I usually use the OneTouch Ultra glucometer. Recently, I got a Sanofi BGStar glucometer. The first pair of parallel tests (on different days) were a bit of a shock. I washed my hands for each test.
I know that you can drive yourself nuts comparing meters. Stop me before I test again.
I'm taking a truck load of different supplements because the treatment I am having depletes a lot of good stuff. I am also slightly anemic. Could something like this account for the discrepancy? Does the BGStar have to align with Polaris? LOL. The only other meter that I found giving consistently higher reading was the Abbot Precision Xtra by about 0.5 mmol/L every time. I don't have any calibration fluid for any meter. Maybe I should do tests on my partner.
One thing for sure. If I use the BGStar, my A1c will drop like a stone.
I've always stuck w/ OneTouch and the results seem comparable w/ labs on those occasions when I've checked, seem in line w/ how I feel most of the time and seem to correlate reasonably well with my CGM. It seems to get me to a decent A1C too so I can't think of any reason to shop around? I got a Bayer thinking that it would be smaller for running but it turned out to be a bit bigger than the One Touch Ultra Mini so I've just stuck with that.
In response to "drive yourself nuts comparing meters": A man with one clock knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is never sure.
In reality, I'd bet a bunch of dollars that your actual bg is between the Ultra and the BGStar, and both of the meters are accurate within 10% or so of the true value (but not each other).
Ok, stop, no more making yourself nuts with comparisons.
Some supplements can impact readings. Interesting that you get a big discrepancy between different models made by the same manufacturer. I've researched Vit C's effects. Some say it causes false low readings. Others that it gives false high values. Helpful! I contacted Accu Chek for clarification. No clarification from them. Accu Chek's answer was that Vit C may effect the chemical reaction with strips. They wouldn't say high or low, or at what doses of Vit C.
2 days ago I checked for my daughter with the Accu Check Performa and it was 236 then I checked with the Accu Check Go and it was 350, it made me crazy because how can I give her her correction if I have all this variance, I rechecked another time and got 234 with the performa and 405 with the Accucheck Go, so I decided not to use the Go since it prooved to be in-accurate. but I agree that numbers can drive us nuts!!
The current blood glucose strips are not very accurate: only +- 20%, most of time +-15%. If your real bg is 75 mg/dl, your meter can show 60 or 90 (difference 15), and the meter is working correctly. The higher the real bg, the bigger the difference. At real bg 200 mg/dl meter can show 160 or 240 (difference 40), and in real bg 300 meter can show 240 or 360 (difference 60). And those differences for 100% working bg meter.
So if you see 241 or 359 on your meter, take the reading with a pinch of salt. Even though it has three digits, it is not so exact. And there is no way to "calibrate" meters or strips to lab readings.
My BGStar measures always 20% more than my abbott freestyle lite, and my (daughter) A1c is more consistent with BGStar than with Abbott mean BGs.
Another good meter is lifescan Verio (Pro or IQ), and it measures very near to BGStar, higher than others.
My opinion is that a good meter has to have (in order of importance): - precision: if you use the same blood spilling from the same finger "hole" and measure more and more times you should get very near measures
- accuracy: you cannot check this at home, read indipendet papers which test meters. You can however compare your A1c with your meter average readings and see if they match
Here a good explanation of accuracy and precision definitions (link wikipedia)
