[itguy61]

Just a little rant here. Only been at this for six weeks so excuse my rant. I go to the Dr. office and get diagnosed at the time, according to his meter my BG was 230. He gives me an Accuchek Aviva meter, a prescription for strips and medication. I start measuring and after a few weeks it is coming down and I am very pleased. Down to morning readings of between 105 and 115 and after meal readings of around 110 to 130. I am pleased.

At my 30 day follow up he uses a meter again and says my BG is 96. Great! It is right before lunch and I am happy with that number. Don't remember what kind of meter, just that it was not an Accucheck, different strips. A friend at works says makers give away meters and I can try several. I receive a Freestyle Freedom Lite meter and tried it out. Love the lower amount of blood it takes. Since I only have 2 strips a day on my prescription i use the free strips included with the Freestyle to take some measurements I want to do. They come up great, too great.!

I have had a total of two measurements under 100 on my accuchek and almost all measurements are under 100 on the Freestyle. I start researching the Forums and find that this is common, different meters read differently. So I did a couple of tests to directly compare out of the same lancing. Last night before bed, 4 hours after my last meal the Accucheck read 101, the freestyle read 121???? I had a total of about 20 carbs for supper and less than 60 for the whole day so I am questioning the 120. This morning on wake up the Accucheck reads 111 and the Freestyle reads 81???? I now wish I had never ordered the other meter because now I don't have any idea which is right. I suspect tha accuchek reads a bit high very consistently. The Freestyle seems to read on the low end but last nights reading seemed to be way off base and too high. Hmmmmm, what to do?

Do we ever really know where our BG level is with about 10%?

Tim

 

[Shanny]

Do we ever really know where our BG level is with about 10%?
Tim

Legal variation on meters is 20% either way. So in a word - no.

 

[WV Mom]

I have a OneTouch UltraMini. The strips I buy have a control range of 110-147. Assuming the midpoint of 128.5 is correct, that's only an accuracy of +/-14%. Even worse, if I got a reading of 110 after a meal, I'd think great! If I got a 147, I'd be bummed and make changes -- and yet both those readings would be in range. So yeah, I'm with you. Maybe all we can really know is the big picture. At least I can be pretty sure that this morning's 88 wasn't really a 188. hwell:

 

[Spunky]

You can use the same meter and test in a different spot on the same finger 3 times in a row and get 3 different readings. I have several meters but only use one of them, I only test once, then assume it is 'close enough'. Saves a lot of frustration.

 

[Shanny]

You can use the same meter and test in a different spot on the same finger 3 times in a row and get 3 different readings.

Or poke once & take three tests on the same drop of blood - still three different readings! Honest!

 

[moon]

I'm lucky with my Aviva - it doesn't show much variation. From sequential pricks it's rarely more than 3 points variation. Though if it has drifted since the times I measured that, I wouldn't know. At the cost of strips, I now test less and accept the meter as Truth to $implify life.

 

[jwags]

Your meter will never be exact, it is only a snapshot of your bg. If you tested a minute before or minute later you would get totally different numbers. As Shanny said + or - 20% is accepted. I have used a One Touch and a Bayer meter and got a 60 point difference. So my advice use one meter and save your sanity.

 

[d33na]

I'm happy with a 'in the ball park' figure...if you start obsessing about different meters and numbers you go crazy...if a number is way low or way high...I recheck...otherwise I don't

 

[stormie]

I work on the following basis

If it's a good result, I'm doing a great job controlling my diabetes

If it's high, the pesky meter is on the blink