Blood Testing Meters

Hi,

I've been a member of this site for some time, but only really started posting on the forums in the last few days (making a conscious effort with my control at the moment) so forgive me if this question has been discussed before (I would guess it probably has).

I currently have a One Touch UltraEasy which works fine, but being a gadget freak I am looking at a couple of new meters and wanted peoples opinions and reviews if they'd used them.

First is the iBGStar -- http://www.bgstar.com/web/ibgstar
I have an iPhone and like gadgets, my concern is it will record results on the phone, but not in DAFNE Online and I am just looking at it as its a shiny new toy (new toy may help make testing and control more interesting, had best control ever for first few months of iPhone DAFNE Online app)

Second is the Accu-Chek Mobile -- https://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/metersystems/mobile.html
I like the idea of no strips and it mentions 6 preloaded lancets, does anyone know how this works? I am terrible at changing my lancets

I also like the idea of alternative site testing due to my fingers being a mess, but never really got this to work with any of the One Touch meters I've used, can never seem to get enough blood from other sites

Any other meters I should consider? Ideas / opinions? Any meter I choose needs to have strips etc available on prescription in UK as buying them at their price is out of the question (that's why many companies now give the meters away!)

Thanks in advance

Phil

Hi Phil

I use the accu-check mobile and it is by far the best and easiest meter I have used.
The cassettes you get contain 50 tests which move on automatically after testing, no more stips which is a definite plus.
The lancets as well are so easy to use, you just pop in the pre loaded lancet holder which contains six lancets all you do is move the counter on one place to the next lancet, once you have used all six just pop in a new holder and away you go again the counter resets back to six and counts down to one.
The meter also tells you your 7, 14 and 30 day averages.

I got mine issued free when I did the dafne course Feb 11.

Hi mfrancis,

Thanks for the info, the more I look at the iBGStar the more I think its a gimmick.

Phil

mfrancis said:
Hi Phil

I use the accu-check mobile and it is by far the best and easiest meter I have used.
The cassettes you get contain 50 tests which move on automatically after testing, no more stips which is a definite plus.
The lancets as well are so easy to use, you just pop in the pre loaded lancet holder which contains six lancets all you do is move the counter on one place to the next lancet, once you have used all six just pop in a new holder and away you go again the counter resets back to six and counts down to one.
The meter also tells you your 7, 14 and 30 day averages.

I got mine issued free when I did the dafne course Feb 11.

Check this out.............

iBGSTar Review - Every Day Ups and Downs - A Diabetic Blog

Mike, who you can find over at diabetessupport.co.uk, done a review on that gadget, wasn't all negative, but neither positive......

I use the Freestyle InsulinX, it calculates your dose, you program in your insulin/carb ratios, correction ratios etc. It also takes into account insulin on board in case you snack in between injection times. You can upload your own pictures to display when testing your blood, and is touch screen, lots of silly things really, but is a really good meter.

One thing I would find useful in a metre, if they are going all high tech (not that they aren't anyway) is an ability to advise on ratios and correction ratios after analysing previous data. Don't say it ! I know - diabetes is multi-factoral and this idea is a pipe dream. For me trusting my own judgement can be an issue in itself, and ratio changes are approached tentatively.

I suppose it would be possible for the meters to offer some advice, for example if you are going low before dinner for more than 3 days, its could let you know and then mention a possible ratio change.........

Anything from a meter should only be used as guidance on top of your own judgement. Changing ratios can be simple as long as its down on paper. I still log everything on paper as well as online and in my meter as it allows me to spot the patterns and highlight them with pen/pencil...........I suspect this will never change, even as technology advances.....

Hi all,

Thanks for the feedback, I've gone for the Accu-Chek Mobile mostly for the lack of strips to mess with and normal AAA batteries. It's at home waiting for me to play... how can I be looking forward to testing??? I've put a new prescription in for cartridge and lancets, does anyone know how many come in the box to get started?

The iPhone idea looks good, but I feel its a gimmick at the moment, what might be nice in the future is for a meter that has bluetooth so you could transfer to many different types of device?

Phil

Hello

I'm new on here and only just finished the DAFNE course literally today! Anyway i've been using the iBG*Star and really like it. It's not quite as good as my diary but you can see trend charts and a visual graph is really quite neat. There are however other 'gimmicks that have a USB stick on one end and test strip in the other. Again this uploads all your results and you can see them on your computer. Contour USB look at www.bayerdiabetes.co.uk. hope it helps.

Rich

We got given Accu-check mobiles at the DAFNE course I did in May this year. We were warned that there were serious question marks over their accuracy and to use with caution.

They are truly a convenient design and that is the only reason I have persevered with it til now.

Unfortunately I have to accept defeat and relegate it to the annals of my diabetes history. Even after isolating it from light source contamination it is inaccurate by not a small amount. At least 20% wrong on low and high readings (consistantly). Reasonably accurate for in target readings however. It is prone to completely spurious readings every now and then eg today after my bike ride I tested 2 different fingers twice and got readings between 9.1 and 11.6 meaning my BS had not dropped at all during the ride hence the multiple testing. Just before I was about to decide to do a +6 for lunch I retested from the same sample points with my Exced, 6.0 on both attempts!

I wanted it to work for me but its testing technology is ancient & simply not up to modern day standards!

It gets 10 out of 10 for design and convenience and 1 out of 10 for result trust from me.
I would warn against using it if anyone asked me.