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Different readings

M

MegHill

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi folks, I'm new here and newly diagnosed with Type 2. Sorry if this isn't the right thread but I guess it is an issue with technology...

I consistently get really different readings from 2 different monitors. I have an Accu Chek Instant and an Accu Chek Mobile. I can lay them side by side and take readings from the same blood sample and the Instant will read 7.5mmol/L and the Mobile will read 8.9mmol/L. Which one do I believe? I've been thinking about scrapping both and switching to a Contour Next as I haven't heard bad things about it so far. Any advice or monitor recommendations?

Meg.
 
I think the problem is you are expecting greater accuracy from meters.
Home testing needs to comply with a standard to be within 15% of the actual value 95% of the time. Some meters may read a little high. Some may read a little low.
If your BG was actually 8.0, it could be reported as anything between 6.8 and 9.2. This suggests your meters are fine.
@Docb has a thread which describes his experiment of taking readings with the same meter but from different fingers, one straight after the other. They all showed different values.

The other thing to remember is that you do not need 100% accuracy. The accuracy of a home testing meter is good enough for me to dose my insulin.

There is no need to scrap any of your meters but I would chose one and stick with it.
 
helli said:
I think the problem is you are expecting greater accuracy from meters.
Home testing needs to comply with a standard to be within 15% of the actual value 95% of the time. Some meters may read a little high. Some may read a little be low.
If your BG was actually 8.0, it could be reported as anything between 6.8 and 9.2. This suggests your meters are fine.
@Docb has a thread which describes his experiment of taking readings with the same meter but from different fingers, one straight after the other. They all showed different values.

The other thing to remember is that you do not need 100% accuracy. The accuracy of a home testing meter is good enough for me to dose my insulin.

There is no need to scrap any of your meters but I would chose one and stick with it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. That eases my mind a bit. I'm still at the new, pedantic stage of thinking I have to record everything accurately or it will all go horribly wrong. Good to know that it's just me freaking out and not an actual issue with the monitors.
 
MegHill said:
Thanks for your reply. That eases my mind a bit. I'm still at the new, pedantic stage of thinking I have to record everything accurately or it will all go horribly wrong. Good to know that it's just me freaking out and not an actual issue with the monitors.
Click to expand...
For a basic ordinary type 2 regime, it isn't so much the level as the difference between before and after eating - so if the two meters show different levels but the same difference between the numbers, that is the number you should be recording to see if a meal is helping or hindering progress.
By following the trend in the difference you can refine menus and made decisions about portion sizes, inclusions or cautions.
 
There is a saying - the man with one watch always knows the time; the man with two watches is never sure….

If you did want to swap both for a new one, can I suggest the Contour Plus Blue rather than the Next. The strips are much cheaper!
 
HI @MegHill and welcome to the forum - as has already been said - meter readings will almost always be different to the actual value - and the cost of the strips can be very high if you are self-funding, so use them wisely! If you are not on insulin, then it's more about seeing what foods make significant spikes 2hrs after eating and as previously mentioned by @Drummer it's the difference between before and after food which is more important so you can see what it does to your BG - Good Luck, and glad you have found us - ask any questions you may have, no matter how trivial they may seem - there is no such thing as a "silly" question here
 
Hi @MegHill. In the tests mentioned by @helli I tested all 10 digits one after the other with one meter rather than two meters in one drop of blood.

Nevertheless my thought is if you are comparing individual blood glucose results, it is best to ignore the number after the decimal point by rounding to the nearest whole number and then only begin to think there might be a real difference if it is greater than 2. You can round your numbers to 7 and 9 or 8 and 9 and so are best treated as being the same.

It is all too easy to get tied up in knots trying to make sense out of blood glucose readings if you do not realise that although they are brilliant bits of kit, the readings are not as precise as implied by their giving readings to a tenth of a mmol/l.
 
I started a thread on a similar issue, I bought a new monitor and it gives me an average of 0.8 above the old one. I'm using both to compare results, but as long as you are only looking at trends, e.g. trying to bring your BG down, then it's fine. That's how I'm using them.
 
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