Hi all! Getting some wacky numbers lately, wider variability than we have seen, do you guys regularly calibrate your meter or test it with control solution?
The meter cannot be calibrate and the control solution is used to check the test strips...using the solution should give a result that falls between the control numbers printed on the strip container. I never use the control solution and have never received a bad batch of strips, but meters can be random number generators so if your not comfortable with a test just burn another strip.
thanks!! had a day yesterday, she felt low and tested and was 110, she still felt low, so I told her to test again as she had done a correction prior, 150, then still felt low, and tested again and was 110. I suppose that's just variability of the test... and no trend to speak of...
I used to see these kind of variations when I did not wash my fingers before testing.
When her meter's acting wacky, I usually test myself...no clue where the control solution is :)
Who calibrated your meters...did they charge you a fee$....??
we have gotten a little lax on the washing actually... that may be it... come to think of it, it's since then in the last couple of weeks we've seen that,,, wonder if dirty hands could cause a low though, and what about spit, what's the sugar content of spit in a diabetic?? curious...
good tip! duh...
duh!! this is really smart, I am a physician and why didn't I think of that?? I actually have a clia waived lab analyzer in my office,
good to know everyone is having good luck with freestyle meters in terms of accuracy... I was looking at dexcom's physician preso's and research, and they say that the accuracy of dex is pending the accuracy of the fingerstick you calibrate with, so if the freestyle is of by x, then the dex will be off by that much more... makes sense...
I noticed my unreliable finger stick results when I calibrated my dex for the first time. The readings were 90 and 130. For quite some time I blamed the meter. Now I go by my own 'within 5 points' rule. If the meter is within 5 points of the dex then I believe the meter. If not, I retest. If the two meter readings are within 5 points then I believe the meters readings. If not, I test until two meter readings are within 5 points. A lot of the time the first meter reading is within 5 points of the dex. If not, the second meter reading is almost always within 5 points of the first. Small blood drops almost always required a retest. I am not using small blood drops anymore.