Spiking from 1030pm til4am

[Andywidd]

Hi Andy Meters are allowed a 15% tolerance anyway. So no meter is absolutely accurate, also blood taken from different fingers can vary quite a bit, so I wouldn't worry about the difference between 5.5 and 6.5 if blood was taken from a different finger.

Hi, it was actually taken from same finger and same finger prick- quickly dried area then squeezed again. Nearly always get a much lower result with the Abbott. Occasionally very similar. Just don’t know which one to trust.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi, it was actually taken from same finger and same finger prick- quickly dried area then squeezed again. Nearly always get a much lower result with the Abbott. Occasionally very similar. Just don’t know which one to trust.

I think they are measuring something slightly different which is why many people do see slight variation in the readings they get.

 

[rebrascora]

It is totally normal in my experience, for Libre to be 1 whole mmol out compared to a finger prick usually lower when levels are stable. I am inclined to think they are deliberately calibrated that way to reduce the risk of real hypos, so if Libre gets down to 3.5 I am usually 4.5 on a finger prick and therefore not really hypo. The best Libre sensor I have had was about 0.5mmol less than finger blood and the worst was just over 2 mmols out. You get used to taking that into consideration when you are bolusing but generally you are best to trust the finger prick over Libre, even though there is a level of error in both. This is why there is no point is stressing about BG levels wandering by 1-2 mmols because whatever you are using to measure that with is not totally accurate. It is just giving you a ball park figure. Don't be conned by the decimal place into thinking it is accurate to that level. It most definitely isn't.

It might help to be aware that before glucose meters and Libre, people had to take a sample of urine, add a reagent and boil it up in a test tube and the colour it turned told you roughly what your BG levels were probably about 3 hours before.... and yet people managed their diabetes like that and many lived to a good age without complications, so try not to get too tied up with accuracy and micromanaging or worrying about what are minor discrepancies in your levels.

 

[Inka]

Hi, it was actually taken from same finger and same finger prick- quickly dried area then squeezed again. Nearly always get a much lower result with the Abbott. Occasionally very similar. Just don’t know which one to trust.

To be honest, it doesn’t matter as long as your readings are close. The readings are only a snapshot anyway and show roughly where you are not your precise blood glucose. They’re to give you an idea of whether you’re in range and whereabouts in the ideal range you are.

I have an Abbot meter and an AccuChek one. I too would say the Abbot usually reads slightly lower but it doesn’t matter unless there’s a vast difference. If it concerns you, just go for the average between the two.

Blood sugar goes up and down even in people without diabetes. All we’re trying to do is aim to keep our ups and downs roughly in the same range as those without Type 1 eg between 4-10mmol.

 

[helli]

It is totally normal in my experience, for Libre to be 1 whole mmol out compared to a finger prick usually lower when levels are stable. I am inclined to think they are deliberately calibrated that way to reduce the risk of real hypos,

That is not my experience and, if they were calibrated that way, they would not conform to the necessary accuracy standards. Some Libre sensors read high and some read low and some read high in the morning and low in the evening.
They are factory calibrated and my hypothesis is that they use a "standard man model" but we all differ from that standard man.
Although I am not sure the OP meant Libre when they said "Abbot meter" as he referred to a finger prick for both.

As @Inka said, meter vary. The advice I was given is to stick to one meter (or a CGM and a blood glucose meter). That way we are always comparing apples and apples. With so many things that can affect our blood sugars, most of diabetes management is approximations and estimations which is fine as long as we are in the right ball park. Someone without diabetes does not stay level and no two healthy pancreases will have the same reaction to the same food.

Keep to one meter and keep things simple.
If you have a CGM or Libre, compare it to one meter once or twice a day.

There is enough around diabetes to give us anxiety and no point adding something else.

 

[PattiEvans]

As @Inka said, meter vary. The advice I was given is to stick to one meter (or a CGM and a blood glucose meter). That way we are always comparing apples and apples. With so many things that can affect our blood sugars, most of diabetes management is approximations and estimations which is fine as long as we are in the right ball park. Someone without diabetes does not stay level and no two healthy pancreases will have the same reaction to the same food.

@helli, you are right, the OP was comparing BG readings from the Glucomen meter and the Abbott meter.