I have been using one touch products since I was dx in 2002. I was given a new Freestyle Lite and I tried it out right after the one touch. I noticed that the one touch was about 20mg/dl lower than the Freestyle. This morning I went to the endo and I tested with the one touch right before they tested me with their accucheck and again it was about 20mg/dl lower. Has anyone else had problems with lower readings from one touch meters?
I have used the one touch Ultra 2 for a while now but I have not tried another meter to test against so I can’t say if I have run into the issue you are.
I bought a One Touch Ultra MIni to check my own bg, and then the dr gave me an Accucheck Aviva. The Aviva was clearly higher than the OTUM. I fussed about that, did some research and picked up another meter that is supposed to be highly accurate: the AgaMatrix Keynote. http://www.agamatrix.com/product_wave_1.shtml, if you look there is a chart comparing several meters. According to literature I found online, both the Keynote and the Aviva can parse thru some factors in your blood sample to give what is supposed to be a more accurate reading, and the Aviva and Keynote do tend to agree. I also have a Freestyle Flash —yes, I got a little OCD carried away with meters when I first realized I had a blood glucose problem…
— the OTUM and the Flash do seem to go low, and the Aviva and Keynote seem higher compared to that. No comparison with a lab sample yet, so no comment on that.
I learned this past Saturday morning, while at my Diabetes support group, that the various meters can differ by as much as 20 points. Our speaker, the owner of a diabetes supply business, indicated that the Free Style meters were considered to be the most accurate.
I’ve also read that the FreeStyle meters are considered the most accurate meters on the market. I don’t remember their names but some of the most noted MD’s in the field say the same thing.
The AgaMatrix is pretty new. I’ve been interested in getting that one myself. Is it readily available and are the strips readily available in most pharmacies now?
If you could post some links to the online literature you found explaining the AgaMatrix accuracy, that would be great. I’ve found a lot of articles that explain why home glucose monitors aren’t as accurate as we might like, but i haven’t found much which says which meters are better than others.
I called the customer service and they told me they have an agreement with Walgreens, so I may need to call ahead and “order” the keynote strips, but I can get them there. For now, I just order them online. You can also order direct from the company. They’d prefer you call a distributor, but they will sell them direct to you.
http://www.agamatrix.com/wavesense_accuracy.shtml
http://www.wavesense.info/how-it-works
http://www.wavesense.info/data
Yeah the meter accuracy thing is a huge PITA. How teh heck can I do “tight control” with an error margin of +/- 20 pts? That SUX! When I worked in a bank, an error of +/- 20 cents was a firable offense!
My One Touch Ultra 2 runs about 15 mg/dl lower than my One Touch Mini. I decided to stick with one meter because of that problem.
Thanx Halle i’ll have to give this agamatrix some thought. I already get me supplies from walgreens so that would be a bonus.
Most are not even 20 points difference, technically meters are only required to be accurate by 20% from actual lab draw. THAT’s A HUGE DIFFERENCE! So if your BG at the lab is 240, your meter could range from 192-288, and be within acceptable limits.
Actually a discussion of the accuracy issue, as I understand it is this: The error is closer to +/- 20 points up to 120 and above that it’s 20%. I’ll try to find a link that explains it better.
Thing to do is to take a reading just before a “proper” surgery-mediated blood test (the ones, for me at least, where they take the blood away, measure everything and then tell you off a week later). Then compare your BG meter with the lab result: that will let you know how yours is calibrated. Reduce / add to your readings accordingly. Serves 4.
I have had the same problem with the One Touch too. MediSense is 3% than the FreeStlye.
Over the years I’ve used:
One Touch II, One Touch Profile, MediSense (credit card size) forgot name, MediSense Precision Q-P-D. Current meter is the Abbott Freestyle Flash. From what I’ve read a number of highly regarded Dr.'s and labs say it is the most accurate meter currently on the market. I like it because it allows for alternate site testing, small blood requirements, and the results are fast.
Allison
I tried out the KeyNote and just loved it. I just wish I could use it all the time, but the Dexcom needs to be synchronized with the OneTouch Ultra. However I now have the KeyNote as my backup meter.
I even put a video on YouTube showing it in action. Great design, especially the test strip. AgaMatrix has done a stellar job.
I was the other way around - I had a Freestyle Freedom - it was running 25 to 30 mg/dl HIGHER than what other meters were running. I have no idea if it was defective, if I droppped it, or what. My endo’s office and I checked it against three other meters and their equipment. I just sent the damn thing back to Abbott. For like a whole month though I was doing a whole lot worse than I thought I was. For a brand new Type 2, it was so discouraging too. I think this is why so many diabetics often have several meters around the house too. As for me, I am now using two cheap meters - since my health insurance only reimburses part of the costs - so why spend more??? And I can’t see that “name brand” means anything in this business - I’ve worked in health care all my life - there is nothing wrong with generics, if the quality is okay. I use the Sidekick portable meter that is very small (I travel a lot) - and the EasyPro from Target. Both are around 30 bucks for meter & 50 test strips.
Hey! How do you think the Keynote people feel about your ‘advertisement’ showing a bg reading well over 100? 
They’re not hiring you to do their marketing anytime soon!!
David Mendosa (www.mendosa.com) has an extensive discussion about meter accuracy and comparing various meters at his website.
There is a discussion specifically about accuracy at http://mendosa.com/diabetes_update_39.htm#Accuracy.
I had similar problems with 3 different Accucheck Avivas reading high. The first 2 were at my doctor’s office. I had 5 different meters at home that were all calibrated against lab blood tests and they consistently disagreed with my doctor’s 2 Avivas (the second one was obtained because I raised such a stink about the first one not being accurate). I eventually obtained an Aviva of my own and found that it too was consistently much higher than my other meters. When I had my brand new Aviva calibrated against a lab blood test it was 19% too high. I don’t use Avivas any more, and I don’t recommend them to anyone else.
Hello Everyone,
My name is Joseph Flaherty and I work on the product design team at AgaMatrix where me make the WaveSense KeyNote meter. I was wondering aside from accuracy what are other features that you would like to see in your blood glucose meter? We are working hard at developing new products and accuracy will always be our chief concern, but we know many other issues are important when you live with the device.
Our goal is to provide the best glucose monitoring products for people with diabetes. If anyone in the TuDiabetes community has thoughts on how we can make better blood glucose meters please feel free to email me: jflaherty@agamatrix.com.
I can’t promise our designs will meet all your needs, but I can promise a personal response to any messages and to champion your ideas.
Thanks!
Joseph Flaherty
Manager, Product Design
AgaMatrix, Inc.