Best blood glucose meter?

[Kooshdakhaa]

I've decided that I want to torture myself by obsessing over my blood glucose readings, so I need to get a meter.

I stood and stared at several different meters when I was in Walmart tonight, and finally decided to hold off buying one until I do a little research.

Anybody here test their blood glucose? What's your favorite meter and why?

 

[Politico]

The whole meter thing is a money scam like razor blades. Go to Walgreens and get a Truetrack. They don't rip you off on the strips.

 

[strollingbones]

i use truetest....none of them are that accurate...you do realize they (the meter companies) are allowed a plus minus of 20 points......ie if you are reading 100....it could be anywhere from 80 to 120

i have researched this as....i am getting ready to buy another one....

most say the best one is the one you will use and can use easily....

Best Blood Glucose Meters - Features and Reviews | FindTheBest

remember none of these ratings are for being accurate...most are for easy usage or other features

 

[strollingbones]

and yes test strip prices should be considered...but again ..get the one you will use

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

If they're so inaccurate, why use them at all? I suppose they're accurate enough to alert you if something is really, really wrong, huh?

Perhaps I shouldn't then. My last test at a doctor's office was 108. A few years ago 108 would have been just fine, but they lowered the upper limit to, what is it, 103? They said I should keep an eye on it. Then, when I had to go to the emergency room a few months later for severe pain in my middle right side, my blood sugar was 130. The ER doctor said that didn't concern her. I guess stress can cause your blood sugar to go up, and I was severely stressed that morning!

Maybe I'll skip the meter and just get my blood sugar tested in the near future, along with other routine bloodwork.

It's like my blood pressure cuff...I take my blood pressure all the time. But it's just fine. I'm a worrier. I've lived this long without checking my blood sugar all the time, maybe I shouldn't even start.

 

[syrenn]

Even if they are inaccurate... it will give you a constant baseline and you can see how much an after meal read jumps....

also... WHY are you all buying meters??? Ask you doctor if he can give you one for free..... the companies make their money off of the strips so they LOVE giving them out.....

also.... have you doctor write a prescription for you to test 6-8 times a day...... that way you dont have to worry about running out...

 

[HenryBHough]

No prescription is required for a meter so you can buy anywhere you choose. I recently picked up a new (see below) backup Accu-Chek Aviva on Amazon; bought 200 test strips for about $90 and the meter came free though without a "lancing device". Picked up one of those at Walmart for about $6. Lancets are dirt cheap. I've used the same band/model meter for many years. No special attachment to it; it works for me and it's easy to use so I just stick with it.

For occasional checking when not diagnosed cheaper is better. The 20% accuracy issue is really moot. It's trends you are looking for. When I say "cheap" I mean for the supplies. Once you're on Medicare a lot of that stuff is free but they try to limit you to three tests a day unless a doctor specifies more. Even then they'll require keeping a log showing actual testing for a 30 day period about twice a year.

You can get all sorts of opinions about what's a reasonable reading. Nice to see around 100 first thing in the morning and two hours after a meal but there are two schools of thought on that postprandial. One camp says anything under 140 is cool; another says anything under 180. For insulin-dependent folks many medical people who advocate the "under 140" position don't recommend injecting any insulin if the 2-hour post reading is over 150.

If you're traveling take a spare meter, lancing device, lancet and test strips. I had one stolen about 2 weeks ago. Small loss but I was glad to have kept a bunch of used lancets in the case in the hope that the damn fool who stole it found a way to jab him/herself while playing with it. Only part that pissed me off was that they also took the log for the previous week and I hadn't copied it.

 

[strollingbones]

it just pisses me off that they are allowed that wide a range of readings.....20 points?

stress will do it...kosh.....when i has in the hospital i was running 150 plus...they kept saying...o that is great....while i am laying there going wtf? it took about a month for the numbers to come back down to a reasonable number

 

[Politico]

SB you know I am on your side when it comes to this subject. But 20 points is not that big. And 150 is far from out of control. You should know that is a medical establishment fallacy.

 

[strollingbones]

i do ....considering that damage begins at 140....i try to keep the numbers low..fbg...105 this morning that is still high for me..but i have been up for an hour without eating and my liver loves to share...

name me one other medical measuring system allowed that range of testing ? go on i will be waiting....diabetics need to be more vocal....esp about test strip prices....all of it..a1c testing prices...i use the bayer home test....not too sure about that one either...how accurate it is....

when i was in the hospital they said many odd things..the gas passer wanted my bg numbers to be a bit higher....said high was better than low going in...and the first night....i got the tray for the guy who was in the room before me....could eat nothing....next morning i got a diabetic tray....with a bowl of grapes on it...i ate the bacon.....damn i hate hospitals lol

most of the time i think the nurses just wanted to be re assuring....plus it was suppose to be an out patient thing and i fought tooth and nail to not stay....okay tooth and nail was me laying in the fetal position barely able to move....whispering..i am leaving, ama if i have too....at which point my doctor, husband and son ..laughed and stopped talking to me...as they talked about me...as if i were not there...

the body just stresses and when the body stresses it will reek havoc on ya

and dont even get me started on these people who think we can cure or reverse diabetes with diet and exercise....we can only control it.....

wasnt you politico who said....feed them a cookie and see how cured they are? truer words have never been spoken...

 

[Borillar]

Glucometers are the medical equipment equivalent to injet printers. The meters are relatively cheap like printers, but the test strips are pricey like the ink cartridges. My wife went through 3 different ones. Our current medical plan covers the meter and test strips, so we aren't spending a fortune on test strips any more. In my experience, they all provide a ballpark modicum of accuracy.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Will medical plans cover the meter and test strips if you have no medical reason to be doing frequent testing?

Probably not, huh? It's time for an annual check-up, I should just go do that and ask for bloodwork to be done. If my blood sugar is a little high, THEN maybe I should think about getting a meter.

That's probably what a sensible person would do. I don't always fit that description.

 

[strollingbones]

right now you can get a truetest with a mail in rebate that makes the meter free.....i get truetest strips off ebay...yes i know they are hot....but they are cheap.....36 bucks at walmart vs 10 bucks on ebay....

no they will not cover without a doctors prescription

 

[Borillar]

Will medical plans cover the meter and test strips if you have no medical reason to be doing frequent testing?

Probably not, huh? It's time for an annual check-up, I should just go do that and ask for bloodwork to be done. If my blood sugar is a little high, THEN maybe I should think about getting a meter.

That's probably what a sensible person would do. I don't always fit that description.

Most bloodwork is done at a fasting level - no food intake in previous 12 hours. If your blood sugar reading is high after that, then you may have reason for concern.