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Can someone recommend a good glucose meter, or at least a place to research? I have seen some review sites but none of them seem to be very legit? And Consumer Reports charges.
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I've had the TRUEresult for 18 months and just went to buy new strips to find it's been discontinued due to wrong readings. I'd taken readings when I did lab work and it was pretty close.
I've tried (2) Relions and found them anything but reliable. They weren't close to each other or my lab work.
I am not diabetic but need to keep an eye on things as my A1c is in the mid-5's and slowly creeping up. I do have a couple of family members with diabetes.
The problem is that for someone like me whose fasting level is under 100, the acceptable margin of error is a large enough swing to make the numbers worriesome. ie labs can come back at 89 and Relion may have said 110 which would have worried me a lot. I didn't have that issue with the TRUEresult I was using.
TRUEresult has a replacement but reviews on that are not very good.
Insurance will not pay for this so strips have to be reasonably priced - luckily I don't need to do this daily but there are days I will go through a number of strips just experimenting with what food can bring me back down or what a 15 minute walk will do for me.
If a glucometer gives readings that are within 15% of lab readings, it is considered to be accurate.
There are many variables in their accuracy besides the brand of glucometer, including manufacture of the test strips and age of the test strips, your technique, substances on your skin, choice of testing site, temperature, amount of blood and red blood cells on the strip, etc.
Just use the same glucometer consistently, and that will be good enough for you to see any major changes in your blood sugar.
Can someone recommend a good glucose meter, or at least a place to research? I have seen some review sites but none of them seem to be very legit? And Consumer Reports charges.
<superfluous info>
I've had the TRUEresult for 18 months and just went to buy new strips to find it's been discontinued due to wrong readings. I'd taken readings when I did lab work and it was pretty close.
I've tried (2) Relions and found them anything but reliable. They weren't close to each other or my lab work.
I am not diabetic but need to keep an eye on things as my A1c is in the mid-5's and slowly creeping up. I do have a couple of family members with diabetes.
The problem is that for someone like me whose fasting level is under 100, the acceptable margin of error is a large enough swing to make the numbers worriesome. ie labs can come back at 89 and Relion may have said 110 which would have worried me a lot. I didn't have that issue with the TRUEresult I was using.
TRUEresult has a replacement but reviews on that are not very good.
Insurance will not pay for this so strips have to be reasonably priced - luckily I don't need to do this daily but there are days I will go through a number of strips just experimenting with what food can bring me back down or what a 15 minute walk will do for me.
I very much agree about Relion (Wal-mart). I tried them out and they were worthless. Indeed, in one test, I tested two strips on the same meter, one after the other (using the same pinprick blood), and the results were some 60 points off from each other. I tossed them.
I do like the One Touch brand. The strips are, of course, expensive without insurance, but they can be readily obtained off Ebay.
I started using the Omnipod pump recently, which uses the Freestyle strips. Quite as accurate as One Touch. However, very expensive strips, even on Ebay.
I did try the True Result meter and strips (after TrueTest was discontinued). I found them pretty accurate. I would go with that.
I very much agree about Relion (Wal-mart). I tried them out and they were worthless..
Completely disagree. I have two and both pretty accurate. I've compared them the results at the doctor's office. You have to wash your hands thoroughly or your results will be off. They work great and they are inexpensive both for the meter and strips and you do not have to hassle with insurance with these meters.
That being said, meters are known for being off by 10 point plus or minus the actual results but this applies to all meters. I do think some of the results are due to user error. Just look at these reviews and they are all over the place but still over 4 stars. Kind of makes you wonder.
Can someone recommend a good glucose meter, or at least a place to research? I have seen some review sites but none of them seem to be very legit? And Consumer Reports charges.
<superfluous info>
I've had the TRUEresult for 18 months and just went to buy new strips to find it's been discontinued due to wrong readings. I'd taken readings when I did lab work and it was pretty close.
I've tried (2) Relions and found them anything but reliable. They weren't close to each other or my lab work.
I am not diabetic but need to keep an eye on things as my A1c is in the mid-5's and slowly creeping up. I do have a couple of family members with diabetes.
The problem is that for someone like me whose fasting level is under 100, the acceptable margin of error is a large enough swing to make the numbers worriesome. ie labs can come back at 89 and Relion may have said 110 which would have worried me a lot. I didn't have that issue with the TRUEresult I was using.
TRUEresult has a replacement but reviews on that are not very good.
Insurance will not pay for this so strips have to be reasonably priced - luckily I don't need to do this daily but there are days I will go through a number of strips just experimenting with what food can bring me back down or what a 15 minute walk will do for me.
If you have no insurance, I recommend the Walmart brand glucometer and Walmart brand strips. The truth is that my wife's experience suggests that one meter isn't much better than another meter.
I am pre-diabetic and bought a Contour Next meter/testing kit on Amazon that seems pretty accurate based on the fact that the reading it gave me one morning was the same one I got later that morning at the doctor's office.
I do indeed have insurance that covers both meters and test strips.
Given that I have an insurance benefit, I'd appreciate any recommendations. I'm pre-diabetic and on Metformin (3x500 per day). My most recent A1c is 6.1
I do indeed have insurance that covers both meters and test strips.
Given that I have an insurance benefit, I'd appreciate any recommendations. I'm pre-diabetic and on Metformin (3x500 per day). My most recent A1c is 6.1
A bit off topic I know, but the pills do not work miracles. They have to helped along with diet and exercise.
I am pre-diabetic and bought a Contour Next meter/testing kit on Amazon that seems pretty accurate based on the fact that the reading it gave me one morning was the same one I got later that morning at the doctor's office.
My doctor prescribed the Bayer Contour Next for me recently. I've been using it for two weeks, morning measurements without having eaten for the previous 10 hours. Every now and then I'd get a reading that was significantly lower, like a 97 when the other readings were 110-120. But this morning, I pulled an 83 and I didn't believe it. Ran another test immediately afterward and got a 97. Either my technique was bad on the first reading, or this thing is susceptible to 15% inaccuracies.
Stick with the Relion wm brand, all you really need to see is how much up or down you go from foods or exercise & using the same meter will give you consistent results.
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