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Different results from 2 meters

Alastair.z70

Alastair.z70

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi guys I'm hoping someone can help. I had my annual review at the doctors yesterday and was given a new meter a GlucoRx nexus mini. I've been using an accu chek active but the local pharmacy had said there were struggling to get test strips for the accu chek.

So I gets home did a control test on tge new meter the results was within the range given so I do a blood test and my reading had shot up 7 points.
So I did a control test on the accu chek that came back as normal. I've been doing side by side test using the same blood at the same time and the closest reading is a 3 point difference and tge worst is a nine-point difference. The accu chek is always the lower reading. Unfortunately my diabetic nurse is on annual leave till the middle of next week and the doctors have said to contact her.
Has anyone had anything like this before, I'm going to run the both side by side until I can speak to the nurse but I don't understand why there is such a large discrepancies

All advice gratefully received
Alastair
 
Each drop of blood will vary in it's glucose level - not by much but sometimes enough to make a difference, add to that that each meter is allowed a +/-15% accuracy, it use to be 20% so an older meter might be working to that tolerance. if your blood was actually 10.0, one could report a 8.5 and the other 'older' one could report 12.0 - they would both be correct! Just use one meter and stick to it.

PS you're lucky to get a meter and strips on prescription!
 
I've been using the same drop of blood on both meters, it is the older meter that reads lower. They like to give me a new meter every other year, not sure why. I'm prescription exempt
 
Ok - doesn't matter which one reads higher or lower, just use one. (the new one would actually 'force' you to aim for a better hba1c!)

"A man with one watch knows the time, a man with two watches is never quite sure" ;)
 
Blood meters have a margin of error so you'll often get different results on different meters - or indeed on the same meter!
 
Yes, you can test using the same meter any number of consecutive times and get different results each time. It is best to put one meter away for emergencies and stick to the other.
 
I agree with everything said above, but do want to ask one thing - do your daily meter readings match your HbA1c readings? It will never be an exact match, but they should be in the rough ballpark (this will only work if you take multiple meter readings every day. If you test less frequently, then the comparison will be useless).

This table shows how to translate the different units.
hba1c-chart.jpg


I am not on insulin, so I would always prefer a meter that reads higher rather than lower - because it shows a 'worse case' scenario and motivates me towards better control. On the other hand, if I were using the meter for calculating my insulin doses, I would have different priorities.
 
I have so many meters my head spins. however I have decided to go with the codefree as the strips are peanuts comparatively. the codefree reads lower than my glucomen etc. I tend to look for trends rather than an absolute. Choose one that your happy with and stick with it or your head will fall off :-) As mentioned above check against your next HBa1c and if its close than stick with it, if its off by a mile change it, or just look for trends to adjust your eating within tolerable levels as dictated by you. good luck!
 
Brunneria said:
I am not on insulin, so I would always prefer a meter that reads higher rather than lower - because it shows a 'worse case' scenario and motivates me towards better control. On the other hand, if I were using the meter for calculating my insulin doses, I would have different priorities.
Click to expand...

good spot, I hadn't picked up on the OP being on insulin. I have noticed however @Alastair.z70 is a few days older than me!
 
I have two meters including an Accu-Chek Active which gives me at least two points below that of the main one, Glucolab .....
 
psignathus said:
I have so many meters my head spins. however I have decided to go with the codefree as the strips are peanuts comparatively. the codefree reads lower than my glucomen etc. I tend to look for trends rather than an absolute. Choose one that your happy with and stick with it or your head will fall off :) As mentioned above check against your next HBa1c and if its close than stick with it, if its off by a mile change it, or just look for trends to adjust your eating within tolerable levels as dictated by you. good luck!
Click to expand...

@Alastair.z70 is on insulin so spotting trends is not good enough for him I'm afraid. He needs accuracy.
 
we all fell into the same trap! should have put 2 and 2 together when he said he was exempt!

And as someone above said @Alastair.z70 you need to work out which one is nearest to your hba1c - hopefully it'll be the new one then you won't have any issues getting strips for it. Out of interest you say they are out by 7 at most, what were the actual scores on the doors for that and the other discrepancies?
 
Alastair.z70 said:
So I did a control test on the accu chek that came back as normal. I've been doing side by side test using the same blood at the same time and the closest reading is a 3 point difference and tge worst is a nine-point difference. The accu chek is always the lower reading.
Click to expand...
When you say "3 point difference." Are you saying that one meter might read 5.0 while the other might read 8.0? Or are you referring to one saying 5.0 and the other saying 5.3? There is a huge difference between being .3 off and 3.0 off. The former would be normal while the latter would mean something is wrong with your machine.

Note: Accu-Chek meters measure plasma blood glucose compared to some meters that may measure "Whole blood." However, it would be more typical for a plasma blood meter to read about 12% HIGHER than a whole blood meter.
 
I meant a 3.0 difference, I spoke to GlucoRx people and they are sending a new control solution out as it was almost out of date
 
TorqPenderloin said:
Note: Accu-Chek meters measure plasma blood glucose compared to some meters that may measure "Whole blood." However, it would be more typical for a plasma blood meter to read about 12% HIGHER than a whole blood meter.
Click to expand...

But my Accu - Chek Active meter reads at least two points less than my usual meter, Glucolab ..... I give up!
 
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