oh yeah hun, the techy gadgets make it all worth while!!!!
I have the same unit and I guess probably the same lancet (stabber thingy) ... are you testing on the sides of your fingers (marginally less painful) and on the smallest two or three fingers? Don't bother with thumb (hurts like hell) and index finger - the skin tends to be thicker and then yeah, you need deeper penetration (*trying to squash a rude type joke here*) ...
Also if you wash you hands with warm water prior to stabbage* (*not a word) the warmth will improve blood flow as will the gentle massage. Also helps to keep sample free of possible contaminants (that might affect BG reading) and your fingers free of potential infection
Strips are NOT cheap, but can be found on ebay or online chemists shops, or you could try to get some on prescription. Saying *it will help me understand both my condition AND helop me to lose excess weight, therefore saving the NHS huge bundles of cash in the future (at this point try fluttering your lashes)* might help
Congrats on proactive stance. Better to prevent diagnosis by acting as if you have diabetes than to await diagnosis and suffer.
Best of luck - and yeah, your reading was a good one ... there are various discussions on here about when to test ... basic times to try:
first thing in morning
immediately before each meal (don't snack whilst making or it affects reading!)
2 hours after meal
last thing before bed
Now my GP says I only need to test twice a week but I advised him that I was new to diabetes and wanted to understand how my body reacted to certain foods ... at the very least, even when I have a greater understanding I will still test first thing in the morning (as I consider this my baseline reading) and after new foods OR if I am poorly. Defo more than twice a week!
All the best, J/x