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Accu Chek testing kit.

S

Spongepants

Member
Messages
9
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have only just started using my Blood sugartesting kit on a daily basis and I was speaking to a friend of mine the other day and he said he reuses his needles where as I use a clean one everytime. I take it you should use new ones everytime, is that correct? I presume using the same needle would possible give incorrect readings, is that right?
 
Hi
By rights you should use a fresh needle however some of us reuse and providing your hands are clean it shouldn't be a problem.
When i finger pricked i was aware of the costings to the NHS and decided to reuse.....

Jog on to now and i have a freestyle libre which is an even greater cost to the NHS so i'm contradicting myself!!!!
Its one of the few things in life i'm good at!

I still reuse my 4mm needles for injections but only the once.

Tony
 
For Lancettes - the needles for getting a drop of blood for testing Blood Glucose, some people joke about changing them every ST Swithins Day.
But seriously, they don't come into contact with blood and provided it is just one person using them and the hands are clean I keep using same 'needle' until it hurts too much (i.e. goes blunt and so needs too high a setting on my lancing device).
 
When I was first diagnosed they gave me, sorry they sent me to the hospital pharmacy and I had to buy, an accuchek testing kit. but I assumed, wrongly, that the pricking gadget automatically shifted to the next number to show how many needles were left in the lancette cartridge. Didn’t realise I had to turn it round manually. I probably reused dozens of needles without realising it!
 
I don't use them very often now I'm using Libre but when I did do finger pricks I probably replaced the lancet about every 2 months and the pen needle every time I replace the cartridge so 6 - 8 jabs a day over 6 days about 40 jabs , just my little bit to save the NHS some money .
 
You should use a new lancet every time. Not because of inaccurate readings but because of hygiene and because the needle gets a bit blunt.

That said, I change my lancets 3, maybe 4 times a year at most, and I test 3 to 4 times a day.
My endo just shrugs and says 'It's your fingers, not mine'.

Never had any problems with this, been doing it like this for 7 years.
 
I check my sugar 3 a day, and I have a bunch of lancets given to me by my clinic. I switch them out once a week, so one box would last me over a year. I change my insulin pen tips when I switch to a new insulin pen. I wash my hands before I check my BS every time.
 
I don’t check my blood sugars very often anymore due to using a CGM but back when I did check them 4 times or so a day I rarely changed my lancet, maybe 3 times a year if I was lucky. I probably change them even less now that I don’t really use it. Each to their own really, the more you use the needle the blunter it will get so it’s up to you if you want that jabbing into you all the time.
 
I used to change the lancets every few weeks (I only test a few times a week now) but my latest ones are single-use and I think terribly environmentally unfriendly as there is a lot of plastic to throw away each time and it's impossible to re-use them. However I do appreciate that I'm very lucky to have them supplied.
 
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