- Messages
- 6
Before I go on I think I should just say "hello", and apologies for any rules I inadvertently break. If I have posted this in the wrong place, I'm very sorry, this place just seemed like the best place to ask this question.
I am new to being diabetic. Got a type 1 diagnosis about 4 weeks ago, and things have been interesting. I can't believe just how well I feel, it's amazing.
Ok.. So ...Here's my question to all you good, knowledgable, and wise folk:
In hospital, after an amazing consultant finally chilled out after spending 3 days getting increasingly more serious and worried, I was given a meter that did both blood sugar, and ketones. I have been dealing with little pricks ever since, and life was good. Been dutifully adding my numbers to a spreadsheet, and keeping track of all the things. No drama at all.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to make a little going out kit (not that I'll be doing much 'going out' any time soon), and as my meter is a little big (I mean it's not 'that' big) I bought another meter from the same company [as the meter I have] this meter just did glucose, and it really is compact. Perfect!!
I was just messing about with the new meter, and I took a test not 2 min after I did a test with the old one, and the numbers were off.. And I mean big time off. We are talking in the order of 40%. The old one is saying 6.1 and the new one 8.6. I have done all the verification steps with control solution (yeah I have gone this far with it).
I have since done a lot of tests, and there doesn't seem to be a reliable difference, it fluctuates all the time, it's not like the new one is always 2mmpl higher, or a percentage higher. I mean it's off all the time, and randomly so.
I took the step of emailing the company to ask them what gives, and I got a very strange reply. In essence, they said that "We don't recommend customers use different meters for this very reason", and that "The two meters are very different", and they wanted to talk to me on the phone about it.
This had me thinking. Well the first thing I did was to ask nice Mr Google for some help, and he told me that the accuracy of the meters has to have at least a 12% accuracy. This confused me a bit more as these things go to the decimal point. Is the decimal number just there for show?
The next thing that started to worry me was that one of these meters would allow me to get VERY low indeed and I would not know about it. I asked the company in the email "Which reading should I trust"? After all I am injecting myself based off these results, and I am getting worried that I might end up going hypo (not had one of those yet) and I wouldn't know about it, well I would get the symptoms, but I'd take a test, and think I was fine.
So what do you think? Am I wrong to expect that a medical device should be accurate? How can something that is designed and sold for the same purpose give different results, and how is this something that should be accepted? After all they both are supposed to do the same job, give a readout of one's blood sugar.
I have very deliberately not said what the meters are or the company I am dealing with as I haven't as yet talked to them and heard their explanation. The reason I am asking you good people first is so that when I do talk to them I am not going into the conversation dumb. Conceivably there might be a good reason that I am not aware of. If there isn't then I'd like to know that so that I don't just metaphorically sit there nodding like a dog when I could be asking more pointed questions.
Thank you so very much from your help, and time,
Grep
I am new to being diabetic. Got a type 1 diagnosis about 4 weeks ago, and things have been interesting. I can't believe just how well I feel, it's amazing.
Ok.. So ...Here's my question to all you good, knowledgable, and wise folk:
In hospital, after an amazing consultant finally chilled out after spending 3 days getting increasingly more serious and worried, I was given a meter that did both blood sugar, and ketones. I have been dealing with little pricks ever since, and life was good. Been dutifully adding my numbers to a spreadsheet, and keeping track of all the things. No drama at all.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to make a little going out kit (not that I'll be doing much 'going out' any time soon), and as my meter is a little big (I mean it's not 'that' big) I bought another meter from the same company [as the meter I have] this meter just did glucose, and it really is compact. Perfect!!
I was just messing about with the new meter, and I took a test not 2 min after I did a test with the old one, and the numbers were off.. And I mean big time off. We are talking in the order of 40%. The old one is saying 6.1 and the new one 8.6. I have done all the verification steps with control solution (yeah I have gone this far with it).
I have since done a lot of tests, and there doesn't seem to be a reliable difference, it fluctuates all the time, it's not like the new one is always 2mmpl higher, or a percentage higher. I mean it's off all the time, and randomly so.
I took the step of emailing the company to ask them what gives, and I got a very strange reply. In essence, they said that "We don't recommend customers use different meters for this very reason", and that "The two meters are very different", and they wanted to talk to me on the phone about it.
This had me thinking. Well the first thing I did was to ask nice Mr Google for some help, and he told me that the accuracy of the meters has to have at least a 12% accuracy. This confused me a bit more as these things go to the decimal point. Is the decimal number just there for show?
The next thing that started to worry me was that one of these meters would allow me to get VERY low indeed and I would not know about it. I asked the company in the email "Which reading should I trust"? After all I am injecting myself based off these results, and I am getting worried that I might end up going hypo (not had one of those yet) and I wouldn't know about it, well I would get the symptoms, but I'd take a test, and think I was fine.
So what do you think? Am I wrong to expect that a medical device should be accurate? How can something that is designed and sold for the same purpose give different results, and how is this something that should be accepted? After all they both are supposed to do the same job, give a readout of one's blood sugar.
I have very deliberately not said what the meters are or the company I am dealing with as I haven't as yet talked to them and heard their explanation. The reason I am asking you good people first is so that when I do talk to them I am not going into the conversation dumb. Conceivably there might be a good reason that I am not aware of. If there isn't then I'd like to know that so that I don't just metaphorically sit there nodding like a dog when I could be asking more pointed questions.
Thank you so very much from your help, and time,
Grep