Over 100 pt difference between AlphaTrak2 and ReliOn?

We just went out to get a ReliOn Prime so that we have it to do a curve with tomorrow because the alphatrak strips are bleeding our pockets dry. I wanted to spot check a few times with both before we completely switch over to see how much of a difference there is.... and it is a lot! Jai PPMS on the AlphaTrak2 was 414, but on the ReliOn was 311! Thats a HUGE difference. I suspect they are closer when number are a bit lower, but man, maybe she hasn't been so bad with this big high red numbers lately. Have anyone else seen such a huge difference?

 

That's actually a pretty normal spread. Yes, they do get closer as the numbers go down, but there really is no way to compare the two - they are apples and oranges! The important thing to know about each of them is the "Take Action Now" number; on a pet meter it is 68, on a human meter it is 50.

 

Yes, definitely apple and oranges! I just tested Jai at +4 and it was 269 with the Alphatrak2 and 146 with the ReliOn (120 difference!). This is actually a really decent BG reading going by the ReliOn (typical +4 reading on the Alphatrak2 despite a 1U drop in dose) and she'll likely be in the green by nadir.

The issue I was having is I kept looking at the spreadsheet going "red is bad, she's too high!" because the spreadsheet is colored coded the same beyond 100 between pet and human meters. I think I would have realized right away that Jai was bouncing so much if she was reading 100+ lower at pre shot and well into greens by nadir. I worry I see this throughout some other posts, where they might be using the Alphatrek2 and getting red numbers pre dose thinking that they need to keep upping it to bring those numbers down, where in reality is their cat is bouncing a lot and going into the greens and they don't even know it.

If anyone else out there reads this looking for possibly clues, please keep in mind the Alphatrak2 reads higher, yet the spreadsheet is still "color" coded the same between the two (despite the "take action" lowest number). Instead of focusing on red/pink/blue look for >50% decrease in BG at nadir from preshot BG - less and you might need a slight dose increase - but too much more and your kitty might be bouncing (sweet spot probably depends on cat). I plan on doing a curve tomorrow for Jai with the ReliOn and with fingers crossed that it'll look good. Caveat that there is no magic rule that will define all cats and I totally agree with the common statement on here that more data is better! So if in doubt do a curve and possibly just hold for another cycle - or decrease (increase in doses should only be done after a lot of planning).

 

Yes to all of this!! We keep reminding people of the difference between human and pet meter and also the need to see nadir numbers. Thank you for posting from your own experience.

 

My last data point before switching to ReliOn Prime: 340 (Alphatrak2) and 278 (Prime)