• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Meter and strips

G

Gloucestergirl

Well-Known Member
A couple of months ago my surgery said they were changing our glucose meters for different ones. For years I had been using an Agamatrix Jazz meter and was really happy with it but the meter I have been given is cheaper and so are the testing strips but this is a false economy as I have many more problems with the new meter than I ever had with the other one. The new meter is a Glucofix Tech which is bigger than the previous one, the testing strips are bigger and the finger pricker is a Glucoject Dual Plus. The problems I have been having is that I am getting the E3 error which means either the strip hasn't been inserted properly (it has) or there is not enough blood. The finger prickers are very fine and I have had to prick several times to get some blood out and even though the meter is supposed to only need a tiny drop of blood I am having to prick several times to get some blood out and even though it looks big enough the error message comes up so I am having to use twice as many testing strips. I compared the finger prickers that came with the meter with some other prickers I had and the other ones were quite a bit thicker and produced a good enough drop of blood the first time rather than having to prick several times so I am now using the better prickers.

I was wondering if it's just my luck or whether anyone else has been changed to this Glucofix meter and has been having the same trouble.
 
I use two meters but not a Glucofix. I find that my strips are sensitive to the angle of application. I have to drop the strip vertically onto the drop. I find using the meter horizontal can give errors too.
 
I'd call or message your surgery @Gloucestergirl and explain what's happened, (give actual numbers of 'wasted' test strips and additional finger pricks), and ask to go back to your old meter and strips. It might work, and the worst they can do is refuse.
 
Oldvatr said:
I use two meters but not a Glucofix. I find that my strips are sensitive to the angle of application. I have to drop the strip vertically onto the drop. I find using the meter horizontal can give errors too.
Click to expand...
Hi, hope you’re well..

I’ve used an accucheck Mobile for years. (Ribbon Cartridge like a cassette.not strips, so not relevant.)

But using the old strips. (From memory.)
Make sure & allow the blood to “wick” up the strip. (You know this too.) ;)

But regardless of this there is a “chip” in the end of the strip inserted to the meter?
If the strip got “dinged” too heavily? (Maybe by a misjudged distance to touching the drop of blood on the finger.)
It dislodges the chip momentarily breaking contact.. (That could possibly cause errors.)
Bit like dinging the protruding bank card on some chip & pin transactions. (Voiding it.) or dropping a mobile phone & dislodging the SIM card? (Causing a problem with network connection until taken out & reinserted..)
 
Oldvatr said:
I use two meters but not a Glucofix. I find that my strips are sensitive to the angle of application. I have to drop the strip vertically onto the drop. I find using the meter horizontal can give errors too.
Click to expand...
I have two meters as well (aside from my libre) and I have to use them in entirely different ways. The Contour Next I don't need a lot of blood at all and just insert the test strip gently into the blood drop horizontally, trying not to touch the skin. For the Libre meter I need a bigger drop and have to insert the strip into the blood drop vertically otherwise it doesn't seem to suck the blood up and sometimes I end up using 2 or 3 strips. I rarely use more than one strip with the Contour Next. I use the Contour next meter most often because it's fast, I need less blood and I rarely waste a strip because of too little blood. As far as accuracy goes both meters seem to be on par with each other

I need the Libre meter because it accepts ketone strips but I don't use those often. So 9.9 times out of 10 I'll reach for the Contour next for a glucose test. Occasionally I use the libre meter for glucose tests because I have the strips, which have an expiry date, and I don't like wastage. I doubt I'll get a new box of glucose test strips for it once they run out, though, and reserve it just for ketone monitoring (those strips will probably expire because I so rarely do ketone tests because I've never had a high that was high enough to really warrant checking ketones. That said I've read that very rarely you can get DKA without high glucose but I don't know what the numbers mean... I think the last time I did a ketone test I was 0.8 but that means nothing to me unfortunately)
 
Has anyone tried the arm ban libre is it that saves you prick your fingers I may be having one , would love to know if these are accurate too
 
PatsyB said:
Has anyone tried the arm ban libre is it that saves you prick your fingers I may be having one , would love to know if these are accurate too
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the Libre sensors that are applied to your upper arm for 2 weeks?
You scan the sensor for your readings. But they do not replace all finger pricks
Libre are pretty common now so there are many many threads about them. Incredibly useful if you understand their limitations. Incredibly frustrating if you don't.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I am happily using my Autolet Impresson finger pricker that I received with another meter which I found is much less painful than a lot of the others. I had tried using the Glucojet lancets that were supplied with the Glucojet finger pricker and also tried them in my Autolet pricker but had to crank the number up to the maximum to even break the skin so am using the older lancets I have had for a long time. Since using the different lancets I haven't had any problems getting blood out or any error messages.

I don't think my surgery will change me back to my original meter, especially as they were saying that NHS approval had been given to give all Type 2s on insulin a Libre Sensor but that could be months away. I have used them before after buying several and they were able to show me that my blood sugar was going low during the night. I haven't used one for about three years as I was diagnosed with MDS, Mylodysplastic Syndrome - a form of bone/blood cancer and was advised by the consultant that it could be an infection risk but then finger pricking several times a day could do the same thing I suppose.
 
Gloucestergirl said:
A couple of months ago my surgery said they were changing our glucose meters for different ones. For years I had been using an Agamatrix Jazz meter and was really happy with it but the meter I have been given is cheaper and so are the testing strips but this is a false economy as I have many more problems with the new meter than I ever had with the other one. The new meter is a Glucofix Tech which is bigger than the previous one, the testing strips are bigger and the finger pricker is a Glucoject Dual Plus. The problems I have been having is that I am getting the E3 error which means either the strip hasn't been inserted properly (it has) or there is not enough blood. The finger prickers are very fine and I have had to prick several times to get some blood out and even though the meter is supposed to only need a tiny drop of blood I am having to prick several times to get some blood out and even though it looks big enough the error message comes up so I am having to use twice as many testing strips. I compared the finger prickers that came with the meter with some other prickers I had and the other ones were quite a bit thicker and produced a good enough drop of blood the first time rather than having to prick several times so I am now using the better prickers.

I was wondering if it's just my luck or whether anyone else has been changed to this Glucofix meter and has been having the same trouble.
Click to expand...
I had the exact same problems. Typical of the NHS. Thrown the meter in the bin and bought a real one.
 
I am coming to this discussion very late but think I can help with the E3 error. I had the same issue but found it was because I was not pushing the strip in hard enough. It will turn the device on even when not pushed completely home. Since pushing the strips in harder I have had no E3 errors.

Hope this helps someone even though the post was a few months ago.
 
Not sure if this is just something everyone does already - but I was amazed at the difference it made when it was demonstrated to me.

Rather than kind of offering the end of the test strip up to the surface of the blood droplet:-

Slide the test strip along the surface of your skin, until it just touches the side of the blood droplet. This is just physically easier to do consistently, helps with capillary action in the strip, keeps the blood drop "droppy" so that it doesn't just mush all over the strip and your finger, and makes it easier to see the blood wick into the strip.
 
Gloucestergirl said:
A couple of months ago my surgery said they were changing our glucose meters for different ones. For years I had been using an Agamatrix Jazz meter and was really happy with it but the meter I have been given is cheaper and so are the testing strips but this is a false economy as I have many more problems with the new meter than I ever had with the other one. The new meter is a Glucofix Tech which is bigger than the previous one, the testing strips are bigger and the finger pricker is a Glucoject Dual Plus. The problems I have been having is that I am getting the E3 error which means either the strip hasn't been inserted properly (it has) or there is not enough blood. The finger prickers are very fine and I have had to prick several times to get some blood out and even though the meter is supposed to only need a tiny drop of blood I am having to prick several times to get some blood out and even though it looks big enough the error message comes up so I am having to use twice as many testing strips. I compared the finger prickers that came with the meter with some other prickers I had and the other ones were quite a bit thicker and produced a good enough drop of blood the first time rather than having to prick several times so I am now using the better prickers.

I was wondering if it's just my luck or whether anyone else has been changed to this Glucofix meter and has been having the same trouble.
Click to expand...
sadly many surgeries have an agreement on certain meters and strips, and yes the quality is worse.. but the strips are very much cheaper than some of the better names brands, so much so that even if you waste half of the strips there is still a saving to the NHS.

I argued for a while with my surgery about my meter that kept giving similar errors, I was told to contact the meter company and request a warranty replacement

the only way I was able to get other test strip was to get my care team at the hospital to request a strip change and this was the only way my surgery would do it
 
I have been switched to this meter by my GP and on first usage, I didn't get a reading until the third test strip. The two strips used before this one registered E3 errors. I think the problem is that the opening which blood is drawn into on the strip is incredibly narrow. I can see this being an issue for those with visual impairments. I prefer my Glucolab meter and test strips which have a wider opening to draw up the blood.
 
Interesting reading.
Doctor has advised to change to the glucofix tech gk meter it’s rubbish and will not connect to any Apple phone, iPad , imac
its a cheap and nasty
any one else having issues
 
Back
Top