If I may ask a supplementary question:
I've just added an SD Codefree to the CareSens meter I was using and get some strips for on prescription. I'm currently modifying my insulin regime and feel that frequent testing is important and to be honest, I don't trust myself to remain motivated with diet if I knew I wouldn't be testing after a particular meal - so for me, testing is personally motivational, as well as the obvious. I get 100 strips a month for the CareSens and asked for an increase and was refused. I'd been supplementing the difference out of my own pocket, but at over 12 quid a box, it was getting expensive.
The SD seems a nifty little meter and very easy to use, so I'm pretty impressed so far, considering its modest cost. The idea was to supplement my NHS funded strips with the SD - maybe one upstairs and one down. So my plan was to use the same drop of blood to test on both meters simultaneously for a number of tests, to see how they compare. The SD is always lower than the CareSens, sometimes by as much as 1mmol - usually around 0.7. I've tried testing the same drop with the SD with 2 strips and always get the same number, suggesting that it is quite consistent.
How do other people manage discrepancies if using more than 1 meter? I was thinking that I might add 0.3 to the SD numbers and knock 0.3 off the CareSens readings, when adding them to my app, to try and mitigate some of the differences. I suspect the CareSens maybe does read a bit high as recent HbA1cs have been lower than my app was predicting.
I can't really afford to self-fund the SD for all my reading, but using both would seem to be a good compromise in the circumstances. Does anyone know which brands of meter have strips funded by the NHS - or does the PCT decide which ones to fund locally?