Best blood glucose monitor for upload/analytics

[somethingwitty]

Hi folks


First time poster! I've had diabetes for almost 30 years (from early childhood), and have been using blood glucose monitor and injections the whole time. I've resisted moving to sensor and pump so far, as hba1c has been relatively stable (somewhere between 6.5 and 7 since I've left school and started to actually pay attention and put effort into it!), and I have a bit of a mental block about having a needle sitting in me all the time. I know it's irrational, but here we are.

I've had a very old GlucoMen Areo blood monitor for longer than I can guess at this stage, and have never uploaded glucose readings for clinic/doctor use. My doctor is encouraging me to do so and has said the clinic will provide a new and/or more sophisticated monitor with that functionality.

Sooooo, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good current blood glucose monitor, key things being:
- Good upload functionality (by USB/bluetooth/whatever), ideally including some ability to infer or estimate "time in range" (I get that this would be much less precise than what a sensor could yield)
- Good NHS availability - doc has pretty much said they can provide most machines, but whatever is most commonly used is fine
- Good NHS availability of glucose strips - this has never been an issue with current machine, and would prefer to keep it that way!

Cheers in advance. I know my approach can seem pretty lo-fi, but I've been reluctant to change anything while the hba1c and general control are so stable.

 

[StewM]

Hi folks


First time poster! I've had diabetes for almost 30 years (from early childhood), and have been using blood glucose monitor and injections the whole time. I've resisted moving to sensor and pump so far, as hba1c has been relatively stable (somewhere between 6.5 and 7 since I've left school and started to actually pay attention and put effort into it!), and I have a bit of a mental block about having a needle sitting in me all the time. I know it's irrational, but here we are.

I've had a very old GlucoMen Areo blood monitor for longer than I can guess at this stage, and have never uploaded glucose readings for clinic/doctor use. My doctor is encouraging me to do so and has said the clinic will provide a new and/or more sophisticated monitor with that functionality.

Sooooo, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good current blood glucose monitor, key things being:
- Good upload functionality (by USB/bluetooth/whatever), ideally including some ability to infer or estimate "time in range" (I get that this would be much less precise than what a sensor could yield)
- Good NHS availability - doc has pretty much said they can provide most machines, but whatever is most commonly used is fine
- Good NHS availability of glucose strips - this has never been an issue with current machine, and would prefer to keep it that way!

Cheers in advance. I know my approach can seem pretty lo-fi, but I've been reluctant to change anything while the hba1c and general control are so stable.

Given a number of things you've my best guess is getting the latest Aero meter. I have it, and it has the upload functionality you require. Given you have an old Aero meter, I imagine the adjustment to the new one will be fairly minimal. Uploading to a site called Diasend is probably your best bet. It'll correlate all the data and do some analysis on it for you (including things like variability).

The "time in range" thing even if a machine did offer it, its ability to be accurate would be so limited, and so skewed by selectiveness of the data that the information wouldn't really be useful to you in any way, I'm afraid. The only way to get even close would be to do regular tests (for instance every 2 hours) constantly over a period of a week minimum but two weeks would probably be better, and even then it's likely to be inaccurate and misleading.

 

[somethingwitty]

Given a number of things you've my best guess is getting the latest Aero meter. I have it, and it has the upload functionality you require. Given you have an old Aero meter, I imagine the adjustment to the new one will be fairly minimal. Uploading to a site called Diasend is probably your best bet. It'll correlate all the data and do some analysis on it for you (including things like variability).

The "time in range" thing even if a machine did offer it, its ability to be accurate would be so limited, and so skewed by selectiveness of the data that the information wouldn't really be useful to you in any way, I'm afraid. The only way to get even close would be to do regular tests (for instance every 2 hours) constantly over a period of a week minimum but two weeks would probably be better, and even then it's likely to be inaccurate and misleading.

Hi Stew, thanks. The doctor mentioned that diasend was the portal they use, so will just look up the latest Aero as you suggest. Understand time in range is ultimately only reliable with a sensor, ultimately! Cheers.

 

[Antje77]

Not an answer to your question, but just to make sure: A sensor like dexcom or Freestyle Libre does not have a needle which stays in you all the time!
The device to apply the sensor does have a needle, but that doesn't stay in your skin. What is in your skin is a very thin, short and flexible filament, about the consistency of a cat's whisker.

With libre, you could just give it a try for two weeks and see how you like it. If you're in the UK, they're still giving out free trials, the only thing you need is a smartphone. https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/free-trial.html

 

[becca59]

As @Antje77 says, you can get a free trial of Libre. Technology is moving forwards at a fast pace. Don’t discount before trying. I tried and wouldn’t go back.