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Accu-Check??

TeamBeal

Active Member
Messages
27
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi everyone. Please can you help?
My son has been recently diagnosed (25/3/16). We were initially using the Accu-Checj Aviva meter and now we've been moved to the Accu-Check Exoert Meter. I like it, it gives him independence, initially launched for pump users, it's been adapted to help children by telling them the amount of insulin to administer when they enter their carb intake.
However, he has been send a different meter and they do read differently AND I've read (on here) that Accu-Check isn't as accurate. The Accu-Check team we've dealt with have been brilliant, couldn't ask for more from them, generous, knowledgable, really client friendly. But, I'm worried now. Should we ask to change his meter? I doubt the hospital will want to do this as all their kids use these meters. Maybe if I had some solid evidence it would make a difference?
Any ideas / advice?
Thankyou for your help X


Greg&Rachel (parents to Carter T1 aged 8)
 
Hi TeamBeal,

Probably not what you want to hear but there is no meter that will tell you exactly what the glucose reading is and be spot on accurate, there are so many factors that affect it you could take 2 tests from the same finger on the same meter and get two different readings..

All meters have to (by law) be accurate to a certain percentage. If you like the meter and your sons levels are ok and he's feeling well then I'd stick with it. Personally I use the Accu-Chek mobile meter and get on with it fine

Matt
 
Like @staffsmatt said not every metre is accurate I use accu check as well as it seems to be popular and I don't really have a choice as I live in the uk and I would have to buy the other ones as well of test stripes but I say keep the expert metre because it means that you can eat when you want as the mobile metre of what I know can not do that and you have to work it out by yourself I do have one but I do not use it as the exspert is my main metre as I find it easier to use and if hospitals are handing them out I'm sure they must be in some way better than others


Lucy
 
I have the accu-check expert and I love it. I have all my carb ratios in it and since I have started using it my bg have got really good! my lastest Hba1c is 41 and I'm hardly ever above 7.5 on my readings. if you get the right info in it can be really useful! alos its very easy ti set once you ahve worked it out! I would keep with it might need to fiddle a bit with settings at first but when you get there its great
 
TeamBeal said:
However, he has been send a different meter and they do read differently AND I've read (on here) that Accu-Check isn't as accurate.
Click to expand...

Even on the same meter you can get two different readings when testing straight after each other , so your always going to get a discrepancy between two different meters.

Are you sure you read it on here that the Accu-Chek meters isn't accurate, I used them for years and never had any issues with them apart from the Accu-Chek Mobile (but that was when they first came on the market).
 
I have been using the Accu-Check expert meter now for around about a year and a half and would say stick to it . It makes calculations much easier and has reminder settings and alarm settings so I benefit from it in several ways. I have been getting on fine with mine. It may be the case of having to explore the settings and options for a bit , but once you get used to it it works really well. As previous comments said you will never be able to have 100% accurate results with any meter , but this meter is widely popular so I'm guessing its pretty close . If you have concerns still then you probably talk to the clinic and they should be able to give you some advice.
 
Thank you all so much!! On the diabetes.co.uk facebook group, few people were moaning about the accu-check meters and saying they weren't great.
Personally we haven't had a problem, his meter works perfectly, it does tend to read .1-.3mmol/l higher than the USB meter we were sent but like you say, i understand they will all fluctuate. The sales person who sent us the USB one said theirs is within 10% and accu-check are only within 15% and as a natural worrier and then after readin on the facebook group I started to worry.
We do like the expert meter though, I love the independence it gives Carter, there has only been minimal times I've disagreed with the amount of insulin it's advised him to take (I like to work it out myself to check I agree with it lol) and he had hypo's. It's because it will correct you and sometimes he doesn't need correcting if he's coming off a hypo because they're fast acting, short lasting carbs.
I downloaded his data for the first time last night too, we got a lead and the infra red port off a rep and I loved the graphs, he's in range 60% of the time, 20% hypo and 13% high and 7% below range. Was really pleased with that considering he's still quite now.
I think he might be coming out of the honeymoon phase slowly though as he had his Levimir dropped to 5 as he was going hypo at night and these last 3 nights he's been above range in the night so might need the evening one increasing to 6. Hoping his DSN will get back to me about it.
There is a meeting in Doncaster tomorrow for families and kids, if anyone is local, you should come, be lovely to make some friends, my son is the only one at his school with diabetes, I'm looking forward to him finding a friend with diabetes in common.
I feel so much better after your responses, about the meter. I'm quite relieved actually because my confidence in it has been restored, I guess I'm just a worrier, I can worry for gold when I allow myself to start thinking about things lol!!
Thank you all for your replies!! Xx


Greg&Rachel (parents to Carter T1 aged 8)
 
I would like an accuchek expert meter but where do you get them from, can't find on the Internet, my GP surgery are only giving out agamatrix wave sense jazz wireless meters and strips which I use but it is not accurate. Am on basal bolus so would find the features of the expert useful
Jo
 

I got mine from my DSN (under a hospital diabetes clinic).
 
Hi Jo, we got ours from Carters diabetic nurses, they are what they all use at our hospital X


Greg&Rachel (parents to Carter T1 aged 8)
 
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