Newly diagnosed with meter questions.

Hello all! Let me preface my question with adoration. As a newly diagnosed, and completely terrified member, I cannot begin to express just how much I appreciate this forum. I happened to accidentally stumble upon it googling around about an hour after our diagnosis. This has been a treasure trove of invaluable information, and glowing support. I feel more confident, and more hopeful, after just reading and researching on this forum, than I did after all three of my recent trips to the Vet with my fur baby. From the bottom of my heart, to all those that contribute (questions and answers, articles and sticky’s), THANK YOU! I am still ridiculously overwhelmed, but I feel hopeful now.

My question: I would like to start home testing, but am thoroughly confused on which meter to purchase and use. I found a thread here that suggested the Relion micro or confirm, however I also found an article here that states they are no longer marking them. They are both still available on the Walmart website though. I also stumbled on a thread where one user mentioned that a lot of people here use the Relion Prime. So naturally, I am confused as to which to use. The Prime has many bad reviews, so that makes me worry. Any advise is greatly appreciated.
One more initial question, or more of a though I have is that I’m strongly considering getting both a human meter, and the AlphaTrek2 that my Vet uses and recommends. I consider this for 2 reasons: 1- I will be able to more easily convey Sirius’ (my kitteh) readings to my Vet when needed. 2- When I’m home testing daily, I can use the human meter for a more cost efficient option. Especially when doing curves...and thinking of my own learning curve. I’m still not convinced that I’ll be able to manage to prick and test myself. I am single, and often have someone to help me. Sirius is already getting suspicious of me just from giving him his insulin twice a day, for the last 3.5 days. (I must be bad at it, as he flinches, cries, and tries to get away from me when I stick him.) But I am determined.
Thank you!!!!

 

WELCOME TO FDMB! While I cant give info on meters I can let you know that it will get easier. You may want to try giving a very special treat after each "stick" Your kitty will learn if he lets you he gets something yummy. This worked for most people, I hope it works for you.
Hold on there are plenty of people who know meters here. I havent had a diabetic in years and look! I'm still here. You are a member of a beautiful community of caregivers and their charges! WELCOME.

 

The ReliOn micro and confirm are both discontinued. When I was first looking into purchasing a meter, i saw them in stock on Walmart online so I ordered one and some matching strips, but once you order it, it just tells you it’s “back ordered” basically indefinitely until you request a refund. I got the Prime instead and it’s perfectly fine and super affordable. I was skeptical about the bad reviews online as well, but in the end I chalked it up to the fact that someone is always going to be unhappy with a product

 

Welcome I used to use the Alpha Trak but it got too expensive, the strips are outrageously priced. I then bought the Relion Prime and I love it.
Never had a problem with it. It's 9 dollars and form about 17.88 you get 100 strips

 

That is super helpful, thank you so much! I’m glad I didn’t pull the trigger and sat around waiting for it to show up! Man I’d be pretty uose

Thank you so much, Sarah! I’m super glad I didn’t just order it and sit around waiting for it to show up! Shame on Walmart for not taking it off their site, how disappointing. I just ordered the Prime, and the rest of the supplies I’ll need. I’m going to go to my local store to see if they also have one in stock. Can’t hurt to have a back up if it is.

 

Thank you, I feel so surrounded by people that understand the love I have for my kitty. That’s hard to find sometimes. People often think I’m weird, or just too involved. It’s nice to have support while feeling truly understood. I’ve been giving him his stick while he’s distracted by his food. I’m afraid he’ll start to associate his food with pain. Ugh, the guilt!!!

 

Yeah, the strips came in within a few days but after waiting 2 weeks for the meter and getting several “back ordered” emails, i finally just requested the refund. You can still get the strips, but I’m not sure how much longer they will continue to make them, if you do manage to get your hands on a confirm or micro

As for also getting the AlphaTrak, that’s totally up to you! I started with one and it was fantastic, but the strips are SO expensive, $1 each compared to 17 cents for the prime. It can also be crazy frustrating going back and forth between the readings on a human meter and a pet meter because they do vary slightly, but if you think your vet will give you trouble if you do not use a pet meter then it may be worth the purchase, just for curves that you plan to share with them

 

Hello Krystie!
Believe me, I understand all too well how overwhelming it is right after diagnosis. That's where I was on Dec. 28th, and thanks to the information and awesome people here, my Billy is doing great and I am home testing with ease. You are awesome for taking such good care of Sirius (Love the name, I'm a big HP fan) and awesome for getting informed. Knowledge is power!

I use a ReliOn Premier, and it works great. I think the only difference is you need a slightly bigger drop of blood, but it's totally doable. Be patient and don't fret if some days you have to stab multiple times to get that drop. I promise it will get easier as it goes along, and your Sirius will be less concerned about those extra jabs than you are.

When you can, and there's no rush, check out this link. New? How You Can Help Us Help You! Among other things, you'll see instructions about a spreadsheet there. Look at my signature and click on Billy's Spreadsheet to see an example, and see how awesome my Billy is doing, thanks to this site. The thing is, having a spreadsheet set up will really help members here if you have a dosing question, or a scary hypo event. On Billy's spreadsheet, you can see where Billy's blood sugar did a big drop on day 5, and scared me and his daddy to pieces. Thanks to the spreadsheet, a member here was easily able to advise us, and it made all the difference in the world.

Read read read! Read all the sticky posts. Knowing more will ease your worry, I promise. Once again, you rock, and Sirius will do better because his mama is awesome.

 

I thought that would happen too. I was SURE Trouble would never eat another goodie again. But such as our little babies are, that didnt happen. I removed Troubles dry food and he sat in front of where the food use to be literally for days, and BOY OH BOY the guilt!!! Thought he'd never get over that but he did AND felt much better for it. Remember its a marathon not a sprint!

 

Oh my goodness, you were just diagnosed the 28th of December of 2019?!? I hope I’m as confident and on the same level as you are just 4 weeks in! I’ve been looking over the spreadsheets; they’re so overwhelming. But, like everything, it’ll come with practice. Thank you for the encouraging and thoughtful words.
P.S. His sisters name was Grimm. As in the “Grimm” that HP saw when he first saw Sirius Black in his Animagus form. I thought it amusing that my kittens, whom are brother and sister, are named for the same person. Also, the Grimm was in the form of a large menacing dog! So, my little innocent kitten was a dog of death! Hahahhaa, I really amuse myself!
P.P.S: They’re both solid black kitteh’s!

 

Like anything, it just takes a little knowledge and practice. You'll do fine! And I just love Sirius and Grimm!