[Scarlet Phantom]

No wonder I fell off the wagon... I wasn't testing!

I just noticed my test strips expired April 2011. I got them in 2009

I'm on a new medication, switching to low carbing yet again... but now I am wondering how precise those expired test strips can be. This morning I tested twice (not same finger!) and got 8.6 and 7.7. Feedback please?

Boy! Do I feel dumb...

Thanks!

 

[LarryT]

Scarlet -

Likely they are working but to be sure you could

Use Control solution and check a couple of strips
or buy a small count vial of current strips for your meter and compare. But allowing for variance in readings the control solution should be the better choice.
I know I'd hate to throw the old ones away, we all need stock in the meter companies :Cry: Most meters are closer in accuracy than +- 20% - but...

 

[Scarlet Phantom]

My control solution is expired too

I just tested 3 times with 3 different strips, same finger, same blood drop (one prick and there's blood all over!) and I got 7.5, 10.9, and then 5.1. Maybe I should choose the one I like best?

I think I answered my own question. I need new strips!

 

[jwags]

I got a few free Contour Meters last year and didn't realise they came with 25 free strips. So they had been sitting for almost a year and the strips were expired by a few months. I used them and they worked fine. But I would go order some new strips

 

[MmeMoxie]

Scarlet P,

Just curious. What kind of meter do you have, that gives out readings of 8.6 or 7.7 or 10.9 or 5.1? To me, that sounds like HaC1 readings, not blood monitor readings. My husband and I usually get readings like, 104 or 189 or 74 or 90 or 234, so on and so forth.

I noticed that you live in Canada, are their meters different there, than in the USA?

 

[Shanny]

USA is about the only country to use mg/dl - the numbers your meter gives you. Everywhere else including Canada uses mmol/l. The conversion number is 18 (I think technically it's 18.3 or something . . . 18 is prob'ly close enough.), so multiply by 18 to go from mmol/l to mg/dl, and divide to go the other way.

Many meters can be set for one or the other - I think my ReliOn allows that.

 

[MmeMoxie]

Shanny,

Thanks for the answer. I thought it might have to do with the difference in how the US measures things and how the European way of measuring is. The US Unit of Measurement is an inch, a foot, a yard, so on and so forth. While, the European Unit of Measurement is millimeter, centimeter, decimeter, meter, so on and so forth.

We record our patients weight, in pounds, while other countries record patients weights, in kilos. Bottom line, that measurement is the same, just using different methods.

Again, thanks Shanny. I really appreciate your knowledge and your willingness to share it.

 

[MmeMoxie]

Shanny,

I know that this is off topic, but I am wondering just how reliable is the Reli-On monitor? I am strongly considering getting them for my husband and I, due to the cost of the strips.

My husband is on insulin and we insist that his prescriptions be the Reli-On brand, due to the savings. He uses 4 vials a month. So, $24.88 a vial, is a lot cheaper than $60+ a vial. The quality is the same, since, they are made by a company that makes the brand insulins. Last year their contract was with NovoNorDisk, Novolin, this year it is with Eli Lilly, Humulin.

 

[Shanny]

When I was first diagnosed, my doc - knowing our financial straits - advised me to get the ReliOn so I did. It's the only meter I've used - I've checked it again lab results & I believe it's as reliable as any other meter.

 

[laney1566]

So if I move to Canada, I will lose weight and my BGL will drop?

 

[Patdart]

Shanny, I also use the ReLion meter and strips and recently got a free One Touch meter w/strips and really can't tell a lot of difference. I use ReLion since I have to buy my own strips...as well as the fact that I'm not critical in any diabetic sense. I just need to keep an eye on things and learn if/when I need to demand a diagnosis for drug help.

 

[Shanny]

The only time my ReliOn didn't match my lab results was when I used the venous blood instead of doing my own poke to get capillary blood. I don't remember how far it was off, but more than the usual 2-3-4 points.

 

[BamagirlinUtah]

I have to say, I use the Reli-on brand for my strips and meter and don't see a difference between that and the free novomax machine that I got in the mail. I'll go with whatever is cheapest for now.