Counting test strips

Do you ever count the test strips when you open new supply?

Nope. Have you? Exposure to air & moisture degrades them, so I wouldn’t take them out to count them.

I agree, Gerri – the less they’re handled and exposed to air and moisture before use, the better. If you were curious you could count them after you use them (e.g. put them in a plastic baggie as you use them and count them when the bottle is empty) but that seems like a lot of work for what would only rarely (if ever) catch a missing strip.

I’ve never done it but I am paranoid they are short changing me. I would count them after in the plastic bag.

Here’s the way to put your mind at rest:

  1. Buy or borrow a scale that can weigh fractions of grams;

  2. Weigh a full bottle of test strips;

  3. As you use them, but them in a plastic bag;

  4. When the bottle is empty, count the used test strips.

If the number of strips is correct, you now know the exact weight in grams of a “correct” bottle of strips.

From now on, you can weigh the full/new bottle and if the weight in grams is the same as your test bottle, you can relax and not worry about the number of strips.

This is how banks “count” rolled coins, by the way. They don’t unroll them, they know exactly the correct weight of a roll of pennies, etc.

After you weigh five or ten bottles and they’re exactly the same, you can relax. Their manufacturing practices are pretty exacting. I wouldn’t worry too much. But as they’re very expensive, if you need reassurance, this is the way to get peace of mind without ruining your new test strips by handling them and possibly introducing moisture and oils from your hands into the bottle.

I HAVE counted pills, but never test strips. But I think Jean’s suggestion is a very good one! :slight_smile:

Awesome, thanks for suggestion, I have a scale that will do that. I have counted used strips and found shorted a few times.

Nope. I never have counted test strips, because I have never worried about.

weight wont work unless your scale is accurate to less than 1/10th of a gram - about 1 gram per 10 strips! Most home scales are only good to 1 full gram. It would take a precision lab instrument to do as you say. Also the container is about 10 grams and a variation of 1/10th gram in the container could make it look like more or less strips.

You can use the history on your meter to know when and how often you test. Write down the date and time of test 1 then at end of container, review your number of tests