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Chepeast but accurate blood glucose meter

M

MihaiM

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello,

I keep looking for a cheap blood glucose meter, or better say, with the cheapest strips and lancets as my GP will not provide me with them. I got one which is called Sinocare but doesnt seem too accurate, any recommendations please?
 
GlucoNavii, TEE2 and Contour Blue are usually the cheaper ones with cheaper test strips - they can be found on Amazon - haven't heard any complaints from anyone who has one of these
 
as just posted just now by @mashedupmatt those 2 devices are what most people on here have found to good VFM & accurate for those of us who are needing to self fund
 
Because I prick my finger and the value is for example 6.5 and after one minute when I prick it again it’s 7.2 mmol. You using the same Sinocare strips and its working for you?
 
MihaiM said:
Because I prick my finger and the value is for example 6.5 and after one minute when I prick it again it’s 7.2 mmol. You using the same Sinocare strips and its working for you?
Click to expand...
This is completely normal. All meters have a +/-15% or so variance so doing a few readings in a row will give different numbers each time more often than not.
 
MihaiM said:
Because I prick my finger and the value is for example 6.5 and after one minute when I prick it again it’s 7.2 mmol. You using the same Sinocare strips and its working for you?
Click to expand...
I know Sinocare is one where people have been suspicious of but your reading are no way a big enough difference as both those readings are pretty well the same and within the permitted variation. It is only really necessary to redo a reading if it looks out of whack with how you feel or what you might expect. Just accept what you have.
 
MihaiM said:
Hello,

I keep looking for a cheap blood glucose meter, or better say, with the cheapest strips and lancets as my GP will not provide me with them. I got one which is called Sinocare but doesnt seem too accurate, any recommendations please?
Click to expand...
I've had Sinocare for several years and it seems to be ok. How can you tell yours isn't accurate?
 
MihaiM said:
Because I prick my finger and the value is for example 6.5 and after one minute when I prick it again it’s 7.2 mmol. You using the same Sinocare strips and its working for you?
Click to expand...
I use an accucheck nano and I would not be surprised to see that sort of range on two consecutive readings and I would not be surprised to see it on any meter. Meters are brilliant but my assessment is that you should not take any notice of the number after the decimal point and then only think there is a difference if the numbers are more than two apart.

Buy the meter with the lowest running cost is my thought for you. It will give you information you can use.
 
I have a Palmdoc meter supplied by my nurse, I can get totally different readings from different fingers within seconds of each other, if my reading either high or low I always check on the next finger along, the difference can be quite a bit bigger than you have had. So I wouldn’t worry about the difference as it is not that great and all meters have a tolerance.
 
I've been using a Sinocare and haven't had any issues with it 🙂
 
MihaiM said:
Because I prick my finger and the value is for example 6.5 and after one minute when I prick it again it’s 7.2 mmol. You using the same Sinocare strips and its working for you?
Click to expand...

This table in the ‘useful links’ thread shows the allowable variation in readings from any given number. Some meters make more use of this variability than others, but slight variance from strip-to-strip even from the same drop of blood is quite normal.

BG meter accuracy​
It can be quite disconcerting for members new to self monitoring of blood glucose to get different results from BG readings taken close together, even when carefully following manufacturers guidance (washing hands etc). All meters for sale in the UK should comply with the following ISO standards 95% of the time, which allows a degree of variation (and 5% of results can read anything at all). If in any doubt, or if a reading doesn’t match how you are feeling, you should check again with a fresh strip.​
​
Permitted blood glucose meter variation, upper and lower bounds, from range of BG results
 
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