Recommendations on accurate blood glucose kit?

Have you been diagnosed with diabetes, or are they simply monitoring you to see if it progresses? That makes a difference in terms of what your options and affordability are.

As someone who is "just" prediabetic, the Dexcom that concordancia recommends is not going to be an option for you, unless you've got ~$6,000 to toss around out of pocket -- they're available by prescription only, incredibly expensive, and insurance companies typically only cover them for type 1s, and *maybe* type 2s who are unusual and have hypounawareness.

Test strips are insanely expensive, so again, if you're just prediabetic, your insurance likely will not cover them unless your physician orders them. Maybe do it just once a week unless you have money to burn, but that's not going to give you that much data. You'd be better off getting one of those home A1c testers.

To actually answer your question: For a basic meter, I've always been a One Touch fan, but I now use Contour Next because it communicates electronically with my insulin pump. Doesn't take much blood, and gives you a chance to add more blood if you didn't get enough the first go around.

We use the Freestyle lite. She is pre-diabetic and I have reactive hypoglycemia so neither of us need to check very often. I like having one because I have had family 3 family members diagnosed diabetic after being in such bad shape they were taken to an emergency room.

Duck_Puddle wrote: »

Since you are using this to monitor and not to make life saving insulin/glucose dose determinations, you can probably get what you need from using a One Touch meter with generic test strips. The test strips are where the cost is. There are generic test strips made for older one touch meters-and those strips are a fraction of the cost. I wouldn’t want to use them if my life depended on it, but for just monitoring it would be fine (and as close to a reasonable cost as can be had).

So true. When I accidentally left my meter at work last week, I had to stop and buy another Contour Next; it wouldn't communicate with my pump, but I had plenty of strips at home... I was *shocked* that it was only $20 -- until I remembered that well, they sell the strips for $72 for a box of 50. If I were paying OOP, that 50 would barely last me two weeks -- I'd be going through $150 a month, easily.

nighthawk584 wrote: »

Awesome info people! yeah, they always get you on the backend ...just like printers and replacing ink cartridges! another question...how often would I need to check it being pre-diabetic? would once a week be plenty?

Once a month is probably fine unless you feel symptomatic.

Not a fan of the One Touch. I really liked the Accu-Chek Aviva Plus.

Keep in mind that diabetic supplies (meter, lancets, test strips) actually have expiration dates.

nighthawk584 wrote: »

well at this point, I have ZERO insurance, so it is all out of pocket anyway. I was pre-diabetic and just want a basic monitor to check blood sugar at home. Thanks for recommendations ...cheaper the better.

Are you in the US? Walmart has their own brand of Relion blood glucose monitoring things. You can get the meter for about $20 and the strips are a box of 100 for $18.

I am diagnosed T2Dm so my insurance pays for a meter and 100 strips every 90 days (testing once in the morning). I like to test more frequently but insurance will only pay for it if I need insulin (which I don't). I have the One Touch Ultra for the morning fasting and a Relion for other tests. Occasionally I have used both on the same drop of blood and they are typically within 5-10 points of each other which is within the normal margin of error for all meters.

Pricklypineapple422 wrote: »

What are you planning on doing with the information? Are you going to change something? You are already losing a significant amount of weight. If nothing you do is going to change then I would personally just wait and have your A1C checked again in a month like you said. No point in spending money and poking yourself if it isn't going to change anything.

I agree with this too. Remember, a blood glucose meter only tells you what is happening at that one point in time and many things affect it. If I don't eat breakfast, my pre-lunch number is higher because the muscles are releasing glycogen into the bloodstream in order to fuel my activity. If I exercise for 15 minutes, my number goes down but more than that makes it spike, again a glucose dump from the muscles. The A1c is the important test, not the daily meter. It shows your average BG over a period of approximately 3 months so it averages out the highs and lows.

@nighthawk584 Perhaps the glucose monitor wasn't technically necessary, but if it helps you in your wellness journey, then it was a wise choice for you. From what I have read, "for people without diabetes, the normal range for A1C level is between 4 and 5.6. A1C levels between 5.7 and 6.4 mean you have a higher chance of getting diabetes. Levels of 6.5 or higher mean you have diabetes." Your A1C of 6.1 was definitely creeping up there, especially considering your parental factors. Glad to see you taking steps now and not until having full-blown diabetes as I do.
On another note, when you do have your next A1C test, know that the test somehow looks at the recent 3-month period of time, with more emphasis on recent days and less emphasis on 90 days ago. So don't be discouraged if it hasn't dropped to your desired goal yet. The downward trend is what is important.