I just switched from a FreeStyle meter that used coded strips to a FreeStyle Lite that uses no-code strips. My BG readings have a big leap. Example, I took a reading with the old meter and coded strip, and I got 125. I took three back-to-back readings with the new meter and strips and got 140, 129, and 140. Any suggestions? Mel
Meters in the US are within a margin of +/- 20% (which frustrates me to no end). They are all concerned with speed, and as a give and take relationship they opt for speed over accuracy. If they made a machine take longer it could be more accurate (but it would take longer, and none of the companies want to sell the machine that’s the most accurate but takes gasp 3 or 4 seconds longer…getting an accurate number in under 10 seconds would be great with me, rather than this 2.5 or 3 second stuff…but that’s a different story 
20% of 140 is 28, so you could be anywhere from 112 to 168 and it would ‘within margin’. It’s unfortunate. It sounds like w/ your readings that your glucose is probably about 140ish. I wouldn’t drive yourself crazy testing and comparing, b/c of this margin, among other items. For instance, if you tested all 3 of those from 1 drop of blood, you can have a varying degree of concentration of the glucose in that sample as you draw it up into strip after strip. If you drew from 3 different fingers/sites, it could be that there was some variability in your glucose from one to the other (and then factoring in the meter margin, you get lots of variability.
I would just stick with one meter consistently for a while and base your insulin/glucose regimen off of it, and see if that keeps you stable (or if you notice you’re low or high a lot). If you have one of the later two items, you may need to adjust something…
Hey Branford, thanks for the advice. It sounds like you know what you’re talking about. 20 percent is a lot, especially when you’re look for an after-meal level, or perhaps before and after exercise. Thanks a lot. Mel OK City
Call Abbott and make sure your meter working correctly with the test solution. If you don’t have any Abbott may send you some. The newer strips should be more accurate and consistant.
Make sure you check your meter against your lab test results.
I agree. I get similar readings and variations. The meters do turn out to be just an estimate and when I read a while back of the ± 20 percent margin I wasn’t impressed. But, as you said, that’s the way they make meters.