I have only the solution the first time I set up the meter.
I figured if they really wanted us to check our meters with each vial of strips, they would include a small ampule of glucose solution (at least with 50 or 100 strips) as well as an extra test strip in each vial.
If I think my meter isn’t giving me correct results, I test with a meter from a different manufacturer (and of course a different vial of test strips).
my mum has had T2 for 25 years. hardly ever.
i tell her to always repeat ‘funny’ high or low readings just to make sure.
another good idea is to bring it with you when you visit a nurse, cde. or doctor to confirm your meter against their readings, just to make sure it ‘really’ is working properly.
maybe even the pharmacist can meaasure on of theirs,
technically, its correct to do so, measure agains those standard little bottles of low, medium and high glucose,
but technology operates pretty seamlessly these days.
but you should know what your sugars should be, so if you see any funny results . retest, or compare against another machine.
thats my view anyway.
you could ring the manufacturer just to see what they say- compared to my comment
Never. I figure when I go into my Doc’s office they do a comparison check and that’s good enough.
Never, I hate wasting test strips. It is bad enough when I don’t put enough blood on the things when I test.
I checked the machines when I first set them up and I have checked maybe once or twice at the most during the past year. But I agree with you guys about the wasting the strip to test the meter. I totally agree with Michael that if the test doesn’t reflect how you feel, use another machine to compare it with. Personally, I bought my first meter when I was diagnosed, and have gotten five for free from different sources. So it’s not a big deal to compare with different meters. As far as the solution bottle, just contact the manufacturer for a free bottle whenever you want to test and see if they will send you a couple of free test strips to test on. Just a thought, but I don’t see the need to test the meter with the solution other than setting it up.
Yea, how annoying!
+1 never!
I’ve done it a few times, but if I had a nickel for every time I asked for the test solution at a pharmacy (any and every pharmacy) and was told, “No, sorry, we don’t have any.” I’d have…a stack of nickels.
Gah.
It seems like one more way to rip off diabetics.