Fri, Apr-15-16, 09:37
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Boldly going...
Posts: 837
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Plan: keto
Stats: 410/298.6/225
BF:40/35%/17%
Progress: 60%
Location: Lincoln, NE
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I've tried a number of meters and read many people's blogs and posts about the meters and accuracy. Here's my conclusion: There's accuracy, and then there is "accuracy."
Accuracy on one level means that the meter is as close to possible as what a lab might test you at. Therefore, if the lab tests you at 95, and your meter tests you at 95, that would have a good level of accuracy. Very few meters will ever meet these requirements. I think the Freestyle Lite is one that consistently gets rated well with this kind of accuracy.
On the other hand there is "accuracy" which just means that it is consistent. In other words, it may not register "95" in the above example, but it may rate 90 or 100, or even 85 or 105. But....it rates consistently the same plus or minus variation to your true reading that a lab would give you. I think most meters fall into this category. These meters will either measure consistently low, or consistently high. And I think for most Type 2 diabetics, this is "good enough." I'm guessing your Kroger meter falls into this category. If you're not injecting insulin, this is good enough because you can tell by the spikes when you are not eating properly. As a T2D not taking insulin, most of us don't need to worry about dropping too low. So again, these should be fine.
Then there is a third type of meter. It has lots of variation up and down. It never is never consistent, and varies a lot. An example of this in my experience is the Relion Prime which Walmart sells cheaply, and the strips are probably the cheapest ones out there. I don't think this is a good meter for anyone because you don't really know where you stand.
If any of us have to buy our own strips, I think we would be better off testing less frequently than using the Relion Prime, in my experience. I buy my own strips because my medical insurance has too high copays to make it worth it. I use the Accuchek Aviva (mostly) and buy all of my strips on Ebay. I usually buy just enough to get by, and buy them close dated to the expiration and I get them reasonably priced. I have been pretty fortunate with that.
I've tested it against the Freestyle Lite and it comes in pretty close. I may start buying the Freestyle Lite strips on Ebay as I think they are a bit cheaper than the Aviva.
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