? ReliOn #'s and accuracy?

Wondering how much I can rely on the meter... I tested Jack's BG at about +5 hours, trying to keep an eye on his nadir with our new lower dose. Anyway, it was higher than I expected (158) based on the +4 number (116). I figured I would test it again just to double check and it was 129. That seemed like a pretty big difference from 158 so I tested again and got 147. That's what I put in the SS but it makes me nervous that there might be a 30 point range at any time and I am not realizing it. I know that there can be up to 20% range for the meters but obviously if he was at like 45 than a 20% inaccuracy becomes an issue.

Should I just let it go & hope that its mostly correct over time? I really don't want to be pricking him multiple times at each test and I wouldn't know what number to go with anyway. Is there a way to test the accuracy of the meter?

 

There's a +/-20% variance permitted on all meters, so the numbers you got initially at 158 and 129, although close to 20% difference are actually fine. As far as I know, the only way to test the accuracy of your meter is to take a reading at the same time that a reading is taken for a lab value - you'd have to do this on several occasions to find out how close your meter usually is to the lab. The 20% difference at 50 would mean that the lowest would be 40, which is low but not critically so - normal can be down to 40 so using 50 as the cut off point leaves you with that safety margin to work with. And if you get a reading below 50, unless you have reason to suspect that the reading is wrong, you would assume it to be accurate and treat accordingly anyway. If he was actually at 45, then the readings you might get could be as low as 36 or as high as 54 so you'd either treat for hypo numbers or be very alert to needing to re-test soon afterwards. Generally, unless you have a suspicion that an individual reading is too far off, you just take the number you get as being accurate - otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what the lowest and highest could be based on the number you actually got.

 

Thanks... I felt like that is the road my mind was going down... the "driving yourself crazy" road! I appreciate the reassurance.

 

Goes with the territory, methinks.

Have a hug!



Mogs

 

No worries - we've all been there. I spent time calculating it all out to begin with too - and it does drive you crazy especially with the really high numbers where the 20% really shows! And then I got to test my meter against the lab and found that it's actually really very close to the lab on every reading I've tested so I'd done all that crazy-making stuff for no real reason anyway!

 

ReliOn meters are also known for reading low when there's not quite enough blood, I had the same thing this morning- 126/142 within 30 seconds. For the 126 result I could tell the strip didn't draw up as much blood.

 

Even if it was from the same drop of blood, I wouldn't even question that result - it's well within the +/-20%. I've found the new ReliOn plus strips are much better at giving accurate results from a smaller drop of blood because they draw all of it up more efficiently where occasionally the older ones would just smear some of it around.

 

I would normally think the same, but the 126 strip I expected an error from. It barely got enough blood. I was surprised it gave a reading, that's the only reason I retested.
Katie's results were also within meter variance.

 

I've noticed my own CVS meter sometimes seems a teeny bit wonky. Not so much to worry about unless those numbers pull up a 40, and you're afraid that your kitty might really be at 20.

When Dottie pulled a 50 the other day, she didn't look distressed at all , to me. In fact, she was grooming herself..having a great time trying to pick the claw sheaths. With no teeth. She has a new nickname now...Hubby and I have christened her "Gummy Bear"

BTW, make sure you read your meters in good lighting conditions. I found what I thought was a 25 BG today, and was ready to slather her with Karo. Luckily I picked up the meter to look at it again, and it was actually reading 257 ! The 7 is close to the edge of the meter, and a reflection hid it from me. So... newbie learning curve here YIKES! DON'T panic until you look at that meter 3 times, ok?

 

Which Relion meter? There are several!
Confirm and Confirm Micro take the smallest blood drop.
Prime takes a slightly bigger blood drop and has some reports here of not being as good at low numbers.