Yesterday I had a long talk with a technician from Bayer Contour. She stepped me through several tests on my contour next meter. Everything was normal. At first she said she would send me control solution to verify my meter was ok. I told her that with the range of ok readings listed on the strip bottle, I still wouldn't trust the meter and was thinking of returning it to Amazon. She they said she would send me a new Contour Next kit, some strips and control solution, I should receive it in two days.
Tests this morning still show the contour being 30+ higher than my one touch meter. When I get the new contour meter I'll compare it to the old one I have now. It will come with some strips so I can compare those strips to the ones I have.
I hear ya! I have too the same problem at times because I have been using a meter called Agamatrix and believe me it has been a pain just looking at it, at first it was ok but after quite a few uses I started to notice that it will literally give 50 points higher than usual (when I wasn't even feeling bad or sick!!) I asked the nurse at the hospital I was going to and she told me that it will give me erratic numbers but to just round the number to a lower one...I was (O__O) ok, that just doesn't help...so I just decided to RE-CHECK and I started to wash my hands constantly ( I have my dry and chapped hands of so much washing)anyway... I do want to know what else I can do, I used to use the ONETOUCH meters and I actually trust it more than any other machine...
Try a little experiment--- test a drop of control solution over and over again. I suspect your results will be very, very close. Then test your blood glucose over and over again... I'd be willing to bet there will be significantly more variation. a meter can measure control solution as precisely as an electrical multimeter can measure voltage. Have you ever seen a meter read out of range with control solution? The only way that'd happen is if something was actually wrong with the strips.
If you think about it in that context of how a meter and strip actually work, it kind of makes me realize that the control solution is a total waste of time
Interesting. To be honest, I've rarely used control solution, and don't think I even have any. Your hypothesis seems plausible, but it would be interesting to see whether it actually panned out in practice.
I used One Touch from '80s till a few months ago when I had to switch to Contour (can't get it for Medtronic any more). I never overdosed with my One Touch readings and I just assumed that if the readings were reliable, even if not actually accurate, and I never dropped BG too far based on my dosing, then I was good. If you know how much 1 unit is supposed to drop your BG, you can easily test how well it works for you. If your BG is 150 and you dose for that, then it should drop to your target in whatever timeframe your insulin works for you. My insulin doses dropped my BG appropriately, if way too slowly these days.
I also use the relion, no scrip. I have my endo write an Rx though because she flipped when I told her I use relion. She said is not accurate, but I think she is crazy. She also thinks I change my lancet daily. :-). It’s a game we play.
A test solution is exactly what its name suggests, it only gives a reading within range of the actual specified reading; usually in the low range or in the higher range. The shelf life for these test solutions is rather limited and is the reason my Chemist will not stock them.
I use both the Accu-Chek Performa (Roche) and have just upgraded an Optium Xceed for the FreeStyle Optium (Abbott) and I have been recording the differences between the two meters for a long time now. I have written to Roche and Abbott about my theory and my explanations why these anomalies were occurring but was told to see an Endocrinologist and the chemistry of blood was very complex.
I have full faith in both my meters readings even when I see these large anomalies in readings. It is true that the technology used with meters is the reason why the anomalies occur but is due to the blood being unstable.
I know from all the data that I have recorded that when I am having a fast falling Hypo, the Accu-Chek Performa will always read higher. A reading that could not be detected by the Optium Xceed read 2.0 on the Accu-Chek Performa. This hypo was caused by correcting a hyper, then resting. These fast falling hypos always occur when I have corrected a hyper, been working physically hard with or without Insulin On Board and occur more often when my Glycogen reserves are run down due to a few days of hard work. When I am doing book work, hypos are unusual and can be detected at a higher level of 3.5 to 3.8mmol/L, and both meters will give similar readings.
It usually in the morning that I see the FreeStyle Optium read higher than the Accu-Chek Performa. Only the other morning, the FreeStyle Optium reading was 15.3mmol/L and the Accu-Chek Performa was 13.4mmol/L. I know that my Glycogen were fully recharged, because I have been enjoying the festive season too much and not doing enough physical work. I had also woken up with hey fever which I know plays havoc with my BGL. To correct this problem I had to almost triple my normal morning Bolus, cut back on my breakfast Carbs and take a 40 minute walk.
I know after a five day fishing trip I can not rely on fruit only to keep BGL stable and should not do bolus corrections when I see BGL spike after eating foods high in oligosaccharides(white bread and processed starchy foods).
Here I am theory behind the reasons why I have these anomalies in reading between the two meters.
The chemistry of Glucose when it is dissolved in water is completely different to that of Glucose in blood. How the different sugars are dissolved in the blood, selected by different Glucose Transporters, affected by different hormones and targeted by enzymes is very complex but I believe there is a common link with Glucose, the anomers α(alpha) and β (beta) Glucose.
The two forms of glucose we use are α(alpha) and β (beta) D-Glucose. Like most sugars Glucose can exist in several configurations depending on conditions. Glucose is optically active; α D-Glucose is + 113, and β D-Glucose only +19. The rotation at equilibrium is +52.5. At equilibrium in aqueous solution , the α - β ratio is about 36 to 64 existing almost entirely in the pyranose configuration.
I believe the Accu-Chek Performa meter is bias towards β Glucose and the FreeStyle Optium is bias towards α Glucose. Why I have made this statement is because before my morning insulin when BGL are high and continue to rise, the Optium Xceed gave a higher BGL and continued to rise faster than the Accu-Chek Performa reading. The only possible place for this Glucose to come from is from the liver and only in the form of α Glucose.
This is the test that I conducted and the results surprised me. I must remind you again that THIS IS GLUCOSE DISSOLVED IN WATER ONLY. I DID NOT USE PURE α OR β GLUCOSE. I used Dextrose which was Glucose Monohydrate which can be purchased from many stores. I had the optical activity of this Dextrose checked. It was optically active but took over three hours to reach equilibrium at 20°C.
I prepared an approximate 5mmol/L solution of Glucose. About 5 minutes after I dissolved the Dextrose, I took an Accu-Chek Performa reading of 0.8mmol/L (Optium Xceed showed an error reading) and I immediately though that I had made a calculation error to the power of 10. I then added 4 grams of Dextrose but only had a reading of 3.2mmol/L. I then added a further 4 grams of Dextrose and had a reading of 9.0mmol/L. The results were not making sense. I waited 15 minutes and the reading was HI. These tests were all taken by the Accu-Chek Performa meter.
I made a quick calculation then diluted the solution and 30 minutes later the Accu-Chek Performa reading was 6.0mmol/L. An Optium Xceed reading of 3.6 mmol/L was also taken. I then left the solution stand for 75 minutes and the Accu-Chek Performa reading was now 7.4mmol/L and the Optium Xceed read 4.7mmol/L. These readings did not change during the next 2 hours that I took readings. The temperature was 25°C when I did this test.
Hopefully some one who works in Pathology and has a greater understanding of Biochemistry and Molecular Chemistry can give more information.
The main meter I use is the Accu-Chek Performa but FreeStyle Optium gets regular use because I know my BGL can be very unstable at times.
Well, you may have answered an age old question, for me. Why does a blood sugar machine read sugar when you dip in in some sugary fluids, like grand-marnier, but not others, like schnapps. I have always wondered. Chemistry. Gotcha.
I received the replacement for the contour next meter today. I also bought a contour next USB meter. I tested all 3 contour next meters with the control solution. The control solution listed as 120 - 150. The old meter tested 148, 145, 139. The replacement meter tested 133, 131, 135. The USB meter tested 135, 136, 135. I was impressed with the USB results and will use it most of the time at home.
The old meter was reading high but not that much. I guess my one touch has been reading low all along and will be retired.
piling in on strips accuracy: I needed to calibrate my Dexcom GCM for the first time, which requires two blood samples. My OneTouch UltraMini gave me the following results, crazy:
165, 126, 165,128, 166, 106, 164,168, 165.
Luckily the Dexcom algorithm is smart enough to normalize this mess a bit. So I chose 128 and 165 as I felt more in the 160s. I hadn't realized before the Dexcom how inaccurate glucose meters can be. Really scary.
That brings up another possible reason for inaccurate readings. During shipment/storage was the temperature too high or too low? I like to mail order because I save a lot of money. During summer packages are sometimes very hot when delivered.
I just got my first mail order shipment of strips - I got them from the TD company outta Arizona. If it flew here by storage compartment in a plane, which I'm sure it did, It might have gotten too cold. I wonder. I always worry about that with flower seed shipments. 
