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Testing blood on left/right hand

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raymagic

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Dear All I tested my blood on my meter(freestyle) my right hand( finger) had a reading of 6.8 and then I tested my left hand (finger)it had a reading of 7.3.
This was done within a minute,the question I have is why would there be a difference from one hand to the other.
Regards Ray
 
You will never get the same reading twice but it's nothing to worry about, if you are ever concerned about the accuracy of the meter then test with the control solution that came with the meter.
 
raymagic said:
Dear All I tested my blood on my meter(freestyle) my right hand( finger) had a reading of 6.8 and then I tested my left hand (finger)it had a reading of 7.3.
This was done within a minute,the question I have is why would there be a difference from one hand to the other.
Regards Ray
Click to expand...

Meters (and the strips) aren't entirely accurate so even if you measured exactly the same spot of blood it would be very unlikely to give you the same answer. I expect my reading to be accurate to about plus or minus 0.5. In regards to which hand I heard from someone your left hand readings are generally lower than your right hand ones because of the way the blood flows round the body. Have no idea if its true!

After a while you tend to be able to spot the "silly" readings which are usually caused by not having washed your hand, too little blood or even a duff strip. If I get a ridiculously silly reading I just go wash my hands and do another to confirm it was wrong.
 
Assuming that you used a new lancet and a new strip, I am perplexed.
I think that the strips must have a built in range.

You are definately in the right place here though, somebody will have a more definitive answer I am sure.

Superchip
 
Any test done by our meters are only guaranteed to be within 15%. That means a real reading of 6 could go from 5.1 to 6.9. That's extreme, but shows the range of possibility. Like xyzzy, I expect my real reading to be + or - 0.5ish. Each strip can vary a little, and handling the strips affects things as well. A 0.5 difference is entirely normal from test to test.
 
I've had this before. Last week actually. I was laying in bed about 30 mins after eating a soup which I was unsure about since it was new. I ate bread with it as well, I felt sick afterwards and thought, "uh oh, it's spiked me.". I tested and one hand said 2.7. I didn't believe it since I just ate recently. Tested the other hand, 3.4.

Might've been something on my hand, I dunno!
 
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