best meter to get?

Lifescan Ultra or UltraSmart. I've used lots of meters (with the exception of the freestyle meters)
and can't recommend ANY other meter over the Ultra's due to their reliability, accuracy,
repeatability, and speed of results. Your friend CAN'T go wrong with either one; there are many on
the market that are unreliable, and give flaky readings, which is the worst offense of all!

dave

Ashley Orange said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Ashley Orange wrote in message <[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too many
people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind she
should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Well, the "best" meter to get is one which her insurance will pay for, or which her insurance will
pay for the strips.

Otherwise, the Wal-Mart Relion is reliable and has about the cheapest OTC strips.

The LifeScan Ultra and Accu-Chek Advantage are excellent brand name meters which can be purchased
moderately cheaply via rebate offers or combo strip+meter deals, and their testing strips aren't too
expensive if you buy them vial mail order from Hocks

www.hocks.com

Hocks often has the "best" currently available rebate or meter+strip offer presented on
their web site.

Click on the " blood glucose meter deals " link

Regards
Old Al

from what testing I've done on the Advantage I'd like to share my opinion that it's flaky.

dave

oldal4865 said:

Ashley Orange wrote in message <[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Well, the "best" meter to get is one which her insurance will pay for, or which her insurance will
pay for the strips.

Otherwise, the Wal-Mart Relion is reliable and has about the cheapest OTC strips.

The LifeScan Ultra and Accu-Chek Advantage are excellent brand name meters which can be purchased
moderately cheaply via rebate offers or combo strip+meter deals, and their testing strips aren't
too expensive if you buy them vial mail order from Hocks

www.hocks.com

Hocks often has the "best" currently available rebate or meter+strip offer presented on their
web site.

Click on the " blood glucose meter deals " link

Regards
Old Al

I've used them all (almost all)I'm impressed with the ULTRA SMART. Especially since I FINALLY got it
working on my Mac OS.

I'm curious about the mail in strip deal. I may try it. Anyone else try this hocks link?

oldal4865 said:

Ashley Orange wrote in message <[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Well, the "best" meter to get is one which her insurance will pay for, or which her insurance will
pay for the strips.

Otherwise, the Wal-Mart Relion is reliable and has about the cheapest OTC strips.

The LifeScan Ultra and Accu-Chek Advantage are excellent brand name meters which can be purchased
moderately cheaply via rebate offers or combo strip+meter deals, and their testing strips aren't
too expensive if you buy them vial mail order from Hocks

www.hocks.com

Hocks often has the "best" currently available rebate or meter+strip offer presented on their
web site.

Click on the " blood glucose meter deals " link

Regards
Old Al

--
homepage.mac.commkatzmanOpen ↗

Bay Area Dave wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

from what testing I've done on the Advantage I'd like to share my opinion that it's flaky.

dave

I've had good experiences with the Advantage, the Ultra and the Relion.

My first Advantage lasted six years before the on-off switch got a bit touchy. The Advantage was
always dead-on when I compared it with my periodic lab FbG. The Comfort-Curve strips are the way to
go however.

My Ultra is nice though the strips are outstandingly difficult to handle. Folks lacking arthritis
might have better luck.

All three of my primary meters, Adantage, Ultra and Relion agree very well with each other at low -
normal -high bG. The Relion seems to chop off 10 mg/dL or so when much over 200 but that just means
the one meter asserts that my bG is "too high" and the other asserts. . . surprise. . ., "too high".

Regards
Old Al

did you ever make multiple back to back tests with the Advantage? how much deviation did you get?

dave

oldal4865 said:

Bay Area Dave wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

from what testing I've done on the Advantage I'd like to share my

Quoted message said:

opinion that it's flaky.

dave

I've had good experiences with the Advantage, the Ultra and the Relion.

My first Advantage lasted six years before the on-off switch got a bit touchy. The Advantage was
always dead-on when I compared it with my periodic lab FbG. The Comfort-Curve strips are the way
to go however.

My Ultra is nice though the strips are outstandingly difficult to handle. Folks lacking arthritis
might have better luck.

All three of my primary meters, Adantage, Ultra and Relion agree very well with each other at low
- normal -high bG. The Relion seems to chop off 10 mg/dL or so when much over 200 but that just
means the one meter asserts that my bG is "too high" and the other asserts. . . surprise. . .,
"too high".

Regards
Old Al

Bay Area Dave wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

did you ever make multiple back to back tests with the Advantage? how much deviation did you get?

dave

Superior reproducibility. A given Advantage would reproduce within 5 mg/dL on multiple tests
in the range 100 - 150 mg/dL. Two different Advantages would agree with each other within 10
mg/dL and the variation seemed to be mostly a function of strips-exposed-to-atmospheric-
moisture or not.

You see posts which discuss the Manufacturers' "guarantees" that the meters are only good for 10% or
15% or whatever. That's not been my experience with either the Advantage or the Ultra. Both of them
are closer to 5% or less.

I haven't done any back to back stuff with the Relion.

Regards
Old Al

that sounds better than results I've seen. sounds pretty good as a matter of fact! But I'll stick
with the UltraSmart. I'd sure like someon with the Flash to weigh in on that one for accuracy.

dave

oldal4865 said:

Bay Area Dave wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

did you ever make multiple back to back tests with the Advantage? how much deviation did you get?

dave

Superior reproducibility. A given Advantage would reproduce within 5 mg/dL on multiple tests
in the range 100 - 150 mg/dL. Two different Advantages would agree with each other within 10
mg/dL and the variation seemed to be mostly a function of strips-exposed-to-atmospheric-
moisture or not.

You see posts which discuss the Manufacturers' "guarantees" that the meters are only good for 10%
or 15% or whatever. That's not been my experience with either the Advantage or the Ultra. Both of
them are closer to 5% or less.

I haven't done any back to back stuff with the Relion.

Regards
Old Al

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 21:53:39 -0500, "oldal4865" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Bay Area Dave wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

did you ever make multiple back to back tests with the Advantage? how much deviation did you get?

dave

Superior reproducibility. A given Advantage would reproduce within 5 mg/dL on multiple tests
in the range 100 - 150 mg/dL. Two different Advantages would agree with each other within 10
mg/dL and the variation seemed to be mostly a function of strips-exposed-to-atmospheric-
moisture or not.

You see posts which discuss the Manufacturers' "guarantees" that the meters are only good for 10%
or 15% or whatever. That's not been my experience with either the Advantage or the Ultra. Both of
them are closer to 5% or less.

I haven't done any back to back stuff with the Relion.

Regards
Old Al

Al, I have found several meter that exceed the published data. However I had a series of incidents
where a tame acting meter suddenly would give me very high reading for a few hours. Then go back to
good readings. I talked to the vendor and they expressed interest but no answer. For me, injecting
insulin by the meter, it almost lead to excess insulin input. I still keep a second meter of a
different make. and do a second test if things look odd.

My preferred meter is the Ultra because of the design of the blood pickup area. But last week
I had a bad reading probably caused be touching the pickup area, They do a poor job on
packaging. Cheapppp.

a second test on the Region was the correct reading as per later experience. All I can say is to use
the meter you feel comfortable with. I suspect the bad reading had something to do with my body
chemistry. Manufactures seem reluctant to go into that area. Guy.

Guy said:

oldal4865 said:

Bay Area Dave wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

did you ever make multiple back to back tests with the Advantage? how much deviation did you get?

dave

Superior reproducibility. A given Advantage would reproduce within 5 mg/dL on multiple tests
in the range 100 - 150 mg/dL. Two different Advantages would agree with each other within 10
mg/dL and the variation seemed to be mostly a function of strips-exposed-to-atmospheric-
moisture or not.

You see posts which discuss the Manufacturers' "guarantees" that the meters are only good for 10%
or 15% or whatever. That's not been my experience with either the Advantage or the Ultra. Both of
them are closer to 5% or less.

I haven't done any back to back stuff with the Relion.

Regards
Old Al

Al, I have found several meter that exceed the published data. However I had a series of incidents
where a tame acting meter suddenly would give me very high reading for a few hours. Then go back to
good readings. I talked to the vendor and they expressed interest but no answer. For me, injecting
insulin by the meter, it almost lead to excess insulin input. I still keep a second meter of a
different make. and do a second test if things look odd.

My preferred meter is the Ultra because of the design of the blood pickup area. But last week I had
a bad reading probably caused be touching the pickup area, They do a poor job on packaging.
Cheapppp.

a second test on the Region was the correct reading as per later experience. All I can say is to
use the meter you feel comfortable with. I suspect the bad reading had something to do with my body
chemistry. Manufactures seem reluctant to go into that area. Guy.

I was asleep at the wheel and let the spell checker change Relion to Region.,

Guy wrote in message <[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

oldal4865 said:

Al, . . . .(snip). . .. I still keep a second meter of a different make. and do a second test if
things look odd.

My preferred meter is the Ultra because of the design of the blood pickup area. But last week I had
a bad reading probably caused be touching the pickup area, They do a poor job on packaging.
Cheapppp.

. . .(snip). . .

Quoted message said:

Guy.

My experience exactly. My inventory of six meters contains 5 different models from three
manufacturers. Once I satisfied myself that they all gave comparable readings, I was able to use
them as back-ups for each other rather than fiddling with calibration solutions.

I only have strips for 3 of them right now.

I agree with the Ultra strip comment. Those Ultra strips are murder to handle. I have "lost" more
Ultra strips in the last 6 months than Accu-Chek strips in the last four years.

Some time ago, I took a meter management survey as a favor to the Accu-Chek folks. They kept harping
on the difficulties of handling strips which confused the daylights out of me. Then I picked up an
Ultra and understood what Accu-Chek was talking about and why they thought the the no-strip-
handling, Compact drum-type design was such an advance..

I really got "whomped" this week by a horrendous low following a mystery high. I shot sliding scale
corrective insulin without double-checking** (Hey, the Ultra is the best isn't it, just read the
box). . .and spent more time than I'd like coming back from a low. If I were Hypo-unaware, it would
have been EMS business. I now think the mystery high was a bad reading.

(***This is a very complicated and stressful month in our family and I find other instances where I
am not paying attention to "what is in front of me". Hmm. . .did I see somebody post "Be Aware" )

Regards
Old Al

[email hidden] (Ashley Orange) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

As I read through the thread I noticed that no one mentioned Freestyle or the new Flash meters,
which are in my opinion superior in accuracy, enable alternative site testing and are the most
gentle "vampires",
i.e. require a really small amount of blood...

Igor

how much less blood does it require than an Ultra??

dave

Igor said:

[email hidden] (Ashley Orange) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

As I read through the thread I noticed that no one mentioned Freestyle or the new Flash meters,
which are in my opinion superior in accuracy, enable alternative site testing and are the most
gentle "vampires",
i.e. require a really small amount of blood...

Igor

The One Touch Ultra uses 1 micro liter while both the Freestyle and Flash only need 0.3 micro
liters. Here's a link to a comparison chart.

tom

lifescan.comultra compOpen ↗

"Bay Area Dave" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

how much less blood does it require than an Ultra??

dave

Igor said:

[email hidden] (Ashley Orange) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

As I read through the thread I noticed that no one mentioned Freestyle or the new Flash meters,
which are in my opinion superior in accuracy, enable alternative site testing and are the most
gentle "vampires",
i.e. require a really small amount of blood...

Igor

thanks for the info Tom. I wasn't aware there was a strip that could get by with less then my
venerable Ultra.

dave

Tom said:

The One Touch Ultra uses 1 micro liter while both the Freestyle and Flash only need 0.3 micro
liters. Here's a link to a comparison chart.

tom

lifescan.comultra compOpen ↗

"Bay Area Dave" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

how much less blood does it require than an Ultra??

dave

Igor said:

[email hidden] (Ashley Orange) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>One of my friends was just diagnosed with diabetes and is very depressed. She doesn't know too
>many people in the city and is looking for a glucometer. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind
>she should buy? She's 23 years old if that makes a difference. Any help would be appreciated.

As I read through the thread I noticed that no one mentioned Freestyle or the new Flash meters,
which are in my opinion superior in accuracy, enable alternative site testing and are the most
gentle "vampires",
i.e. require a really small amount of blood...

Igor

On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 20:49:16 -0700, "Tom" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The One Touch Ultra uses 1 micro liter while both the Freestyle and Flash only need 0.3 micro
liters. Here's a link to a comparison chart.

tom

1 uL or 0.3 uL sample size, 5 seconds or 7 seconds display time. Does it really matter? It is pure
marketing so the manufacturer can demand a higher price for the product.

All BG meters do the same thing - They measure blood glucose within the FDA guidelines.

ALL BG meters have one other item which is common to all - They are all WAY overpriced.

_____________________________________________
tcainternet.comindex.htmlOpen ↗

all meters are NOT created equal. many of them give wildly differing results from one test to the
next. been there; done that. (and returned the offenders to the point of purchase for refunds)

dave

Hi_Therre said:

Tom said:

The One Touch Ultra uses 1 micro liter while both the Freestyle and Flash only need 0.3 micro
liters. Here's a link to a comparison chart.

tom

1 uL or 0.3 uL sample size, 5 seconds or 7 seconds display time. Does it really matter? It is pure
marketing so the manufacturer can demand a higher price for the product.

All BG meters do the same thing - They measure blood glucose within the FDA guidelines.

ALL BG meters have one other item which is common to all - They are all WAY overpriced.

_____________________________________________
tcainternet.comindex.htmlOpen ↗

I have done lab work and know how easy it is to contaminate samples. So I have always been concerned
about the small sample size. I usually develop a larger sample drop than the minimum. Don't know if
it is needed but it make me feel better. Guy

Bay Area Dave said:

all meters are NOT created equal. many of them give wildly differing results from one test to the
next. been there; done that. (and returned the offenders to the point of purchase for refunds)

dave

Hi_Therre said:

Tom said:

The One Touch Ultra uses 1 micro liter while both the Freestyle and Flash only need 0.3 micro
liters. Here's a link to a comparison chart.

tom

1 uL or 0.3 uL sample size, 5 seconds or 7 seconds display time. Does it really matter? It is
pure marketing so the manufacturer can demand a higher price for the product.

All BG meters do the same thing - They measure blood glucose within the FDA guidelines.

ALL BG meters have one other item which is common to all - They are all WAY overpriced.

_____________________________________________
tcainternet.comindex.htmlOpen ↗

i agree. i try not to squeeze just "enough" for the strip's minimum requirement for that very
reason. good call, Guy.

dave

Guy said:

I have done lab work and know how easy it is to contaminate samples. So I have always been
concerned about the small sample size. I usually develop a larger sample drop than the minimum.
Don't know if it is needed but it make me feel better. Guy

Bay Area Dave said:

all meters are NOT created equal. many of them give wildly differing results from one test to the
next. been there; done that. (and returned the offenders to the point of purchase for refunds)

dave

Hi_Therre said:

On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 20:49:16 -0700, "Tom" <[email hidden]> wrote:

>The One Touch Ultra uses 1 micro liter while both the Freestyle and Flash only need 0.3 micro
>liters. Here's a link to a comparison chart.
>
>tom
>

1 uL or 0.3 uL sample size, 5 seconds or 7 seconds display time. Does it really matter? It is
pure marketing so the manufacturer can demand a higher price for the product.

All BG meters do the same thing - They measure blood glucose within the FDA guidelines.

ALL BG meters have one other item which is common to all - They are all WAY overpriced.

_____________________________________________
tcainternet.comindex.htmlOpen ↗