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Still undecided on meter

hansolo

Active Member
Messages
36
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin


I had, so far, found the Freestyle optium neo the most reliable as it seemed to read under 4 whenever I felt hypo. All others were at least 0.5 higher in the same circumstances.

Now I've received a new Contour Next with some test strips and, although the first few tests were about 0.5 in difference (the Contour reading lower), I just did a post meal test and look at the difference!! Surely both being made to ISO standards should mean there isn't such a difference?!

Confused! Anyone got any similar experiences or fancy sharing their opinion on which to trust?

Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The standard says that 90% of readings must be within 15% of the true reading. So you could have a 15% reading high on one meter and a 15% reading low on the other. So lets assume your value is 11 then 11+15% is 11+1.1+0.55=12.65 and 11-15% = 9.35

You could also have had a reading outside of the 90 percentile.
 
Thanks @andcol. Makes sense but doesn't really give me much confidence as to which one to trust!! Unless I test on 3 different meters and then interpolate taking average. Then again it depends on too many factors, eh. Guess the only true test is hba1c...
 
I use mainly rhe codefree and sometimes the contour meters. The codefree always show a reading on average of 2.5 lower
 
........AND in addition to the information given by @andcol , your blood is not as homegenous as you might assume.

Depending on what you actually did,,,
One large drop of blood from a single finger prick used twice on a single meter will yield different results anyway.
If you stopped and did a second finger prick on the same finger, then the 9.6 blood could have disappeared up your arm and been replaced by the 12.0 blood in the time it takes you to do it.
If you used different fingers or hands, and also a time seperation then you're shooting in the wind I'm afraid.

It's a guide, not a science. Choose 1 meter, and stick with it. You'll get an idea how accurate it is when you get your a1c done.
 
Hmm thanks. I'm a bit of a control freak so you'll understand why I am to-ing and fro-ing. I like the features of the Next as I can plug into my Mac and track progress. As it is I have been inputting results into Diabetes PA app which doesn't really present data that well.

Thanks all
 
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