I only own one meter so far, the Accu-Chek Compact. Last month when I had blood work done, my A1c was 6.4 which I was thrilled with, yet confused. Based on my meter readings the last three months, my lowest reading was 100 and my highest was 225, which I figured would have given me a higher A1c. Also, I tested my fasting when the blood was drawn and it was 137. My fasting came back as 120. Would love to know your experiences with accuracy of this meter and any suggestions on other meters would be great. Thanks–this has really been bugging me!
Congratulations on your A1C! I am still struggling to improve my 8.7, which is the best I have had since dx. I too have an Accu-Chek meter, and my Dad has a One Touch. We have done side by side comparisons and the numbers tend to be within a +/- range of about 5 pts. I have read on other threads that any meter can have a variation of about +/- 20 (which seems somewhat unreasonable to me, after all, don’t have meters to know exactly what our levels are?) What does your endo say? Mine says that most meters run a little high…which worries me when I get hypo’s in the 40s and 50s… I would love to know more too!
Your A1c was great! I need mine tested again but I know it will be running high. I have 3 meters (different insurance companies) I like the One touch ulta mini. I also have accu check aviva and true track. Because of having different meters I will use the one I have test strips for but have never noticed the difference in them. Isn’t that a little scary, having a doctor say that each meter can show a different reading! I am on insulin and that is not a comforting thought. I just learned that my moms meter, One touch will take my test strips even though it isn’t a mini. I wonder if there is a difference even if it is the same company. Something I will have to check out!
Hi, Teresa,
Don’t let it bug you. The accuracies of all meters are suspect. Even when we use control solutions. We’re dealing with changing numbers all the time. I’ve taken 8 years of readings within 10 minutes of having a blood draw for the A1c and before I’ve eaten, and they’ve never been within 20 yet!
All your meters are probably fine! I have all the same ones plus some others that were freebies. I think old ones that can’t spew out a number in 5 seconds ought to be trashed.
Here’s to averaging the daily averages on Excel and doing a standard deviation, too… That will equal the A1c every time! If you like math. Love it!
Leona
This happened to me all the time during my first 7 or 8 years. I had pretty high readings on my meter, but AIC always came back really good. But in those days I only tested in AM and bedtime, as I was told to do, which were no doubt my 2 highest times of day. I have dawn phenomenon, so “fasting” readings were always high, and I was not eating low-carb, so evening readings were also high. My guess is I went lower during all the other parts of the day, but it really used to puzzle me.
Dear Teresa.
The accuracy of meters is s==t. So people here and I did in the last meter comparaison found the one touch to read dangerously low and the accucheck to read high. I think to avoid complications it is better that your meter reads high. so stick with the acucheck. The onlyproblem is lows. I was experiencing symptoms of low at a reading of 90 which is unusual so I suspect it was the meter reading high.
The meters that spewed out an answer in 60 seconds were dead accurate. I would love to but one of the oldies. Now I find it demoralizing when you do not know if you should trust your readings and have to make a pure guess as how much to inject. The extra 55 seconds would do a lot to alleviate this uneeded stress.
Thank you everyone for your responses. I’ll stick with my Accu-Chek Compact, especially, if it runs high. (Thank you Anthony!) Rather high than low. I am currently only on Metforim, so I haven’t had any lows. I think I’ll concentrate on the patterns and not get so wrapped up on the particular numbers. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an accurate meter (especially for those of you on insulin) so that we would have a great tool in fighting this disease!
Teresa:
My last A1C was 7.9, up from 7.1. Not good, but better than the 11 that I used to be. I have an AccuChek Compact Plus and have never had a problem with the readings being on target. You know, if you call AccuChek with this problem, they will go through a number of steps with you and, quite possibly replace your meter. In fact, MAKE SURE that you tell them you only have one meter (no back-up meter) and I bet they will send you another absolutely FREE. They did that for me. In fact, that’s how I got the most updated meter that wasn’t even out for sale yet! They will always tell you that the difference between the blood drawn from the lab and your meter will very possibly be different. It all depends on a lot of different things. There’s a certain percentage of difference that is “tolerable.” I was at the ER once and asked that I get their reading and compare it to my meter and that is what I was told.
There are all sorts of variables and I would discuss them with your CDE or DR just to be sure. Also, don’t forget to call AccuChek. I am sure they will help you.
Lois La Rose
Milwaukee, WI
P.S. let me know if you “con” AccuChek out of another free meter!!!
Anthony:
If you FEEL low, treat low. Only you know your body better than anyone else. If you have a problem with this, treat only half … 7 or 8 carbs instead of 15 … and see if that helps.
Lois La Rose
Milwaukee, WI
Lois,
Thanks for the heads up. I’m going to call AccuCheck and see if I can get a freebie. That would be great. How are you doing?
Teresa:
I am doing OK. I’ve been getting a LOT of rest. First got up about 1:30 p.m. today!! The more of that darn drug (Lyrica) I get out of my system, the better I feel. Although it is now snowing … again!! I am geeting sick and tired of this darn winter. Spring cannot come too soon.
Just make sure to act all innocent and needy! 
Lois La Rose
I used the Accu-Chek for 3 years and found the meter to have very good accuracy which correlated with my A1c readings. I found it easy to use and never had a problem with it. Now I have a new insurance company which doesn’t provide coverage for my Accu-Chek so now I am using a Bayer Contour. Ever since I have started using this meter my numbers are significantly lower so I don’t believe I am getting accurate readings. (Now what to do?) So, for me the Accu-Chek worked very well!