Codefree Bg Meter.

[glucose kid]

Been thinking of getting the above meter as I have been using Accu Chek Aviva, but the strips are so expensive.

Read some report's of problems with accuracy and reliability of readings.

Are they ok or should I bite the bullet and keep buying the Accu Chek strips?

 

[ally1]

Many members here use the sd codefree meter. I did use another one very briefly because it was free but the strips were very expensive.
Regarding the difference in reading, I have no idea so hopefully others will be able to help

 

[ukuleleplayer]

Hi glucose kid.
I use the SD Codefree.
I get the strips & lancets from Amazon. They're reasonably priced a delivered to the door.
The meter comes with a test strip to check it's working OK and test solutions are also available (Amazon again) to test accuracy range. The meter also retains readings and gives averages.
Judging by other's experiences, I'd say the Codefree is a sensible, affordable option.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

It does appear to read high. This is because it is calibrated to read plasma. It does this by sampling whole blood and doing a conversion. If you normally read in the normal range (say below 10) then I find that knocking one mmol off the reading makes it comparable to my whole blood meter. This does not apply in the higher ranges where the SD appears to go into orbit.

 

[glucose kid]

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[75Bedford]

Hi glucose kid. I was using an Accu Chek Expert and like you found the price for strips too expensive so purchased my SD Codefree and started using it this week. My readings were slightly higher than normal so tested using both machines (same blood sample), the difference varied (over 10 tests) from 02 - 05 so not too much of a discrepancy. It did bother me at first but have now stopped comparing and accepted the new levels will still show if any worrying trends are occurring. Hope this helps.

 

[PatsyB]

I actually sent for one of these meters and am very happy with it

 

[carty]

Better to buy it from healthcare themselves you can get a discount on strips I am sure someone will post what they are ,sorry I don't have them at the moment
CAROL

 

[Serena51]

Healthcare codes:-
5 Tubs 264086
10tubs 975833

 

[jonbvn]

Better to buy it from healthcare themselves you can get a discount on strips I am sure someone will post what they are ,sorry I don't have them at the moment
CAROL

I use this meter, which I think is excellent. Where can I buy the strips at a discount? Who are "healthcare".

 

[walnut_face]

I think Carty means www.homehealth-uk.com

 

[carty]

Yes that is the one the promotion code no is 264086 for 5 packs
CAROL

 

[Oldvatr]

Hi glucose kid. I was using an Accu Chek Expert and like you found the price for strips too expensive so purchased my SD Codefree and started using it this week. My readings were slightly higher than normal so tested using both machines (same blood sample), the difference varied (over 10 tests) from 02 - 05 so not too much of a discrepancy. It did bother me at first but have now stopped comparing and accepted the new levels will still show if any worrying trends are occurring. Hope this helps.

The SD Codefree and all Accuchek meters are calibrated for Plasma display so will show much the same when doing a comparison between them, but the results will be 12% higher than the NICE and DVLA guidelines. If you were yo compare against another meter such as a NEO or XCEED then the difference will be 1 to 1.5 mmol/l This means you will be trying to get your bgl lower than NICE says it should be. and you may experience hypo's occurring at a higher reading than indicated by the published figures. So for me on my NEO I start to consider a hypo whrn it reads 3.8 or lower. but my SD will be reporting more like 5.5 for the same blood drop

If you are happy with the Accuchek. then the SD should be very similar but much cheaper.

My SD also misreads on occarions and gives wrong readings/ I haave recorded errors in excess of 40% out, but with two meters this is simple to detect, but if I was using a single meter, then I would not know. This is why I use 2 meters in parallel.

 

[jonbvn]

I think Carty means www.homehealth-uk.com

Thank you. Quite a saving.

 

[75Bedford]

The SD Codefree and all Accuchek meters are calibrated for Plasma display so will show much the same when doing a comparison between them, but the results will be 12% higher than the NICE and DVLA guidelines. If you were yo compare against another meter such as a NEO or XCEED then the difference will be 1 to 1.5 mmol/l This means you will be trying to get your bgl lower than NICE says it should be. and you may experience hypo's occurring at a higher reading than indicated by the published figures. So for me on my NEO I start to consider a hypo whrn it reads 3.8 or lower. but my SD will be reporting more like 5.5 for the same blood drop

If you are happy with the Accuchek. then the SD should be very similar but much cheaper.

My SD also misreads on occarions and gives wrong readings/ I haave recorded errors in excess of 40% out, but with two meters this is simple to detect, but if I was using a single meter, then I would not know. This is why I use 2 meters in parallel.

Many thanks for your reply Oldvatr, really appreciated. As chance would have it my Accuchek gave up the ghost and died two days ago so can no longer double check if I get a reading i'm not sure is correct. Think I may have to get a new one as a standby but i'm not sure which one to get now, any suggestions anyone ?

 

[Oldvatr]

Many thanks for your reply Oldvatr, really appreciated. As chance would have it my Accuchek gave up the ghost and died two days ago so can no longer double check if I get a reading i'm not sure is correct. Think I may have to get a new one as a standby but i'm not sure which one to get now, any suggestions anyone ?

There are often giveaways offered on this site where manufacturers provide a starter kit for free to enable you to try it out, hoping that they then lock you into forever more purchasing their consumables. Ergo - choose an offer where the strips are affordable for your budget. Your GP or DCN will have a preferred meter they use in their practice, and they often choose for reliability and quality since they get strips at NHS prices.
The problems of some meters being calibrated differently has been aired here, and such difficulties can be adjusted for, so are livable with.
Some meters give better support for insulin users, most modern ones provide logging based on pre/ post prandials, and can average. I use a spreadsheet for logging, so do my own analysis and graphs etc, Spreadsheets can also store medication info, and meal content info , so can do more tasks than a simple meter.

 

[Kingofnowhere]

I have an SD code meter and a freestyle freedom light. The freestyle is suppose to be very accurate, but the strips are much me expensive than the code free. Anyway, I have been seeing how close the SD codefree is to the freestyle. Left column is SD code free, second is the Freestyle (Taken from same blood sample), third is % difference and last in the nominal difference.

[

8.1    6.3        28.57%    1.8
8.0    6.9        15.94%    1.1
7.6    6.9        10.14%    0.7
7.1    6.3        12.70%    0.8
7.1    6.1        16.39%    1.0
7.0    5.2        34.62%    1.8
6.7    5.7        17.54%    1.0
6.5    5.3        22.64%    1.2
6.5    6.5        0.00%    0.0
6.4    5.5        16.36%    0.9
6.3    5.0        26.00%    1.3
5.7    4.3        32.56%    1.4
5.6    5.3        5.66%    0.3
5.5    4.9         12.24%    0.6
5.5    4.3        27.91%    1.2
5.4    5.1        5.88%    0.3
5.1    4.6        10.87%    0.5
4.7    4.3        9.30%    0.4

 

[Liam1955]

@jonbvn - Hi, just click on the link: http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring
Don't forget to state you are Diabetic for vat exemption.

 

[Oldvatr]

I have an SD code meter and a freestyle freedom light. The freestyle is suppose to be very accurate, but the strips are much me expensive than the code free. Anyway, I have been seeing how close the SD codefree is to the freestyle. Left column is SD code free, second is the Freestyle (Taken from same blood sample), third is % difference and last in the nominal difference.

[

8.1    6.3        28.57%    1.8
8.0    6.9        15.94%    1.1
7.6    6.9        10.14%    0.7
7.1    6.3        12.70%    0.8
7.1    6.1        16.39%    1.0
7.0    5.2        34.62%    1.8
6.7    5.7        17.54%    1.0
6.5    5.3        22.64%    1.2
6.5    6.5        0.00%    0.0
6.4    5.5        16.36%    0.9
6.3    5.0        26.00%    1.3
5.7    4.3        32.56%    1.4
5.6    5.3        5.66%    0.3
5.5    4.9         12.24%    0.6
5.5    4.3        27.91%    1.2
5.4    5.1        5.88%    0.3
5.1    4.6        10.87%    0.5
4.7    4.3        9.30%    0.4

Although the Freedom Lite is an Abbott meter, it is calibrated for Plasma, so should be the same as the Codefree in that respect. Other Abbott meters that I have seen appear to be whole blood instead.

Cannot find any definition for the Libre, but a 48 day trial comparing it to a Dexcom G4 showed it was about 12% out when the Dexcom showed a hypo event, The difference between the two meters had a worst case discrepancy of some 20% on occasions. This info seems to imply that the plasma vs Whole blood effect is happening but which is which way it goes is not apparent from the limited info in the report. The Libre manuals just say it is 'factory calibrated'

Edit to add: The Dexcom must be calibrated against a standard glucometerr that is to hand, so will inherit the scaling of the meter being used plus any reading error. So it is dependant on the meter used. In the review I used above, this other meter was not identified, so all we can say is one was probably plasma, and the other whole blood.

 

[75Bedford]

Although the Freedom Lite is an Abbott meter, it is calibrated for Plasma, so should be the same as the Codefree in that respect. Other Abbott meters that I have seen appear to be whole blood instead.

Cannot find any definition for the Libre, but a 48 day trial comparing it to a Dexcom G4 showed it was about 12% out when the Dexcom showed a hypo event, The difference between the two meters had a worst case discrepancy of some 20% on occasions. This info seems to imply that the plasma vs Whole blood effect is happening but which is which way it goes is not apparent from the limited info in the report. The Libre manuals just say it is 'factory calibrated'

Edit to add: The Dexcom must be calibrated against a standard glucometerr that is to hand, so will inherit the scaling of the meter being used plus any reading error. So it is dependant on the meter used. In the review I used above, this other meter was not identified, so all we can say is one was probably plasma, and the other whole blood.

Thank you Oldvatr and Kingofnowhere for your responses. I will look into any offers on this site and also at the freedomLite. I may not bother for a while as my Hba1c result came back today as 34 so no longer pre diabetic but I will carry on with the low carb way of life and continue to monitor regularly as don't want to become complacent and slip back to previous levels.