One Monitor or Two ?
- Thread starter johnstoc
- Start Date
Is it common for type1s to have a keytones meter? I don't think I've ever been tested for keytones... not that I can think of aside from when I was first diagnosed.
Do you have a keytones meter? Do you recommend having one?
I do have a quite a few issues with controlling my blood sugar levels so I am potentially at risk I suppose.
And as for having more than one blood sugar meter... I had no idea anyone had more than one at any one time. I've been IDDM since I was 11 and I'm 30 now and I've only ever had the one meter at a time because that's all I've ever been offered by my clinic... when one breaks (if it happens to be a week day) I get a new one from the clinic.... I must admit, it's always worried me not having a back up. Is it easy to buy your own meters directly?
Do you have a keytones meter? Do you recommend having one?
I do have a quite a few issues with controlling my blood sugar levels so I am potentially at risk I suppose.
And as for having more than one blood sugar meter... I had no idea anyone had more than one at any one time. I've been IDDM since I was 11 and I'm 30 now and I've only ever had the one meter at a time because that's all I've ever been offered by my clinic... when one breaks (if it happens to be a week day) I get a new one from the clinic.... I must admit, it's always worried me not having a back up. Is it easy to buy your own meters directly?
I don't know if they actually check that; the point was that testing with a 2nd meter when you feel hypos allows you to correct any hypos, and present anyone with a flawless hypo-free record on your meter. [Anyone with half a brain would realise this and not ask to see meter records in the first place].
I can't think of a reason to do this unless you want to deceive someone about you having hypos - the DVLA was just the first thing that came to my mind.
I have one - the Optium Xceed, which I got on diagnosis with DKA at the hospital (3 days ICU). Presumably, that would vary depending on how you're diagnosed.
I think I've seen an ad for another meter with ketone testing, but I can't recall the name at this time.
The main advantage is being able to measure ketones more accurately than with Ketostix (which will lag behind blood ketones). I'd imagine that this would be useful for treating acute DKA, but in day-to-day use Ketostix will work just as well.
Dunno. It seems a bit unlikely because my GP made me use a urine test (i.e. Ketostix) before referring me to the hospital (with acute DKA) - if GP surgeries don't have them, I can't see the majority of patients using them.
phoenix
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If my licence depended on my Dr's report (it doesn't here because of medical confidentiality laws), then I think I'd use a second meter. I have a lot of easily corrected hypos almost always during or after exercise and never in a car ( my glucose always rises in a car)
I normally use a one Touch Ultra Smart but have another smaller one one Touch meter for back-up and small handbags. I've also got an acu chek compact It's good for when I'm out running as its 'all in one' . I only use it for selecyed long runs as I can't get the strips here in France and have to buy them when I visit the UK.
I normally use a one Touch Ultra Smart but have another smaller one one Touch meter for back-up and small handbags. I've also got an acu chek compact It's good for when I'm out running as its 'all in one' . I only use it for selecyed long runs as I can't get the strips here in France and have to buy them when I visit the UK.
I have 2 meters an old wave sense jazz and a new verio IQ , the IQ is much better than the jazz but alot bulkier , both do the same things really nothing fancy although the IQ does track blood sugar patterns. My main reason for having 2 is incase one breaks or gives me strange results I know I have a back up and can compare results. X
Hello
Just wanted to chime in that the Optium Xceed does have the ability to download data. Abbott diabetes care, who make the meter, will send you a special cable for free and a disc for the software (it's called CoPilot). You just plug the cable in your computer, stick the other end in the meter port (it's where the test strips go in), and it downloads your readings. Then there are all sorts of ways you can read the data - pie charts, line graphs, averages, patterns etc etc. I requested this because my son didn't fill in his log book and as he's away at school in the week, I felt out of touch. He is happy for me to download his meter data on Friday evenings, so I can see how the week went. You can find out more about CoPilot here:
http://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/you ... t-software
Hope that helps.
Just wanted to chime in that the Optium Xceed does have the ability to download data. Abbott diabetes care, who make the meter, will send you a special cable for free and a disc for the software (it's called CoPilot). You just plug the cable in your computer, stick the other end in the meter port (it's where the test strips go in), and it downloads your readings. Then there are all sorts of ways you can read the data - pie charts, line graphs, averages, patterns etc etc. I requested this because my son didn't fill in his log book and as he's away at school in the week, I felt out of touch. He is happy for me to download his meter data on Friday evenings, so I can see how the week went. You can find out more about CoPilot here:
http://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/you ... t-software
Hope that helps.
