Concerns about SD Codefree

[Anonymous]

PS the only way of knowing which meters are REALLY reliable, is to test in parallel near the time of the HbA1c and then compare the numbers. It's easy to find the BG/ HbA1c comparison on-line. Anyone got an HbA1c coming up? My last one was pretty much in-line with my Freestyle Lite meter.
Hana

Mine is due early June. It will be my very first as well. My monthly averages on the freestyle are coming out as 5 right now. So it would be an Hba1c of 5.

I am just going to keep the flipping lot until I have that test so I can determine which is the best for accuracy!

 

[jansmith7]

Re SD Meter. Like many others bought one of these as was attracted by low price of strips. Like everybody else I got high readings compared with my Freestyle mini. To check bought a new lot of test strips-same result. Borrowed a Contour with test fluid- the SD meter tested outside range high (8.7 versus max of 8.3) However real problem is on self testing eg 2 hours after lunch Freestle 6.2 SD Meter 9.6. Have never had result above 8.0 in years of testing and my freestyle results compare well with those from the doctors surgery and from the H1ac results.
Lookig at all the posts it is obvious that there are serious questions about this meter and I for one am not going to use it as I have no confidence in it. The supplier doesnt seem interested in helping either- unlike all the other meter suppliers!
Type 2 Diet controlled

 

[Anonymous]

Re SD Meter. Like many others bought one of these as was attracted by low price of strips. Like everybody else I got high readings compared with my Freestyle mini. To check bought a new lot of test strips-same result. Borrowed a Contour with test fluid- the SD meter tested outside range high (8.7 versus max of 8.3) However real problem is on self testing eg 2 hours after lunch Freestle 6.2 SD Meter 9.6. Have never had result above 8.0 in years of testing and my freestyle results compare well with those from the doctors surgery and from the H1ac results.
Lookig at all the posts it is obvious that there are serious questions about this meter and I for one am not going to use it as I have no confidence in it. The supplier doesnt seem interested in helping either- unlike all the other meter suppliers!
Type 2 Diet controlled

Hi Jan.

I have paid the supplier to send me control fluid so I can test the meter, but I can`t see how I felt so weird the other day when my reading from the lite was so low. I just want accurate!

 

[minitata]

The SD codefree I have gives the US (I think) type of measurement ie 90 - 107 = 5-6%, which we are supposed to be moving over to. My bloods have been excellent on it. I have a couple of other meters - given to me free and I can't afford the strips - and they all give about the same numbers.

MTT

 

[Sunhat]

I ordered a SD codefree machine yesterday... hope I do not regret it! I live in Spain and the test strips here (for ´normal´ machines) are far more expensive than in the UK, that is why I bought the SD machine (I read about it on another posting)
I tried my new machine (given by the diabetic association) a Breeze 2 and then my old machine, a Accu-chek Aviva and the Aviva reading was 2 points higher than the Breeze 2 I have not got the machines close by so I can´t tell you what the readings were, only there was just over 2 points between them.
I have noticed too that if you test on one hand and then retest on the other hand you can get a different reading..... :eh:
I have not tested for months, but I get a regular 2 monthly blood test taken at the Drs. My HbA1c results have always been around 6
I hope I have not wasted my money..... I bought 300 test strips too, to save postage :?

Sunhat

 

[lucylocket61]

I have had my SDCodefree for about5-6 weeks now and the readings are fine.

I also now have a Glycomen meter and 50 strips a month from my doctors. I use it for my morning fasting test and it is not far off what my SDCodefree came up with. maybe 0.5 +/-

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I bought an SD codefree meter some weeks ago. The reason was that since the NHS wish to ration my use of my Freestyle Lite I was looking for an alternative device with cheaper test strips so that I could be independent and not go broke at the same time.
Straight away I noticed that the SD was reading high. Actually the first time I compared it to the Freestyle it read 12.4 with a 6.2 for the Freestyle. One of them does not read in mmol/l was the conclusion I came to. I looked at the Zurich University research and they say the Freestyle reads about 10% slow but they also say that the SD reads slow also but not quite so much.
I was not happy with the SD since I have to discuss the results with my nurse and this would be like talking in Farenheit while she was talking in Centigrade.
I came up with the idea of a conversion factor. If I could find out how ambitious the SD was then I could multiply the result by that factor to align the readings with the Freestyle and the nurse. To this end I took a series of readings with both meters and in each test I used the same blood sample whether it was artificial or real.
So far I have determined that the SD meter always reads higher than the Freestyle. Unfortunately it reads 10% higher at very low readings, 25% higher for low/middle readings, 10% again for high/middle readings and anything up to 30% for very high readings. On one occasion using artificial blood the Freestyle read 13 and the SD 20.
I have concluded that I cannot use the SD meter and get readings that are of use to me or the nurse.

 

[catza]

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your SD Codefree Squire. I use mine and occasionally check the results against a CareSens meter which I keep as a backup and there is never more than a 0.5 difference in the readings in the 5 to 6 range. I have noticed that the latest batch of strips with an expiry date of 2011-11 are giving me slightly higher readings but not a lot. Have you contacted the supplier as they may be able to work out what is happening?

 

[lucylocket61]

I use a glucomen meter and a SDCodefree meter and there has only been a o.5 discrepancy between them. I range the Codefree people yesterday about something else they were very approachable and helpful.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Catza

Yes I had a discussion with the supplier but there was no joy there. They kept arguing there was nothing wrong with it and sending me research done by Zurich University and did not wish to listen to anyone who criticised their lovely meter. I considered returning it under the distance selling regulations but took the honourable route of not doing so since I got some blood on it at one point. I would not like to think of them selling it on to another victim.

I have now decided it would have been cheaper to have spent the money on Freestyle test strips instead.

I find I cannot give a recommendation for the SD meter. What I think of it is not allowed on a nice bulletin board like this.

 

[Defren]

I used a Codefree since diagnosis, but was given an accu chek aviva and strips by my GP yesterday. I too have noticed my CF gives higher readings. I logged yesterdays on my diet thread, as well as my accu view. In all the tests I took them both at the same time and with the same blood. SD definitely reads higher.

 

[Blondage]

Guys and Girls,

Thanks for drawing my attention to this.

I emailed a couple of suppliers and bless them I received a freestyle lite and a caresense n monitor. Having only got my act together and reading all the advice on here - invaluable - I have just done a test on each 2 hours after eating. Only a couple of mins between tests. Free style gave me a reading of 5.7 whilst care sense gave me a reading of 8. Nightmare in Home Counties!

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I think I have made a breakthrough with my SD Codefree meter. As I said in my earlier post it reads high when compared to my Freestyle which makes it difficult to discuss the results with my nurse because she lives on a different scale.

I have persisted with the comparison between the two and recorded all the results. The next part of the plan was to enter the results of the SD onto a spreadsheet in diary format. There is an identical diary on the right hand side of the spreadsheet where the numbers are derived from the SD readings but multiplied by 0.885. This is a number derived by trial and error because I also entered the actual readings of the Freestyle in order to compare them with the SD derived ones and if they were different I tinkered.
A couple of Freestyle readings are identical to the SD derived ones. Most of the rest are acceptably close and, of course, there is always the one that came from nowhere and just wrecks your stats.

Also, I did the average of the derived readings. I used to do this when I only used the Freestyle. This is not the same as my Hba1c but gives me a warm feeling when the average is going down and gives me something to aim for. This average is very close to the sort of numbers I used to get with the Freestyle so I think I have made the SD usable, for me at least. Other people may have an SD with a different level of high reading.

I am amazed how much work I am willing to put in just so I can use the cheaper test strips.

One point to note. My SD can go completely out of whack at extreme ends of the scale so this technique might not be a good thing for anyone who is habitually hyper/hypo.

 

[hanadr]

It was me who ended up returning the SD codefree.They told me from their office that there had been issues with strips. My usual range of readings is from 4.4 to 6.5. When I got 8.x I wasn't best pleased. I have a Freestyle Lite and in tests, those are some of the most accurate meter.s
Hana

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Hana

Yes I believe you. You can tell from my previous posts what I think of it. There are one or two things that might have helped (and might not). The SD requires three times as much blood for a sample and it is well to make sure there is plenty for it to test since smaller amounts seem to upset it. The Freestyle is particularly good at using a tiny sample and the larger one takes practice.

There is no doubt in my mind that the SD reads high. This is mainly a problem if you have to compare these results with those at the surgery but if you know they are high you can make allowance. Don't rely on it if your reading are usually low or quite high.

If you can't live with it, throw it away and get one you trust.

 

[angieG]

Just to confuse matters even more, my freestyle actually read higher than my SD the other day.
I'm sure that the strips vary from batch to batch from both companies as I seem to be able to tell by my readings when I start a different batch, even different batches of Freestyle ones (and others have commented on this too).
I think once you get used to using two side by side you get a rough idea of where you are and that is all that we really need most of the time as none are totally accurate.

Regards
Angie

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Every now and again I too get a reading from either meter which is completely off the wall. I wish I could just disregard such readings but I record everything so that I don't appear to be cheating. Nevertheless I wish I had an explanation for why it happens but I don't. Could be a dodgy strip, wind in the East or the wrong type of blood. You just have to row round it.

 

[catza]

As my current batch of SD Codefree strips have been giving higher than expected readings I contacted the UK suppliers and thought that the latest test results carried out by the manufactures may be of interest to anyone using, or contemplating buying, a meter. The other meters included in the tests were the Accu-check active, the Onetouch Ultra and the Caresens 2.

Sorry for the clunky way I have had to show the report but I couldn't work out how to give a link to the original PDF. :?






If anyone who understands the figures thinks that they are bad I would be grateful if they could add any comments as to me it looks like the Codefree is still a good low cost option.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

very interesting charts and as supportive of the SD as those that Home Health forwarded on to me some weeks ago but what I would like explained is the following:-

This morning I got a reading from the SD of 5.2 and thinking that I wasn't expecting that since I was just starting to shake I put a test strip into my freedom lite and from the same drop of blood I got a reading of 4.1. That's about a 20% difference according to how you do your sums.

Never mind the charts, should I be concerned about the above.

 

[catza]

Shame you didn't retest with the Codefree as well. I get the odd test strip reading with both my Codefree and my Caresens N. It used to worry me but, now I am more in control, I will just review what I have eaten and if the reading still looks silly I ignore it rather than waste strips retesting or checking with my spare meter.

I think in your case the Codefree test strip reading was a tad duff and the freedom lite reading more closely reflected the reason for you feeling shaky .. a drop in blood sugar levels. I also think it shows that you are understanding the signals your body is sending out and not panicing which is great. :thumbup: