Anyone had unusual BG readings or BAD readings with FREESTYLE TEST STRIPS?

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Nope. I get them all with One Touch, Contour, and Accu-Check. They’re all always much too low compared to lab tests… Sometimes by as much as 40 pts.

Got a question for anyone out there. Have anyone had what you deame unusual BG readings, like really high or really low, but you know that you are not. I an my CDE are very curious becsue we seem to think that I might have had a bad vial of test strips, which caused bad readings, and resulted in some pretty bad lows. It was with the omnipod system, and it useses the FREESTYLE TEST STRIPS. We found this out by doing a side by side comparison with 2 different meters and strips.

Yeah, I was just at the lab on Monday and the BG reading I took on my omnipod just 10 minutes earlier was about 70 points lower than the BG reading the lab got (also from a finger stick test). My A1c has also been up a bit which hasn’t been reflected in my BG readings. I’m really concerned that the Freestyle strips aren’t reading as accurately as they should be. I’ve even started doing side-by-sides with my old One Touch (yay for non-scientific testing!).

I think everyone should have a spare meter of a different brand to check these things out. Meters can go bad and a batch of strips may be bad or inconsistent. Of course since they can be + - 20 points sometimes troubleshooting is problematic.

When I was using the Freestyle meters I actually found they read higher than other meters, not lower.

The Freestyle strips seem to be REALLY sensitive to any kind of food or sugar on your finger. I had a few times where I corrected false highs and ended up with really nasty lows. After a movie once I tested at 19 and corrected, only to be in the low 3s forty-five minutes later with a TON of insulin on board — I drank an entire large Starbucks sugared latte with no bolus to get out of that one. The next time I tested unexpectedly at 19 at a party I went and washed my hands and, sure enough, I was actually 5!

So I don’t think they’re necessarily less accurate (at least for me), but they certianly were much more sensitive to environmental factors than other strips.