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Meters giving different readings

E

Eimear

Newbie
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4
Hi all
I am type 2. I am on a mission to lose weight and better control my levels. I have recently been given a new one touch verio flex meter. My old one touch ultra 2 meter is 10 years old. I have happily been checking my bloods 4 times daily on my new meter. I have had some low levels, which I put down to my new diet and exercise routine, also I have lost quite a bit of weight. My levels have been so good I have reduced my glicizide morning intake from 2 x 40mg to 1 × 40mg. I have now discovered that my meters are reading with huge variances. New meter read yesterday at 3.4, old meter read at 7.6. I have since checked the readings a few times and they are still way off each other. Anyone had this before? Any advice on what to do? Thanks.
 
Do you have some sort of calibration fluid with your meters? Most should come with bottles of 'high' and 'low' liquid which you can use to see if your meter is giving readings in the correct ball park
 
Hi @Eimear ..
You have made a good move coming here. Since joining this forum, the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need .. It's still early for me but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly ..

You appear to have taken on board the strategy that managing and controlling your diabetes through exercise, diet and testing your blood glucose seems to be the best way forward for many people. For me, committing to an LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum ..

I suggest that you read up on the Low Carb Program and you might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. together with the following Diet Doctor websites ...
Low Carb Intro and Information
Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

Not sure if you are paying for your test strips but if you are, the strips for the One Touch Verio Flex seem to be incredibly expensive .. you might like to have a look at the website at:
https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/
for the SD Codefree meter, which costs £12.98 (you don't pay VAT) or:
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free.
I have both for comparative purposes and I have never found any significant difference between them. Unless you are prescribed test strips by your doctor (unlikely), the costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. I'm testing 3-4 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for either of the two packages above but, more importantly, I now know what my BG levels are .. and I can now manage them
Hope this helps
 
Can you take your meters and see the nurse, then get the nurse to do a test with their meter while you test with both of your meters.
 
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