What Meter to go for?

[zacthedog]

Hello all.
I was diagnosed two days ago with type 2, suspected diabetes just before Christmas, bought a self test kit from boots and tested myself Christmas morning with a result of 25, so I knew I was higher than the standard 4 - 6, played it safe over Christmas by not gorging on the sugar, something I seem to have done a bit too much! I am due to see a diabetic nurse on the 13th Jan, and have been put on one 500mg of Metformin for a week then increasing to two 500mg in week two, but at the moment I have no means of checking my blood sugar and want to get a tester asap as I do not want to risk going Hypo,has anybody got a recommendation of what to buy for the short term? I am a complete needle phobe but understand that I will need to prick my finger for blood.
and recommendation greatly received.
My wife I think is also worried, her father was type 1, double amputee through diabetes, and he passed away around 30 years ago, personally I understand my T2 is not like T1 and his diabetes was also a caused numerous other health issues, but she does fear for my health, I have been around diabetics a lot of my working life and have been a first aider for 25 years and every coarse I have been on has covered it also.
A bit about myself, I am 46 work for a large Builders Merchant as a manager, unfit, but love the outdoors, especially the Norfolk Broads, which are my life, I also have a motorcycle and love my German Shepherd Zac, Married no kids.
I am looking at this new life with Diabetes as a positive, a chance to start again on a healthier way of life, not as an end to all I like but a chance to improve the way I am living, there is a history of heart problems in my family and I knew I would end up the same way, but now have the chance to change and increase my life, admittedly I have not changed my diet too much and know there are hard times and decisions to come after I have seen the nurse, but I am going try my hardest to right the wrongs of my past life and looking forward I see blue sky ahead.
all the best for now,
Gary.

 

[Southbeds]

Most of members go for the SDcodefree meter,I bought mine from Amazon, as the teststrips a cheaper that the rest,about £7 for 50 ,with the free meters they will sting you when you buy the teststrips ,unless you can get them from your doctor,go to the low carb forum ,it changed my life

 

[ally1]

I use the code free meter and has been a god send. In the beginning my readings before meals were in the 20.s and now with med are in the 5,s. It's worth buying a meter

 

[Robbity]

Definitely get the SD Codefree as the test strips (which are the main "running" costs) are the cheapest around. Check the forum too as there posts giving discount codes available for buying the strips in larger quantities.

I have a different meter, cheap to buy but the strips are expensive. If I'd known about the Codefree sooner I might have made a different choice. But whatever brand you buy, testing is certainly one of the best tools in our war against diabetes.

Robbity

 

[Arizona]

I use the Bayer Next USB - yes it's dearer to buy and run but I can upload to my PC to do some analysis. No my DBN does not approve - and was quite bemused that I would want to test, but I know now what to eat and what spikes me up. It's odd but the NHS doesn't seem to understand that knowledge is power!

 

[Prem51]

Despite the advice on here I resisted buying a meter, as I don't like the idea of pricking my fingers several times a day.
But I now realise that although I brought my HbA1c down between being diagnosed and my 3 month retest, I will not know how my levels are going until my next test at end of September.
Also I would like to know how different foods (and beer) would affect my levels. So I have ordered a meter online.

It is the Accu-Chek Mobile Blood Glucose System meter, about £20 on Amazon. I chose it because it has generally good user reviews. Users say the lancet pricks are less deep and painful than other meters. It doesn't use strips. The downside is that it only comes with 50 tests which have to be used within 90 days or they expire, and new lancets cost more than a new meter, so it costs more than the code free meter at £20 every 90 days.

But I will use it as an introduction to testing. If I find it does help me I might get another after 90 days or try the code free meter with testing strips. It should arrive on Monday.

 

[R2T2]

Despite the advice on here I resisted buying a meter, as I don't like the idea of pricking my fingers several times a day.
But I now realise that although I brought my HbA1c down between being diagnosed and my 3 month retest, I will not know how my levels are going until my next test at end of September.
Also I would like to know how different foods (and beer) would affect my levels. So I have ordered a meter online.

It is the Accu-Check Mobile Blood Glucose System meter, about £20 on Amazon. I chose it because it has generally good user reviews. Users say the lancet pricks are less deep and painful than other meters. It doesn't use strips. The downside is that it only comes with 50 tests which have to be used within 90 days or they expire, and new lancets cost more than a new meter, so it costs more than the code free meter at £20 every 90 days.

But I will use it as an introduction to testing. If I find it does help me I might get another after 90 days or try the code free meter with testing strips. It should arrive on Monday.

I have that meter too. I have found that our local ASDA do the same meter for £17 at the moment, so I've bought a spare from there as it is cheaper than buying the cartridges.
Don't forget to register your meter to get a free case, free batteries, and some other freebies.
Oh yes, before I forget.... when you are setting the meter up, the instructions tell you to twist the needle thingy to set it to a new needle. Don't do this the first time as it will just waste the first one.

 

[Prem51]

I have that meter too. I have found that our local ASDA do the same meter for £17 at the moment, so I've bought a spare from there as it is cheaper than buying the cartridges.
Don't forget to register your meter to get a free case, free batteries, and some other freebies.
Oh yes, before I forget.... when you are setting the meter up, the instructions tell you to twist the needle thingy to set it to a new needle. Don't do this the first time as it will just waste the first one.

Thanks @R2T2. There isn't an ASDA near where I live. But I will be passing one later in the week so I might pop in to see if they are still on offer and pick up a spare.

 

[BeccaScott]

Yeah I want a meter but I am scared prick my fingers as I' m frightened of needles. I had T2 since April last year.

 

[Osterley]

Join the club Becca, I was a right woos about needles and things, I was so up tight about them that I put up with all the symptoms of thirst and affected eyesight for weeks because I was afraid of the blood test and the thought of daily reading and possibly injections.

Take it from me, the daily self test is fine, it doesn't hurt and you don't have to see the needle thing, it's fine, really

 

[Munkki]

The first time I held the pricker on my finger for half an hour or so before pricking, but then it did not hurt

I drowned my Accu Chek a few weeks ago on a rainy walk, and just ordered an SD Code Free on Amazon. Let's see how they compare.

 

[Osterley]

I've ordered an SD too, just waiting for a friend to bring it out to Santorini for me

 

[jakeblu]

I have the Freestyle lite had it about 6 years now. The strips are expensive but I do get 50 a month on prescription, doesn't everybody get strips on prescription?

 

[Type1Lad]

see if you can grab a wavesense jazz for free from drs if you can the strips are rather cheap like 11-13 pound

 

[Prem51]

Yeah I want a meter but I am scared prick my fingers as I' m frightened of needles. I had T2 since April last year.

Hi @BeccaScott and welcome to the forum! I have a needle phobia too. I blame the doctor who came to our house to give us injections when I was a child. I have a memory of being dragged out from behind a sofa and having a huge needle plunged into my arm. Since my childhood innoculations I have only had one injection in almost 60 years.

I didn't want to self test with a meter either and resisted for the first four months after diagnosis, but realised last week that I would not know how my blood sugars were going until my next HbA1c test in August, unless I self tested.

I bought the Accu-Chek mobile (£20 on Amazon, £17 in ASDA) after reading reviews, and have been testing for the last four days. Once I worked out how to do the tests it has been quite straightforward. I wasted the first 3 tests as I didn't have a big enough blood spot for the test. And two tests didn't work this morning - the meter just said test unsuccessful, but not why.

It's not like a vaccination needle, it's encased in a pen type cover which you hold against the side of your finger and press the top. You only feel it a liitle. I might go on to use the cheaper code free meter, but will keep using the pen type pricker that comes with this meter.

It has made me feel better knowing that my results are showing a mmol/L of around 5.7-5.8, which would be a HbA1c of about 34-34.5 ie in the non-diabetic range.

I can fully understand your fear of needles, but believe me as a fellow needle phobic, that testing to a meter is a lot easier than having an injection. And I want to control my condition to avoid perhaps having to end up having injections of insulin or other medication if I possibly can.

 

[Grillpan]

I was able to get a meter on prescription.

I have no idea how to manage a low carb diet, I really am uneducated on what to eat. I am working through it but I still really have no idea, sometimes I will pick up something that i believe is healthy but when I read the numbers on the RDA's it turns out that its really not.

I am also very target driven and so the only way I can handle bring my levels down from 20 odd to something more realistic is to be able to do a test. Same as a dieter might weigh themselves.

When I explained that to the diabetic nurse she offered to give me a monitor so that I could do a before an after test to help me to see the effects that a meal has had on me and so that i could manage my diabetes in the way that works best for me. I had to promise that I would not over test myself, which she had a concern about but, I promised and I dont and so thats ok.

I dont have a needle phobia so much but I have a problem with the idea of something in my body that is open to the outside world anything hypodermic like really gives me the chills. like a bee is gong to fly in through the needle and have full access to everything. Far from rational i know that but fear is fear, cant help it.

The point is I had a real problem with doing the first test because I didn't understand how it was going to feel and causing pain to myself is pretty alien, I am still nervous even after 10 tests or so but not nervous enough not to do it. Once you take the first step it gets easier but its still very odd.

Anyway rambling.

 

[Phil-86]

I got a free Glucomen LX from my GP and another for my car from the Hospital. I've used this since being diagnosed in November and having only tried this it seems to be fantastic. Huge memory and plenty of features with it too. The strips come in 10 and 50 as far as I'm aware but I couldn't tell you how much as they're free on my Prescriptions.

 

[BeccaScott]

Join the club Becca, I was a right woos about needles and things, I was so up tight about them that I put up with all the symptoms of thirst and affected eyesight for weeks because I was afraid of the blood test and the thought of daily reading and possibly injections.

Take it from me, the daily self test is fine, it doesn't hurt and you don't have to see the needle thing, it's fine, really

Hi Osterley

Thank you for information because I really want to lose weight but having problems doing on my own. I went on an x-pert course last year so I have bit more knowledge about than I did.

 

[Tim55]

I use the SD Codefree too. I am also petrified of needles but I can cope with this quite easily.

On my first consultation with the DN I was given a meter and a testing regime to follow, but when I went back three months later, having reduced my Hba1c from 107 to around half that level I was told to stop testing and I have not managed to get test strips on prescription since. Type 1s get meters and strips, but not type 2 under NICE guidelines

DN asked how I had reduced my FBG levels so much and I had great delight in telling her "basically, by ignoring everything you told me about the healthy plate"

A strategy I continue to follow to this day.

I follow LCHF principles but I now find I can afford a bit more latitude than some, but I only know this because I self test and I fully agree with Arizona - how can you manage anything without the relevant data?

One thing to bear in nind when starting down this road is that meters are not particularly accurate (only required to be +/- 15% at 10mmol, and +/-10 at 5 mmol levels.

What this means is that different brands may read either a bit higher or a bit lower than others, and the SD is generally believed to read a little on the high side - which to me, is a good thing.

It also means you will see variations between tests so don't worry too much about the accurate spot figures, plot the results and watch the trends. By that I mean don't panic if it reads say 5.9 one morning and 9.1 the next, but I would worry about any readings more than say 2 units higher than the previous one.

 

[zacthedog]

Well for speed of getting one, i got the Accu Aviva, with the fastclix lance, being a needle phobe, i faint when the doc want a blood sample, so the virtual pain free blurb atracted me, first two test took around 5 minutes for me to pluck up tbe courage to push the button, so not a good start, but that said it is fine now and the pain is beyond minimal, so i now prick like a pro! I will definatly look at some of the meters you have recommended, after i see the DSN on the 13th and see if i can get one on perscription, so for free now i do not have to pay perscriptions anymore, got to be some benefits hay?
Thanks all for the help.