Blood Sugar Meters

[scarlettohara]

Hi, I need to purchase a meter to read my partners blood sugar levels. There are quite a few about. I'm not sure which one is best. Some are dl/mg or mmol, which I haven't a clue what this means. Any advice please.

 

[Helenp479]

I am wondering about this as well I went into a LLoyds chemist on Friday and they said the diabetic nurse would prescribe me a meter etc when I saw her, the one I was going to buy was ?15.45 which was ok but then the strips were ?22.50 for 50 strips so I left it and will see if nurse prescribes me one.
What does anyone else do.

Helen

 

[scarlettohara]

Meters

Hi Helen, that seems very expensive. On ebay, which was recommended to me, they are cheaper. Check it out. I'm not sure which type I need. Let me know what you think on ebay.

 

[Northerner]

Hi, the cheapest meter and strips we have come across here on the forum is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips are around ?7 for 50. Bear in mind that it is the cost of strips that is the main consideration 🙂

 

[Northerner]

p.s. you need a meter that reads in mmol/l not mg/dl - the latter is used in the USA and some other countries 🙂

 

[Helenp479]

Hi, the cheapest meter and strips we have come across here on the forum is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips are around ?7 for 50. Bear in mind that it is the cost of strips that is the main consideration 🙂

Hi Scarlottohara and Northerner it did seem very expensive for the strips I will wait and see what the nurse says and if they don't prescribe me one then I will look on e-bay and bear in mind what I am looking for as well I didn't realise one code was for usa and one for us, good job I am on here getting advice.

Helen

 

[PhilT]

You can get a meter free direct from the manufacturer and once you have registered it you will be entitled to periodic upgrades.

 

[pav]

You can normally can get meters for free from the main meter suppliers like Accu Chek, Abbott medisense, Bayer, Lifescan etc as they make their money from the test strips.

If you do go down the buying route, Amazon have some good prices on some meters.

As mentioned the SD code free is about the cheapest if you end up having to buy strips.

Meters are not a prescription item and depending on your practice will depend on if they will provide a meter. The various company reps tend to leave meters with some GP's (my GP practice do not give meters out) to dish out as freebies in order to get the prescription sales.

Have a look at the various suppliers web sites to see if any of the meters they have take your fancy. Some will be supplied only for people on insulin, you can always ask on here for opinions.

Some GP's will only supply the test strips to certain meters as to get the price down they have an agreement with a particular supplier. Other docs depending on the meds one is on, will not prescribe test strips to type 2's others even when taking hypo causing meds have had to fight to get test strips on prescription. 😡

 

[Helenp479]

thank you for the information on this I will wait until Friday when I see the nurse for the 1st time, still very confused about what to do hopefully after Friday will be bit clearer. Does seem to be a lottery as to whether they provide a meter etc or not.

Helen