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What's a good blood glucose meter for a newly diagnosed diabetic?

Alicia R

Well-Known Member
Messages
72
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
My best friend was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and you can imagine how overwhelmed she's feeling right now, she's got so much information swimming in her head now. She's shopping for a blood glucose meter and asked me which meter has the most features. She's a techie and loves gadgets; while I don't know anything about that sort of thing. My blood glucose meter just tests blood sugar, I doubt it does anything else, but then again, I never tried. I can't even set the time and date! All I can offer is which of the 3 meters I've had over the years is the most accurate, but she wants to be able to hook it up to her iPhone (and do what, I ask?). Anybody got any recommendations? Please let me know, she needs one like...yesterday! Thank you so much!
 
For many years I have tried many if not all the meters but the one which cant be beaten is Life Scan's One Touch Verio IQ, No1 for quality and accuracy, easy to setup and easy to use. Give them a ring and get one for free.
 
JohnRyan said:
For many years I have tried many if not all the meters but the one which cant be beaten is Life Scan's One Touch Verio IQ, No1 for quality and accuracy, easy to setup and easy to use. Give them a ring and get one for free.
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You can get a One Touch Verio IQ for FREE?! What's the catch? I bet the test strips are expensive -- if she pays for the meter out of pocket, her insurance company won't pay for the strips. I tried telling her, but she has her heart set on one of those fancy meters that talk! It's like buying a luxury car you can barely afford then getting slapped with repair fees and maintenance fees and...she doesn't get it, but she will! Thanks for the heads up!
 
Is she not in the UK? When I read on your other thread of her dread in informing family members I remembered when I was first diagnosed in 1997 and looking at several US forums and how a lot of it's members were treating Diabetes as if it was the end of the world. It's not great, no question, but . . . . . .
In the UK, as you probably know, the whole question of test strips has been thrown into some sort of turmoil with different things happening in different parts of the UK. In my surgery, in Buckinghamshire, the GP will prescribe test strips to type I diabetics so therefore free. I'm type II and I pay for my own.
 
I've got a contour next usb from the forum giveaway, http://www.diabetes.co.uk/promotions/contour-next-usb-giveaway.html its gadgety and nice and compact, smallest one i've seen and all the data on it can be pulled off onto your mac or pc. you can input all your bg and carb data on it too. the one touch verio is cool too as it tracks your bg and tells you what your trends are. i prefer the contour as its so small i could take it with me about town without having to use a carry all. the new accu-check aviva is a good general workhorse so simple to use and no fuss. they all have their pros and cons.
 
Onetouch branded meters are the most accurate according to current research.
 
Alicia R said:
You can get a One Touch Verio IQ for FREE?! What's the catch?
Click to expand...
I know that in our area of the UK the Verio IQ strips aren't available due to cost. On the other hand, in the UK, most of the readers are given away as the money is made on the strips.

In terms of those which work with iPhone, there is also the Dario. http://mydario.com/

The reality is that most of these work in similar ways and "Accuracy" is a fairly non-desrcipt word in the world of IV Blood Glucose testing...
 
I have the Accu-Chek Mobile which I absolutely LOVE because I don't have to carry round loads of blood testing strips and lancets. Although I would say the only down side to it is you can't input your insulin doses into it (like I could with my Optium Neo meter) and you can't check Ketones with it either (as far as I know?).

https://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/metersystems/mobile.html

I also like the look of this meter as it works out how much carbohydrate to take with each meal (a bit like a pump does):

https://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/metersystems/index.html?product=avivaexpert
 
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