Bg monitor reliability / how to make sense

Hi all
I was diagnosed in june this year h1ac 147 4 weeks ago down to 47. i have been low carbing for about 8-10 weeks now. until recently i was assuming that my monitor was consistant if not correct and that over time i woild be able to make a rough guess as to how it related to the h1ac scores (higher lower or similar taking into account when i test).

However i have recently had some result i didn't expect so i re tested and found quite variable results. the most recent example being 1 hour after bacon. first result 10.4 then a minute later 8.1 then 30 secs later 7.3. this makes me a bit unsure as to what the monitor is telling me. in this instance it is tempting to dismiss the 10.4 as unlikely, but what if lots of the tests that i do every day are as off as by 3 mmols? this makes the difference bwtween an ok spoke of 8 or a bad spike of 11 or a good fasting of 5 or a pretty bad one of 8.

So far testing ( quite frequently) has given me a feeling of being in control and that i am gaining knowledge, i am now doubting this. I will continue to test anyway just with less faith in the results.

has anyone any thoughts experience or advice?

Thanks

some details.

freestyle optium give to me by doctors

prescription strips supplemented by internet ( seem exactly the same)

test about 5-8 per day mainly to see waking levels and find when and how high spiking.

haven't bothered cleaning hands before testing

haven't been changing needles often

I have read on other threads people saying dont worry about the actual figures just the rises after meals. but how can you see a rise after a meal if the monitor gives variable results to the degree in the example.

for example my morning was 6.2. but what if i had taken it again and it had been 7.5 or 5?
then my post bacon readongs of 7.3, 8.1, 10.4 could have been a rise of up to 5.4 or even a slight fall.

geefull said:

I suggest you clean/wash your hands before testing, there are various contaminants that can affect bg test results and which might vary from test to test.

Click to expand...

will do

thanks for the replies. the meter accuracy link particularly.
so wash hands
use meter accuracy table to make guess as to actual blood based on three readings e.g if meter is accurate then cant read 7 and 10 so readind must be 8 or 9.

but does mean need to take all readings with a pinch of salt unless re test.

dony get the advice to test before meals to get basline. As i give in my example if both before and after can vary as much as shown in the table supplied by grantgam you cant easily see whether you have spiked a little a lot or not at all.