I was reading around on facebook and came across an individual who is using the pod and he states that with the newer strips there is about a 60 point difference than with the old test strips, also others were saying that the new butterfly strip are not approved for the PDM.
I myself havent seems to have a problem, I really disliked the old strips I felt as though I wasted lots of strips that wouldnt suck any blood up, and the company is trying to tell my I must be doing it wrong ( come on I have been doing this for 19 years) And I also havent noticed a blood sugar difference but I also havent test this theory as I only have the newer strips.
I do! The new strips are not FDA approved yet, but, as an old freind said in previous posts…“Ladies and Gentlemen…I give you the F…D…A” (refer to “Hans” in “Die Hard”). When i use the strips and compare to old ones I get at most a 10 point difference, although I have read quite a few polsts from folks who have seen quite a bit more of a difference. I am finding that to old strips are getting harder and harder to find, so I am just going to go with the new “butterfly” and make due. I was having Liberty Medical deliver my strips, until recently (a very bad customer Service problem) and Liberty only had the butterfly strips, and told me that is the only option today. PEACE
We’ve been using the new strips, and I love them. They need soooo much less blood, and I haven’t had a single bad strip, which was a big problem with the older strips. My daughter’s readings seem fine, though we’re not comparing them to other meters. We did compare old strips and the new with the same blood sample when we first got the new strips, and the difference was less than 10, so we figured we’d give them a try. She hasn’t had any lows that didn’t show up on the meter, and we’ve been using them for about a month. Guess we’ll really see when we go next month and get her A1C. If there is a big difference in the numbers, it’ll show up there.
Omnipod says the new strips are not yet approved for use with PDM. Most of the new strips I tried before calling omnipod did not work. I also noticed a bif difference when they did work. However, Omnipod could not explain how approval by FDA for use of new strips would improve the failure rate. She had no explanation.
I am back to using old strips becuase of this.
Hey Linzie, there have been several discussions here about the new strips. I would suggest taking a look at them to get some different perspectives on the issue.
Here’s one about the strips.
Here’s one about trying different codes .
Here’s one about the various finger pointings from the different companies (“It’s their job. No it’s their job…” Ugh!).
Here’s one of the original posts about the test strip variance issue.
I was just at the lab on Monday and the BG reading I took on my omnipod just 10 minutes earlier was about 70 points lower than the BG reading the lab got (also from a finger stick test). My A1c has also been up a bit which hasn’t been reflected in my BG readings. I’ve been using the Omnipod since last July and the butterfly test strips most of that time and I’m really concerned that the Freestyle strips aren’t reading as accurately as they should be. I’ve even started doing side-by-sides with my old One Touch (yay for non-scientific testing!) to see if I need to switch back. It would be a major pain to have to carry my PDM along with another BG meter.
I was wondering if these new test strips were part of the Abbott recall, but they don’t appear to be??
just took daughter to endo. A1c was 7.2, now is 7.6 after 3months, was it a test strip problem? I dont know! Noticed about 6 months ago walmart gaves us different strips, never gave it much thought. Wasn’t till we switched pharmacies, that i was asked about the new strips. DUH! WE didn’t even know about the FDA thing (nor were we contacted by omnipod). Bought a new meter , different brand, but the govt, lets all meters and strips read a percentage differently anyway. Still using the new strips with the word new and butterfly. My daughter is 15 with an attitude, and trying to get her to do an experiment with to different meters to see the numbers, is asking alot. You gotta love technology and the FDA, and teenagers
I have been reading of all replies that the people on here that have been having issues with the new butterfly strips, codes, BG, not working with the PDM etc, and I have had no issues with them, the new Freestyle Butterfly strips I still ahve about 6 boxes of the old strips left, and recieved the new strips and was leary of using the new ones, contacted my CDE, and we both sat down and compared the 2, and +/-5 pt difference, and that was over the course of 3 days, and multiple readings. The coding is the one that gets me, the strips that do work with the PDM, are the FREESTYLE, and they are the butterfly type, but the bottle is almost the same as the Freestyle lite strips, so I can see the confusion on distributers and users behalf. The approved freestyle strips with the butterfly design are coded, typically 16, atleast the 9 bottles I have already used ahve all been the same, and the bottle is orange and has Freestyle, not Freestyle lite, and a code on the bottle. If it makes any difference I do get all of my mail order through CVS Caremark, and ahve no probelms at all. I hope that this helps out everyone.
I wonder if those that have an older PDm ( original) are having the problems with failed tests. I have not comverted to the new PDM. Maybe there is something in older PDM causing failures? I appreciate any experience. The new strips seem off when they do work and failed more than 50% of time.
Hi Linzie…per our talk on FB. I still have big issues with the PDM and new test strips. Omnipod is sending me a new pdm but not sure that will correct the issue.
Tried new new strips on the following
Meter Old strips New strips
Flash 154 97
Freedom 149 147
PDM 192 91
Big difference. Insulet says the new strips aren’t FDA approved, but does that really matter here. Do they mean as soon as FDA approves, my PDM magicallly will work corectly?
My insurance is through my employer and the make us use mail order pharmacy for “maintenace meds” and well, my mail order only sends me the new butterfly strips–I really don’t have a choice. I haven’t compared them to the other strips, but have certainly been using them with my PDM, and rely on the info, so…I guess they are working. What’s the deal with them not being approved I wonder? They suck up the sample so much better than the old ones ( i started having major issues with many of the old strips not sucking up any blood.)
Just ran a little test after 90 mins of ingesting 30g’s of Carbs
Butterfly strips using the built in meter in the PDM - 171
Old Free Style strips with Freestyle meter that came with my Omnipod kit 211
One Touch Ultra tester with strips (pre OmniPod meter) 222
May explain why over the past few days i’ve had readings of 55 & 58 using the Butterfly strips with the PDM and been told by meter that i was low though i felt no typical low symptoms. Anytime i’m under 70 i can usually tell i’m heading into “low-land”. Has me a bit concerned that my next A1C will not match up to the daily average of 118 that PDM implies… your thoughts??
I have had no problem with the new strips. Just tested 117 on my OmniPod (butterfly), 119 on my OneTouch (Ultrablue), and 105 on my Dex (I am trending up so a little lag) Have the OmniPod Coded for 16 (are all the butterfly strips 16?)
Thanks for your reply and input, i’ll check again in an hour and see if i get the same type of difference between the 3 meters. I have a fourth somewhere i can throw into the mix as well!
I have no problems with the new ones either. I did use the old one when I got the new ones & tested both at the same time from the same sample of blood. It was a 6 point difference. I hope this helps.
Just to add to the feeling-fine-about-these-strips side: I do quick spot checks on the PDM every week (which I have always done regardless of my primary meter since meters can fail without realizing for awhile; we rely on those numbers so much that we sometimes don’t question!). Most recent check just now:
PDM w/ new strip: 144
One Touch Ultra 2: 143
Dexcom reading: 137
This range is consistent with my spot checks for the last few months since starting on the new strips. I would note that in my experience the butterfly strips seem more sensitive than the One Touch strips, so I tend to wash my hands before pricking if there are any latent cookie crumbs on them or something!
