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BG Meters

derry60

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,200
Location
Bridlington Yorkshire
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Rudeness,people being unkind
I was wondering how accurate are BG Meters. My BG is usually around 5.3 when fasting. Last night 2 hours after my meal my BG was 6.2 I took another test 30 mins after and my BG was 5.3 Today fasting BG 5.2 I took another BG test 2 hours after lunch which came out as 6.3... Now I thought I would do another 3 tests within minutes of each other (Bored I know lol) anyway the readings came out completely different each time. I went online and researched this,and the consensus was that meters do not give a true accurate reading. We only get a more accurate reading when a certain amount of blood is drawn at the doctors,even then it can be 10% out.. We are all living by our meters but this is all confusing me. Can anybody explain any of this? Would be so grateful for somebody in the know to explain. How on earth could I get 3 or 4 different reading in a matter of minutes? My meter is fine as I tested it and the strips?Oh and I washed my hands,also is fasting BG 5.3 and 2 hours after eating 6.2 ok?
 
I just posted a thread in meter accuracy before I saw this.

Yesterday and the last two years my A1C has been 5.1. My meter averages put me closer to 4.5. In the office my meter said 83 twice and theirs 107 and 99.

Their meter falls closer to my A1C all 4 times as I always thought it would be lower. Doc wants me to get a new meter but I have 1500 strips! There is no perfect meter but some might be more accurate more of the time than others. Which one? Who knows. As an insulin user with very tight con
 
I forgot to mention we are looking for trends. Not necessarily finite numbers. More for spikes and drops out of our goal range. Also to test new foods/ meals to see if we stay in goal ranges
 
This is a hard one to come to terms with - I still haven't, which is why I always test on 2 different meters. The fact is (And I found this profoundly shocking) your BG meter is only required to be accurate to +/- 15%. Which is a huge degree of variance, and really difficult to come to terms with if you're following plans like Eat To Your Meter or anxious about hypos and so on.

This is one of the reasons why choosing a meter is such a personal experience and you might have to shop around a bit before you find one you like - and trust. Again, that's why I test on 2 different meters; I figure 2 meters are less likely to be at the extreme end of that +/- 15% at the same time, so their numbers - if they agree - are reliable. But there have been times when one has told me something lovely like 5.2 and the other has given me 8.4!

Our meters are a snapshot, and it's reasonable to retest if you get a result that seems off or doesn't agree with how you feel, what you ate etc... This isn't cheating or faking, but understanding your meter and your BG levels.

Your HbA1c is the test result you "live" by. It is a 10 - 12 week average of what your glucose levels have been. But for daily management, you need a meter that you're comfortable with, that tests within a range you can trust. And, yeah, it's a weirdly uncomfortable truth when you consider how heavily we rely upon those numbers.

Sock x
 
As I said elsewhere if meter accuracy is a problem for you then you will go bald. They are not accurate. The word meter is misleading and they should be called indicators. There are many reasons why they are inaccurate and we don't want to go into all of them here but blood rushes round your system and another test gets a whole new drop of blood.

I have found meters that the manufacturer knows is inaccurate and they massage the figures to suit. For the moment though it might be a good idea if you stick with one meter and just get concerned if it goes up more than you would like.
 
This is the current situation with meter accuracy

By the end of May 2016, new standards are being implemented to ensure that blood glucose meters meet stricter accuracy standards.

Under the new standard, meters will need to meet the accuracy guidelines 95% of the time:

  • Within± 0.83 mmol/L of laboratory results at concentrations of under 5.6 mmol/L
  • Within ± 15% of laboratory results at concentrations of 5.6 mmol/L or more
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose-meters/blood-glucose-meter-accuracy.html

All meters have to conform to the same accuracy standards before they can be marketed, and there are strict tests on them.

It is also worth remembering that our blood flows at the speed of lightening round our bodies, so even within a second, the blood has moved on and you are testing a different bit of it. Factor in the fact that each and every microscopic haemoglobin cell will hold a completely different amount of glucose than the ones next to it, and you can see why consecutive testing is confusing and very unlikely to produce the same level of glucose.

I do not advocate comparing one meter with another to often, unless you are simply doing a random comparison check. It is wise to put one meter away and use the other. All we, as non-insulin users, are looking for is a trend, upwards or downwards so we can act on it. The actual numbers aren't important in the grand scheme of things, and over a period of time using the swings and roundabouts theory the odd rogue readings we see will even out. If a reading is very different from the expected reading, it is worth testing again straight away, and maybe even a third time, but otherwise it becomes confusing and can be a waste of strips.
 
You forgot the and nightmares part!! Made me laugh but straightened my head out a bit.
And I like the 'indicator' as that's really about all it is

Unfortunatly for me as an insulin user with tight control a 15 point spread makes a difference on my dose. Fortunately they are all small. Usually 1/2 and rarely more than one so the fear of a hypo is lessened.
 

You are managing so well doing what you do and using that meter, why worry? Because my HbA1c is ALWAYS around half a percent DCCT higher than it should be, I try to take very little notice of it. It wouldn't worry me if I never had another one.
 
Kristin251 said:
I forgot to mention we are looking for trends. Not necessarily finite numbers. More for spikes and drops out of our goal range. Also to test new foods/ meals to see if we stay in goal ranges
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Oh I see. I did not understand that. My readings never go above 6. 2 after meals Like today 2 hours after my evening meal it was 5.8
 
 
Thank you Bluetit..So really because of the blood rushing around our bodies so quickly, we can get different readings. I think that what I will do is continue to take my BG in the mornings, which always seem to be around the 5.1 to5.3 mark and after meals never goes above 6.2, in fact, I am usually around 5.8 after meals. I will just look out for any changes such as spikes or lows then. I won't bother with another meter because I won't know which one is telling me porkies lol Strange last night for dinner I had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and fresh grilled tomato and my BG was 6.2 yet tonight I had meatballs, with dolmino sauce and spiralized courgette,and my BG was lower at 5.8, 2 hours after. I was expecting it to be a little higher because I believe that the sugar can be quite high in jar pasta sauce. I usually make my own sauce but wanted to see if I would spike.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
You are managing so well doing what you do and using that meter, why worry? Because my HbA1c is ALWAYS around half a percent DCCT higher than it should be, I try to take very little notice of it. It wouldn't worry me if I never had another one.
Click to expand...
Thanks @Bluetit1802 , you always have such sound advice and knowledge.

I had an 'ah ha' moment on the driver home from work. My DP highs could account for the slight rise i see in A1C. I can go up 40 ( us , I know you k ow this) from 6 am until 8. Then takes 2 hours to bring it down so about 20%. I decided to listen to my body. 75 and under I feel low. So maybe their meters off haha. Or A1C is spot on with DP.

Hubby I still giving me 1/2 unit at 6 am and stops DP. I have such a tight window fixing those small drops doesn't feel good.

Eventually I'll need anew meter but until then I'm using my strips and listening to my body. Not like I'm running stupid high!

I could do without another as well. I trust this meter. I know when I feel low and it agrees. Even if it's inaccurate it's consistently inaccurate. I appreciate that ! I'll be sad when I'm out of strips

What meter do you use and would you recommend it?

The whole red blood cell thing makes loads of sense. We can only put so much stock in our meters.
 
Kristin251 said:
What meter do you use and would you recommend it?
Click to expand...

I use the Accu Chek Mobile, which is a great meter because there are no separate strips. The strips are contained in a cartridge cassette that is inserted in the meter. Therefore no handling of strips at all. Magic. But .... the cassettes are ultra expensive.. I would recommend it to anyone as long as they are aware of the cost of the cassettes. I have to buy mine from eBay or I couldn't afford them.
 
Your numbers are very very good and it makes me ask what did they do to diagnose you as pre diabetic. None of your figures seem to qualify unless I have missed something. I'm just jealous you understand.
 
Squire Fulwood said:
Your numbers are very very good and it makes me ask what did they do to diagnose you as pre diabetic. None of your figures seem to qualify unless I have missed something. I'm just jealous you understand.
Click to expand...

Some times I may only have one meal a day, such as chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower or minced beef with veg. The only lunch when I do eat it is a ham or chicken salad with a little dressing on. I do have my berries and cream every day. I also have a few nuts.. Another night for dinner may have an omelette stuffed with spicy mincemeat, or ham and mushroom. When I bought my meter which was a couple of weeks ago, I had already started the low carb eating and had lost weight. I was wondering if my sugar levels have gone back to normal either because of the weight loss or very strict low carb eating. I was surprised though when I had meatballs last night with a jar of Domino pasta sauce,as they have got quite a lot of sugar in. I had courgettes with that meal and my BG came out at 5.8 When I had my blood test all that same very week I had been drinking quite a lot of fresh orange juice,love the stuff,even the very same night before going for the blood test I had nearly a whole carton of fresh orange juice. Could this of affected my BG test? Meant to say I don't have the orange juice now,and I had half a jar of pasta sauce on my meatballs lol not a whole jar
 
derry60 said:
When I had my blood test all that same very week I had been drinking quite a lot of fresh orange juice
Click to expand...

Do you know what kind of blood test it was. Did they give you a result there and then or did they have to send off for it?
 

What you ate or drank in the days before you were diagnosed with an HbA1c test wouldn't have made any difference to the result as it measures a sort of average over the previous 2 to 3 months, although this is weighted towards the latter end of this period.
 
Bluetit I think it was my annual lipids Blood Test that I have every year for my heart..I received a letter two weeks after telling me to make an appointment with the nurse as my BG levels were high, but not diabetic..So think that they found out during the usuall annual blood tests that I have
 
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