I dont even know what to say...glucometer blues

I've been getting surprisingly flat numbers lately so I decided to pull some old meters out of the drawer and compare. These are all from the same spot within 3 minutes of each other.

Freestyle Freedom 269 this is what I like to use because it uses very little blood
Ascensia Breeze 432 strips might be close to expiration
One touch Mini 378

I have been testing for years from a cat who couldn't care less, and who bleeds like a champ, so WTH...

 

This morning's prefood, preshot, all from the SAME DROP of blood:
Freestyle 258
one touch mini 348
ascensia breeze 407

Years ago, after I spent $70 on the Freestyle, I read here that it gave lower readings at higher sugar levels.

I quess so.... 100 points?

Well if that is true I'm a sad bean. We've been cruising along thinking we were below 300. Sometimes I just want to give up.

 

Personal opinion here, some may disagree.

All those glucometers are saying the same thing in my opinion -- you're not correctly dosing the insulin, and/or feeding the wrong food. I don't consider "under 300" to really be much better than "under 400".

The idea in my view is to aim for a healthy, non-damaging level, between 80 and 180, and in your case, all your glucometers agree you're not there yet. And though the Freestyle does tend to read low in those high ranges, I've found it to be pretty accurate down where it matters, where the number indicates you might be giving too much insulin.

If in the recent past, with the current dose and food, you've seen numbers under 100 on any of those meters, then consider cutting back on insulin dose.

If not, I'd start increasing dose by a quarter-unit every couple of days until numbers go below 250 at shot time.

 

P.S. What are his "nadir" (lowest point) numbers like? It's worth trying to get them below 100 every day, but not too far below.

 

Steve,
Wish it were that easy for us. Take a look at our profile and ss. Cody's been on low carb food (7% carb), various insulins, started low and gradually increased (13u BID at one point when he was on vetsulin), and I have never seen a reading under maybe 130? ever, and I would be thrilled to see a number under 200. We are in the process of working our way back up to some super high dose again I'm sure; and I spend a ridiculous amount of time on this board, I am not new to this.

Also, Cody has his share of other issues including megacolon, which is the best its been in years I might add, from the help of folks here who suggested Miralax.

I just read another post on health which has a link to a Consumer Reports study on meters, which is pretty interesting. Just wish I hadn't just bought 150 new strips

 

Consumer Reports on Meters:

http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dd5ck ... on=_latest

I hope Hocks has as good a deal on one touch ultra mini strips as they do on Freestyle strips.

 

Hi Nancy --
If you're checking out Hocks -- Look at this meter - I love it and the test strips cost $15 per 50ct when you buy 6 packs.

http://hocks.com/hocks-healthcare/hocks ... FM-14.html
http://hocks.com/hocks-healthcare/hocks ... MAX50.html

I also buy syringes and lancets from Hocks (and FDMB gets 8% if you use the link above)
http://hocks.com/hocks-healthcare/hocks ... 10030.html
http://hocks.com/hocks-healthcare/hocks ... 40030.html

Since we suspect Cody has Acro or IAA, don't get too hung up on the meter variances - just pick one meter and stick with it.

With Norton, we very rarely saw double digit numbers - felt lucky when we could keep him in the 100's. What worked best was using a sliding scale with PZI insulin, and shooting TID instead of BID.

Hang in there!

 

Thanks, that is an amazing price, I/3 what I've been paying at Sam's for strips. and it's one of the smaller blood requirements at .5microliter?. Have you found it to be consistant?

The folks at One Touch said there machines require 1.0 and couldn't wait to get off the phone when I said it was for a feline... :roll:

My vet wants us to do a fructosamine to see how far off it really is.

 

fwiw, the fructosamine won't tell you how far off your meter is since the fructosamine gives you an idea of the average over the last 2-3 weeks, not an actual current level reading.

 

We have had excellent consistency with the Maxima AST meter, and replace the meter about once a year (at $10 each, I always keep a spare on hand - sometimes give it to newbies and buy another backup.)

 

Hi Nancy,
I know I've so often heard the same thing about the Freestyle. I used it all 3 years of caring for Merlin. I have to agree with STeve. At higher numbers it could be off from the other meters. But once Merlin ran in the 100's he could almost match what his blood glucose was on a blood panel run at the vet.

I'll write more to you later over on hi dose about maybe what we could do to get better control of Cody's BG;s. I'm just taking a quick peak in from work!

 

Decided to give the Maxima a try. I just ordered it. I like to test a lot and it is cheaper than Relion at Walmart. Soon I 'll be the proud owner of 4 meters! Through Hocks, I got the meter, 100 strips, and shipping for about $40
thanks, when I get it I'll let you know how it reads compared to the One touch mini, which I'm guessing is the most accurate. I love the freestyle .3 blood drop, but I feel deceived with the 100 point variation.

 

Hi Nancy,
Two things.. first, with meters, a certain amount of variance is allowed with all of them. There's nothing saying your FS was not giving you "good numbers".. the highest one is one I personally felt was not accurate enough and your medium one is known for reading high over roughly 300. Most meters do tend to read quite accurately at low numbers, and then kinda do a more poor job at higher numbers. The important thing is to pick one meter you like and stick with it to keep your sanity. :mrgreen: Most people initially pick a meter, use it for a while, then start trying others. A good number of us have ended up right back with the meter we started with, oddly enough.

The Maxima is a good meter, and you can not beat the prices of their strips. I did have a problem with it that some others had that you should keep in the back of your mind and that is that it periodically threw me a LO during a seemingly normal test. If you see that, always instantly retest. Other than that you probably will like the Maxima quite a bit.

Secondly, regarding your high and flats.. and with deference to Steve's concerns (hi steve!), we think he's potentially an acro/iaa/other condition high dose cat.. we often find that we have initial response to dose increases for a short time, and then not. The dose needs to be increased as you see that flattening occurring. It's an odd thing but pretty common with the high dosers. Just means the body quickly put up an immunity to the increased dose and you must push past that barrier until the body stops doing that and settles down to a more normal curving cycle. INCREDIBLY simplified explanation there, but that's just the way I can explain it without sounding like a fool LOL.

 

Thanks Carolyn, (one n) ! Appreciate your input

You helped me a lot on my first post, and I recently posted a weekly update over in high dose which you might take a look at if you have time. We're making progress, not what I'd like, but its coming together.

the vet agreed to draw blood for the acro test on Monday. (now I need to add the IAA as well)
Bought a timed feeder
ordered a new meter so I can test to my hearts content, w/o saying "chi-ching" every time I waste a strip
got the miralax dose figured out
increased his food so he's happier

It's a process- wish there was a magic wand....