Last year the VA switched from Avevia meters to Contour. My experience has been that the readings are not a true indication of the Blood Glucose. The range is often as much as 100 points from one strip to one done right after (within 2 min) I have called the CS people at Bayer several times and all they will say is that the meter and strips are working. Bayer has sent me several replacements and VA has given me three replacements and one of the Customer Reps. on a visit to my Outside Dr. gave me two. The readings are all over the place from meter to meter. Using the readings for correction and calculating Bolus on my pump yielded super highs and lows. I have gone back to using the OneTouch UltraLink. For much better control with a 2% drop in my A1c from 8.3% to 6.4%.
What has others experience been with this meter.
Also I have two others vets I care for and I check their BG. When I get an unexpected high, the quick retest is often 70-100 points lower. I then have to wonder which is more correct.
Yes, there are times when I have the same result. #'s within a couple of points. However there are also the times I am referring to in my post. That is my question. can I correct or adjust from the numbers I get. I have tested in the clinic and also with blood tests done in the lab against both meters. Again the results can be right on one time and off by 80-100 points another even rom the lab test draw. The problem is the VA will supply Contour strips, and not OneTouch. To get OneTouch I have to come up with the co-pay which is up from 15/mo to 25/mo
The VA as yet will not make an exception for me
The OneTouch ultra link is what i am using now. The strips for the Contour are Bayer strips. the test solution is up to date and Bayer as well. If I have to I will continue to purchase the OneTouch through my outside doctor and Ins.
POI, because of my request on my last clinic app. at the VA, the mail today brought me another contour meter. I have an appeal in the works for tomorrow at the VA. I have recently learned Other VA’s are dispensing OneTouch, so I have high hopes that I can and will get around the local clinic’s resistance.
Well folks, I’ve been having the same daunting issues with my meters for weeks. I too have my strips and meters supplied by my insurance providers (private insurance). I have meters all over the house and have more coming in the mail. Here are the ones I chose to test this morning; all have been control tested and the strips are up to date, in fact; all these meters are no older than January of this year. All blood came from the same hole in my finger. My readings are higher because I am in the middle of a medication change and I have always wondered if that had anything to do with accuracy (higher numbers). My provider will only send me one kind of strip and meter (whatever I chose, 3 months supply) so I can’t just change from one to the other. Here goes:
One-Touch Ultra Mini - 177
Contour - 208 *187 (did a quick re-check)
Accu-Chek Aviva - 179
Waited 15 minutes:
One-Touch Ultra Mini - 183
Contour - 161
Accu-Chek Aviva - 179
My Contour is not the USB, I have that one coming in the mail next week. The Contour is the one I’ve been trusting while I’ve been thinking the Aviva has been giving me problems. The truth is I have at times tested the Aviva and have used up to 3 different strips from blood out of the same hole and have got 3 different readings (20-25 mg/dl apart). I have no answer.
BTW - I just took my Aviva and used two strips to make two readings. Blood from the same hole one strip - waiting till the meter shut-off and then another strip.
Aviva - 178
Aviva - 187
I have contacted the vendors on more then one occasion and have been told by all of them not to do multi tests from the same finger stick, and they are allowed a variation of up to 30% from one brand to another. My educator and also in the lit. from Minimed makes the point that you need a large enough finger stick to get a large enough sample with out a lot of squeezing to express the sample. I am told it will have a large impact on the accuracy of the meter reading. My issue is that I am doing all they tell me and getting wide swings of 80-100 points.
Doug, your posted results are less then 20%, so you would be told to correct for any of the above numbers and you should be OK.
Thank you Tobiwan, this is very useful information. I assume what you are saying is that excess squeezing of the finger to extract the any sample could taint the result?
As far as I know, the meters Bayer and Accu Chek work differently - or rater, the strips do.
Sometime around last year I was told to stop using both (I had an Accu Chek as a back-up) because they use different pats of the blood (forgot which one was which) for measuring the bg level.
Therefore, you WILL get different results with meters from different manufacturers.
From my personal experience I must say: I’ve never had too much problems with the numbers I measured. They were not way off the lab numbers and never that much different with two tests in a row - unless the first result was higher due to unwashed hands of cause. So I really can’t complain…
A little variation is normal. You’ll get slightly different results depending on which hand and finger you use.
A little variation is acceptable. What I experienced from time to time were variations of from 50-70% from the same batch of strips and good control tests as well with very little time between tests. I have gone back to using the onetouch ultalink and presently paying the co-pay out of pocket. I have an appeal with the VA that has yet to be ruled on.
Wish me luck
Just a quick note, I have used the Bayer USB meter for 1 year now, and I am very happy with mine, I check it with doc's meter every time I go. I also check it with the control fluid. just to make sure....hope all this works out for everyone...
I am happy for you that it is working for you. I have gone through ten units now and have not found and that are able to reflect an accurate value for me. I am staying with the device that is working for me. I still get some unexplained highs and lows, it has been suggested that a possible reason is that my body's system may be kicking in once in a while and trying to correct my levels. this means I have to look at my history to determine a reason for the unexpected level. I have been using the suspend and temp basel settings more often now that I know how to use them.
What I am doing must be working, my last A1c's have been 6.4 and 6.2
I totally agree. My prior insurer required that I use a Bayer brand meter. In the past, my insurer covered One Touch strips and they were way more accurate. I am very diligent about hand washing before finger sticking. Despite that, I get widely varying readings way to frequently. This can have the added result of entering wrong values into my CGM, destroying its accuracy as well.
