DO YOU TRUST YOUR BLOOD MONITOR

As far as I know the errors were in very high readings. I use 2 metres and they are pretty much of a muchness with each other. Admittedly they should have spotted the fault earlier and their quality control leaves a lot to be desired but I don't think we should be overly worried about other types of metres as a result.

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These meters are throwing up wrong readings for a bg I believe of over 56!!! No way, really should any of us be getting that high anyway!! I know I would be in severe dka and down a&e if I got up to 25.....

Anyway, to your question.. Do I trust my meter?
Certainly more than I could trust my Abbott Freestyle CGM!!!

The levels of differences tolerated are set by fda, mhra etc.. Our medical authorities for drugs... Until they change the tolerances allowed on these meters, then they will never get any more accurate. Drug companies are too big and earning too much money from them with strips, fluids etc to really want to get better accuracy, by my way of thinking!!!

I just dont think any of the people involved in the paragraph above just how frustrating the differences in blood readings from meters are...

I just stick with the one from my pump now, as before my cgm imploded on me, all the advice on cgm's is that they are a guideline only to the way your blood is going up or down.... And even that wasnt right!!

My pump meter is used for bolusing, basals and corrections.. So I have to believe its levels rather than a 'free range other' meter. I dislike the fact that when the meter says 4.0 that it could be significantly higher or lower, and that I just have to believe its 4.0. At least wth the CGM... I was told not to believe it's readings, and tested properly on blood readings.

Do I trust.... NO, BUT, I have to have something!!

Dont you use a control solution.?


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I'm a Type 2 so I guess it isn't critical whether my meter is accurate or not. But. I rely on my meter to get my BG under tight control so I can live a relatively normal life. I know how I feel when I'm high or low, so I know that if I feel different then I need to test, I have enough meters to conduct a straw poll, in all honesty they're usually all in the same general area.
The + or - 20% is, frankly, unacceptable when a Type 1 is trying to bolus or basal, but to answer your question, yes I trust my meter. Generally.

If ever I get a really high reading i didnt expect I usually wash my hands again and take a second test.

Usually i either didnt wash my hands properly or it was just a random off one.

One the off chance I get a second unexpected high reading I have a second meter I use just to be safe.

But I have never had it where a meter was giving me massively incorrect readings through its own error.

If I am wondering about my main meter I grab my second meter which is of a different brand and check 9 times out of 10 the reading is spot on (might have a few points difference, but not enough to be of worry), might even pull out an older meter of the same brand and try it to see.

I also make sure to test the meter with the control solution to make sure its reading correctly at least once a month (or every other week depending on how often I feel its giving to low or high a reading - mostly once a month just to make sure as a safety net).

You trust now there 2 that's showing faults. With incorrect blood sugar readings and this scares me have I been taken too much insulin because of the wrong results who else is worried there loads of meters out there why were these incorrect readings not picked up sooner answers are needed why did this happen

You trust now there 2 that's showing faults. With incorrect blood sugar readings and this scares me have I been taken too much insulin because of the wrong results who else is worried there loads of meters out there why were these incorrect readings not picked up sooner answers are needed why did this happen

I do wonder if you aren't fast enough between getting the blood out and on to the strip that evaporation will concentrate the sample and give a higher reading than it should be. I haven't yet got the knack of it really. My fasting BG when taken (several syringes full out of my arm) at the surgery for a full spectrum test was 4.5 but with my new SD Codefree am getting 5.2-6.2 and I am on an extremely low carb, low calorie diet. I can accept a biased reading as long as it's consistent so differences can be trusted.

vit90 said:

I do wonder if you aren't fast enough between getting the blood out and on to the strip that evaporation will concentrate the sample and give a higher reading than it should be. I haven't yet got the knack of it really. My fasting BG when taken (several syringes full out of my arm) at the surgery for a full spectrum test was 4.5 but with my new SD Codefree am getting 5.2-6.2 and I am on an extremely low carb, low calorie diet. I can accept a biased reading as long as it's consistent so differences can be trusted.

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The FBG taken out of your arm is venous blood. The blood from finger pricking is capillary blood. The two are different and can't be compared accurately.

It's a good indicator. That is all. At + or - 15% Tolerance, that's all you can hope for.

Bluetit1802 said:

The FBG taken out of your arm is venous blood. The blood from finger pricking is capillary blood. The two are different and can't be compared accurately.

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Fair enough, so should we expect higher or lower figures from capillary blood and monitors?

vit90 said:

Fair enough, so should we expect higher or lower figures from capillary blood and monitors?

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With a 30% error. Your guess is as good as anyone

My meter has allowed me to make pretty accurate hba1c predictions.
I even say to the nurse let me predict before you give me the result.
She was amazed.

Capillary blood comes straight from arteries. Venous blood is where the capillaries drain in to, so glucose in the blood reaches the capillaries before it reaches the veins. I believe that capillary blood is likely to be higher than venous blood, but this must depend on the amount of glucose in the blood to start with and therefore must vary from person to person and time of day, fasting, post prandial or whatever. Our tests done by the doctor from the veins is lab tested and therefore the more likely to be accurate and not + or - 15% as per our meters.

VinnyJames said:

My meter has allowed me to make pretty accurate hba1c predictions.
I even say to the nurse let me predict before you give me the result.
She was amazed.

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You are lucky. My last HbA1c was significantly higher than I expected, my conclusion being my red blood cells live longer than perhaps some other people's do.

I don't think I will ever get into the habit of testing daily!

This study seems to suggest there is no statistical difference between lab-tested venous glucose levels and capillary blood testing:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15625997

Of course I have no idea what the performance of the capillary meter they used is, probably a lot better than the ones we have.