Not enough blood

[Tron2112]

Type 2 n00b here. Got a monitor (onetouch) on 1st Feb and ten strips. I bought more strips and lancets from amazon.

Every time I test it's rage inducing. I prick the finger, wait for the blood but only get a tiny drop not much bigger than the lancet head. I put the test strip to the drop and get an Er5 message which means not enough blood. This happens about 3-4 times. I'm wasting precious strips!

Also because I'm not getting much blood, I am using a "milking" action to get a decent sized drop but I've read on another thread that this can skew the reading.

Does "milking" increase or decrease the reading?

What is the best technique to increase the blood drop to a usable amount?

Any way to make it not hurt? I'm a pain wuss.

What can happen if you reuse a lancet?










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[))Denise((]

I've got a One Touch and do get this sometimes. Make sure you wash your hands in warm water and hold your arm down by the side. You can milk your finger but you have to be careful not to get the interstitial fluid in it as it will skew the results.

Some strips you can add some more blood, but not the One Touch ones.

Yes, you can re-use lancets, some people change them more often than others. It is said that you could get an infection by re-using them, but I've never found this to be the case.

Another tip is not to use the pads of your fingers to test, use the sides by the nail.

Hope this helps.

 

[Finzi]

Hi! You're not alone, I find it terribly difficult to get blood sometimes. Denise's advice is good, but I can do all that, stab my finger and still not get ANY blood at all, so nothing even to squeeze. I compromise on milking - if I get a tiny pinprick of blood, I hang my arm down by my side, very gently flexing my finger to try to encourage some more. If that doesn't work, I will very gently squeeze from the *bottom* of my finger. If that doesn't work I will give up and re-prick.

Also try whirling your arm round and round before you start. You can use lancets again, I probably use each one around ten times. Although having said that my current prescribed ones are single use, and I do find they are slightly more effective than a blunt older one.

Re hurting, best advice is to use the side of the little finger or ring finger, rather than the pad.


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[Tron2112]

Thanks Denise, using the side of the finger instead of the pad meant I got it in one this morning with no milking and no rage! Finzi, I will try your spinning technique next time.

Not so happy with the result mind you. Who'd a thunk Rice Krispies could raise BG so much? Another food off the menu.


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[Finzi]

Thanks Denise, using the side of the finger instead of the pad meant I got it in one this morning with no milking and no rage! Finzi, I will try your spinning technique next time.

Not so happy with the result mind you. Who'd a thunk Rice Krispies could raise BG so much? Another food off the menu.


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30g Rice Krispies and milk -about 32g carbs. That's about as much as I have in a day and unless you actually measured it out, it's quite unlikely that you only had 30g - have you seen how little that is? and how likely is it to fill you up for long?

If I were you, if you want to cut down on carbs, forget about breakfast cereals entirely. They're all pretty much as bad as each other.




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