Glucometer recommendations, please

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I’ve been using a One Touch Ultrasmart glucometer since about 2006 when I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. Actually, it was my late husband’s glucometer and I started using it after he died (in 2000). It has a memory, built-in log, 5-second results, and it has served me well.

However, none of my local pharmacies seems to carry the test strips any more. And browsing the LifeScan site tells me that mine is an “older machine” :eek: (just like its owner… I’m now on Medicare).

So looking for recommendations on glucometers. I’d just as soon have separate strips, not a drum or disc. [I have a darling little beaded bag from Anthropologie that I carry the meter and supplies in.] I really like the 5-second result time, but I suspect that’s pretty standard now, plus the new meters prolly have other bells and whistles that I’ve never heard of.

#2

I’ve read good things about the AccuCheck Aviva. One reviewer said that Dr. Richard Bernstein’s office recommended it. Other reviewers said it gives consistent results.

#3

I just got the Aviva, I will have to think about it for a while. It does take more blood than my One Touch Ultra did - but I can’t get the Ultra strips at the base hospital and I refuse to spend $160 for my damned test strips.

The Aviva sets up easily enough, it has a QA number chip that comes in each box of 50 strips that has to be plugged into the meter to work so I am not overly thrilled with that, and of course the need for a larger amount of blood [even though it is still a very small amount.]

#4

So this is how you code it for each new box of strips?

#5

Yup.

I tried a heel of the hand stick this morning for variety[it gives the parameters for when you can stick somewhere other than the finger and fasting is one of the times] and compared it to a pretty much simultaneous finger stick and they both were identical. [as someone on the board said if you cant experiment on yourself, who can you experiment upon… :p]

#6

I used to use an Aviva and liked it fine. Nowadays I use the one built into my pump so that’s no good for you.

That said, I’d be looking for one that requires the smallest blood droplet. I hate having to stick myself more than once for blood.

Also, don’t pay for the damn thing. If I were in your shoes, I’d just go to every meter website that you were interested in and have them send you a free one. They all do that, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t try 'em all and choose the one you like the best.

#7
  • 1 They ea come with a few strips too. And this reminds me; I’m due to try some new ones.
#8

That is how I found the One Touch Ultra. I am really bummed that the base decided to stop carrying it, I hate switching gear. We did a rummage to see if I already had one before heading to base, and in my little bottom drawer I had 5 different types of glucometer :dubious::eek::stuck_out_tongue:

#9

The American Diabetes Association features a yearly consumer guide on their website every January. This includes a detailed chart of meters and their features. It’s an invaluable resource if you’re researching meters, and I refer the people I work with as a CDE to it frequently. The 2014 version is up and available HERE

#10

That chart is helpful. Yikes-- strips are about $1.20-ish to $1.50-ish each. I mean, I kind of knew that, but seeing it right out there in front of God and everyone… :eek:

#11

UPDATE: I wound up getting the True Track glucometer.

You can get it at Walgreen’s, CVS, and our local hometown grocery chain also has it. At the link above, you can find a link to places that sell it. In my grocery store, the meter and strips are right there on the aisle where you can just pick them up without having to stand in line at the pharmacy.

The meter is incredibly inexpensive, but then the meters usually are. It’s the strips that kill ya. A box of 50 True Track strips is $19.00 at my grocery store (they’re more at Walgreen’s). That’s about 4 cents each. In contrast, on the Walgreen’s web site, a box of 50 One Touch Ultra Blue test strips is 79.99, which is about .15 each.

I go through periods where I like to test my blood many times per day to see what effect different foods and exercise have on it. At 4 cents each, and knowing I can run to the store and pick up a box off the shelf, I’m fine with doing that. I can get a prescription, but sometimes that’s just a nuisance for something this (relatively) cheap.