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Variation with glucose monitor readings

nvmomketo
nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
edited November 2024 in Social Groups
How much variation is acceptable in a glucometre?

I tested this morning when I woke up. I was expecting an okay number because my carbs had been quite low for a few days (below 15g), and I skipped my usual evening nuts snack. I had fasted about 15 hours...

It was a 7.0. I was shocked so I tested again. I got an 8.0. An 8.0!!! I know I hit a 9 once after my OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) a couple of years ago, but I'd never seen an 8 before on my meter, even PP. (I am prediabetic... or low diabetic)

So I went and washed my hands better. Maybe it was some hand lotion or something. Maybe? Right?

A 5.8 and then a 6.4.

So this was all in a 5 minute window. Readings from 5.8 to 8.0. I am guessing I actually was a low 6 (still not good enough) but the wide range of readings shocked me. Anyone else ever get this? Should I make a point of washing my hands better before testing from now on? LOL

I checked BG again 1 hour after a light lunch (all meat - first meal of the day) and it was a 5.1. More like what I had hoped for for my FBG. I only checked it the one time though.

Replies

  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    Hormone swings?

    Which fickle meter are you using?
  • jvcjim
    jvcjim Posts: 812 Member
    low battery in the monitor?
  • asrai50
    asrai50 Posts: 937 Member
    maybe something on your hands? Especially since it got better after washing them. That has happened to me a few times, I just assumed it was something on my skin. Now I just make sure they are clean before I start and I never use the first drop of blood, I wipe it away and use the second.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    RalfLott wrote: »
    Hormone swings?

    Which fickle meter are you using?

    It wouldn't have been hormone swings... That would have been quite a swing within 5 minutes. ;) LOL

    Um... Verio IQ One Touch, I believe.

    The battery was fine. Mostly charged.
    asrai50 wrote: »
    maybe something on your hands? Especially since it got better after washing them. That has happened to me a few times, I just assumed it was something on my skin. Now I just make sure they are clean before I start and I never use the first drop of blood, I wipe it away and use the second.

    I'm wondering if it is hand washing too.

    I've tested a few more multiple times and found the variation is still there but it's only a difference of 0.2 to 0.8 mmol/L (or a range of up to about 8 mg/dL). More reasonable.

    I wash better now, and more consistently.
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    FYI, Verio IQ was rated VG by Consumer Reports for repeatability. All in all, it's in the middle off the pack, with a relatively high cost per strip compared to some others. The top ones rated better for accuracy, repeatability, and "convenience."

    (Definitely don't want to test without washing if you've just slurped down a Twinkie dunked in chocolate milk and are trying to test before grenade hits.)
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited January 2017
    RalfLott wrote: »
    FYI, Verio IQ was rated VG by Consumer Reports for repeatability. All in all, it's in the middle off the pack, with a relatively high cost per strip compared to some others. The top ones rated better for accuracy, repeatability, and "convenience."

    (Definitely don't want to test without washing if you've just slurped down a Twinkie dunked in chocolate milk and are trying to test before grenade hits.)

    LOL :D

    Thanks. I think there must have been something on my hands for the 8 and 7 BG readings, or my two hands, various fingers, have a wide BG variability.

    ... And I'm just going to assume the 7 and 8 were wrong rather than the 5.8 and 6.4. Just because I want to. ;)
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    Then it shall be so.
This discussion has been closed.

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