What blood glucose monitor do you use?

meisonlyme said:

I use a Glucomen LX meter, purely on the basis that you could get a penguin shaped cover for it and I thought it was awesome.

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Do we get a picture? I've looked online and can't find a penguin cover :mrgreen:

I hope that works!The meter and cover come seperately and you have to get the cover through your diabetic team, who order it for you through the company and then it gets delivered to your house!

That's cute, but it looks big. Is it much bigger than the monitor?
I am awaiting some stickers to jazz up my Bayer Contour :mrgreen:

Hi,
I have done some measuring of the meter and cover!

The meter by its self is approx 10cm tall and 5cm wide, in the penguin cover it stands at about 11cm tall and 7.5cm wide. So the cover is slightly bigger but not all that much.

Hope you get some stickers for your meter soon

Nexus, you are happy with the convenience of your Accucheck Compact Plus and also because quote it's accurate unquote. How do you know? How do you check it? All the meters have to get within laid down accuracy set by medical authorities and it's quite a wide range as everyone knows after readings all the posts here! If your Accucheck gave you, say, 6mmol that wouldn't be likely to be the true reading but how close would you expect your Accucheck to be? qrp

Accu Chek Compact plus, simply beacause everything is built in and with the job I do it is just convinient, if a bit bulky..thinking about the new Accu-Chek Mobile, but a bit pricey.....£50 :shock:

I bought an Accu Chek Compact plus yesterday,one thing that's surprised me
so far is the non-inclusion of a control solution within the package.
It seems you have to phone the manufacturer for this!

Another surprise is the huge users manual.

(My DN did give me a meter the other day but it was a very old model,
and I couldn't find the test strips replacements anywhere.)

Bryan said:

I bought an Accu Chek Compact plus yesterday,one thing that's surprised me
so far is the non-inclusion of a control solution within the package.
It seems you have to phone the manufacturer for this!

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The same situation with the Abbott Freestyle Freedom Lite, no control solution. I did get control solution with a Bayer Contour.

Yes cc,this a bit of an odd situation,it's not as if these meters will hang around in
stock rooms for years is it!

Have you rung to get a solution yet?

I guess there's no choice but to, if one wants the meters to be relatively accurate.

mehdave said:

im loving the contour usb so far, the glucofacts software is awesome and the meter is very small and easy to use. also lighted up test port.

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I know this is an old thread but was just wondering how did you get the test port to light up? I've noticed mine doesn't so testing at night time can be a little awkward without a light source.

I have used two accu-check Aviva monitors for over a year now and am very pleased with them.
I have tried other meters on offer but none of them seem as efficient
To be honest it is more the needle stick pen that I like the most - it has a cartrige so no handlng of lancets at all and is the least painful of any that have used
The drums of test strips come with a micro chip that you replace so that no coding is needed and the carry case has just about everything you need.

After convenience of use to myself the next most important thing I look at is the cost of test strips since this is where the meter manufacturers make their money! If you choose something where the strips are too expensive then you likely face a battle with your GP to get what you need - I managed after a struggle to get 100 strips a month (they only wanted me to have 50) because I like to monitor my sugars regularly (following pancreatitis my insulin production varies and will suddenly go up or down for no reason - so I need to check it)

anyway at the moment - accucheck aviva all the way with me.

I decided against their computer based monitoring software and opted instead to use glucose buddy so that I can enter my reading and insulin (+ food if you want) through the free iphone app - its really easy to use and I am afraid I have abandoned the diabetes.co.uk tool in favour of this - largly because the iphone app makes it really easy to keep records

Bryan said:

...one thing that's surprised me so far is the non-inclusion of a control solution within the package. It seems you have to phone the manufacturer for this!

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You can order Roche Accu-chek test solutions and replacement batteries online from Roche "...once every 3 months, on a complimentary basis" so you can save the inconvenience of a phone call.
That is unless you have a Combo in which case you have to call their pump helpline!

I use the Accu Chek Aviva. With this I upload my readings to my PC and then print them out as a Pie Chart for my Doctor, who then has them scanned into my Medic Docs. And yes, I would recommend it to anyone, But each to his/her own.

Hi, I currently use a accucheck compact+ .
The meter is ok because you drop a cylnder of 15 strips in and dont have to code each time.
I feel it is a good meter but the pouch to carry it in leaves a bit to be desired.
Of all the meters I have used I havent found one yet that lets you dispose of the used strips in a container within the pouch.
What are we supposed to do after each testing. Its not nice to leave the strips in a public place with them being contaminated with blood.
I place the used strips along with the used sharps in the empty drum that the test strips come in untill I can empty them into a sharps bin. The probelm with this is that I dont have a spare drum to insert into the machine when it runs out, as I use the gap in the pouch for the spare drum to have my disposing drum. Why cant the pouches have a little extra room in them to allow for safe hygenic disposal of used sharps/strips when you are out and about in the high street/ work/ clubs etc.

Perhaps someone can tell me if there is a meter out there that may cover this niggle. :|

Also I would like a meter that is back lit. plugs into a usb port to download data instead of having to request leads and Infra red scanners to upload data onto my computer.
Does anybody know of any such meters?

I have the exceed meter too, to check for Ketones but it would be nice to have more meters than just the Exceed that reads both Ketones & blood Glucose dont you think?

Yes I find it a pain having to have my thumbs looking like an old mans with all the holes inflicted by my varing pricking devices. Dont you wish you could have a pricking devise that instantly collected the blood as it enters your body and that was also as a testing strip on the meter (ALL IN ONE) then you wouldnt have to faff about placing a drop onto the strip and it would all be done instantainly.

Any budding inventors out there. Patent not at Patents office yet!

I bought the Bayer Contour USB two weeks ago Iam type two med controlled up till then I had been using the Accu-Chek Compact + and what a change the Bayer is so much better the battery is re-chargable through the usb the computer software to store your readings is built in it even has a torch built in so you can test in the dark if i had to pick faults then the strips are a bit small for my big hands and I have not yet found out how to remove the readings from the meter but thats just me being fussy I got a free case and mains charger when i registered the meter (Still waiting for the charger 2 weeks now) But I love it and the size PC Memory stick or netbook Broadband dongle size.

- netforce911 - I agree with you about the Contour USB, its an amazing blood tester. But how do you get the torch to work? Nothing shines out the end of my tester

bonkersbatty said:

Also I would like a meter that is back lit. plugs into a usb port to download data instead of having to request leads and Infra red scanners to upload data onto my computer.
Does anybody know of any such meters?

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As you alreadu use Roche AccuChek give the Nano a try .. mine has illuminated numerals and also an infra red window that 'talks' to my laptop via the laptop's infra red window (no wires or plugs)... nothing could be simpler or easier.
Give Roche a ring and ask them to send you one FOC and they probably will

Forum Virgin....so be careful ok !!!


I've had a Contour USb for a month now...its the best meter I have ever had....small, feature packed, and technology wise its just convenient for me to shove in my laptop @ work and home to see where things are.
As a Quarter Centrury diagnosed diabetic ( I was in a hospital bed, the day they pulled the Mary Rose out the water, in Peterborough !!! ) my control has wavered the last few years cos I think I know better !..... but testing be it a pain in the posteria is just fundamental. And all the kit you have to carry around makes it all the more of a pain. Thing is, if you feel fine, testing obviously confirms that, you do nothing, life is too hectic ( for me anyway) to continuously jab me finger ! All that said... the contour being no code and the built in reminder, makes it easier to not think about things but keep tabs on levels.
A month ago I was suffering from yo-yo syndrome, up and down like I dont know what. It has settled because I'm accutely aware of BM's now I test regular. its not such a pain in the butt and the kids take a real interest in the results too....which is amusing !

Wanna get me mits on a Mendor tho...........all in one including lancet is ... a belting idea.

To get the torch to work press the Menu button twice and then do the test it will switch off after you have tested or if you just want to try the torch press twice to switch it off.

netforce911 said:

To get the torch to work press the Menu button twice and then do the test it will switch off after you have tested or if you just want to try the torch press twice to switch it off.

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I'm a little puzzled......when you say torch, does it shine a beam of light....or are we talking about the backlight on the display ?

Ken