Thoughts on the sd code free?

[Paulm80]

Hi all.
Don’t test that often anymore and when I do I got sick of paying 25£ for strips for the contour next.
Hbac1 31 and I’ve always found the contour consistent .
A few weeks ago I brought the sd code free and 100 strips for 25£ - bargain!!
However I’m not finding it particularly consistent my reading are higher than they are on the contour and I’ve just tested 6.0. Usually if I tested at this time I’d expect 4.8-5.1 range as haven’t had my tea yet.
Tested 10 mins later 5.2 ? Tested 10 mins later 5.8?
How reliable have others found this meter?
Thanks

 

[Rachox]

I started off with an SD code free 4 years ago and it seemed ok to begin with but as time went by I found it less and less reliable and consistent. I now use the Spirit Health Caresens Dual, which is more expensive than the code free but I feel more consistent. Strips are £14.25 for a pot of 50 from Spirit, but I try to buy via eBay, I have just ordered some for £11.95 per 50

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

How reliable have others found this meter?

The strips stopped being subsidised by the NDSS here in Australia, so there must have been a problem with the SD Code Free meter somewhere down the line.

Subsidised strip list at the bottom of the page here.

https://www.ndss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/order-forms/blood-glucose-testing-strips-order-form.pdf

 

[JohnEGreen]

I used to use the Code Free but eventually went off it as found it less reliable and was wasting a lot of strips with errors had been using the Caresens dual but the strips are now a bit too expensive so have switched to a Tee2 + strips are reasonable at just under £10 for 50 and has blue tooth. But when I found my self without strips as order had not arrived I dug out from the back of my cupboard my old Gluco RX first meter I ever bought when diagnosed. changed the batteries nipped over to my local chemists and bought 50 strips for £12.50 and used that for a week was still pretty accurate and reliable no blue tooth though.

 

[Oldvatr]

I started off with an SD code free 4 years ago and it seemed ok to begin with but as time went by I found it less and less reliable and consistent. I now use the Spirit Health Caresens Dual, which is more expensive than the code free but I feel more consistent. Strips are £14.25 for a pot of 50 from Spirit, but I try to buy via eBay, I have just ordered some for £11.95 per 50

My experience is the same as Rachox. I too use the Caresense Dual and find it to be more reliable than the SD. The SD has consistently read between 1 and 3 mmol/l higher than any other meter I have compared it to, and I have been parallel testing for over 5 years now, and so the SD seems to be systemically high.

The Codefree is being phased out and there is a new kid on the block from the importer. It uses the same technology in the strip enzyme as the Dual.

I also find the SD reacts to spikes more vigorously than the Dual. In other words, my Dual may rise from say 5 to 7 two hours after a meal, but the SD will jump from 6 to 9 on the same drop of blood. The difference still shows at the 4 hr time, and continues to be higher than the Dual at 6 hours, but will return to being about 1 or 2 when doing the FBG in the morning
So, something in my blood is changing in response to my meal (possibly following the insulin response which it seems to track) and the enzyme in the SDstrips is reacting to it more than the Dual strips. So I get a non linear response to bg levels it seems as well as the offset difference.

When I get my HbA1c it seems to fall midway between the average calculated from the SD vs the Dual, so I also perform an average of averages when I need to estimate a forthcoming HbA1c test.

 

[lucylocket61]

I have been using a SD Codefree monitor for 9+ years now. The first one lasted 6 years, and my second one is fine. I have no issues with readings and test strips.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi all.
Don’t test that often anymore and when I do I got sick of paying 25£ for strips for the contour next.
Hbac1 31 and I’ve always found the contour consistent .
A few weeks ago I brought the sd code free and 100 strips for 25£ - bargain!!
However I’m not finding it particularly consistent my reading are higher than they are on the contour and I’ve just tested 6.0. Usually if I tested at this time I’d expect 4.8-5.1 range as haven’t had my tea yet.
Tested 10 mins later 5.2 ? Tested 10 mins later 5.8?
How reliable have others found this meter?
Thanks

Paul, the Codefree has been a round for a while. I used it for some years, but eventually move on to the Gluco Navii from HomeHealth, who are the UK distributer for the Codefree too.

Both Codefree and the Gluco Navii have discount codes for strips, meaning cheaper still.

https://homehealth-uk.com/?s=gluco+navii&product_cat=0&post_type=product

Here are the discount codes:
Homehealth SD Codefree Discount Codes
5 packs of strips = 264086
10 packs of strips = 975833

Homehealth GlucoNavii Discount Codes
20% off 5 packs of strips = navii5
25% off 5 packs of strips = navii10
Free meter with purchase of 2 packs of strips (from this link) = dcuk

Other than as a satisfied customer, I have no relationship with Homehealth - a great, family business

 

[jjne]

I'm not entirely convinced the GlucoNavii is all that accurate either.

All my meters (the GN, a couple of different types of Sinocare, Glucorx HCT ) do give essentially the same readings but the GN is definitely the one that seems least consistent. It's usually predictable but I do get some spurious readings, maybe one in ten or so that are very out of sync with the ones around it.

The GlucoRX seems a lot better but the strips for that are viciously expensive. I've settled on the Sinocare although it does seem to read a little lower than the other two. Thing with the Sinocare is I managed to stock up on strips for well under a tenner for 100 delivered, on ebay auctions.

 

[OrsonKartt]

I'm not entirely convinced the GlucoNavii is all that accurate either.

All my meters (the GN, a couple of different types of Sinocare, Glucorx HCT ) do give essentially the same readings but the GN is definitely the one that seems least consistent. It's usually predictable but I do get some spurious readings, maybe one in ten or so that are very out of sync with the ones around it.

The GlucoRX seems a lot better but the strips for that are viciously expensive. I've settled on the Sinocare although it does seem to read a little lower than the other two. Thing with the Sinocare is I managed to stock up on strips for well under a tenner for 100 delivered, on ebay auctions.

I’ve just been using a sinocare bought in the same way. I’ve been calibrating against other meters and found it pretty much always reads low. It is however a quarter of the cost of other strips and gives a good indication of general direction. Which imho is a most useful tool.

 

[JohnEGreen]

The GlucoRX seems a lot better but the strips for that are viciously expensive.

I purchased some at my Pharmacists a week or two ago for £12.50 VAT free, for 50 not that bad a price.

Though of all my meters the Contour Next One seems the most reliably accurate the strips for it I find prohibitively expensive though.

 

[Oldvatr]

I purchased some at my Pharmacists a week or two ago for £12.50 VAT free, for 50 not that bad a price.

Though of all my meters the Contour Next One seems the most reliably accurate the strips for it I find prohibitively expensive though.

I bought a bulk discount set of 10 packs for my SD at pretty much £6 per pot of 50.

 

[Ronancastled]

We've been here before

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...codefree-wild-variations.175381/#post-2280492

I found some batches of strips were over 1mmol/L too high.

 

[Oldvatr]

We've been here before

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...codefree-wild-variations.175381/#post-2280492

I found some batches of strips were over 1mmol/L too high.

Of course we have. I look at it like this. My cooking is not perfect (ask my daughter!) and there are others that do it better, but it helps me keep my sugars under some semblance of control.

As a pensioner, I get pleasure from feeding the birds, and also for feeding my meter. I am lucky in that I can afford to do both.