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Frustrated with my meter

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Carl Jones

New Member
i'm losing confidence in my meter.
Took a B.G. reading yesterday morning which was quite high, then moved on to Ketone, but accidently fitted another B.G. sensor instead. The reading was different, like whole number different. I did another test, different again, then I washed my hands again and did another one. Think my results ranged from 14.0 to 9.8.
I didn't do anymore after this as I'm going through these sensor Chip thingys like nobodies business due to void/error readings.

Same experience again last night!

Surely this isn't normal for the to be such discrepancies?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers
Carl
 
Hi Carl. What meter are you using , if it’s priovided by nhs I’d ask for another meter, if self funding I suggest you do a Control Test, some meters you just need a control strip, other meters you need control solution and your normal strip.
No meter is dead accurate, they are allowed to have something like 10% variance, this is because 5hey are not being used/ designed for lab conditions, so I wouldn’t worry about a whole point difference also their will be a difference between tests from the same blood sample or a different finger as blood is not entirely homogeneous .
Hope this helps
 
Some variation in meter readings is inevitable. BG meters are supposed to give results that fall within ISO standards of +/-15% from a lab value 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time they can read anything (and occasionally you will get a duff strip).

The table below shows that this standard (which is stricter than is used to be!) still gives quite a wide range of acceptable values. And as you suggest, there are also human factors involved like unwashed hands/strip storage etc, plus the fact that your BG is not necessarily stable nor is all the blood in your system at exactly the same concentration of glucose - so results can vary even over quite a short time.

From the table, if your BG had been 12.0, your results pretty much fall within acceptable limits of variation - though I completely understand that they may not have been helpful to have been that spread apart. Not sure what you nean by sensor/chip errors though - but if that's your meter, you might want to replace it.

For all their illusion of decimal point accuracy, BG meters are still really only offering 'ish' values. Best bet is to find one you can trust, and use it until something better comes along. And always re-check if a result doesn't match how you are feeling.

This is from the US, but gives an idea of some of the more accurate meters on the market at the moment: https://diatribe.org/are-blood-glucose-meters-accurate-new-data-18-meters

meter_accuracy.png
 
Very helpful!

Thank you both, you confirmed what I suspected. The values are roughly where I expect them to be, so I'll take the readings with a pinch of salt.

I assume, if the meters aren't that accurate, statements like "5 before you drive" take in to account slight variances in meter readings?!

As for errors, I often take a sample and I'm greeted with a coded error message. E-3, E-4, E-5, being most common. Then there's another hole in the finger as I try again! Frustrating initself!

Thanks for your replies!
 
Well without knowing what the error codes on your meter signify, can't comment as to why or how that would happen. however, IT SOUNDS SUSPICIOUSLY INEFFICIENT TO ME. iS IT A DECENT MAKE/MODEL THAT DOESN'T JUST NEED A NEW BATTERY OR SOMETHING?

(Accidentally hit the caps lock key, not shouting)
 
Its a Glucomen Lx, brand new.

The codes are listed in the book. E-3 is sensor error etc.
I just don't understand why there's an error when I'mcareful to keep the area clean. It's annoying when you take three goes to draw some blood, and you finally get a blob, and the sensor does a whoopsy!
 
I'd ring the supplier and ask them to send you a new meter due to the all the error codes you are getting. They will normally do this as it keeps you using their meter and strips and strips are where they make their money.
 
I agree with Greyhound Girl . To me All those error codes mean 5hat something is likely to be wrong either with the meter or that batch of strips. To be honest their is not much we can get wrong with applying a drop of blood to a strip. The main thing is finger is clean and dry , which you have done.
So Contact your supplier and see what they say.
 
I had a reading of 31, now I know when my b/s are high as I start to feel a bit ill. so I took it again, 7.8
another test straight away, 9, then the next was back down to 7.
I did phone and complain, and they sent me a new meter.
 
I had a reading of 31, now I know when my b/s are high as I start to feel a bit ill. so I took it again, 7.8
another test straight away, 9, then the next was back down to 7.
I did phone and complain, and they sent me a new meter.
I hope the new meter behaves itself for you.
Omg 31. Then 7.8
 
Glucomen c/s are very good either over the phone or via their FB page. They will send you 2 meters if you ask for one to use as a spare, I use one at home and 1 for when out and about. I am now on my 4th or 5th meter off them in the past couple of months, as I keep on breaking them and they upgraded my Areo to the Areo 2K with no problems, which touch wood are lasting longer, as not broke one of the 2K ones, even though they are very similar meters.

Not sure on the LX if the strip allows you to top up the test strip if you have not applied a big enough blood sample. The Areo meter errors out if you don't succeed in getting enough blood on the test strip in one go.
 
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