I think I already know the answer to this but just want to err on the side of caution so thought I’d ask my fellow diabetics their thoughts on this. This morning I woke up to my dexcom alerting me that I was about to go low at 75. I had kinda hovered between 80 and 70 all night but didn’t actually need sugar to get up so took minimum amount of carbs possible to still stay on the lower side but not go over the top. Well at 5 am I was over it and decided I should get up and eat a small snack so I poked my finger to verify. I freaked out when I saw a reading of 28 and slammed a Gatorade faster than I ever had. After chugging it, I realized that I really didn’t feel low and so I got up and washed my hands before I retested. A minute later, I had a 83 on my omnipod. I retested one more time because typically if I’m under 55, I need at least 20 grams so wanted to make sure I could trust it. I did one more prick 85 and one more on a spare meter I have at home that actually read 101. Needless to say, I trusted that since I literally felt completely okay besides being a little dizzy that there was no way I was that low as I was completely coherent and didn’t feel even a little low. I still let the Gatorade do it’s thing and then corrected a couple hours later as I was at 180. I definitely didn’t need 22 grams of carbs to get me up. Meter seems to be on par again with my dexcom and my spare meter with a 15 point difference at most between meters. Do you feel it’s pretty safe to say that it was a one of strip that was bad or should I be concerned about my meter starting to fail in my omnipod?
Sorry that happened. That sounds scary. I don’t blame you for panicking when your meter said you could be on the edge of a coma in the middle of the night.
I’d say once is a fluke. A bad test strip, something on your finger (rubbing alcohol that hadn’t dried, for example), etc. Stay vigilant, especially if your symptoms don’t match your readings. Test now and then to make sure you’re on track. If it happens again, then you can worry about replacing what’s not working (whether that be the vial of test strips or the whole meter). If not, call it a one-off and move on.
Remember that every meter has an error factor. A CGM can be off by 20% and still be considered on track, and will have a time lag between changes in your blood sugar and changes in the CGM readings, especially if it’s changing rapidly. So it’s okay that things don’t match up exactly. But if what you’re seeing is wildly off, it pays to confirm.
Yo do know the answer. Thats why you keep more than 1 meter. I make sure the other meter uses different test strips for further verification.
@Tee25 Can I tell a short story? I made waffles for my son and used a finger stick to be surprised by a 470mg/dl. I was done with a 6 unit correction plus what I needed for a waffle and then felt low right after breakfast. 70. I had syrup on my hands when I tested. Now I had enough insulin in me to kill me. Ok so I fixed it with more breakfast it wasn’t that dramatic 
. Meters can give a bad reading. My new meter will give a false low if the blood doesn’t go all the way up the strip. My CGM gives false lows when compressed and on the first day.
In my industry, if I use a meter to get a reading, I check the meter too. Ask insulet if they have calibration fluid (sometimes called “control solution”). If the meter checks against the fluid, then it was a “fluke” (one off) bad reading. If you get something else, the meter is bad just get a new one, or more likely, new strips.
Thanks! I’ll give insulet a call to have some on hand! I googled solution for freestyle and couldn’t find any for the life of me but didn’t even think to try insulet. Also how scary with the waffle! Totally hate when stuff like that happens, but glad it worked out alright.
@Tee25 Freestyle control solution is here
I would see if I could get less for cheaper, it doesn’t matter, the control solution is sugar water and universal, good luck!
Thanks so much! I’m giving it a shot for sure.