I use the blood meter. Only check every now and then if I have any worry about affecting ketosis from alcohol or heavier carb meals.
Even with a blood reading at the lowest end, the urine strips have always been accurate with my experience.
http://www.novacares.com/nova-max-plus/
This is the meter I use.

Bob314159 wrote: »

From my quick research, blood monitors are more accurate and better for diabetic issues, but I'm not sure I could deal with taking my own blood drops.

It's actually completely painless as long as you prick the ring finger on the side and not on the tip where all the nerve endings are. I often can't even tell that it hit me until I squeeze my finger for the blood to come up. There is a very specific place on the finger where you can do it and not hit the nerves. Look at the left hand ring finger. On the right side of the fingertip, just a little right of center... That's the magic spot. And setting the lancet to the right depth but no more than necessary to get the tiny drop needed.
So many people literally prick themselves in the center or top of the finger tip where the most nerve endings are. That's why it hurts.

I use the latest Ketonix. It works great, no pain. The only thing I don't like about it is the setup of it. Out of the box, it basically doesn't work right. You have to go into the settings and change the range. Otherwise it will never report correctly. I also had the previous model and it didn't have the problem with the setup.

The customer service wasn't very helpful when I was trying to get it to work properly. If you get it, call me and I'll walk you through it. Once it is setup properly, AND you test with it properly, it works great.

I was a insulin injecting check-my-blood-glucose-2-3 times a day diabetic. Pricking my finger, was very painful and it hurt worse than the insulin injections I was giving myself. I thank God I don't have to do that anymore. And you don't have to purchase anything else after you buy the meter. The blood testing strips are expensive.

Here is a blog I made for the proper use of it:

Ketonix Breath Analyzer Instructions

I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
113 pounds down, 22 to go. 13 months on diet
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric Surgery! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Previous Discussions on the LCD & Keto Groups
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups Updated
DittoDan's Keto Sub Groups Blog
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet Updated

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I use the blood meter. Only check every now and then if I have any worry about affecting ketosis from alcohol or heavier carb meals.
Even with a blood reading at the lowest end, the urine strips have always been accurate with my experience.
http://www.novacares.com/nova-max-plus/
This is the meter I use.

Thank you Sunny for the link to the Nova link-just ordered one!

ebay.com/itm/LCD-Digital-Police-Breath-Alcohol-Tester-Analyzer-Detector-Breathalyzer-Advanced-/311159276709?hash=item487289c4a5

Bob I have been using one of these for a year now to measure my acetone levels because it is less cost than the Ketonix version acetone meter that uses lights rather than a digital readout but the sensors are of the same technology be best I remember from my research a year+ ago. Like was mentioned these acetone meters are just ball park solutions but if I set off the alarm (a reading of 0.050 or > than I know based on testing with the Precision Xtra I am solid into ketosis. If I blow an 0.000 I know I am out of ketosis. A 0.010+ means I need to pay attention to my carbs.

I do have the Precision Xtra but it takes a prick and some $$$.

Make sure if you go the breath analyzer route you get the $15 flavor. It uses 3 AAA batteries and requires a 15 second warm up time. What law officers use will not pick up acetone readings I read. I have not tried the sticks but am sure I would wind up making a mess.

totaloblivia wrote: »

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

Bob314159 wrote: »

From my quick research, blood monitors are more accurate and better for diabetic issues, but I'm not sure I could deal with taking my own blood drops.

It's actually completely painless as long as you prick the ring finger on the side and not on the tip where all the nerve endings are. I often can't even tell that it hit me until I squeeze my finger for the blood to come up. There is a very specific place on the finger where you can do it and not hit the nerves. Look at the left hand ring finger. On the right side of the fingertip, just a little right of center... That's the magic spot. And setting the lancet to the right depth but no more than necessary to get the tiny drop needed.
So many people literally prick themselves in the center or top of the finger tip where the most nerve endings are. That's why it hurts.

Should I look at my left hand ring finger from the palm side or the back of the hand side? Sorry if this is a stupid question! I have generally found that if I don't prick the tip of my finger, I don't get enough blood up to make a viable test and that is really annoying - wasted strip and two sore fingers! One time I had a bruised finger from several attempts... Grateful for your guidance.

From the palm side.
You may not have had the lancer set deep enough. I have one that disks up to 5 and I set it half way between 4 and 5 or I can't enough blood. But even at that depth, I honestly can hardly feel a thing. The blood doesn't even come to the surface until I squeeze my finger.
My GP, gave this advise to my T1D daughter because her fingers were so sore when she was newly diagnosed. She had complained about the pain to the endo and diabetes nurse but no one else ever mentioned the thing about the nerve endings before. I was seriously kinda mad and felt like that should be standard information given to new diabetics. I couldn't stand to see her crying every time she had to test, which was 10-15 times a day then. Plus she was getting used to injections too as someone that had previously had a needle phobia.
Anyway, once I started testing for ketones, I tried it both ways to see how different it felt, and dang it hurts on the tips!
Also, that spot exists on every finger, but I've found that the ring finger is the very least sensitive. This could be just me, but it's apparently true for my daughter too.

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I made a visual aide. This is where on each finger you're likely to find a pain free area. Or at least an area that is no big deal. My ring finger is my least sensitive followed by the index finger, middle and pinky. . Hope it helps ease the pain.
My daughter says her least sensitive is her middle finger. And that when she was hospitalized for DKA last year and they checked her BG every hour around the clock, for 2 full days and slightly less often for 2 additional days, with a heavy hospital grade lancer, she was able to switch up fingers and hands enough that she only started having soreness to the degree of running out of non sore fingers on the last day. So it works quite well if you keep to the right spot.

Good pic Sunny.

Exactly where you have the blood and on the side of that finger is where I test my BG ( I don't check that much anymore). I learned that if I do that area all the time, it would "numb" the area. I would never do the tip or on the facing palm side of the finger, but, it was always on the side of the 3rd finger as you have shown.

Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
113 pounds down, 22 to go. 13 months on diet

I think the blow meters are just a fast simple what to check which way the wind is blowing before leaving the house and going to bed.

Due to my nature/background I love DATA so I got the blood meter and tracked ketone levels for a month or two. Every few months I will get the urge to pull my numbers by blood. I really do not get into pricking myself even at my age. With the $15 meter I use it right after I turn off the alarm before I get up most often.

Acetone breath detectors are not testing the main source of ketones but if I get over 50 grams of carbs the readout will drop like a rock.