Diabetes Forum banner
  • Welcome! Are you ready to join the discussions? Click here!

Blood Glucose Monitor Required?

16K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  Dudeness 
#1 ·
I was just diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic in December 2015. My a1c was 6.6. My doctor recommended treatment by diet and exercise. My next a1c will be mid March 2016. Should I invest in a glucose monitor, or just wait for the a1c in March.

Thanks for your input.

Bilbo
 
#2 ·
Yes, you should befriend a good meter as soon as possible. It will answer most of your questions for the next few months (if not years). On the forum, we suggest a concept, known as Eat to Your Meter. Follow that, and things should be fine.
 
#3 ·
Yes - contrary to the established medical protocol that says "type 2s don't need to test", the use of a blood glucose meter should be the very first thing than any diabetic is introduced to.

By using the concept of Eat to the Meter - you are in control and you can identify what foods spike you.

No one else matters on this point.
One size does not fit all despite the doctor's typical approach.
 
#4 ·
Thanks skb and John.in.France

I am amazed that my doctor didn't suggest/recommend a BG Monitor.

When my doctor informed me I had diabetes it seemed they were very apologetic. Of course we discussed treatment: Diet and exercise. I was told to do research online and was scheduled for an appointment with a dietician.

I will research monitors and purchase one this week.

Any recommendations as to what to look for in a BG monitor?

Thanks again!

Bilbo
 
#11 ·
Any recommendations as to what to look for in a BG monitor?
If you'd rather spend your money on SCUBA equipment than test strips, then you'll want to look for meters with cheap strips. This does not mean they are not good meters, it just means they don't cost so much.

I have always used the ReliOn meters from Walmart, but other chain pharmacies have house brands that will save you money too. The ReliOn Prime meter costs about $16 and the strips are $9 for 50 count.

Other name-brand meters have a lot of bells & whistle if you want internet compatibility & other electronic capabilities like linking to your smart phone, etc.
 
#6 ·
Yes, you absolutely do need a meter, and without one you are flying completely blind.

I personally use a Bayer contour next USB, but you will get as many recommendations as there are meters out there.

Good luck, keep checking in here, and we look forward to watching you gain control of your diabetes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MaJoie and Bilbo
#9 ·
RCG,

I was just looking at the Bayer meters yesterday. The information and terms are all very knew to me, so I was having difficulty weighing pros and cons of the different systems. I was interested in the Bayer Contour Next USB because of size, charging vs changing odd sized batteries and ability to download info to an application on a Mac system.

How accurate are the readings you get from theContour Next USB?

Thanks for the information!

Bilbo
 
#7 ·
Welcome to the forum, Bilbo!

If your doctor will prescribe a meter and the necessary test strips to use in it, your test strips should be covered by your health insurance policy. This is important because you will go through quite a few strips during the "eat to your meter" process and also because some test strips are outrageously expensive.

An alternative if you do not have insurance coverage would be to research meters and buy the one that has the least expensive test strips. Here in the US a lot of us use WalMart's ReliOn Prime brand test meter. The strips for the Prime are around $9 for 50 strips. There may be others similarly priced.
 
#17 ·
Have you heard about these meters? They're non-invasive, so there's no finger pricks. If you search for 'Dr Glucose - Non Invasive' you should find it. Might be worth a look if you don't want to spike your finger every day.
As far as I can find, there is no noninvasive glucose meter approved and on the market, anywhere on earth. Such a system is in research and development in several countries, most notably. Israel. Please. Correct me and give country, manufacturer, etc.
 
#15 ·
This thread is a little old, but I thought I'd comment anyway. Federal rules require all manufacturers of meters for the US market to meet new 15% accuracy rules beginning in 2016. Accuchek meters already met these rules. Bayer Next meets these rules. I don't know about anybody else, but previous meters had to meet a 20% accuracy rule. So, now that it's 2016, you have to look at the meter itself to see when it was manufactured to determine if is one of the 15% meters or not. Retailers of other brands, including 'store brands' will continue to unload the older meters. Pharmacists at Target and Walmart aren't even aware of these new rules, so asking them about the store's meters won't help you - but I'm willing to bet they will be the older meters for at least a year.

Ok, that said, if you are having to pay cash price for strips, the Walmart Relion meters are your best bet - they may still be 20%, but most people have been successful with them and the strips are the least costly. At the same time, you can get free meters (just need a prescription from your doc) for Accu-Check and Bayer Next and buy strips at Ebay or Amazon. The cost of these strips dropped significantly in the last year or so partly because Medicare Mail order doesn't cover them.

If you are pre-diabetic, you likely want to invest in a meter where you can buy 25 strips at a good price. That will save you a lot more money.
 
#18 ·
So, now that it's 2016, you have to look at the meter itself to see when it was manufactured to determine if is one of the 15% meters or not.
If you search on Amazon for the Bayer Contour Next EZ you'll notice some of the boxes have a little yellow patch that says "New" on the box and some don't. If you scroll down and read the description, the ones with the "New" on them mention the 7 times sampling bla bla bla while the others do not. Its like this for the test strips too!

I just ordered this meter for a backup and did order the new one but wasn't paying attention with the strips.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top