I have been using the Lifescan Sure Step meter for about four years now but my insurance company has allowed me to acquire an Accu-Chek Advantage meter to replace it if I choose. For the last two weeks I have taking parallel readings using the same blood drop and I find the Accu-Chek meter consistently reads higher. I have checked both meters with the applicable control solution.
Below 120 mg/dl the difference ranges from 8 - 10 points higher which is not really ignificant but when my blood sugar level went up above 200, the difference was 35 to 45 points higher with the Accu-Chek. Is there some basic difference in the measurement approach utilized by the theses devices? If anyone has some experience with these two products, I would appreciate hearing from you.
I have 2 of them and using the same blood drop, the reading is always a 12 - 20 pt difference.. and it goes high on one unit one time and the other next time.
I have been using the Lifescan Sure Step meter for about four years now but my insurance company has allowed me to acquire an Accu-Chek Advantage meter to replace it if I choose. For the last two weeks I have taking parallel readings using the same blood drop and I find the Accu- Chek meter consistently reads higher. I have checked both meters with the applicable control solution.
Below 120 mg/dl the difference ranges from 8 - 10 points higher which is not really ignificant but when my blood sugar level went up above 200, the difference was 35 to 45 points higher with the Accu-Chek. Is there some basic difference in the measurement approach utilized by the theses devices? If anyone has some experience with these two products, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Check whether they report the results as blood glucose or plasma glucose. There's something like a 12% difference between the two. Recent meters all report the result as plasma glucose, so they'll match to lab results, but the older ones may still be figuring in blood glucose terms.
I have been using the Lifescan Sure Step meter for about four years now but my insurance company has allowed me to acquire an Accu-Chek Advantage meter to replace it if I choose. For the last two weeks I have taking parallel readings using the same blood drop and I find the Accu-Chek meter consistently reads higher. I have checked both meters with the applicable control solution.
Below 120 mg/dl the difference ranges from 8 - 10 points higher which is not really ignificant but when my blood sugar level went up above 200, the difference was 35 to 45 points higher with the Accu-Chek. Is there some basic difference in the measurement approach utilized by the theses devices? If anyone has some experience with these two products, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Many thanks.
There must be more to the meters than the simple chemistry we are told about. I have seen the times where a particular brand meter will give me silly high readings for half a day, then be normal for a long time. I think there some items in some people's body chemistry that causes trouble. Never able to pin it down. That one reason I keep several meters and a few strips for each. I have a general idea what I will read and if I see gross deviations I do cross checks.
I do not worry about the 10 or 20 percent difference. I posted when I saw a 2/1 difference. I do not have the luxury of worrying about a 10 to 20 difference. A case where one meter reads 150 and another. 350 is of concern. There is practical limit on the ability to produce a meter some seem to desire. I do question the criteria used for what we call diabetes. Does revenue enter into the equation? Lab instruments are not made in heaven.
I have been using the Lifescan Sure Step meter for about four years now but my insurance company has allowed me to acquire an Accu-Chek Advantage meter to replace it if I choose. For the last two weeks I have taking parallel readings using the same blood drop and I find the Accu- Chek meter consistently reads higher. I have checked both meters with the applicable control solution.
Below 120 mg/dl the difference ranges from 8 - 10 points higher which is not really ignificant but when my blood sugar level went up above 200, the difference was 35 to 45 points higher with the Accu-Chek. Is there some basic difference in the measurement approach utilized by the theses devices? If anyone has some experience with these two products, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Many thanks.
The strips (or the meter) should come with documentation that gives the expected range of error. There are many things, like temperature, humidity, the speed at which the strip was filled, age and condition of batteries that could make a difference, in addition to whther the meters are both set to measure in the same units.
I would suggest that a lab test (or several if you can afford it) would help to determine which is better from your point of view.
For the last two weeks I have taking parallel readings using the same blood drop and I find the Accu-Chek meter consistently reads higher.
I use the AccuChek Active meter and I have observed that unless I use a large enough drop of blood to cover the entire sample square on the test strip I will get an abnormally high reading.
I have tested this hypothesis by making back-to-back tests with small and large blood samples and have gotten differences of up to 50 points. When I passed this on to the AccuChek people they told me I was imaging things and sent me a free box of test strips!
