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Meter accuracy

NeilSC

Active Member
Messages
29
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all, I’m after a bit of advice, I seem to be getting inaccurate readings from my meter, I’m currently using the accu-check nano.. Before dinner last night I was 5.2, two hours after I was only 6.0 which I thought was pretty low considering I had lasagne and a few slices of garlic bread.. I tested again before I went to bed and I was 9.6, I then tested immediately after on my other hand and I was 7.2?? This has happened on a few occasions now. Has anybody else had any issues like this using this meter??
Thanks for reading..
 
Meters are only good for approximations. Two tests from the same finer a minute apart can give different readings. With luck the readings are consistent over the days.

Meals like lasagna are heavy with protein and fat and can delay your rise in BG. T1s talk, I think, about the pizza problem where the fats delay the rise in BG for a long time so mess with normal insulin regimes.

It is a known issue (not sure how common) that different hands can give different results. The best thing to do is probably to stick (ouch) to a couple of adjacent fingers for your testing to avoid this issue. If you want to feel good, test on the lower reading hand all the time.
 
When I get a reading I don't expect and try again, the problem is usually dirty fingers rather than a problem with the meter.
In order to be sold in the UK, all meters must comply with a certain standard which includes accuracy so there is no much difference between them.
 
Thanks for the reply, I didn’t know that protein and fat can delay the rise in BG?? I’ll definitely be testing on the lower reading hand in the future.. haha.. I’m off for my first hba1c test now since diagnosis, hoping my numbers have decreased a bit from my first test of 97!!! Cheers.
 

All meters have to conform to the same accuracy standards before they can be marketed. This accuracy standard is plus or minus 15%, so is quite a wide band. It is annoying, it happens to us all, but it is all we have at the moment. It isn't drastically important unless you rely on your finger prick tests to inject insulin. All the rest of us are just looking for trends up or down over a period of time rather than specific individual readings.

Making sure your hands are washed with soap and warm water, thoroughly rinsed under running water and thoroughly dried is also essential.

As for your lasagne, as said earlier, your peak could well have been much later than 2 hours - your reading of 6 at 2 hours may have still been on the way up.
 

Thanks for the info, think I need to stop worrying too much and stop eating lasagne!!
 
Was the lasagne reheated, hence making the pasta into "resistant starch" that slows down the process of digesting the carbs.
 
ringi said:
Was the lasagne reheated, hence making the pasta into "resistant starch" that slows down the process of digesting the carbs.
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It was freshly cooked last night, I have left overs for tonight but don’t think I’ll bother having it now.. lol.. Thanks for the info..
 
NeilSC said:
It was freshly cooked last night, I have left overs for tonight but don’t think I’ll bother having it now.. lol.. Thanks for the info..
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You can always freeze it in smaller portions and use it as a side dish rather than the meal. Or just toss it. I don’t go anywhere near lasagna.
Next time you can make it with eggplant instead of pasta. Loads of low carb lasagna recipes online
 
Meters are cheap, Test strips are cheap.

Don't expect them to be particularly accurate.

Yes they have to meet the standards for accuracy, but it won't be your meter that was tested.

Whilst it's unlikely that the manufacturers would be deliberately selling meters that were inaccurate, I'm sure most people who bought a VW thought that as well
 
Kristin251 said:
You can always freeze it in smaller portions and use it as a side dish rather than the meal. Or just toss it. I don’t go anywhere near lasagna.
Next time you can make it with eggplant instead of pasta. Loads of low carb lasagna recipes online
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Yeah that’s a good idea!! Ill try the eggplant next time I think, got to be worth a go.. thanks
 
NeilSC said:
Yeah that’s a good idea!! Ill try the eggplant next time I think, got to be worth a go.. thanks
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Or just the sauce and cheese heated up and dumped on a plate of veggies or cauliflower rice. Saves lots of time prepping, cooking and cleaning as well
 
Kristin251 said:
Or just the sauce and cheese heated up and dumped on a plate of veggies or cauliflower rice. Saves lots of time prepping, cooking and cleaning as well
Click to expand...

That sounds good, I’ll give that a go..
 
i tested my meter by doing 5 prick tests on each finger of my left hand the results were 1.2 diffrent. none agreed. it probably best to treat it as its some where about there. assume it could be about 10% out so 6 could read 5.4 to 6.6. only worry if its very low or high.
 
It is a worry when your injecting insulin as that’s what we base our doses on. My meter was discontinued and I only have about 6 weeks left of strips. Lots of research going on now
 
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