Have I been testing my BG the wrong way?

That makes sense. I guess if I’m getting an A1c, I’m always getting other stuff done too, so no need to bother with that. Anyone know how the reliabilities are with those vs lab tests?

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well, it’s pretty obvious that using the second drop is best, if you can get that without squeezing, but I’ve been diabetic 51 years and I’ve never bothered (and btw my A1C has been stable 6.1-6.6 for years). It’s more important to make sure it’s clean.

Gosh I am very lackadaisal about it. I don’t wash my hands first, I never use alcohol. I rarely change my lancet. If I start to realize it’s hurting then I change the lancet (months and months?) and if I need to squeeze my finger I squeeze it, although 75% of the time I don’t. And if I wanted to use my pinky I would never have to, but it hurts so I don’t. Besides who wants all that extra blood.

Now I have a CGM so I am not testing that much, but I was the same way when I was testing all day. I do vaguely remember reading something about massaging and squeezing your finger before you prick it, not after…but I never remember to do that.

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I learned that if I let the tech or nurse prick my finger THEY are going to use the tip or the pad…OUCH! So I too prick my own finger at the docs…and test on my own meter as well at the same time (to compare numbers).

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And since strips retail for $1.00 a strip (and we rarely get an Rx for enough strips per day) I don’t want to waste a strip (sometimes getting that second sample takes too long and the meter times out.

Wow that’s expensive. Before cgms, I test about 7-11 times a day and I go through test strips in an instant. Here in Australia we have this subsidised if we are diabetic, costs $15 for 100 strips for most diabetics. If you have a concession card, it’s like a few dollars.

Indeed! Prior to my Dexcom I was usually 12-15x a day. The usual upon waking, and going to bed, before and after meals, if there was 3 hours between fingersticks, before and after workouts (even during sometimes) and always when I drove. Sadly, too many US Endo’s think 4-6 fingersticks a day is adequate and won’t write an Rx for more.

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I don’t know why they make it prescription based over there. If you need it you need it, it’s not like you can overdose on it so needs to be restricted.:thinking:

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Requires prescription when we get it covered by insurance. But anyone can pay direct at pharmacy, amazon, etc.

If you have insurance, they may only cover the cheaper, less accurate brands, such as my case, so I get my preferred brand without RX, cash price.

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Oh I see. What’s the use of less reliable brands? The purpose of blood strips is testing for accuracy isn’t it, if they are not accurate then what’s the point😅?

No one wins in this scenario, patient doesn’t get reliable results, insurance companies has to pay for them, the only winner is the company who makes the strips and the pharmacy that can sell it for a profit I guess :unamused:. Another example of a broken system?

It’s tied to the fact that for many insurance companies, their main goal is to enrich their shareholders. So the less they pay in claims, the more “successful” they are. Sadly it is exacerbated by the fact that in the US, without a national single-payer system, people change plocies often throughout their working lives. Most have employer coverage and employers put our RFP’s (request for proposals) in a bid system. So our policies change. Thus, say we have a need under our policy, they know that if they don’t provide coverage for treatment etc, things will get worse but it will be the next policy company’s problem. And if it goes long enough, it will be the Medicare program’s problem. You’d think that last statement would motivate congress to do something about it to save Medicare $$$. Alas, the insurance industry (along with Pharma) have armies of lobbyists.

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A lot of us prefer Contour Test Strips. But other meters can test close. I have One Touch Verio that’s always been within a couple of points of my Contour. Both are covered under my insurance. I switched to Contour but still use my One Touch as I had a huge supply left over of test strips. It just depends on your insurance.

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There are likely many more T2s that do bg testing, that is generally for trends, not calculating insulin dosage. They log or doctor may download results, and make medication adjustments based on trends. Often also taking into account A1C.
T2s taking insulin based on meter bg readings would benefit just like T1s in having most accurate bg meters.

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Before I had access to a Cgm, my endocrinologist asked me why my meter had 2 different tests with different values at the same time?..I told him that I often test on the arm, and noticed it was usually 30 minutes behind unless I was fasting, and if I wanted to know which direction my blood sugar was headed, I’d test on the arm, then the finger…I’ve also been stuck with the one touch verio for Insurance reasons, but found this process to be helpful if I want a break from my Cgm, etc

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I never found that using my arms for blood testing ever worked to give me reasonable results.

Fingers work pretty well. I use a dexcom now and I almost never test with finger stick meters anymore.

I can’t see why I would ever need a break from it, it’s easier to wear than sticking my fingers all day. And it gives me a lot more data.

I realize it is expensive, but for me it’s worth the money.
I would switch to the Libre if I had to.