My daughter who was dx May of this year is starting to have some issues with her BG monitoring. We will test her and, for example, it will be 80 and then retest 5 minutes later and it will be 285. She washes her hands with soap and water. She isn't eating anything between times. It seems to be happening more often. She uses a FreeStyle Lite monitor. I have tested it and it is showing the within normal ranges per the metor's manual. Does anyone have any suggestions or know what we are doing wrong?
If i were you i would call the company. They should replace your meter or strips. Or at least offer you some suggestions on what the problem is. Good Luck!
We use the Onetouch Ultra and haven't had any problems. Just for grins I've had her test and then test again a few minutes later, and I've noticed slight fluctuations, like maybe 10ish, so 90-100 or something similar. Maybe the battery is bad, or the monitor is bad? Do you have an extra monitor you can switch to? We have three in total because I like to keep one in my purse just in case, and Sarah has one for home and school. The Onetouch mini was only maybe $10-$15 at Walmart.
I've heard that dirty hands can make a difference, so Sarah keeps a small pouch of handwipes in her purse and uses those when we're out and she can't use soap and water.
Good luck!
no meter is 100%. you can test multiple times and get different results but they should all be close to each other. I would suggest resetting it with the control solution and trying again.
I also use a One Touch UltraSmart and have for a few years and not noticed a problem with it. I used a freestyle until I got a One Touch Mini, then One Touch Ultra and then finally One Touch UltraSmart..haven't had a problem as long as I've used the control solution when I first started using each meter.
It is probably not related, but you are aware of dawn affect? The OneTouch Ultramini is convenient and reliable to date. I don't use it now because I have a pump with its own, but that was my experience prior.
I would call the company. I think all meters have to have 20% accuracy - so you could check 5 min apart and notice some difference, but not 80 and 250. If you have another meter to use, I'd use it.
[quote user="Michelle"]I've heard that dirty hands can make a difference[/quote]
yes they do!!! I was at camp and tested at 383, so my consular took me to the "health lodge" so I could change my site. By the time we finished the two-minute trek to and into the lodge, I couldn't see straight. They had me sit down and test again- I was 47. oops. We had had apples for snack, and I had forgetten to use an alchohal swab. My bad. Anyway, wash your hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and about the meter issues. I had the same problem-just get a new one. Your meter shouldn't be anywhere near that unreliable. It should be at the most 10-20 points off, not 100-200. Good luck!
It's funny you post this, b/c recently I had 2 tests in a row on my onetouch w/ an 18% difference (FDA requires no more than a 20% difference). Called onetouch, and they said it was still too big a spread, and shouldn't be that big. They sent me a new one. (The companies are always happy to send you a new meter so you'll keep buying their strips!)