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What blood glucose monitor do you use?

N

nwdesign

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What blood glucose monitor do you use?
Would you recommend it?
What is good/bad about it?

Cheers

Niall
Type 1 diabetic for 10years
 
I use a One Touch UltraEasy and yes, I think I would recommend it. My only gripes with it are that you have to put in a code, if the batch number is different from previously. Plus, I think the little nylon wallet thingy that comes with it is a little small if you're also carrying insulin. There's a little elastic strap at the back for the insulin pen, but not quite enough room inside for the lancets and more than 3 or 4 needles, and nowhere to put the used needles for safe-keeping until proper disposal. They fall out next time you open it. Pain in the neck if you're out and about for the day!
 
I have a Freestyle Lite. Newly upgraded from the Freesstyle Mini.
Very good meters, but the mini needs coding and the lite doesn't.
Would I recommend the lite? YES
Small and neat,in a good case, with a very clear screen. Fast, reputedly accurate, needs smallest blood drop. pin head size ( and not the glass headed pins either)
Comes with Abbott Diabetes Care's brilliant lifetime service. Superb package. Probably has loads of features I never need. can download to computer, but I don't.Instant 7; or 14; or 30 day average.
Hana
 

Have you put that comment in the new comments page under the link above ?
 
I use a Bayer Contour, set in mg/dL, as I am in Cyprus. Would recommend, no coding and as I travel alot found test strips available in most contries
 
hi i use the abbott freestyle freedom lite easy to use soft ware is free for computor use and is the
best one i have used no coding needed and a good user servive to help you
 
I use a One Touch UltraSmart. That is my main meter.

I would definitely recommend it, especially if you are Type 1 or are a frequent tester and need accurate up to the minute info at your fingertips.

Good points.....easy to use, simple coding procedure, masses of information about meals, carbs, proteins, fats, calories, medications, doses, pills, exercise types and duration,health checks including ketones, HbA1c, microalbumin, cholesterol, blood pressure, eye exams, foot exams, weight/height, Dr Visits can be input easily, and just as easily read on the built in logbook.

Analysis is a doddle as you can check everything you need and see it all on screen. Backlight. Fast response time, a matter of a few seconds. Free software and cable to link to PC. Fantastic on-screen graphing capability for glucose levels etc, etc. My Endo couldn't put it down and was fascinated by it's features ! 7 to 90 day averages easily read. Just about the best meter going I think.

Bad points.....not everybody can get one.
 
I use the Abbott Freestyle Freedom which I think is no longer available. The current versions are the "Lite" models

The good thing about this meter is it will work with the smallest sample of blood. The only couple of other meters that have been used on me in hospital needed a bigger drop of blood.

The Abbott support is very good on a free phone number and through their website. They send you data cables and software for the computer for free. And also send out free replacement batteries and log books very quickly.
 
As I already have mentioned in my previous post I use a Bayer Contour. I thought it was worth to mention here I also use an application on my iPhone called Glucose Buddy, this I have found invaluable because of the different facilities it has to help monitor various items. It is a free app and if you have an iPhone I would recommend trying it out. At present graph facility is being updated. You also get free access to a website.
 
I use Abbot's Optium Xceed. Have done for years. Hardly ever errors and when it does, there is a good helpline to talk you through the correction for it. Batteries last quite a long time and you can either replace them yourself or they'll send you a new machine and then you send yours back. Bit of a nuisance, I'd rather replace batteries myself.

Has memory on it and you can get 7, 14 and 30 day average. Comes in a nice little case the size of a wallet. Test strips are available for a 3 second countdown. We've come a long way. 25 years ago I used to have to wait 2 minutes and then compare colours against the tube!

Only down side is that it doesn't seem to keep time very well but that doesn't bother me.
 
Bayer Medtronic Contour Link. The main reason I use it is for sending bg readings wirelessly and instantly to my pump, so that it can calculate bolus requirements in combination with carb data. All the pump data gets uploaded to Medtronic's Carelink site via my Mac once a week, and I can then bore my healthcare team to within an inch of their lives with all the reports available there!

The lack of coding is useful, as is the relatively small amount of blood required for a test. I also have an Abbot MediSense Optium for very occasional ketone testing which the Contour doesn't do. But neither of them has a backlit screen which is a real pain in the neck sometimes...

People worry about different readings with different meters. I don't - just stick with one and you're unlikely to go too far wrong.
 
stuart bilbey said:
hi i use the abbott freestyle freedom lite easy to use soft ware is free for computor use and is the
best one i have used no coding needed and a good user servive to help you
Click to expand...

I can second that. The reason thaty I use it is that it is the one that was given to me by my diabetic nurse. It works very well and is easy to use standing up in a crowded bar :!: though you do have to put your drink down somewhere as both hands are required. :mrgreen:

The supplied pricker also work very well as I get no pain, but it doesn't always produce blood.

IanS
 
I favour Optium Xceed for out and about because it's so neat and slim and doesn't make a bulge in a pocket. BUT, I have to reduce the readings by 10% - 15% because that's how much it overreads by. But for that, I'd use it all the time. I did write to Abbott about it with a stack of readings against a One touch and a Contour, but deafening silence! My 'regular' meter is a One Tough Ultra which I've tested against clinic blood test readings many times now and it's always within half a mmol. The much-promoted (over-promoted?) Bayer Contour also reads 10% high ie not quite as much as the Optium.
My consultant advised me to "use the one that reads the lowest". Easy to see why.
I have a beef. Surely it's not too much to expect that all BG meters when presented with an identical blood sample should give a result that's within their acceptable accuracy (which is about 15%, I believe?).
Someone's gonna tell me that there's so many variables, you just can't expect that. Bullshine, say I. Why is it that the One Touch can do it and the others not? qrp
 
I use Abbott Freestyle Lite. I chose it because if you need to buy your own top-up strips, Abbott offer the best deal at just under £15 a pot in contrast to other manufacturers who charge upwards of £20 a pot.

The freestyle has other features that I like - it has an internal light so I can test my blood in the cinema or at night. It is very small so it fits nicely in my bag. The best feature is that it only requires a tiny drop of blood, whereas previous meters required more blood.

The downside of the Freestyle lite is that I am on my 2nd one and I think there may be a fault in this one as well as the battery light comes up within days of replacing the battery. Sometimes the Freestyle has given me very erratic readings that don't correlate with the other machines I have at home. Another downside is that it isn't suitable for people on certain medications containing large amounts of galactose as it leads to false high readings. I take meds that contain a small amount of lactose and so I wonder if that's why my readings seem a bit inaccurate sometimes.

If you can get one that isn't faulty then I'd recommend the Freestyle Lite.

I used to use Onetouch Ultra. I was not keen on this machine as you have to enter a code every time you use different pot of test strips. Another thing I disliked about this machine is that it requires a larger blood sample and if you don't get enough blood on the strip first time then you get an error message and the strip is wasted. I rarely have that problem with the Abbott.

I think OneTouch may be more accurate than Abbott though so i would still recommend this machine for those with tough fingers.
 
stuart bilbey said:
hi i use the abbott freestyle freedom lite easy to use soft ware is free for computor use and is the
best one i have used no coding needed and a good user servive to help you
Click to expand...
Just wondering where I can download the software for the Freestyle Freedom Lite. Looks like it is only available to American users, when I try to fill in my details. No option for UK users.
Found the UK site http://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/
 
I use a Bayer Breeze 2. I know it doesn't seem to be as popular as many others but I really hate pfaffing around with strips. You just pull the lever, push it back and you are ready to test.
 

cocacola.

I looked on the UK site. Here is the link to the page for downloading the Software for the Freedom Lite. Number 4 in the list. There are other downloads too.
http://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/ins ... /downloads

Ken.
 
I use a Freestyle Freedom Lite as provided by my GP - find it very simple to use.
 
i use the aviva nano seems ok to me easy to use and the lanclets are in a drum so easy to dispose
 
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