I had a grand mal seizure (1st) on Fri. Felt bs getting low, drank juice @ bedside. Suddenly felt seizure coming on. Yelled ‘Help’-no one heard. Next thing I knew, woke very confused.
Pillow had SO much blood all over the case.
Now, 3 da later, entire body so painful I can hardly get out of bed. My tongue is hamburger.
Would’ve happened again if I hadn’t double checked with another meter. Just replaced this One Touch Verio 2 mo ago. Thoughts?
Biting the tongue is the worst. Atleast no concussion I hope.
I’m sorry this happened to you. I hope you will consider reporting this to the FDA. We need to let the FDA know that you have been harmed by an inaccurate glucose meter. If the FDA doesn’t know then they can’t hit these companies on the head with a big stick. As patients we can always report these sorts of problems with either meters or CGMs through the MedWatch Online Voluntary Reporting Form.
GenieInABottleRN, Brian is right, This should be reported to the FDA. Also maybe it’s time to talk to your Dr about a CGM. It’s possible you might be becoming Hypo-unaware. There are also many studies and discussions that have been posted on this forum and others regarding the Verio’s iffy quality compared to many of the others on the market. All meters have to adhere to strict FDA standards/guidelines, but many seem to go far beyond it. On a personal note, you probably feel like you got run over by a truck for the next week or so. It does go away, even the hamburger tongue. Lots of salt water mouth rinse to promote the healing (I find it better than many of the commercial solutions).
Hope you feel better.
Thank you all for great recommendations!
Today: One Touch Verio=128
One Touch Ultra 2=259
WalMart Meter=90
Looks like I need a 4th meter. No idea where bs is at.
El, Thank You So Much!
Wondered how long I’d hurt like this. Also, had forgotten about the salt water rinse. Usually use that for so many things!
For those not familiar with: 1/4 tsp table salt in 1 c. warm water.
My insurance would never pay for a CGM. They won’t even pay for CT or MRI when my back has ruined any quality of life I could have.
Anyone have recommendations for a reliable glucometer?
Contour next
Get the strips from eBay or Amazon.
Ty McChesney!
How much are strips?
I recently got 100 for 20 bucks. Also I got them all in bottles of ten which is better.
My approach to a reliable glucometer/strips involves cross-checking with multiple meters. There are many low-cost meters and strips out there to choose from. In another post, I listed four meters/strips that I evaluated, along with actual readings. These include the One Touch mini, One Touch mini with GenUltimate strips, the True Metrix and the Walmart Relion Prime. The only expensive one was the One Touch with its own strips, because that’s what my insurance covers. I feel comfortable using any one of these four. The important step in this testing is to sample from a single large drop of blood (or multiple drops well stirred.) Unfortunately, our blood sugar is not uniformly distributed throughout our bodies or over short periods of time. Many people report huge inaccuracies that include BOTH strip error PLUS real changes in their own blood sugar.
If I ever suspect that BS results are really off, I may pull out these multiple meters and do another cross-check. I do believe there are occasions where a bad batch of strips gets out, so it pays to run a test now and then. With meters under $20 and strips under 20 cents, it’s a luxury most of us can afford. In my case, my allotment of 600 strips every 3 months isn’t enough. So these extra strips don’t go to waste.
Jut saw an ad on Ebay for 750 Contour Next strips for $238/delivered. That works out to 31.5 cents/strip with a date code of 4/2018 in unopened boxes. When I had no insurance, this is what I did. With insurance, Freestyle with copay card (I get 400 strips @ $30/month, instead of 400/$150 month without the card)
Our favorites are:
Contour Next One
OneDrop/AgaMatrix
Every since I was diagnosed I have tried to control BS tightly but without a reliable and accurate glucose sensor it was a violent roller coaster ride. I am also unable to feel when my BS is slipping. I have had so many scary episodes that I started to think it was normal. But once the lows started to put other people at risk then I was forced to do something different. I am now eating according to the paleo manifesto (no refined or grainy carbs and etc.) I am also using the Dexacom sensor. This device is outstanding. I was on the Medtronic CGm but even though it was aupppsed to stop insulin delivery if my BS dropped to 70, it was just not consistently accurate. The dexacom and my diet has made a radical difference. For the first time in many years, I have not had to be helped in the morning to wake up nor have I had more than 1 low a day, which I have been able to correct quickly and not have my BS swing way up to the other extreme. I am still a tight controller but I am able to do it in a safer more predictable way. Hope some of this helps.
What good is the technology in the pump and the software algorithms if the sensor that is inputting the BG data is not accurate? With a closed loop system, I really think the most critical element is the CGM sub-system.
Which also would suggest the most accurate meter for CGM calibrations would be necessary if one is looking for the most accurate overall system.
Is this why a simultaneous BG check from two different fingers comes out differently?
That would be my guess. Even the best of meters have very small variations from one test to the next. But the variation from one finger prick to the next could be more significant. And, of course, both variations could be additive. Many years ago, I asked this exact question of a rep for a major BS meter. He was the one who told me about using a single drop of blood if I ONLY wanted to verify the meter.
Also, we are advised on this forum and elsewhere that CGMs and forearm tests may lag behind a fingerstick test, particularly when our sugars are changing rapidly. We really are aiming at a moving target!
When thinking about meters…accuracy and consistency has more to do with the test strip brand than the meter style (all meters that use a given strip brand will provide similar results).
For a couple of years, I had been using Bayer’s Contour Next USB for a meter. In 2015, Consumer Reports rated meters for accuracy and consistency and the Contour Next was #3 on their list. Diabetes Daily reposted the list which can be seen at https://www.diabetesdaily.com/blog/2015/06/consumer-reports-glucose-meter-ratings-2015/ Even the original Consumer Reports article does not show results beyond their top 10 recommended meters.
Earlier this year my insurance dropped all BG testing brands except One Touch from their formulary list and I was forced to switch to a One Touch Ultra Mini with One Touch Ultra Blue test strips. I tried performing simultaneous tests with both meters as I was running out of the Bayer strips. I had wild results from One Touch (in the Consumer Reports test, no meter from One Touch even made the top 10). I called One Touch customer service and they said differences like I was seeing between the two meters is normal and you can’t expect comparable readings from different meters, even if they are both testing from the same blood sample.
For 2 months I was seeing BG readings all over the place, constantly chasing highs and lows. Fortunately I was able to change insurance companies with my government insurance and got back on the Bayer meter. INSTANTLY my numbers were stable again, even though I had not changed anything else in terms of medications, eating patterns or excercise.
Bottom line, I would not trust any meter/strips from One Touch unless you have no other choice.
As I replied to your other post, this article from DD should be considered obsolete. I’m quite pleased with my One Touch Verio. The Mini and the previous generation of One Touch products have been discontinued. Since the technology in the previous generation One Touch and current Verio are totally different, they are not comparable. The Consumer Report article didn’t cover current One Touch products.
I also responded to Dale8’s other post, so I won’t repeat that here. I hadn’t realized that One Touch was being discontinued. I just received my latest allotment a couple of weeks ago. Is this going to happen immediately or just gradually phased out?
Also, I understand the FDA has produced a new and tighter standard for all new meters. Do any meters currently meet this standard and is there a way to know that?