Help choosing the right meter!?

[mcdougall86]

It seems like the choice out there is endless. Can anyone recommend a good source to compare blood glucose meters to help me choose the right one? The pinned post is quite out of date!

I’m looking to balance affordability with accuracy, so something that’s decent but that doesn’t cost the earth to replace the testing strips. There are so many options out there, and I’ve tried sifting through reviews on Amazon etc but it’s really overwhelming! Any advice or guidance is welcomed

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

It seems like the choice out there is endless. Can anyone recommend a good source to compare blood glucose meters to help me choose the right one? The pinned post is quite out of date!

I’m looking to balance affordability with accuracy, so something that’s decent but that doesn’t cost the earth to replace the testing strips. There are so many options out there, and I’ve tried sifting through reviews on Amazon etc but it’s really overwhelming! Any advice or guidance is welcomed

@Rachox is the meter guru so she will most like post some time.

I use a Contour Next but ! get subsidised strips here in Australia so it will be unaffordable if you live in the UK.

Edit: Typo

 

[McHelen]

It seems like the choice out there is endless. Can anyone recommend a good source to compare blood glucose meters to help me choose the right one? The pinned post is quite out of date!

I’m looking to balance affordability with accuracy, so something that’s decent but that doesn’t cost the earth to replace the testing strips. There are so many options out there, and I’ve tried sifting through reviews on Amazon etc but it’s really overwhelming! Any advice or guidance is welcomed

2 pieces of advice from personal experience -
Check what units the meter gives (mine gives mg/dl rather than mol/l, so I have to convert each reading in the UK) and research the price of the test strips, as some can be very pricey, especially in the early dats when you are measuring the effects of different foods.

 

[MrsA2]

I use a Tee2. And have done for nearly 2 years now. It's reliable and the service from Spirit is good. Strips currently just under £10 for 50. First 6 months I did get though alot but now only test once a day so pot of 50 lasts nearly 2 months.
I also now have a caresens duo as I occasionally check ketone. Dotn know how much their bg strips are. The ketones ones are very expensive, work out about £1.50 each!

Hope this helps, but don't overthink it, better to get testing asap

 

[Widgets]

I bought a meter from Amazon before finding the resources on here so I picked more or less at random. I have a Sinocare meter, the strips are about 19p each (edit - just looked and they're currently 22p each)

It seems to do the job perfectly adequately. So far as I understand all meters sold in the UK have to meet the same standard so you probably can't go too far wrong, check the cost of the consumables.

 

[Rachox]

Hi @mcdougall86 and thanks for the tag @Riva_Roxaban

Here’s some info on UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.


HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews if you use this link and select the meter plus 5 packs of strips and then add the code dcuk (all lower case) at check-out, you’ll get the meter free. So total cost for meter + 5 x 50 strips will be £31.76.


https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips and the meter for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/

There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively.


Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

Discount codes for the Code Free strips

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + found here:



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793

with the strips found here:



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097

Some members have got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order, with a large order of strips they often throw the meter in for free:

Phone number 0800 8815423


With more expensive strips is their Caresens Dual, this one has the advantage of glucose and ketone testing in one machine, it’s to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.


Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

 

[mcdougall86]

Thanks folks. I got a prescribed meter a few years back when I developed steroid-induced diabetes so cost of strips etc wasn’t an issue as it was covered. The machine broke a year or two later but at the time by HbA1c was in normal ranges so I just simply stopped testing. My HbA1c is now raised, so it looks like the steroids have triggered type 2 so I’m keen to find out more about how certain foods affect me with more regular testing. There’s just an incredible amount of choice, even within brands, so it’s hard to know where to start!

 

[Alexandra100]

it’s hard to know where to start!

@mcdougall86, I started with the TEE2, then migrated to the Codefree and now I use the GlucoNavii. All three are mentioned in @Rachox's excellent post above, and all three usually worked pretty well for me. As far as I know these strips are the cheapest, especially if you take advantage of their bulk buy offers. I have always liked to buy the cheapest strips available (still not very cheap) as I don't like the idea of rationing them. BUT who knows, really, how accurate any of these makes of strip are? We all have horror stories of getting 3 wildly varying readings from the same drop of blood. Again, the less I pay the less upset I am when I doubt the readings I am getting.
You could decide what you want your meter to do. Do you want it to sync with an app on your smartphone? I don't bother with this and as far as I know the Navii doesn't do it. Do check before buying. Do you want it to test ketones as well as bg? Again, I'm not bothered. I believe ketone strips are expensive. Will you want to carry your meter around, perhaps in a pocket? Size will matter to you.
As you used a meter in the past, you will have found out what you like. Spirit and Home Health both have good customer support.
In the end, what really matters is your excellent decision to test.