Hi I have two blood glucose meters. I’ve just tested my blood glucose with them both. One said 6.2, the other said 12.2? How can they be so different? I have also tried the libra monitor system (I’ve tried 4 of them) they also had huge differences in the readings, compared to the meters?
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Blood glucose meters
- Thread starter Stine
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harbottle
Well-Known Member
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- Type 2
Wet fingers can dilute the blood and give a low reading; stuff on the fingers can cause a high reading. Out of date strips can cause wrong readings. I found that strips stored in a hot car gave dodgy readings. Squeezing fingers too much can cause readings to be slightly lower.
It's well within standards to just have a random reading as well.
There are a lot of factors. Did you try another test to see what the results were?
It's well within standards to just have a random reading as well.
There are a lot of factors. Did you try another test to see what the results were?
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Home testing kits have an accuracy tolerance of 15% so the usual recommendation is to stick with one meter and not compare.
However, the variation you are seeing is greater than the 15% so my expectation is that one of the readings is wrong. Knowing which one and why requires some detective work. Were the readings taken immediately one after the other? Is there any possibility that you had any dirt/sugar/carbs/print/... on your fingers or were they just washed?Are your test strips in date? Did you repeat the tests (with clean, dry fingers)?
The other part of the standard is that home meters only have to be this accurate 95% of the time. So it could have been an anomaly in that other 5% on one of the meters.
However, the variation you are seeing is greater than the 15% so my expectation is that one of the readings is wrong. Knowing which one and why requires some detective work. Were the readings taken immediately one after the other? Is there any possibility that you had any dirt/sugar/carbs/print/... on your fingers or were they just washed?Are your test strips in date? Did you repeat the tests (with clean, dry fingers)?
The other part of the standard is that home meters only have to be this accurate 95% of the time. So it could have been an anomaly in that other 5% on one of the meters.
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Sorry you’ve had some dodgy-looking readings from your meters @Stine 
This table from the ‘useful links’ thread shows the ISO requirements for varying values - and the bands get pretty wide pretty quickly!
Plus as @helli says, 5% of the time a meter can read anything.
It’s why meter manufacturers say that if a reading doesn’t match how you are feeling, or seems a bit odd, you should re-check with a fresh strip.
This table from the ‘useful links’ thread shows the ISO requirements for varying values - and the bands get pretty wide pretty quickly!
Plus as @helli says, 5% of the time a meter can read anything.
It’s why meter manufacturers say that if a reading doesn’t match how you are feeling, or seems a bit odd, you should re-check with a fresh strip.
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