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Confused!!

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I have mine set to 4.5 but even then I'm not always able to draw enough blood some mornings and give up,other times I have managed to get the best bleeds on the edge of my little finger and it's been quite runny
 
Hi
I've just tried again and got the message E - 2 which again means not enough blood. At least I now know it's working properly, and next time I try I'll set it on 3. It seems to come up very quickly before the blood has a chance to run down. Should I be letting the blood run down before putting the strip in the monitor? Could it be that simple?? Anyway I know now I don't need to bother the nurse next week, just keep practising till I find what works for me. Thanks.
 
It may be that your dial has more numbers than mine - I suggested 2 because mine goes from 1-4, but if you have more numbers you may need a higher one. I haven't used the Codefree so I'm afraid I don't know - @belugalad or one of the others who've posted about it will know though.

I always get the test strip ready (but not pushed right into the meter), then prick my finger with the lancet and make sure it looks as though there's enough blood, and then push the test strip all the way into the meter (with the hand I haven't pricked, so as not to get blood on it until it's in place) before applying the blood to the test strip - I find otherwise my meter sometimes times out before I can get enough blood out of my finger as my fingers are very cold and don't bleed easily.
 
Are you inserting the strip, pricking your finger and then touching the strip to the spot of blood and holding it there until you get a reading. I am not familiar with this meter but my meter beeps when it has been held to the spot of blood long enough and then it counts down to the actual reading.
Another tip I find useful is to wipe away the first spot of blood and squeeze a second spot out to test. This helps prevent any contamination from the surface of the skin. I just wipe it off on the back of my other hand but ideally a clean cotton wool ball should be used.
I also find it is better to use a deep setting and get a decent sized spot of blood easily than use a lower setting on the pricker and have to squeeze your finger to get blood. It is the squeezing which makes the finger sore, not the slightly deeper insertion in my opinion. If your hands are cold, soak them in warm water for a minute and then dry them thoroughly first or suck the finger if you don't have access to warm water at the time.
 
Felinia said:
Hi
I've just tried again and got the message E - 2 which again means not enough blood. At least I now know it's working properly, and next time I try I'll set it on 3. It seems to come up very quickly before the blood has a chance to run down. Should I be letting the blood run down before putting the strip in the monitor? Could it be that simple?? Anyway I know now I don't need to bother the nurse next week, just keep practising till I find what works for me. Thanks.
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I put the strip fully into the meter before pricking my finger, which works for me ok ... mind you, I used to be a blood donor and have always been a right bleeder!
 
My meter times out after just 5 seconds, so I think I need to get as much blood as possible into the strip before pushing it into place, as Juliet suggests. I haven't come across a way of increasing the time out facility. I had been pricking, pushing the strip into place then trying to get the blood into the strip, and it had barely started before timing out. We're getting there, so thanks everyone.
 
Felinia said:
so I think I need to get as much blood as possible into the strip before pushing it into place, as Juliet suggests.
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I think this is where you are going wrong. The strip needs to be inserted into the meter before it is offered up to the spot of blood. If you are holding the strip to the spot of blood and then inserting it into the meter, it will give you an error code and the strip will be spoilt.
 
Juliet is suggesting you get a spot of blood on your finger, then insert the strip into the meter and then offer the strip up to the blood.
 
The 5 seconds is usually the time it takes for the meter to read the sample but you will have maybe 20 seconds or more to offer the meter with strip inserted up to the spot of blood. Did you watch the video someone posted showing how to do it?
 
Yes, insert the strip before pricking your finger - as I posted upthread, then there is no time for it to time out.
 
It is quite important to offer the strip (in the meter) to the blood spot from above either straight up and down or easier at an angle, so that the capillary action sucks the blood up into the test strip rather than from below where you might end up with air locks. It doesn't show that very well in the video posted.
 
I think that the problem has been spotted - maybe take your manual and go through the process of testing stage by stage - I use the Tee 2 these days but I have used two other models in the past. Each one requires the strip inserted in the meter and for a cartoon of a drop of blood going onto the tip of the strip to appear on the screen before blood is applied.
I get have meter in front of me with a strip on top of it, I stab and make sure I have a bead of blood, then insert the strip, await the cartoon and apply the blood.
 
Thanks everyone. I'll have another go tomorrow. But I am sure that at present the error message appears within 5 seconds of insertion, before the capilliary action has time to suck it up. I've tried it several different ways as suggested by everyone (thanks) with the same error message each time. Good job I ordered an extra 50 strips and lancets!! If I still can't get a successful outcome, I'm going to take it to my face to face training course on 14 October, and hopefully get resolution. That's better than waiting until the end of November for my next 10 minute GP appointment.
 
Felinia said:
Thanks everyone. I'll have another go tomorrow. But I am sure that at present the error message appears within 5 seconds of insertion, before the capilliary action has time to suck it up. I've tried it several different ways as suggested by everyone (thanks) with the same error message each time. Good job I ordered an extra 50 strips and lancets!! If I still can't get a successful outcome, I'm going to take it to my face to face training course on 14 October, and hopefully get resolution. That's better than waiting until the end of November for my next 10 minute GP appointment.
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My meter (not a Codefree) takes about 5 s before it is ready to put blood on the strip, ie the symbol, usually a drop of blood, appears. Are you waiting for this symbol? If you put blood on too soon it won't work.
 
You usually have to wait a few seconds after you insert the strip into the meter before you try to test the blood... kind of like a warm up period .... as @Drummer says, you get a symbol "or cartoon" usually of a flashing drop of blood after you insert the strip telling you that it is ready to receive the sample. I wonder if you are trying to test before it is ready. The strip definitely needs to be inserted into the machine before you introduce blood to it.
I have just timed my Nexus and it gives you exactly 3 minutes from inserting the strip to introduce blood to it before it times you out and shuts down. My Caresens Dual just gives you 2 mins to provide a sample of blood before it switches off but both are still more than adequate to prick your finger (multiple times if necessary) to try to get blood.
 
rebrascora said:
Juliet is suggesting you get a spot of blood on your finger, then insert the strip into the meter and then offer the strip up to the blood.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's what I meant! You shouldn't put blood onto the strip until it's in the meter and the meter is showing the symbol to say it's ready for blood. But if I put the stip in my meter before I have blood ready my meter often times out before I have blood (not because I squeeze my finger - I don't ever do that, it hurts! - but because my fingers are so cold).
 
It might be worth contacting the meter manufacturers, @Felinia and ask them for help making sure the meter's set up properly - they'd probably talk you through it on the phone, and it would save you wasting lots of strips. It may even be that you've got a faulty meter.
 
TheClockworkDodo said:
Yes, that's what I meant! You shouldn't put blood onto the strip until it's in the meter and the meter is showing the symbol to say it's ready for blood. But if I put the stip in my meter before I have blood ready my meter often times out before I have blood (not because I squeeze my finger - I don't ever do that, it hurts! - but because my fingers are so cold).
Click to expand...
I have everything ready, but leave the strip insertion until I have stabbed and got the bead of blood - so far I have not wasted any strips
 
I'm beginning to wonder if the set up or machine is faulty, and it's not just me being stupid. I got everything ready, put in the strip, and within 5 seconds got the error message, before I'd even got blood to the strip. So it wasn't me trying to put in blood before the machine was ready. It seems each machine is a bit different, but the overall principle is the same. I'm just about ready now after a day of trying, to give up and get face to face help. But thanks everyone - I will get there eventually.
 
Hi.... It does sound like the meter may be faulty..... assuming you didn't put a used strip back in the machine. If it was a new strip which had never touched blood then it is either a dodgy meter or a dodgy pot of strips. I can imagine you must be feeling very frustrated..... bad enough being anxious with having diabetes and figuring out what to eat but even more so when the machine which is supposed to make that easier, causes more aggravation!
 
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