For those who still stick their fingers:

Just a reminder:

  1. Keep an extra battery around (unless you live near a store which sells the proper batteries, and you are very mobile. Some of these batteries are unusual.) Remember where you put the battery. It may help to keep all your spare batteries in one place.

  2. If you see some flashing (or other) warning that your battery is about to die, you might want to take it seriously.

Thanks.
M.

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Sounds like you’re talking from experience! Even though I use a CGM, I still poke my finger about there times per day. I like using two different methods for the best possible accuracy.

What I like to do is to store two battery changes right in the meter pouch. Sometimes “new” batteries fail much earlier than expected and it’s always good to have your next set in place. In these times with so many natural disasters, these are the kind of things that can make a big difference when stuff happens.

Thanks for the practical reminder!

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[quote=“Terry4, post:2, topic:89026”]
Sounds like you’re talking from experience![/quote]Probably at some time in the past, but this morning the whole system worked perfectly. I’ll just have to remember to by some new ones from Amazon, or the local importer.

If you were in my HMO, you would have been canonized by now. They hardly believe me when I tell them that I measure almost every day.

It’s a good reminder @MapleSugar!

@Terry4, curious how you compare/contrast your fingersticks with cgm readings. I do sticks exclusively for first 24-36 hours with a new Dex sensor (G6) because frankly they suck during this period, before they settle in. But my pbm gives (actually, “sells” is more appropriate, but it’s not a lot) me the ancient OneTouch strips, so I find that it’s useful to use 3 or 4 at a time to get reliable sense of bg at any given time. There can be a lot of variation!

I use my fingerstick meter as the reference for my CGM. In other words, I use it to calibrate and assume it is the more correct value, even though any meter is not an overly precise or accurate standard.

I calibrate in the morning when I get up but will skip the calibration when the meter reading matches the CGM.

I haven’t used OneTouch strips in many years and I don’t think they’re rated very highly for accuracy. I used Roche (Accu-Chek) meters and strips for many years and found them reliable. I recently started accumulating Contour Next strips using my Medicare benefit since I’ve heard so many people rave about their accuracy. I haven’t started using them yet as I’m using up the tail end of my Accu-Chek supplies.

Back when I was testing about 15 times/day, I regularly took two separate finger-sticks and averaged them to calibrate my CGM. I even had one endo ask me why I did so many consecutive fingerstick pairs.

When I supply blood to a lab for testing and I know that glucose is being measured, I do three fingersticks at the same time and compare that average to the lab report. If it compares well, then it bolsters my confidence in the meter/strip combination.

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My ContourNext meter which transmits my BG readings to my Medtronic 670 G pump needs to be plugged into a charger about every six months. It flashes and provides a screen read out warning at least two days prior to loosing its charge.

My Medtronic CGM requires a calibration every 12 hours and recommends a BG check several times during the day if insulin flow is too low or too high for extended periods of time. It also requires a calibration every 6 hours during the first 12 hours after changing the sensor.

I used to calibrate my G6 throughout it’s 10 day life, but I have found after the first 24 hours a new sensor has been installed, my G6 is reasonably close to my meter.

Repeating my previous posts, the key is only calibrate when BG level is stable, not rising or falling. Reason is there is a delay for the changed BG level to migrate to the interstitial liquids, which is what the CGM is measuring.

But I do calibrate several times during the 1st 24 hours of a new sensor – but only when trend is stable.

I know, the alternative is to “pre-soak” or install the new sensor a day before the current sensor will expire. The reason for variability during the 1st 24 hours of installation is the very minor trauma of inserting the wire under the skin. Pre-soaking gets that over with before you actually start using the sensor. I just have not done that, hence my calibrations during the first 24.

Some new sensors are decently accurate (+/- 10% or better) during the first day, but in my experience, most are 20% to 30% different from my BG meter and require calibration.