full month.. I usually pay between 15 and 20 for 50 test strips on ebay..

    I did that too before I got insurance. Just make sure that the seller lists the expiration date.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    My doctor wrote me a prescription for a new meter. I had been using the True Balance and now have the freestyle lite. I have strips left from the other so I have been testing with both at the same time with the same blood drop. The Freestyle is consistently 10-12 points lower than the trueBalance. Interesting.
  • bdubya55
    bdubya55 Posts: 506 Member
    No two readings will be alike using the same meter. Testing with two different meters using the same drop of blood will result two different readings with some varying +/- degree.

    I suggest using Walmart's ReliOn home a1c test kit If you want to check either meter your using consistently for it's accuracy by testing with both meters first-then providing a blood sample to be mailed to ReliOn's independent lab for processing.

    http://www.relion.com/diabetes/a1c-test

    This lab result can be sent via e-mail with a week or two.

    As established by the FDA any meter marketed can have a reading tolerance of +/- 20% when comparing glucose meter results with lab results. I've compared the reliOn prime meter for accuracy using their home test kit along with my local lab work and found this meter to be pretty accurate. I'm currently using the freestyle freedom as dictated by my recent change in medical insurance but will be eager to find out it's accuracy too by either doing another home test or comparing it to my next lab draw.

    On the carb settings front, each of us has a different tolerance towards carbs. Some people with T2 diabetes have found the default carb setting to be too high towards their blood sugar management goals. By eating to your meter you can find out what your tolerance level is then customize those settings within this program to meet your target goals and individualistic needs by going to;

    myhome>goals>change goals>custom

    Hope some of my suggestion is helpful.





    I have a Freestyle lite and a reli On meter...both read different numbers... I don't know which to believe.... and they vary by 20 or more points

    Also... Should we adjust our carb and sugar settings different than the basic MFP settings for our basic info? Only been using this for a month but have lost 14 Lbs.
    :drinker:
  • I have an Accu-chek Aviva. Have had no trouble with it at all.
  • kikityme
    kikityme Posts: 472 Member
    Lord. I never thought I'd be jealous of American health care.

    My strips are $100 for 100. And the government only covers 200 per year if you aren't on insulin. The reason? They decided that testing only has "limited" benefit.

    So, apparently I'm taking a trip to the States for medicine. And that might be the first time a Canadian has ever said that lol.
  • Alsvic
    Alsvic Posts: 93 Member
    Lord. I never thought I'd be jealous of American health care.

    My strips are $100 for 100. And the government only covers 200 per year if you aren't on insulin. The reason? They decided that testing only has "limited" benefit.

    So, apparently I'm taking a trip to the States for medicine. And that might be the first time a Canadian has ever said that lol.


    Can you go to Wal-Mart and get the test strips and their meter? the Relion Prime and 50 test strips are about 25.00 dollars US This is the meter I do most of my testing with as 50 test strips for 10 dollars is cheaper than I can get them with my insurance co-pay.
  • amberj32
    amberj32 Posts: 663 Member
    Lord. I never thought I'd be jealous of American health care.

    My strips are $100 for 100. And the government only covers 200 per year if you aren't on insulin. The reason? They decided that testing only has "limited" benefit.

    So, apparently I'm taking a trip to the States for medicine. And that might be the first time a Canadian has ever said that lol.




    Can you go to Wal-Mart and get the test strips and their meter? the Relion Prime and 50 test strips are about 25.00 dollars US This is the meter I do most of my testing with as 50 test strips for 10 dollars is cheaper than I can get them with my insurance co-pay.

    I use the Wal-Mart Relion meter and test strips. It gave me similar readings as the Freestyle Freedom Lite. The meter was $16.24 and strips are 50 for $9.00. 50 test strips for my Freestyle Freedom Lite WITH insurance was $72.00 for 50 strips. I'm fairly new to T2 and I test a lot, well more than most I've talked to. I do it like 6 times a day.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Lord. I never thought I'd be jealous of American health care.

    My strips are $100 for 100. And the government only covers 200 per year if you aren't on insulin. The reason? They decided that testing only has "limited" benefit.

    So, apparently I'm taking a trip to the States for medicine. And that might be the first time a Canadian has ever said that lol.




    Can you go to Wal-Mart and get the test strips and their meter? the Relion Prime and 50 test strips are about 25.00 dollars US This is the meter I do most of my testing with as 50 test strips for 10 dollars is cheaper than I can get them with my insurance co-pay.

    I use the Wal-Mart Relion meter and test strips. It gave me similar readings as the Freestyle Freedom Lite. The meter was $16.24 and strips are 50 for $9.00. 50 test strips for my Freestyle Freedom Lite WITH insurance was $72.00 for 50 strips. I'm fairly new to T2 and I test a lot, well more than most I've talked to. I do it like 6 times a day.

    My insurance will pay 100% for 100 strips every 90 days (basically, one test per day) but I am still doing additional testing so I got a Relion meter and strips for the rest of the tests. I do use the Freestyle for my "official" test before lunch and the Relion for any other tests. This way when the doctor downloads the info from my meter the tests that she is looking for are not all cluttered up by other readings.
  • Alsvic
    Alsvic Posts: 93 Member
    My regular meter is a Life Source one touch. I get 100 test strips a month for 32.00 through the insurance company. All day long I test with the Relion strips at work. it has really helped me to figure out what I can eat and what I cant. Early on I was testing 3 or 4 times around every meal and snack just to see what was going to happen. I know it was over kill but I learned how to work the program that best works for me.
  • kikityme
    kikityme Posts: 472 Member
    The Canadian Wal-mart doesn't have the Relion. I'm just making a run for the border next time I need them! Here we get the meters for free, any one we want (that they carry), but the strips are ridiculous.
  • stobin68
    stobin68 Posts: 17 Member
    i got a true2go meter from Walgreens. $10, with 10 strips included. Their strips alone at Walgreen's are not cheap though. Found a deal for 100 strips on amazon for $16.99.

    the only comparison test i've done so far was on the morning of my fasting blood draw at Kaiser. my meter gave me an 80 fasting read at 630a. when i tested at Kaiser 90 min later, with only a glass of water in between), i got a 93. Don't know if that means my meter skews a bit low, or if my BS pattern is to rise a bit once i'm up and about. Or maybe a little of both.
  • bdubya55
    bdubya55 Posts: 506 Member
    Your meter comparison seems pretty close to your Kaiser result to me. The 90 minute separation between results could be related in part to the rising effects of blood sugars due to any morning "dawn phenomenon" affects you may experience.

    Plasma Glucose Meters and Whole Blood Meters.

    Until the last couple of years, all blood glucose (blood sugar) meters read the glucose level in your blood sample as whole blood. Then several years ago one manufacturer developed a meter calibrated to read the blood glucose sample as if it were plasma. Why? Because the results of blood samples taken from your vein at your doctor's office or lab are reported as plasma. By having the meter record results as plasma glucose, you and your healthcare team can more easily compare your lab tests with your blood glucose meter results. Several other meter manufacturers subsequently followed suit, so that today most newer meters provide blood glucose (sugar) readings as plasma glucose readings.

    What's the difference?" you might ask. The difference is that plasma numbers read about 10 - 12% higher than the older whole blood numbers. So if your fasting and pre-meal blood glucose target is 90 - 130 mg/dl plasma glucose, it would be 80 - 120 mg/dl if your meter reads whole blood.

    So, it's important for you to know what your meter reads, and then what your targets are for the meter you are using. Check your instruction book, contact the manufacturer of your meter, or ask a diabetes educator to find out how your meter reads.

    Reference: Joslin Diabetes Center
  • Peloton73
    Peloton73 Posts: 148 Member
    My primary meter is the One Touch Ultra. I get 50 test strips monthly for free.

    I've been doing a lot more testing in the afternoons and evenings so I went and bought the Target brand meter (Up&Up) and a 100 test strips for $50 (for meter and strips). A box of 100 strips runs $36.00. It's not as cheap as the WalMart version but all the WalMarts near me never have them in stock and compared to $130 for 100 One Touch strips, it's a lot cheaper.