Blood glucose meters without strips
Common Questions and Answers about Blood glucose meters without strips
blood-glucose
Before leaving her doctors office your mother should have gotten a wealth of printed information on how to control and manage her diabetes. A list of recommended home glucose test meters should have been part of that package.
A good way to see if yours is within normal variance is to bring along your meter when you go for a blood draw (from a vein). Within 5-10 minutes of them drawing blood, do your own blood test and save the results. Compare them with what the doc tells you your number was. Your result should be within 15% of the doc's result.
What's important here is to know how you feel & how you function when your BG is at different numbers.
Home glucose checking is designed to only give a ballpark snapshot of what our blood glucose is at that moment of time. Blood flow through the body is dynamic and the chemistry, including glucose, at any given point will very from one moment to the next. That said unless you took a blood sample and tested it many times (not taking a new sample for each test, thus a different blood chemistry) the variance in readings you recorded are normal.
In your first thread I mentioned that the FDA set manufacturing guidelines for home glucose meters at ± [plus/minus] 20%. This means your 70 mg/dl reading could be 70 mg/dl or it could be as low as 56 mg/dl or as high as 84 mg/dl. Home meters give an approximation not a true reading of glucose levels. Since your 100 mg/dl reading two minutes later falls out of this range, the questions remaining are:
1. How old is your father's meter?
2. Do the test strips have an expiration date?
3.
my husband was 2yrs post liver transplant, that is the one reason why he is also now suffering from monitor blood sugar problem. my question now is about fluctition of his blood glucose, we have a kit monitoring it before and after meal, but there was time when we check it is high then after just a minute it drop down, we are really worried why is this happening? hoping that anyone could help!
s interesting that you question the accuracy of your glucose meter for I was reading the September 2008 issues of Consumer Reports that rated both blood-pressure monitors and blood-glucose meters. Only one blood-glucose meter scored excellent overall and also scored the highest for consistency- the Johnson & Johnson Lifescan OneTouch Ultra Mini. The Ultra Mini was followed by Ascensia Contour, ReliOn Ultima (WalMart), and Accu-check Compact Plus.
You suggested I keep track of his fasting and two hour after meal blood sugars. However our meter broke right before I was going to start doing that. I am wondering if there is a certain type of meter that ped endos like in particular because I'm probably going to have to go buy another one. Any info you could provide would be great.
I found his meter - should I begin checking my blood sugar regularly? Would this be a better place to begin so that I can self-monitor not only to adjust my eating schedule but also to have some information to supply my doctor at the first of the year. Just not sure where to begin or what to do. The world is a lonely place without your parents to provide support and information!
Thanks for your advice.
I would like your opinion on which glucose meter is best. My insurance will pay for one either from Abbot or Lifescan. I've gone online and I get mixed reviews on the One Touch Ultra and Freestyle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'm a novice when it comes to diabetes so I could use some help. I'm on 2.5mg of Glipizide and have been for about four years. My doctor discourages blood glucose testings -- says that's only necessary if I were on insulin. However, I will occasionally check my blood sugar -- maybe once or twice a month or if I'm not feeling well.
I checked it on Sunday and found it was running somewhat high.
I've recently been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and started testing my blood glucose at home with the One Touch Ultra 2 monitor. The test strips that I've been given are pre-coded, so I do not have to do anything to my monitor prior to testing, other than insert the strip.
I was a little concerned when I started smelling the sweet fruity smell again on my breath. I immediately went to the pharmacy and bought a blood glucose test. I tested myself at 9:15PM and it read 81mg. I wasn't satisfied because I read on the web that it is a sympton of untreated diabetes. I tested again and it read 86mg. I felt a little better. I woke up the next morning and tested again and it read 88mg. For what I read, these readings are normal.
Anyone seen / used the new freestyle test strips? I was given them just a couple of days ago. The new shape is nice but I'm suspicious of them. http://www.abbott.com/global/url/pressRelease/en_US/60.5:5/Press_Release_0876.htm I've heard it said that sugar is sugar, your body doesn't know the difference. So why should our test strips? I take my blood sugar when I feel like it's high but these things give me numbers in the 80 -90 range, never above 100.
My husband has has Type II diabetes for 16 years and his blood sugar levels are checked with blood tests. This is what the Blood Glucose Meters do, they measure your blood sugar level by you nicking your finger and getting a drop of blood into the meter, which then shows them a number. I'm sure you've seen these on TV, but you don't need one unless you are diagnosed with diabetes.
that little drop of blood is going to be used by your meter to give a reading that reflects the glucose/sugar in your body, so those test strips and meters are VERY sensitive to ANY presence of glucose... so, if you have ANY residual sugar on your skin, the reading might be inaccurately high... if you have ANY residual water or oil or lotion on your skin, the reading might be inaccurately low...
Regardless, more importantly... how have your morning readings been?
I had to work with the settings to get the setting that gives me a good drop of blood without going too deep, though, and you will have to do the same. Any new system will take some adjustment. As for the Accu-chek Compact, I personnally don't know about that particular glucose monitor. However, I use the Accu-chek Advantage and am happy with it. I have compared its results to lab blood tests, and find that the results are very accurate.
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