I use the OneTouch Ultra Link meter that was given to me by Medtronic.
The other day I tested my blood sugar on my middle finger. The result was 300. I decided to re-test because I know my body and I certainly didnt feel that high, so I retested on the same hand, but using my ring finger and the result came out as 244.
It wasnt like I waited an hour to do the second test, it was a matter of minutes. Why was there such a difference? This isn’t the first time this has happened either.
Anyone have a similar problem like that? Anyone have any suggestions?
you may have had lotion or food residue on the first finger as to the higher reading. remember to always wash your hands before taking your BG readings.
hi joanne, if your blood sugar is above about 150 then a typical home finger prick blood sugar meter is good for about +/- 25% sooooo it’s perfectly normal for your meter to read up to 75 points difference finger to finger or even off the same drop of blood. maybe the meters will improve int he years to come! cheers.
Hi Joanne, our endo suggested to take the second drop of blood, not the first one. So, we wipe the first needle size blood drop and squeeze to get our sample. They also suggested that there should be some blood left on the finger after the test to have an accurate reading. Also to either wash the hands before or use alcohol swabs.
We follow the suggestions that were given to us, we have tried using the same blood sample (took the first blood drop to do a test, wiped it off and then squeeze to get the second one and did a test also) and the difference was impressive! The first drop, he was high and the second one was a perfect reading… Was that a fluke? I don’t know. I am not saying that it’s the only way to do it, it’s our way. Good luck!
Forgot to say, I have personally tried 4 meters at one time with the same blood drop (I took an alcohol swab to clean my finger, let it dry, I wiped off the first blood drop with a kleenex and squeezed my finger to get an extra large sample for all the meters). I had 2 OneTouch Ultra, 1 OneTouch Ultra Smart and 1 FreeStyle Mini. All 3 OneTouch was almost exactly the same reading (100) and the FreeStyle was a little bit higher (115). It’s normal (but annoying) to have a difference between different brand meters as you might already know.
Ok, I’m not a statistician and I don’t know the correct terms, but my hunch is that if there is a standard margin of error on the tests, the higher the bg level the higher the difference you might see between two tests. That is, you could test 65 mg/dl and 60 mg/dl, a difference of 5. Next week, you could test 320 mg/dl and 295, a difference of 25. It’s the same margin of error, yet appears more pronounced.
I have experienced the same frustrating differences between meters with the same drop of blood. It really makes me wonder which one to believe.
I've experienced that as well with my One Touch Ultra...with clean fingers...no sugar/lotions/food particles or whatnot, and re-testing on a second finger of same hand....readings at times dramatically different! As well, I know that my right hand fingers will always read lower than the fingers in my left hand!!!
