Question about test strips

So I bought a new glucose monitor - mainly because it tests for ketones but as it also does BG I bought the test strips so I can use it for BG too - it’s the Abbott Freestyle. The other monitor I have been using is the Accucheck Performa and the strips come in a little canister and I can whip a new one out quickly whenever I stuff up the test. The strips for the new monitor are foil wrapped so if I stuff up the test, by the time I have unwrapped another one (or 2 or 3) the cat is long gone or on the serious side of cranky.

Instructions for the strip say to use immediately after unwrapping - but do you think I could unwrap a bunch and keep them in a container? Does anyone do this? Does it cause an error in BG read accuracy? I may just go back to using older monitor with strips in canister....

 

Humidity, and for some strips, oxygen, adversely affects the strips. The foil wrapping protects the strips. For the strips that are in vials, there is a dessicant in the container that protects the strips from humidity. Tus, I would not open the foil package unless you plan to use the strip very soon.

 

I use freestyle and freestyle lite strips in the US and they are not individually wrapped like that! It sounds frustrating and inconvenient. I did not know they could even come that way. Is there not an alternative strip you can use for your meter that does come in the little canister?

 

I have individually wrapped test strips for one of my glucometers, and it is a real pain to use them until you get the hang of it. My advice is stick with the older device that uses strips from a canister, and just think of the new one as a back up. It is good to have the second meter on hand just in case the old one gives out or whatever.

 

No - they just come individually wrapped I think I'll take Peacocks's advice and just use it as a back-up. I think you need a slightly larger blood sample for these strips anway and getting blood out of Myrtle can be like getting blood from a stone sometimes - thus my wasting of strips. It's a pity because they were a bit cheaper than my old strips....

 

I think most of the ones that take a smaller sample size are usually more expensive! I was given a freestyle lite and it really is great that it takes the smallest sample. I use regular freestyle strips with it fine and have a friend get me cheaper strips or ask diabetic humans for old supplies sometimes to save money.

I really don’t want to imagine trying to unwrap individual strips! How tiny and awful!

 

not sure I have this right, but aren't those individually wrapped strips for a dual BG-ketone meter? I know Freestyle sells one, and for some reason thought you had bought it to test ketones since ketostix won't do the trick

 

Yes, I did buy the meter to test ketones. You need one strip to test for ketones and a different strip for BG. Since the BG strips for this meter we’re quite a bit less expensive than the current ones I use, I thought I would start using the new meter for BG too. It’s not a huge deal- I can continue to use the old meter but just thought I’d ask the question about whether I could pre-unwrap the strips.

 

I have an Abbott freestyle and the strips are all wrapped in foil. It never bothered me to unwrap them but if you think you might need more than one, just unwrap two of them and if you don’t use it, slip it back into the foil and use it next time.