Has anyone had this experience or is it just user error? I have had an Omnipod for 7 months now and used to use a One Touch meter. In switching to the Omnipod and testing with the pdm which is a Freestyle meter, I have had major errors on about 6 occassions with this meter. I test thinking I'm low and it will register a reading in the high 100s or 200s. I just don't feel it's right so I either retest with the same meter or my One Touch and I'm actually in the 50s as I suspected. Is this a meter problem or my error in how I'm applying the blood to the test strip? I miss my One Touch!
I would call customer support on this one! I’ve never had that happen, but have had other issues with my PDM…they replaced it.
hi jane i had the same problem i would test and the pdm would asy 125 and i would test with the one touch and it would be 50 and i tested with pdm and it said 325 abd u tested with the one touch and it would be 160 my rep told me to always turn on the pdm before a test she said the test would be better they repalced my pdm and it works good now roy
That’s scary. I’ve personally not seen anything like that in about the same amount of time using the OmniPod. I second what Nancy said - I’d call customer support and see what they say.
All the best,
Carolyn
I’d also make sure your hands are totally clean by washing them, etc. This is the pot calling the kettle black b/c I rarely wash my hands or even use anything like an alc. swab 
However, I know that even a small amount of residue on your hands could skew the results (esp if you tested w/ one finger on the PDM and another finger on the One Touch = one could have been “contaminated” so to speak).
Like the others, I’d also recommend calling cust. support.
I agree with everything said here…however, I would just add that I once had just put on some moisturizing lotion a few minutes before testing and it came up in the high 300’s. When I called insulet they seemed to know right away that something like this must have happened. In other words, Bradford is right. On the other hand, I have also switched between freestyle and one touvbh ( ONe can only use One Touch when calibrating a Dexcom, which I have tested a few times) and when I went to my endo for a test (b/c the two readings were so far off) the freestyle was right on, and the One Touch was pretty far off I’d say about 75% offf. Like everyone else, I’d call Insulet first!
Thanks guys. Honestly, I think it was because I either got too much or too little blood on the strip. It happened more when I first got the PDM and wasn’t used to the Freestyle strips. I liked the One Touch because I was able to see the strip being filled. With this one it’s a bit of a mystery and I feel like I end up pricking myself harder, to get more blood, so I don’t chance not getting enough on the strip, which is the opposite of their claim that it takes the least amount of blood of any meter or something like that…I do a lot more double tests now if I feel it’s innacurrate, but I haven’t had any problems lately.
Jane -
Yeah…sometimes I also feel like I havent blead enough to test. Others, I flood the strip with more blood that the Gulf has Oil in it. Either way, I just test right away again to make sure the reading was correct. Especially when I get a very HIGH reading, b/c I dont want to correct and send myself way down…I’ve done that far too many times.
One more thing… always make sure you calibrate the PDM with the strips number. I forgot to do that a couple of times when using different strips and the results were WAY off. But my endo told me that it could be between a 10-15 difference in readings from different meters. Use all the advice here and also call support.
Janet,
Thanks for reminding me. I was a One Touch user and One Touch only ships strips with #25. For the first 6 months my FreeStyle strips were all #13. I assumed that all FreeStyle strips would be #13. I got out of the habit of checking. Now I checked: I used up almost all of a #16 pack with a #13 PDM setting. Unnecessary mistake.
Glad to help… we only learn by our mistakes. That’s how we fix things.
Social networking is so powerful. My guess is that 90% of what I know about diabetes care I have learned within the last year here at TuDiabetes. I have been on the hook for 36 years.
So sorry you’ve had diabetes for so long. I developed it in 2006 due to pancreatitis which claimed 90% of my pancreas leaving me with just the tip of it so there’s absolutely NO hope of any cure ever unless they come up with a pancreatic transplant. I took shots the first 3 years and wanted something different and easier and LESS painful. My endocrinologist introduced me to the OmniPod and he and his staff taught me everything I needed to know. I’m very lucky that I have a wonderful team of doctors and nurses supporting me. I’ve also learned a lot from this group and I don’t feel so alone any more. I love helping people and also being able to lean on people for support and information.
Until a year ago I was very concerned about the impact that diabetes would have on my life. In the meantime I loaded up on gadgets. I have an OmniPod and a DexCom 7+. Now I perceive my diabetes more like an inconvenience than a disease. I am optimistic that the discipline that I needed to survive will now get me ahead of the pack.
That’s all it takes is discipline and control and we’ll live till 110.
The free style strips seem to be a lot more sensitive to any food that might be on your fingers. I’ve felt low before, and ended up with a reading in the 300s. Then i’ve had times where it tells me i’m almost 500, so i clean my finger off and retest, and it give me a much more reasonable 250 or 300.
I’ve learned to wash my hands well before every test. Any residue on your fingers will mix in with your blood. That’s why doctors and nurses also wipe the area with an alcohol swab before testing. It will also prevent any infection if you’re prone to one.
Thanks for the reminder. I often forget to wash before I test. That is the reason I almost never put lotion on my hands, because as soon as I put it on, I have to go wash it off-dry hands now.
I use both the PDM and the One Touch meter, and my tests (if I do one on each meter) have always been +/- 10 points from one another. I agree with the others and would definitely call Insulet with your readings. My readings have never been false, and I have used the Pod for 9 months now.
Be careful with the alcohol - I have to wipe my daughters finger with a dry paper towel after the alcohol swab to make sure it is dry - we were getting elevated numbers from not giving the alcohol enough time to dry. My babysitter accidentally used antibacterial gel on my daughter and that gave a really high reading +300 points.
We try to stick to hand washing now.