Thanks robbity. I experimented again this evening and found more variation in results with a smaller amount of blood. If there's more the readings seem to be more consistent. So I shall try to prick a little deeper and get a good sample to test and see how it goes
But
don't get hung up over re-testing every few minutes all the time. Just take your normal pre and post meal readings for say a week and see how they come out. If you see a
big jump up or down from the rest of these readings, then may be the time to worry a bit.
When I changed meters from my original Aviva Nano to a Bayer Contour there was a difference in the levels of my readings (Contour was higher) , but they tended for the most part to be fairly consistent within the general patterns I was seeing.
If it's really stressing you out, look into getting boxes of 50 strips for your old meter from ebay (there are often bargains to be had) - it will be obviously be a bigger outlay per box, but will actually be a lot cheaper per strip. But if you need to get your strips from chemists, ask about a diabetes VAT free form to sign for them, which will save you 20%.
Robbity