? Issues Getting Enough Blood for Relion Meter

[bobby2478]

I've got a 15 year old who was diagnosed with diabetes in late July. He's doing pretty well and I've been using the Libre sensor so I have a sense of what his sugar is and how his body is responding. I want to get better at manually taking glucose readings so I bought a Relion Platinum meter from Walmart.

I got it to work one time, but since every time I try I get E4 error, meaning not enough blood for the sample. I've been pricking inside of middle of ear. It looks like a decent size bead, but apparently not enough for the meter. I get a washcloth warm with warm water, apply it around ear (pinch ear between both sides of towel to warm up both sides), apply Vaseline and use the included lancet pen. I've tried setting lancet pen to 3 or 4.

Can anyone share a photo of roughly how big of a bead you need for the Relion meter to work, as well as tips for how to get enough? This has been my main source of frustration as besides the one time I got it to work, I've tried at least 6 or more times and always get E4 error. Due to frustration of it never working i've been relying solely on the Libre, which is fine for the most part but not helpful when you get wild swings due to compression lows, and you don't feel like waiting for 30 minutes for it to give you a good reading.

The other challenge is with warm washcloth, it cools off fast, so hard to get the ear warm, apply vaseline, prick and get enough blood before it cools off again. So any tips you can share to make this easier would be greatly appreciated. Would love to be able to get a manual reading each time. I assume once i get the hang of it then it will be pretty smooth, just like when first giving insulin it was difficult but now that i've got the hang of it there's no issues.

Thanks!

 

[Lauren & Esse]

Check this out: Hometesting Links and Tips - Lots of good info there if you're willing to click around.

The thing that made the biggest difference for us with getting enough blood was trying a bigger lancet (smaller gauge). 28s are okay but 26 gauge lancets work the best for us. We used the rice sock method for warming the ear and that helped as well. It holds heat longer than a wet washcloth. I don't use the lancing device because I like the fine control of doing it by hand, but it can work both ways.

When you say "pricking inside of middle of ear" -- where specifically do you mean? You'll get the best results using the edge of the ear, past the marginal vein, either on the inside or the outside.

 

[squeem3]

Hometesting Links and Tips

The washcloth method doesn't work well. Make yourself a rice sock to warm the ear up: take a small cotton sock and fill with a few tablespoons of uncooked rice or dried beans. Knot closed. Heat in microwave until it's comfortable enough for you to hold in your hand for a minute without burning yourself. Try 10 seconds to start and add adjust as needed. Wrap the warm sock around the edge of the ear and hold for a good minute of possible l. If the cat flinches, the sock is too warm so let it cool for a minute or two and try again. Make a note to use less microwave time next time. Hold the sock under the ear to provide a firm surface to poke the lancet against and protect you fingers. Press the lancet device firmly against the ear and poke. You want a good sized drop, like the top of a push pin or small screw size. Too much blood is better than not enough blood. Get the blood onto the test strip and hold a tissue to the ear to stop any bleeding.

Try both ears. Some cats only have one good ear that bleeds.

 

[bobby2478]

Check this out: Hometesting Links and Tips - Lots of good info there if you're willing to click around.

The thing that made the biggest difference for us with getting enough blood was trying a bigger lancet (smaller gauge). 28s are okay but 26 gauge lancets work the best for us. We used the rice sock method for warming the ear and that helped as well. It holds heat longer than a wet washcloth. I don't use the lancing device because I like the fine control of doing it by hand, but it can work both ways.

When you say "pricking inside of middle of ear" -- where specifically do you mean? You'll get the best results using the edge of the ear, past the marginal vein, either on the inside or the outside.

View attachment 74325 View attachment 74326

Thanks that's helpful. I was referring to the middle of the ear, near where the "V" in "Vein" in your photo is. As I was using the lancet pen, and you can't see where the needle is, i knew where the needle was going. Looking online, looking at the lancet bag it looks like it's only 28g, so it's good to know that getting larger 26g lancets will provide better results. Are there specific ones? Is the general consensus it's better to use the lancet by hand instead of using the pen device?

If you use rice in a sock, how long do you microwave so it gets warm but not too hot?

Thanks again!

 

[squeem3]

Microwave times vary and depends on how much rice there is and how thick the sock in. Try 10 seconds and adjust as needed. I use a small 2 inch square DIY cotton rice bag that takes 6 seconds to heat up.

I use a lancet device. I can't see where the lancet is hitting but I'm experienced with testing so I know where to place the device. There are some devices with a clear cap so you can position the device better. Some people just freehand the lancet.

 

[Lauren & Esse]

I was referring to the middle of the ear, near where the "V" in "Vein" in your photo is.

In that case, I'm very hopeful that just adjusting where you poke will make a big difference! You can kind see the difference in the sunny window photo for how many veins there are between your spot vs. the sweet spot.

Are there specific ones?

The ones I linked from Amazon are intended for pets, but you might find 26g lancets at a regular drug store/Walmart for human diabetics under the name "alternate site testing lancets"--or so they say, I tried a few stores and never found any so that's why I buy the pet ones.

Is the general consensus it's better to use the lancet by hand instead of using the pen device?

You'll just have to play around and see what works for you. It's really fine either way. Like @squeem3 said, they also have clear tip lancing devices and I think even ones with a clear tip and a little light to help you see where you're going.

If you use rice in a sock, how long do you microwave so it gets warm but not too hot?

Our ancient microwave and golfball-sized rice sock take about 13 seconds. But again, play around and see what works for you. Test it on your wrist or inner arm to make sure it's not too hot.

 

[bobby2478]

Did you have a link to a specific lancet you suggest? To your point it seems most are 28-33g and not 26g.

 

[Lauren & Esse]

Oh jeez, just realized I linked to an FDMB page when I was trying to link to Amazon. Sorry about that, here is what I meant to add above: https://a.co/d/64JOhvz

 

[squeem3]

You just want to poke between the edge of the ear and the vein that runs alongside it. Dark ears might be hard to see. Hold a flashlight under the ear or catch your cat napping in the sun.