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Glucose meter accuracy?

Essextireddad

Essextireddad

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi
I have recently been diagnosed with Type 1 and as such test my blood regularly. I have been given three Bayer ContourXT monitor, my thoughts were that I would have one at home, one in the car and one I could carry around. I decided to perform a test yesterday with all three - with from the same pin prick, my levels tested differently on all three monitors - by about 10% from smallest to largest. I am somewhat shocked by the variability as getting an accurate glucose level is important when matching carbs to insulin.
Has anyone else found this and is there a more accurate monitor that I should be using?

Thanks
Adrian
 
@Essextireddad In a very short and terse answer, this is normal. It's well within the tolerances that are allowed for and you have now discovered that it is not an exact science. As it happens, your finger capillary blood and that in your deep vessels have different glucose levels, and your blood in one finger may have different readings from another as it isn't homogenous.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is not an exact science, and neither is an insulin shot as you can't guarantee that an injection of 2u is absorbed as 2u. It might only absorb 1.7u immediately.

As a result, it's rather more trial and error and pattern spotting and it's just the way it works I'm afraid.
 
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