So I know that with the last generation Omnipod, many people had issues with the freestyle test strips reading blood sugar lower than it should. There were several posts about changing the code from 16 to 18 to correct that. Well, I started on the new generation on Tuesday. Yesterday, I ended up in the hospital (not for issues with the new pump, but because I had vertigo for more than 12 hours and they thought I was having a stroke). They wanted to perform a glucose test on their meter so I asked if I could use the same blood sample and see how close mine compared. Their meter is calibrated daily to ensure accuracy. I tested at 236 on theirs glucose meter and on the Omnipod it read 300! I took insulin for their reading instead of mine. Has anyone else noticed an issue with this?
I am now nervous to trust the accuracy of my Omnipod. I have been using it long enough that I no longer have any test strips for any of my other meters because they have all expired. To make matters worse, I am getting married next week! If anyone has any insight on what I could do, I would really appreciate it! I know with the last generation, I did end up cross referencing and ended up using a different code to make the strips accurate.
Actually, many of us were seeing readings that were too LOW. Increasing the code from 16 to 17 or 18 RAISES the BG reading...you can try it yourself and see.
Did they run it against actual blood work (not just their meter)? When my son was born the hospital meters were really off (for example, they read me at 220 and my pdm read 126. Lab work said I was 131). After multiple tests on multiple hospital meters, my ob chose to rely on my pdm over their equipment.
I guess I wouldn't freak out over their meter. However, I would get your pdm checked against actual blood work next time it's done.
On another note, if you bg was 260, both of those readings would have been within 20% accuracy as required by current FDA regulations. (Not that it makes the info useful or that that margin of error is acceptable, but it is what it is).
I had that same issue with the last Omnipod... that the readings were too low. Now, if the meter at the hospital was correct, then it means that my new omnipod is reading high. I definitely need to look into this more, but not sure how to go about doing that.
That is ridiculous about your experience! I will have to take your advise and check against blood work. I think that will be the only way that I will really know. I just know that glucose accuracy was a problem on the older generation and was wondering if anyone had noticed it with the new one too!
I'm using the new pod and have tested it at two endo appointments. The first test it was within 10 points. The second it gave me the same reading. This is using the Freestyle Lite test strips calibrated to code 16.
Hope this helps and congratulations on your pending nuptials.
Low or High doesn't matter if you do it right. If you believe your PDM to be reading too low, instead of setting your target range to be between 70 to 100, just set it to be 80 to 110. Just as an example. Easy solution to a simple problem.
!!! CORRECTION !!! Wow, I guess my fingers were thinking faster than my brain was last night when I posted this. I've got the adjustment backwards. For a better example, if you're reading 5 too low, then adjust your target lower. Say 65 to 95, and that should get you into a realistic range. Me personally, I just set my meter calibration number to 17 instead of the bottle 16, and I'm getting close enough for what I feel is normal.
I am glad yours came out okay! I have been using the readings from it again and my blood sugars seem to be in control. I feel okay and haven't been going low or too high (despite my nasty ear infection) so maybe I am making a big deal out of nothing!
