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  #91   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 08:11
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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So BOTH the meters (True Result & One Touch Ultra) I've been testing against each other are rated excellent for accuracy by Consumer Reports.

But they did NOT rate the cheaper True Result Meter excellent for consistency (or repeatability). Which seems to jive with my extensive experience with this meter, in that it seems to give "wild readings" on occasion.

They did rate the One Touch Ultra as excellent in this regard however. And Men's Health even went so far as to say the One Touch Ultra Mini was the ONLY meter they tested which was excellent in terms of consistency/repeatability.

So I will be going with the results given to me by the One Touch Ultra Mini for now on, as opposed to the higher and more wildly varying readings I get with the True Result meter.

Will limit my testing to a few days a week to offset the fact that the One Touch Ultra Mini test strips run about a dollar each, instead of the 18-cents a strip I was paying for my True Result test strips.

The good news, according to the highly rated One Touch Ultra Mini at least, is that I may not have ANY blood sugar issues on a low carb diet at all! Time will tell. Will be watching that morning BG like a hawk.
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  #92   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 08:24
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Here's a scientific paper on the testing of various meters. Looks like the One Touch that I'm going to start using did very well. They did not test the True Result meter however.

http://bionimeusa.com/files/journal.../IDT_Report.pdf
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  #93   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 08:27
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Interesting quote from Mendosa..."I know from my own experience that when I don’t get quite enough blood on the test strip that the result the meter reports will be off. Usually, it will say that my level is MUCH higher than when I test again right away with a full drop of blood."
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  #94   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 08:30
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Actually just read this article (rather than my quotes from it) by Mendosa on the many ways you can give yourself false readings, if you're not careful.

http://www.healthcentral.com/diabet...erator-diabetes
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  #95   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 09:40
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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As one who actually tested the waters of diabetes (and didn't like it), I can assure you that if you become diabetic you will know it - provided you know the signs. There really is a tipping point at which very high BG levels start putting systems in your body on tilt. My A1C last March was 6.7 -- just barely into the diabetic range. I had been on LCHF for 5 weeks, so it was most likely higher a month before. When I was diagnosed diabetic, I was clueless to the symptoms. But after I found out, I read up on it and I can tell you I really had an "aha - so that explains it" moment. I had experienced most of the symptoms that I had read about...
  • Frequent urinary tract infections
  • Occasional blurry vision
  • Always exhausted - no energy
  • Unquenchable thirst, frequent urination
  • Skin issues - dry skin, eczema, slow healing
  • Tingling or numbness and occasional nerve pain in my feet

I started seeing some of these at the end of 2012 and had them all in 2013. At 4 months into this WOE (June 2014), my A1C was down to 6.0 (mid prediabetic) and ALL of these symptoms had vanished. I don't actually know when elevated BG levels become damaging to our bodies, but I'm pretty sure that they have the A1C ranges set in the right ballpark. When I crossed the line, the symptoms showed up. I was feeling pretty healthy for a fat guy in early 2012. In 2013, I was a sick dude.

SO I guess my point is... Diabetes clearly is something to worry about. But if you are not experiencing these things, you are not yet diabetic. And since these cheap home BG meters and strips seem to give questionable results at times, I would tend to believe your wife's meter results are much closer to your true BG levels. I think the cheap meters can be a real help in determining how your body responds to the food you eat and it can help tell you if your making progress in lowering your BG levels. But I'm not sure I actually trust the accuracy of the BG levels they report. They may be close enough to help a diabetic stay on track, but may not be much help in trying to predict where you are when you are not diabetic.

Last edited by khrussva : Fri, Feb-13-15 at 10:51.
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  #96   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 10:03
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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BTW: I just broke into the last box of my Advocate strips. They appear to be reading 15 points higher than the last batch. I'm thinking that it might be the 2nd of the two boxes my Mom initially sent me. From that first box, I was getting much higher readings than the boxes I subsequently ordered. It makes me wonder if my IFs have actually made the difference in my daily BG averages or if it is simply a difference caused by varied results from one batch to the next.

I just ordered the True Balance deal that Janet pointed out (thanks for the tip). I do like the idea of having comparable results, even if it is from one cheap meter to another. I have an Accu Chek meter also, but no strips. They are supposed to be very accurate - but the strips cost 3 times what I am paying. I may have to buy one box just for the occasional spot checks.
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  #97   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 10:11
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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I think there's a difference between having symptoms you notice from high BG and just slowly deteriorating from having what is described as pre-diabetes. IMHO the medical establishment is too lax in diagnosing the condition and too accepting of high blood sugars as normal.

At Diabetes 101, she says 140 is the danger point, but Dr. Davis has pegged it much lower.
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  #98   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 10:12
teaser's Avatar
teaser teaser is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 15,075
 
Plan: mostly milkfat
Stats: 190/152.4/154 Male 67inches
BF:
Progress: 104%
Location: Ontario
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I'm thinking I might start setting aside four or five strips from each batch to check against the next batch. Every batch of strips I've bought has been fairly consistent within-batch.
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  #99   ^
Old Fri, Feb-13-15, 10:21
Bonnie OFS Bonnie OFS is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,573
 
Plan: Dr. Bernstein
Stats: 188/150/135 Female 5 ft 4 inches
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: NE WA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by khrussva
When I was diagnosed diabetic, I was clueless to the symptoms. But after I found out, I read up on it and I can tell you I really had an "aha - so that explains it" moment. I had experience most of the symptoms that I had read about...
  • Frequent urinary tract infections
  • Occasional blurry vision
  • Always exhausted - no energy
  • Unquenchable thirst, frequent urination
  • Skin issues - dry skin, eczema, slow healing
  • Tingling or numbness and occasional nerve pain in my feet



Add "falling asleep after meals." I had all these symptoms and didn't understand that they were symptoms of diabetes. So perhaps "fuzzy thinking" should be another addition to the list.
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  #100   ^
Old Sat, Feb-14-15, 07:55
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Got several more readings comparing my cheap True Results meter and strips (18 cents a strip) to my wife's expensive and highly rated (By Consumer Reports) One Touch Ultra Mini meter and strips ($1 a strip).

Yesterday 1-hour after VLC lunch....

- True Result Meter reading = 99
- One Touch Ultra Mini reading = 93

Yesterday 1-hour after dinner (Had strawberries and small bag of Atkins M & M's. Oops!)

- True Result Meter = 107
- One Touch Ultra Mini - 115

This morning fasted

- True Result = 98
- One Touch Ultra Mini = 101

Average difference between meters of 5.66 points.

Well within range of normal statistical variation I would think. Especially considering I poke separate holes in my finger for each reading, rather than using same finger and hole for both.

So as mentioned in one of my recent posts in this thread, I feel VERY certain that the One Touch Ultra Mini is VERY accurate and consistent. Due to multiple tests done by Consumer Reports, Men's Health Magazine, and that study I posted a link to.

Consumer Reports also rated the much cheaper True Result Meter as being excellent in accuracy, but not so in what they refer to as consistency or repeatablity.

And I think I know why...

My preliminary testing has shown me that the One Touch meter is MUCH more likely to give you that annoying "Error" message, if you don't feed it enough blood. It's a bloodthirsty critter. In fact, I went through 3 test strips this morning trying to get a reading. (I don't bleed as well in mornings for some reason)

But my True Result meter hardly ever gives me an error message if I accidentally give it a tiny bit of blood, rather than a larger amount. But that may be a BAD thing.

Why?

Because tiny blood samples apparently give FALSE READINGS.

Thus a meter which readily "accepts" tiny amounts of blood, will then obviously be more prone to giving you skewed data.

Whereas a meter, such as my wife's One Touch, which seems to be purposely programmed to REJECT tiny blood samples, will tend to give you more CONSISTENT readings, since larger blood samples result in more accurate readings.

So my strong hunch at this point is that the True Result meter, and it's very affordable 18-cent strips, is indeed very accurate.

If I provide it a LARGE blood sample it is ALWAYS within a similar range as the One Touch meter.

But if I give it a small sample, it will give me crazy readings. And will in fact, "accept" such error prone small blood samples, whereas the One Touch will NOT allow you to give it too small a sample.

So I think they are BOTH very accurate, and the occasional wildly varying readings between the two meters simply come down to the fact that the One Touch is programmed to REJECT error-prone small blood samples, and the True Result meter accepts them.

I'm finding if I give BOTH meters plenty of blood, they both give very similar readings. Such as the 98 my meter gave me this morning vs the 101 my wife's meter gave me.

This is very good news for those of us on a budget, who'd rather pay 18 cents a strip instead of a dollar.

The key is to give your meter enough blood. And make sure your hands are clean! I have found that even a bit of BBQ sauce on finger can cause a wild reading.

Last edited by coachjeff : Sat, Feb-14-15 at 08:12.
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  #101   ^
Old Sat, Feb-14-15, 08:08
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,269
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
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I have been using a Relion Ultima for years. I have come to the same conclusion you have. I need very clean hands, warmed up, and a large drop of blood that does not have to be squeezed out. If any one of these factors is not in place I cannot trust the reading. The meter almost never gives me an error message. Perhaps you've hit upon the difference between the cheaper and the more expensive meters, their ability to detect errors
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  #102   ^
Old Sat, Feb-14-15, 08:17
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cotonpal
I have been using a Relion Ultima for years. I have come to the same conclusion you have. I need very clean hands, warmed up, and a large drop of blood that does not have to be squeezed out. If any one of these factors is not in place I cannot trust the reading. The meter almost never gives me an error message. Perhaps you've hit upon the difference between the cheaper and the more expensive meters, their ability to detect errors


Indeed. I think the meters rated as Excellent for "consistency" or "repeatably" have literally been purposely programmed to flat-out REJECT too small a blood sample. Since the programmers know that too small a sample gives incorrect data. Whereas the cheaper meters - or at least mine - all-too-readily accepts such error-prone tiny blood samples, thus giving you incorrect readings.

You mentioned not having to "squeeze" it out as well. I also read about this, that if your sample was "squeezed out" too much, that is a different kind of fluid, thus tainting the sample.

So...for good readings from cheaper meters...

1. Large enough blood sample
2. Clean hands and finger tips!
3. No having to "squeeze" out the sample
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  #103   ^
Old Sat, Feb-14-15, 09:45
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,269
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
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One more thing to add is to make sure your hands are dry. Even small amounts of water can effect small droplets of blood and give false low readings.
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  #104   ^
Old Sun, Feb-15-15, 10:10
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cotonpal
One more thing to add is to make sure your hands are dry. Even small amounts of water can effect small droplets of blood and give false low readings.


Good advice!
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  #105   ^
Old Sun, Feb-15-15, 10:22
coachjeff's Avatar
coachjeff coachjeff is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 635
 
Plan: Very Low Carb
Stats: 211/212/210 Male 72
BF:
Progress: -100%
Location: Shreveport, LA
Default

So a bit more testing (Then I won't bore you all to death with this any longer) has clearly shown me that my cheap True Result meter/strips are every bit as accurate and consistent as the more expensive One Touch Ultra Mini meter/strips so highly rated by Consumer Reports and others.

At least so long as I...

1. Have clean, dry hands
2. Give both meters a large enough sample
3. Don't have to "squeeze" out the sample too much

Now that I've got this down to more of an exact science, I'm getting readings from the two meters that are within 1 or 2 points of each other.

Again, this is GREAT NEWS for those on a budget!

The fact that my 18-cent true result strips work as well as the $1 a strip One Touch, means I don't have to go broke doing this.

Now I just need to do a home A1c test.

I strongly suspect that, even though my morning BG's are a tad high on VLC, that my A1c is great. I already know my readings one hour after eating (when BG's are HIGHEST) are good.

So if my post meal BG's are good, and my A1c is good. As well as blood pressure (VLC brought it down into normal range without drugs are sodium restriction), trigs. etc...then I'm not worrying anymore about this.

Though I will still tweak and refine to see if I can get the morning BG's into "normal" range.
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