BG Meters?

I'm currently using the AlphaTrak but it only gives you 1 minute once you put the strip in to get blood. Yesterday I wasted 4 strips :-(

Do any of the other meters give you more time?

 

Most people just slightly put the test strip in (position it) but do not completely engage it until you’ve poked. Prepare it, use lacet to make sure you have a good bead of blood, push the strip in to engage it & place it on the blood. I use a cheapy relion meter & there is no time out on mine. I can push it all the way in & take my time. Most meters will time out I believe. I do the massaging & warming the ear up before I do anything. It only takes a couple seconds to poke. Are you massaging the ear upward enough or is the ear cold? Maybe do that more so the poke doesn’t take as long. Also give yourself time, with practice it becomes easier.
It’s expensive with that meter, I know! I hope this helps some. Be patient with yourself...

 

My Adovocate Pettest gives me 2 minutes. I tried not pushing strip all the way in but that just didn’t work for me...almost as much fumbling as before. I push it all the way now as meter gives me plenty of time.

 

Sometimes if you push the strip in too much, it just activates. Part of my problem is I bought 30g lancets thinking it would be easier for kitty, but turns out to be much harder for me. New lancets are coming today, kitty not happy with me. I poked him 4 times this morning, with no blood before I gave up.

The relion meter measures lower than the AT, right? If it doesn't time out, I'm inclined to switch next time I need strips.

 

The AlphaTrak2 actually gives you 2 minutes. That is what I was thinking, and I confirmed in the manual just now.

 

If you see that it has turned on when you did not mean for it to, you can pull the strip out a little, and it will turn back off. Then, you can push the strip in the rest of the way when you are ready.

 

Does that mean when it gives you an error you can put it back in? Or does it need to be caught before hand?

 

It would have to be before. So, before you touch the strip to blood, if you see that the monitor is blank, pull the strip out and push back in before you touch it to the blood.

 

Thank you very much. Fastest 2 minutes of my life!