Blood Monitors Compared

For me having a reading with a 30% margin of accuracy just doesn't allow me to fine tune my diet.

I could actually be at 6 before a meal but test at 5. After I eat I could really be at 8 but test at 9.2.

Bad data leads to bad decisions so I think I will just cut out bread, potatoes and pasties and see how it goes.

Absolutely agree. I am relatively new to the diabetes problem, and it was a big learning curve. I wanted to find out what was really causing my BG level to hurtle up, and what was a mild jump. My doctor recommended that I stay between 4.4 and 5.0,and, have 3 meals per week with a little (100g) starch ( bread, pasta, rice). So i tried a test strip monitor and a Freestyle 3, each for 2 weeks at a time.

In summation, 3 in 6 of the Libre 3 units were within 5% of accurate, the other 3 units were all over the place and gave either way to low, or way to high readings (alarm went off constantly). My test strips always stayed reasonably accurate. The Libre3 was very comfortable to use and so i started relying on it at first, and this led to a general raise in my BG which had been pretty good before. As a result, i have now given up completely on the Libre 3. At first i recommended the Libre 3 to a number of friends and so they bought the Libre 3 too... They had the same problems and have also given up on it. For sure, it is convenient and comfortable and much much better than pee strips, but it is really only a very general gauge and can be very misleading. It will tell you that your BG has gone up if you eat a pizza or drink a bottle of coke, but you don't need a monitor for that as it is obvious. It will however show you approximately how long it is taking for your BG to drop afterward though, and that is a useful indicator.

After 6 months i have got my BG (HbA1c) level down to a non-risk level (35 down from 42), i have lost 26kg and have cut out sugar and carbs ( up to 20g per day) almost completely. I eat once a day in the late afternoon, and test by BG level before eating and 2-4 hours after eating, depending on what i have eaten.

I hope the above info is helpful to newbies. The future will bring improvements in the constant monitors, as they really are a must for people with full blown diabetes and those on the cusp trying to prevent a more serious condition developing. The constant monitor market is worth billions so there is an incentive for Big Pharma to pull their finger out and make better ones. Web sites like this are also extremely helpful and important, as doctors often do not have time to explain things thoroughly.

Tom2023 said:

For me having a reading with a 30% margin of accuracy just doesn't allow me to fine tune my diet.

I could actually be at 6 before a meal but test at 5. After I eat I could really be at 8 but test at 9.2.

Bad data leads to bad decisions so I think I will just cut out bread, potatoes and pasties and see how it goes.

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In my book, a reading of 5 or 6 is good, and 8 or 9 is bad, The only time I might need accuracy is in the regions around 4 especially if I am intending to drive. So like DVLA recommend, I look for a reading of 5 or above before I get behind the wheel. Without a meter T2D becomes like driving a car with a broken speedo, or walking over bumpy terrain wearing sun shades at night. The main thing in favour of that is that it is cheap to do, but possibly expensive if you get it wrong. Its your car, your journey, and you are the driver,

Oldvatr said:

In my book, a reading of 5 or 6 is good, and 8 or 9 is bad, The only time I might need accuracy is in the regions around 4 especially if I am intending to drive. So like DVLA recommend, I look for a reading of 5 or above before I get behind the wheel. Without a meter T2D becomes like driving a car with a broken speedo, or walking over bumpy terrain wearing sun shades at night. The main thing in favour of that is that it is cheap to do, but possibly expensive if you get it wrong. Its your car, your journey, and you are the driver,

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Great that you find a accuracy margin of 30% useful for determining whether to drive or not but as I said I am looking to fine tune my diet so I need much more accurate data.

Tom2023 said:

Great that you find a accuracy margin of 30% useful for determining whether to drive or not but as I said I am looking to fine tune my diet so I need much more accurate data.

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I wonder where you will find such info. Unless you know someone with a YSI whole blood analyser or spectrum analyser in their garden shed. Most of us here manage to fine tune diets with what we have got, and we do it by process of wash /rinse/ repeat and substitute / eliminate as required. There is so much variation in the process of metbolism that even totally accurate readings would be confusing to make sense of the results. I find a more relaxed approach to the topic to be necessary to avoid burnout. I have been doing this for nearly 8 years and for 7 years my HbA1c has been below the diabetic range. I had 25 years of practice without using a meter, and I nearly ended up on insulin with complications. Diabetes is not an exact science and there are too many confounders for precision.

Oldvatr said:

I wonder where you will find such info. Unless you know someone with a YSI whole blood analyser or spectrum analyser in their garden shed. Most of us here manage to fine tune diets with what we have got, and we do it by process of wash /rinse/ repeat and substitute / eliminate as required. There is so much variation in the process of metbolism that even totally accurate readings would be confusing to make sense of the results. I find a more relaxed approach to the topic to be necessary to avoid burnout. I have been doing this for nearly 8 years and for 7 years my HbA1c has been below the diabetic range. I had 25 years of practice without using a meter, and I nearly ended up on insulin with complications. Diabetes is not an exact science and there are too many confounders for precision.

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It appears I can not get good glucose level readings so the meter is in the bin.

Tom2023 said:

I have no problem with you being satisfied with 30% accuracy margin but you seem to have a problem with me wanting accurate data.. How about we agree to differ.

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You and I are not the only ones who will read this thread, and I am providing the counterweight to your POV. I have already said its your journey and you are not bound by anything I might say here. But as a meter user (successfully) I dispute some of the statements you have declared here, I am trying to help you be more relaxed in your approach to these problems. Lifes hard enough as it is. This forum is filled with meter users and they are useful tools.

The earth is slowing down and sometime soon we will need to change our clocks to compensate. It is already a second out.

I would not dream of relying on constant monitor. As an indicator of up and down movement of BG levels it is fine, but that is it. A good "blood strip" test system is the best option today. Also, i do not get my constant monitors free on the NHS, I pay for them. Until they make their devices more reliable and less prone to failure (a near 50% fail rate in my experience),they are ripping the NHS off for millions and hampering development. Why improve a device which is already making you millions?

The Heisenberg principle applies ( The act of measuring or observing a phenomenon changes it

Conversly Schrodingers Cat applies if you do not measure.
Is there a cat in the courtyard when I am not there to observe it?

I will be interested to read what you are proposing to do to fine tune your diet without a meter. My mum (T1D) used wee stix quite effectively but diabetes took her in the end. Are you just going to rely on HbA1c's? (+/- 5% accuracy) what will you do when your practice moves you to annual testing only ? Or in my case 3 years interval)

Oldvatr said:

The Heisenberg principle applies ( The act of measuring or observing a phenomenon changes it

What Is the Uncertainty Principle and Why Is It Important?

German physicist and Nobel Prize winner Werner Heisenberg created the famous uncertainty principle in 1927, stating that we cannot know both the position and speed of a particle, such as a photon or electron, with perfect accuracy.

scienceexchange.caltech.edu

Conversly Schrodingers Cat applies if you do not measure.
Is there a cat in the courtyard when I am not there to observe it?

I will be interested to read what you are proposing to do to fine tune your diet without a meter. My mum (T1D) used wee stix quite effectively but diabetes took her in the end. Are you just going to rely on HbA1c's? (+/- 5% accuracy) what will you do when your practice moves you to annual testing only ? Or in my case 3 years interval)

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The blood test strips are pretty accurate and the ones I use claim to be 10% at worst. I eat once a day, so i take a measurement before eating and 3 or 4 hours after. I aim to stay between 4.4 and 5.0 on both readings. If higher, i then look at if there is a reason, or if i need to take more frequent tests. With the Freestyle Libre 3 (constant monitor) it has been out by 1.7 many times, so not one to rely on!

Is there a current list of monitors available and their pros and cons?

I've been on the mobile for years happily but my 'second' monitor has just broken so I think it's time to resign them as they aren't available.

I loop so it's mainly checking against dexcom and occasionally ketones. Ideally I would like to upload to xdrip by Bluetooth as well but a double tester with Bluetooth seems a dream beyond impossible?

Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Engineer88 said:

Is there a current list of monitors available and their pros and cons?

I've been on the mobile for years happily but my 'second' monitor has just broken so I think it's time to resign them as they aren't available.

I loop so it's mainly checking against dexcom and occasionally ketones. Ideally I would like to upload to xdrip by Bluetooth as well but a double tester with Bluetooth seems a dream beyond impossible?

Please correct me if I'm wrong!

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My Caresens Dual by Spirit Health has ketone capability, and has bluetooth connectivity.

It is NHS registered, and I get my strips on scrip for it. I find it pretty reliable compared to others I have used recently.

The Caresens looks good and does both glucose an ketone, however strips and needles together are more expensive (of course the NHS would go with that. Not their money!), but not too bad if you need a ketone tester. Personally i can feel ketone activity now, so rarely use my ketone pee strips.