Blood Testing & Self Treatment: Your Current Experiences

[noblehead]

Convenience wise you can't look beyond the Contour Next meter, it just plugs into USB port and away you go, you do have to download the software first but it is less hassle, also like the fact that it recharges from the USB port too.

I've did the DAFNE course a few years back, it fine tuned what I already knew about carb counting.

 

[Spiker]

I agree connectivity is a joke. I want all meters, pumps and CGMs to talk to each other on standard bluetooth or wifi. And I seriously want pens that can do this too.

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[Spiker]

All meters should come with dose wizards like the Expert. The dose wizards should be expanded to include extra parameters like fat and protein as well as carbs. Meters should integrate with wireless-enabled pens to support IOB tracking like pumps do, and factor IOB into their dose wizards.

Privacy concerns with wireless meters and pumps need to be addressed. This can be done by applying well known principles but will only happen if security experts are involved instead of having security designed by amateurs as has happened up to now.

Meters (and pumps) should suggest possible changes to carb ratios, correction ratios and basal rates, based on observed readings and known inputs over a period of time.

Meters should have a "basal test" mode that alarms every hour or two and calculates the rise or fall rate and a suggested basal rate change based on the ISF stored in the meter.

Similarly you could have an ISF test mode and a carb ratio test mode. These could also be used to confirm the insulin action curve for IOB purposes, and store it on the meter.

A meter with all this valuable information on board would need the ability to restore this information from a backup if the meter was lost, or lost memory, or to clone that information to another meter.

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[Ian DP]

Wifi connection.

Don't want cables, wifi is the way to go. With wifi we would soon see apps on the market collecting the data, or we could save to a wifi sharing database like cloud, where we could pick up the data and easily transfer it to say an excel spread sheet.




Diagnosed T2 in sept 2013, BS levels 20+. BMI 22, age 58. Requested a GAD test in November, came back very high 2,000+, doc said I would be T1 very soon, but presently LADA, and managing to keep 99% of my BS readings one hour after meals under 7.8 without insulin or any medication.
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[Flowerpot]

I agree with the need for improved connectivity and as a partially sighted type 1 I find the lack of contrast a real issue on the meter screen. Light grey with darker grey/black symbols is a real challenge. A screen where you could enhance the contrast by setting a different colour background/symbols and the ability to increase text size would make me a happy girl. I realise this is not a problem if you have two good eyes but for me it is a challenge both with meter and pump screens.

 

[iHs]

I am finding looking at the Vibe menu screen somewhat difficult in bright sunlight and am putting it in the bottom of my handbag when I need to do a bolus as its nice and dark, so can see whats on the screen easier. The same problem exists for other dark menu screen bg meters......great indoors but not so in sunshine outside

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[Calum Fovargue]

Connectivity will definately be a major element to my final design - most likely bluetooth or wifi - Interconnctivity of devices and data seems the logical way forward for self management.

Cloud storage could provide a means of back-up...and possibly a means to send data to diabetic nurses, or fellow diabetics (such as the kind people of this forum) for review and advice...(?)

Spiker - with regards to bolus/treatment advice in a meter: for a while i thought it was the obvious choice - to enable technology to help reach our target blood levels, though I'm not sure.

My personal experience with the expert has actually been one of over-reliance- where at one time I began seeing my bloods go out of target and my reduced ability to identify the cause and the right change of treatment (though this could be a simple matter of laziness on my part).

Thank you all for your continued contributions to the thread, the more variety of people and experiences, the better.

 

[Spiker]

I guess if there are wizard features on a device they don't have to be used, but it's nice to have the option. On this site we spend a lot of time walking people through how to do bolus calculations, check carb ratios, check basal rates, check correction ratios. In some cases they have had diabetes for years and never been taught this. So wizards on a meter or pump could be a good substitute for what seems to be big gaps in patient education.

I have to say that you really sound like you know what you are doing. Quite a few have posted on here looking for input on proposed devices, but you give me far and away the most confidence that you will come up with some really useful improvements. Good luck!

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[JacHibbert]

Hi Calum

The first BG meter I used was back in the 1980's and was huge. It was about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, so things have moved on a bit. I currently use Bayer 's Contour Next USB Meter as this was provided when I started on my Medtronic Pump. I like this meter because it can be charged through the computer. It's small and easy to use.
My only complaint with the meter is that the display is difficult to read when it's very sunny. I also don't like the pricker that came with it and am still using my old accu-chek multiclix.
As I cycle quite a bit, both road and Mountain, I would love a meter that could attach to the handlebars. When wearing my CGM, it would be handy if the meter could display the reading from the pump aswell.
You did ask.........
Jac

 

[Jaylee]

Wifi connectivity for back up & the like would be fantastic... An account would be needed to share this data.
Possibly synching with a second/spare meter by recognising the users home router on return...?

Blimey. If I can synch contacts/diaries flawlessly between an Ipad, windows phone & laptop, I can't be that hard..?!!

Power consumption on this device would be a concern regarding the wireless connectivity ..

 

[Spiker]

In the spirit of not reinventing the wheel... Diasend is effectively a cloud based storage and analysis site for all your data. So integrating with that is easier than replacing all their functionality from scratch. Of course even better would be a way to upload to different cloud services, so they could compete to be the best.

 

[Ian DP]

If you google wifi glucose meter, there are two wifi meters available in USA, one for $30
Ihealthlabs.com and telcare.com
Not seen them in the Uk yet.



Diagnosed T2 in sept 2013, BS levels 20+. BMI 22, age 58. Requested a GAD test in November, came back very high 2,000+, doc said I would be T1 very soon, but presently LADA, and managing to keep 99% of my BS readings one hour after meals under 7.8 without insulin or any medication.
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[Hebe]

I find my accu chek aviva combo meter doesn't work at cold temperatures which could be something to be improved.
I also find the meter takes a while to recognise the strip meaning wasted strips.
I think a place you can write a food diary or any notes about a reading would be useful rather than having to use a separate app would be really good.



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[lizdeluz]

I don't like that I can't read my Accu-chek Aviva Expert outside.

 

[SpikeThacker]

It is easy to forget just what a revolution for diabetic care self blood glucose meters represent. That said biggest challenge most users face is expense of strips - diabetes is a growing epidemic worldiwde, so plenty of incentive for suppliers to grow volume and reduce prices.

Other pet peeve is connectivity. Many meters store data and are compatible with monitoring software, BUT almost all do not include USB cable with meter (Impossible to source in many countries). Also software often only Windows compatible ;-( . Imbedding a wireless app in all meters is long overdue.

i have the freestyle optium neo, absolutely brilliant even in bright sunlight, and comes with a nice yellow usb cable........i know i have not been type 1 for long, but from what i've seen of other blood meters , this 1 is the dog's............. it also does both blood and keytones, and the range of graphs and stats provided by abbott-freestyle once you plug it in to your computer, are second to none.

 

[SpikeThacker]

Connectivity will definately be a major element to my final design - most likely bluetooth or wifi - Interconnctivity of devices and data seems the logical way forward for self management.

Cloud storage could provide a means of back-up...and possibly a means to send data to diabetic nurses, or fellow diabetics (such as the kind people of this forum) for review and advice...(?)

Spiker - with regards to bolus/treatment advice in a meter: for a while i thought it was the obvious choice - to enable technology to help reach our target blood levels, though I'm not sure.

My personal experience with the expert has actually been one of over-reliance- where at one time I began seeing my bloods go out of target and my reduced ability to identify the cause and the right change of treatment (though this could be a simple matter of laziness on my part).

Thank you all for your continued contributions to the thread, the more variety of people and experiences, the better.

1 other thing about the cloudbase, being a LGV driver, part of the conditions for keeping my licence as set down by DVLA is that i have 3 months of readings on my memory meter, and that i take bloods every 2 hours while driving(sore fingers). ATM i don't know how they will get this info without stopping me and looking a my meter, but if there were a central cloudbase, that wouldn't be a problem. obviously personnal data protection would be an issue, but if you a driver i would rather them just access when they need to , rather than take time off work to fullfil their requirements. hope this makes sense

 

[iHs]

I think its really important to be able to see the screen clearly in sunshine. The Nano Aviva is hopeless cos of black screen but the Aviva is ok due to pale grey screen.
The Combo/Expert meters work ok in cold weather by putting them in a pocket with a hand warmer. The battery issue is still a problem at times though and could be rectified by using springs inside the battery compartment instead of terminals.

If basal bolus regimes continue to flourish, all bg meters should ideally have a bolus wizard built into them and have bg teststrips that work on a very small droplet and be produced at a cheap affordable price and be able to connect using a wireless app.
Using the Internet is all very well but what happens when broadband is no longer affordable at home? Will we all start walking to a wifi pub, restaurant etc. Exercise will be good

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[iHs]

I like Abbot meters in general but dont think much of the Freestyle Optium.

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[Heathenlass]

Connectivity with Linux would be fantastic .
I recently upgraded Ye Ancient Bog Standard Meter to an Insulinx on the advice of a very kind person, and was looking forward to seeing my results in a readable format,but the software isn't Linux compatable.

Otherwise, I'm finding the meter just great

Signy

 

[Spiker]

Connectivity with Linux would be fantastic .

You are a woman after my own heart, Signy.