Alpha Trak 2 reading error rate of over 90

Hi

I have been testing the Alpha trak 2 by using two strips at a time and I am getting values that range anywhere for +-60 to +-100 . This does not seem reliable. Am i missing something or should i switch to a different device for accuracy and savings.

thanks so much

arman

 

all meters have a 20ish% variance.... I used alpha track for over a year and now use relion micro.
The test strips are so expensive for AT--
with AT 68 is the boost him up with a higher carb food-
between 68-120 is considered normal on AT

 

Hi Arman. Jayla is right, all meters have an allowable 20% variance. The Alphatrak is considered to be pretty accurate. Also like Jayla, I used to use the Alphatrak meter and now use Relion Confirm (human meter), which is also very accurate.

Your cat is absolutely gorgeous!!! Is he a Savannah?

 

thank you. He IS such a beautiful Savannah boy. I have more pics of him here
https://www.facebook.com/Raja-367124150044203/?fref=ts

is there a conversion with human glucose machine reading that i need to be aware of ?

 

No conversions needed - just use one meter system or the other and learn the ranges for too high, too low and OK. It's similar to thinking in Celsius or Fahrenheit minus any conversion factor.

Your kitty is so beautiful!!

 

I saw Raja's pics on FB; he really is a gorgeous boy!

A human meter will have the same variance that a pet meter has. However, they can be much less expensive to use, and everything here is already formatted for use with human meters. There is no comparison between a pet meter and a human meter; the numbers will never make sense if you try to compare them. They use totally different methodologies that cannot be compared.

 

OK, so how do I know what's too high / too low / ok if I can't rely on a number (like "keep it below 300 but above 100")?

 

Absolutely stunning

 

Depends on the meter you're using and the insulin's mode of action:

If you're using a pet meter and an insulin that brings BG down more strongly then wears off by the end of 12 hours, you'll get more daily variation on BG. As a general guide,you'd want the pre shot BGs to be in the low to mid 200s and the nadir (around +6) to be in the low 100s or high double digits.

The depot insulins like Lantus and Levemir generally drop BG more slowly and keep the level stable at a good number for most of a 12 hour cycle. The daily variation in BG is less because of the way these depot insulins work.

Human meters read lower than pet meters and the difference tends to be more at high BG numbers and less at low BG numbers. The lows are what you watch for: too low on a human meter is 50 and below whereas on a pet meter it's 68 and below. At these numbers you have to intervene with high carb food, etc. to ward of a full blown hypo event.

 

Normal on a human meter is roughly 50-120, on a pet meter it is roughly 68-140. Above that, they diverge a lot, so you just stick to one meter and watch patterns and relative changes.

The really important cutoff numbers are at the low end-- if a cat's BG goes below 50 on a human meter or 68 on a pet meter, there is a danger of hypoglycemia.

 

Depending on what type of meter you are using , your "too low, take action now" number would be 68 (Alphatrak or other pet-specific meter) or 50 (human meter). Here is a breakdown of blood glucose ranges in cats.

 

thank you so much. It makes sense. I will be moving to human meter after this 50 strips of alpha track is near ending and start a new chart