# Q re diabetes: What does "code my meter" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886 "2009-09-04T17:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/1 "2009-09-04T17:26:55Z")
Inspired by seeing the same commercial over and over and over – a diabetic woman is super happy about her meter because 1) it hurts less (obviously a good thing) and 2) “I never have to code my meter!” Eh? I’m guessing it has something to do w/recalibrating it? If so, why don’t you have to do it with this one, if apparently you have to with others? And, whatever that ‘coding’ involves, is it such a big deal that not having to do it any longer would legetimately thrill you? ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/2 "2009-09-04T17:41:55Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Inspired by seeing the same commercial over and over and over – a diabetic woman is super happy about her meter because 1) it hurts less (obviously a good thing) and 2) “I never have to code my meter!” Eh? > > I’m guessing it has something to do w/recalibrating it? If so, why don’t you have to do it with this one, if apparently you have to with others? > > And, whatever that ‘coding’ involves, is it such a big deal that not having to do it any longer would legetimately thrill you? A particular canister of test strips will have a code - a number usually between 1 and 30. I buy test strips in boxes of 4 canisters, each canister with 50 strips. Each canister in the same box may have the same code, or all 4 may be different. When I use my meter, I have to make sure the meter is set to the right code or else the test results will be wrong. This entails pressing the up arrow until the number is correct. Not a big deal, in my opinion. But you do have to remember to change it each time your canister of test strips runs out and you have to open a new one. I’m not familiar with the commercial you mention, but not having to code the meter would most definitely not be a selling point to me. Here’s a completely citation-less quote from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_meter), I can’t vouch for its accuracy: > [@](#): > > Coding: Since test strips may vary from batch to batch, some models require the user to enter in a code found on the vial of test strips or on a chip that comes with the test strip. By entering the coding or chip into the glucose meter, the meter will be calibrated to that batch of test strips. However, if this process is carried out incorrectly, the meter reading can be up to 4mmol/L inaccurate.[citation needed] The implications of an incorrectly coded meter can be serious for patients actively managing their diabetes. For miscoded meters, the probability of making an insulin dose error of 2 units is 50%. The probability of making an insulin dose error of 3 units is 24%, compared to 0.49% when using a no coding meter. This may place patients at increased risk of hypoglycaemia.[citation needed] ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/3 "2009-09-04T18:20:24Z")
It depends on the meter. **kaylasmom** has used meters and strips from Lifetouch, Accu-check, and now Prodigy. The One Touch, as **KidScruffy** notes, requires the user to match the code to the number on the vial using a set of up/down buttons. The Accu-check Advantage has no coding button, but there is a slot in the bottom of the glucometer for inserting a microchip. Each vial of test strips comes with a microchip with coding to match that of the strips. The Prodigy Voice that she currently uses does not require coding. Evidently the contacts in the strip have impedances built in that calibrate the meter to the batch of chemical reagent in the capillary. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/4 "2009-09-04T18:25:43Z")
Haha I’ve always wondered the same thing but I keep forgetting to care enough to look it up when I get to my puter. Thanks for the q + a. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/5 "2009-09-04T18:59:45Z")
Very enlightening! Thanks for the replies. So it’s sounds like the ‘no coding’ is a genuine advantage, but not a very big one. On the par with “New and improved, new scent!” ads for laundry detergents. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/6 "2009-09-04T19:44:46Z")
It also seems useful as an expression of mild amazement, in the way that some people say, “Well, shut my mouth,” or “Well, tote my barge, ain’t that something!” Well, code my meter! I’ve never seen the like! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/7 "2009-09-04T19:51:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The Accu-check Advantage has no coding button, but there is a slot in the bottom of the glucometer for inserting a microchip. Each vial of test strips comes with a microchip with coding to match that of the strips. > > The Prodigy Voice that she currently uses does not require coding. Evidently the contacts in the strip have impedances built in that calibrate the meter to the batch of chemical reagent in the capillary. Apparently, when they say “no coding” what they really mean is “you have to code it, but it is so incredibly easy that you might not even notice that you’re doing it.” Do any researchers have any guesses when the manufacturing methods will improve to the point where coding will be truly not needed? In other words, will there be a day when a manufacturer’s test strips will be so very identical that they’ll be indistinguishable from each other? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/8 "2009-09-04T20:51:04Z")
A better question might be, will there be a day when it makes more economic sense to do that than to take the variation into account? Many industrial procedures have, built into their control processes, a way to account for variations in raw materials, equipment or even the weather. In general it makes a lot more sense to do that than to work with much more “fine tuned” systems. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/9 "2009-09-05T04:39:23Z")
I guess people will complain about anything. Coding a meter is a big deal? I remember when my cousin first got this disease, there were no meters, his parents had to match the strip’s color with a little chart to figure things out. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/10 "2009-09-08T03:30:52Z")
I use a Freestyle Freedom Lite meter, it’s one of those"no-code" meters, but that’s not why I bought it (I was in Wyoming and could not get strips for my old meter). Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/11 "2009-09-08T03:51:23Z")
When you are an old fart, with the Oltimers, that coding thing is damned dangerous. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/12 "2009-09-08T05:13:52Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I guess people will complain about anything. Coding a meter is a big deal? I remember when my cousin first got this disease, there were no meters, his parents had to match the strip’s color with a little chart to figure things out. And 1st your cousin had to pee on the test strip, correct? The old meters had to be coded for each strip/test, then to a pac of test strips. a reading in lower than 40 would just flash LOW LOW LOW Now days I see readings in the high teens:eek: and 40’s with some conscious pt’s. What I like most is the capillary action of these newer test kits:cool: Bouncing down the road in the back of the ambulance trying to drip a drop on the SPOT was a pain. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/13 "2009-09-08T05:25:08Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Very enlightening! Thanks for the replies. > > So it’s sounds like the ‘no coding’ is a genuine advantage, but not a very big one. On the par with “New and improved, new scent!” ads for laundry detergents. Anything that lessens the amount of time that I have to spend fiddling around with Diabetic Issues and General Caretaking is a good thing. I spend entirely too much time, effort, and money trying to manage my diabetes, and I’m not even one of the more careful patients. I used to have to code my meter, and then check the test strips. This was done by dripping two solutions on two test strips, to see if they would read appropriately high or low. While this didn’t take up a great deal of time, it was a pain, and also test strips aren’t cheap. I’d LOVE to see generic test strips made available, but I am pretty sure that they are all deliberately made to be incompatible with other meters. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-re-diabetes-what-does-code-my-meter-mean/508886/14 "2009-09-08T22:13:22Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > And 1st your cousin had to pee on the test strip, correct? I don’t believe so. I don’t think that would’ve been practical, he wasn’t even potty trained at the time. There was a small thing that looked like some sort of miniature torture device used to prick his fingers to get a drop of blood for the strip. If there was anything involving pee there, I didn’t know about it.