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SD Code Free Strips Batch no. S0318075.

Hi it could well be.. after many months of stable figures I too started this new batch of strips and started getting higher readings. I parallel tested with two other meters and got the following results.


I have informed Home Health and they replied on Boxing Day! But seem unable to admit they can replicate the problem. I will be changing my meter as of Jan 2019 to the Tee2 even though they offered me a new meter and more strips. I have however lost confidence in the Codefree.
 
Rachox said:
Home Health and the manufacturer have both concluded that this batch is within permittable limits, but that’s strange, as you will have read, there are a few of us on this thread that disagree

Edit for typo
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Rachox, I'm not taking sides on this one, as I don't have a horse in this particular race. but it's probably possible for the strips still to be compliant to standards, but not match our expectation, based on lots of personal testing.

My dealing with Homehealth over the years have always shown them to be open to discussion and always keen to do the right thing. My guess is they probably find themselves between a rock and a hard thing (manufacturer and customer).
 

Hi Bulkbiker:
What do your symbols RO, LI, etc. mean?
 
Its my finger alternating system Right Outside (RO) Left Inside (LI).. I start with the little finger and work inwards... just a handy aide memoir..
 

I totally agree that Home Health has been professional in their approach in that they have rigorously tested this ‘rouge’ batch themselves and involved the manufacturer too, they have fed back to me and they concluded that the strips were within the required parameters. So I find it odd that several other people here on the forum have found the same as me.
My other issue is the increasing number of times I was getting unexpected results and on retesting I got a more normal result.
My own suspicion is that the cheaper strips aren’t as robust as more expensive ones and suffer whist in transit between the manufacturer and HH or between HH and my house. They obviously don’t have control over temperature or moisture etc... while the strips are on the road. I notice my new strips are good for 18 months after opening Code Free are only 6 months.
I have made my choice now and resigned my Code Free to the status of spare and have switched to another meter. So far after nearly two weeks I haven’t once felt the need to retest so I’m happy with my decision.
 

I agrree with you Rachox - whichever way it goes one has to decide on a meter and work with it. Working with multiples is just a rreecipe for quick fried brain.
 
DCUKMod said:
I agrree with you Rachox - whichever way it goes one has to decide on a meter and work with it. Working with multiples is just a rreecipe for quick fried brain.
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Because my results seem quite stable, I am happy to continue with the codefree and I use the averaged values to approximate my next HbA1c. I treat the apparent 1 mmol/l difference between them as a fixed offset, and use this as a yardstick for detecting misreads. However, I have more trust in the other meter for basing treatment decisions on, and also for driving. I now know that I am no longer alone in thinking this way.

Not a lone, but a lert (because Britain needs more lerts)
 

So glad I came to this site! Have often wondered how accurate these meters are, and obviously they do have their limitations. Might investigate alternative gadget too, Bulkbiker. Thanks for everyone's input - was getting bit distressed! This business seems to have taken over my life and now I realise I'm not the only one ...how good is that!
 
Quick update..
The guy from Spirit healthcare called me today to explain that they aren't currently in a position to offer a discount on the Tee2 strips as 10% would just about remove their profit margin.. so dismal failure there sorry all.

I informed Home Health that I was going to stop using the SD Codefree down to the inaccuracy of the latest batch of strips which they were apologetic about but apart from offering to replace the strips couldn't replicate the problem themselves.
However they did ask me to test another meter which they are introducing called the Wellion Leonardo which tests Blood Glucose and ketones. This arrived this morning so I'll be running a parallel test along with the Tee2 and Codefree (still have about 5 pots of strips left) for blood glucose and the On-Call GK Dual for ketones. I fear the strips will cost more than the Codefree though but will see what the results are then see if we can get a discount on those...
As always I'll keep you lot informed...
 
bulkbiker said:
Quick update..
The guy from Spirit healthcare called me today to explain that they aren't currently in a position to offer a discount on the Tee2 strips as 10% would just about remove their profit margin.. so dismal failure there sorry all..
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Shame they couldn’t have met us half way but thanks for trying.
I’m still very satisfied with my Caresens Dual
 

Thanks @bulkbiker just checked back into this thread with the intention of asking you how you were getting on with the Tee2. As you know my testing between Caresens and Codefree didn’t give a compelling reason to change, but to be honest I’d also been a bit inconsistent with eating patterns at the time.

Have a couple of weeks behind me now of being more consistent and new Codefree batch is downright inconsistent so interested in trialling against the Tee2. Caresens strips are just too pricey.

Did you get a response from Spirit about bulk buying strips?

Edit. Sorry just seen that you reported back that they can’t do bulk discounts. Shame but will still call and order a Tee2 and strips.
 
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Rachox said:
I think when you’re new to metering you may take all the readings at face value,
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And to be honest immediately on diagnosis you’re more likely to have inconsistent readings anyway. Takes a while to adjust eating and understand your own trends.
 

I'm finding the Tee2 is reading consistently 0.4 to 1.0 lower than that batch of Codefree strips and is much more inline with my HbA1c results.. so I'm gonna stick with it. I've been running the two parallel this year and have got the following results while on my OMAD carni experiment.
 
I too have updated my take on this topic, and attach the graph that shows my extended daily averages for the past full year, so this will also average out the effect of strip batch changes on both meters, I have a definite bias showing that is non linear in that the difference increases as the reading value increases. The worse case reading at 9 mmol/l has a differenc that only just meets the ISO requirement for 15% but of course we have 2 meters at play here so technically they can differ by 30%, and I do not know what the proper reading should have been. So SD is not proven to be at fault here, I work on the true reading being somewhere halfway between the two reading values I see,
 

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I rang Spirit this morning. Turns out their 24/7 phone line is staffed at weekends by people who can’t take orders. He did take my details and they’ll call back. Hoping a phone order will result in a free meter....
 
Goonergal said:
I rang Spirit this morning. Turns out their 24/7 phone line is staffed at weekends by people who can’t take orders. He did take my details and they’ll call back. Hoping a phone order will result in a free meter....
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You maybe well be good with that.. the guy I spoke to "Dan" was almost a bit upset that they couldn't offer us a discount.. seemed like nice people.. and return business is always nice! Maybe mention the forum (I did lots)...
 
bulkbiker said:
Oops it was David not Dan @Goonergal
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They called me back yesterday - was a woman. Very helpful and did throw the meter in for free, although she did forget to deduct VAT until I called her back.

Of course now the Codefree has started to behave, but it seems only a proportion of each tub gives expected readings. It’s the consistency for me. Will parallel test for a bit. Carnivore month is giving a good basis for the testing as I’m not eating anything that could interfere with BG.

Hoping the new kit will arrive before I go away for the weekend.
 
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