trouble getting blood

ajbod said:

Just in a position to start testing with a meter from my mother in law ( Glucomen Areo ).
had to buy strips when i tracked them down, £8.09 for 50 so not bad. also bought a True draw lancet device and lancets,
went for 28g first then can go bigger or smaller depending on results.
my problem is i just tested myself 5.6 chuffed at that, but had to stab myself 6 times before i could get enough blood.
tried the other day with some little one use things mother in law is prescribed. 1 successful test, 2 failures not enough blood.
9 lancets failed altogether.
My problem with the blood is i washed my hands in hot water, and i'm on blood thinners.

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Where are you pricking and have you adjusted the depth on the lancet device? Washing in hot water should have worked.

I use a Fastclix lancing device, it is one of the best for drawing blood up out of a finger. Mine is set on three and always get a drop of blood with it on this setting.

It has six lancets in a replaceable drum which is safely disposed in the rubbish bin so no danger to others.

ajbod said:

Just on the side of finger pad, wound right up as far as will go. Not enough blood to wipe the first drop, had to use what i could squeeze out, only just enough.

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Don't squeeze the top of your finger but after pricking, start at the palm and move up so you force the blood from your hand to your fingertip.

ajbod said:

9 lancets failed altogether.

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Do you mean lancets (the pricky things) or test strips?
It is recommended to change a lancet every time, but I don't think it's recommended to change it when you use it again right away. (most of us use the same lancet multiple times, some of us, like me, don't change them for months, even using them multiple times a day. Mind, this is NOT a recommendation!)

ajbod said:

My problem with the blood is i washed my hands in hot water, and i'm on blood thinners.

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Make sure your hands are thoroughly dry before testing! No need to wipe away the first drop.

Just to make sure, you only need very little blood to test, so if you produced a nice drop it should be enough. If it didn't, you might be putting the blood drop at the wrong place on the test strip.
Happened to me when I got a different brand meter with the test patches on the side of the strip...

ajbod said:

Just in a position to start testing with a meter from my mother in law ( Glucomen Areo ).
had to buy strips when i tracked them down, £8.09 for 50 so not bad. also bought a True draw lancet device and lancets,
went for 28g first then can go bigger or smaller depending on results.
my problem is i just tested myself 5.6 chuffed at that, but had to stab myself 6 times before i could get enough blood.
tried the other day with some little one use things mother in law is prescribed. 1 successful test, 2 failures not enough blood.
9 lancets failed altogether.
My problem with the blood is i washed my hands in hot water, and i'm on blood thinners.

Click to expand...

I was told do some arm exercises first, circular motion and get the circulation going. Perhaps leave your hands under the warm water for a good few minutes rather than just when washing. Rather than squeezing your finger massage from the middle downwards. Some fingers definitely work better than others for me.

ajbod said:

Little purple lancets, twist off top and ready to go, 9 didn't fire just came out with the guard of the tip.
Test strips only failed twice because of too little blood which i suspected would be the case.
I've never been much of a bleeder. true draw set on 5 maximum, if it continues i'll try 28g lancets, my original post should have said 30g bought as they come in 28, 30, and 33g. Also on blood thinners as i've had 2 strokes both clots.

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I haven't seen purple lancets, only light blue and green. 28g and 30g are almost identical. I would have expected blood thinners to make getting blood easier.

ajbod said:

Just in a position to start testing with a meter from my mother in law ( Glucomen Areo ).
had to buy strips when i tracked them down, £8.09 for 50 so not bad. also bought a True draw lancet device and lancets,
went for 28g first then can go bigger or smaller depending on results.
my problem is i just tested myself 5.6 chuffed at that, but had to stab myself 6 times before i could get enough blood.
tried the other day with some little one use things mother in law is prescribed. 1 successful test, 2 failures not enough blood.
9 lancets failed altogether.
My problem with the blood is i washed my hands in hot water, and i'm on blood thinners.

Click to expand...

When my hands are really cold when I am outdoor running and cycling I have created a little slip knot with a spare shoe lace and just put around top of finger then use the lancet and that always appears to work and actually makes it less painful.

When I first started testing I had a similar problem then my son who used to test patients bloods on the ward he worked on gave me a tip what he always used to do prior to pricking was to massage the finger from the base up he called it milking the finger it moves blood up to the tip of the finger since then i have had little problem getting enough blood to test althogh some times if you do not give the strip long enough to draw in enough blood that can cause insufficient blood errors remember you are not pushing blood into the strip the strip draws the blood in by cappillary action.