- Messages
- 4,392
- Location
- Suffolk, UK
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
Just been through a hospital appointment.
They were very good; aware that I was diabetic and trying hard to make things easy for me.
Fortunately I am reasonably well controlled and fat adapted so fasting and gaps between meals aren't usually a problem. The question "have you brought some crisps and a sandwich for afterwards" was treated very gently.
I tested about 10:30 in the morning (fasting since previous morning, more or less) and scored a 5.1 which is nice.
Tested at the hospital at about 13:10 I scored a 6.4 on their meter.
Now my meter, a Freestyle Freedom Lite, needs virtually no blood - a sample the size of a pin head gives a result. The test strips have a tiny sample collector on each side which is very good at picking up the tiniest blood sample - apart from the usual shaking hands and short sight which makes matching the strip to the blood a challenge some times. I do like this because pain and blood are not my favourite things.
The hospital meter was very high tech, looked more like a portable Dymo labeller. The nurse was very good with the one shot lancet, and allowed me to select where and on which finger I would be stabbed, and the whole thing was painless. However the blood sample was a lot larger and I could see what looked to me like a river of blood flowing up the test strip. Which made me wonder if my BG had gone up (sheer terror etc.) or if the size of the sample might be significant.
Thinking about it, even a minor contaminant on your finger might have a significant effect on a tiny sample. If your sample is "rivers of blood" (those too young to remember Enoch Powell may miss the cultural reference) then contaminants are less likely to make a significant difference to the result.
That left me wondering if I should cross check my meter with my CareSens Dual which I have for ketone testing but which does require a larger sample.
They were very good; aware that I was diabetic and trying hard to make things easy for me.
Fortunately I am reasonably well controlled and fat adapted so fasting and gaps between meals aren't usually a problem. The question "have you brought some crisps and a sandwich for afterwards" was treated very gently.
I tested about 10:30 in the morning (fasting since previous morning, more or less) and scored a 5.1 which is nice.
Tested at the hospital at about 13:10 I scored a 6.4 on their meter.
Now my meter, a Freestyle Freedom Lite, needs virtually no blood - a sample the size of a pin head gives a result. The test strips have a tiny sample collector on each side which is very good at picking up the tiniest blood sample - apart from the usual shaking hands and short sight which makes matching the strip to the blood a challenge some times. I do like this because pain and blood are not my favourite things.
The hospital meter was very high tech, looked more like a portable Dymo labeller. The nurse was very good with the one shot lancet, and allowed me to select where and on which finger I would be stabbed, and the whole thing was painless. However the blood sample was a lot larger and I could see what looked to me like a river of blood flowing up the test strip. Which made me wonder if my BG had gone up (sheer terror etc.) or if the size of the sample might be significant.
Thinking about it, even a minor contaminant on your finger might have a significant effect on a tiny sample. If your sample is "rivers of blood" (those too young to remember Enoch Powell may miss the cultural reference) then contaminants are less likely to make a significant difference to the result.
That left me wondering if I should cross check my meter with my CareSens Dual which I have for ketone testing but which does require a larger sample.