I am going to have to get a meter to check my blood levels. I looked at them at the drug store and was overwhelmed! I could use any suggestions as to what to look for and what you are using and are happy or unhappy with. Thanks for your help.

When I was diagnosed my doctors office gave me the One Touch Ultra, and I really like it. It's nothing fancy, but it gives me a clear digital reading as well as a history of my past readings. It also give me a 14 day average and a 30 day average. When I go for my checkups I give the doc my averages and she likes to be able to keep track of that info.

Another feature I like about the One Touch Ultra is that it doesn't require a large amount of blood. You're also supposed to be able to use it on your arm, but I can never get any blood out of my arm without causing a nasty bruise so I don't bother with that feature.

One thing to keep in mind is whether or not your insurance will cover all or part of the cost of the test strips. If they won't then you should price them as well as they can get costly. The test strips on my monitor cost about $1.00 each! The test strips on my Moms older monitor are much cheaper. If my insurance didn't pay for my test strips then I would probably have found a different monitor whos strips didn't cost so much.

I'd love to try one of the new monitors that have pre-loaded test strips, but for now I'll stick with what I have.

I ditto everything Lady^ said about the One Touch Ultra. Uses an extremely small amount of blood, only takes 4 seconds to get a reading, and mine seems to be very accurate.

I've also used the Accucheck Advantage. It's good, but you need a bit more blood, and it takes a lot longer (I think it was about 30 seconds?)

You might want to check with your doctors office or someone who is a rep for one of the companies that makes monitors. We came home from Childrens Hospital with several monitors given to us...because they want you to buy their strips at least this would give you some money to spend elsewhere. Just a thought. Good Luck. The strips on most new monitors run about 89-90 cents a piece or so...they get you there. Insurance does cover it though if you have an RX for them. We have used the accu check and the free style and both work well for my 10 yr old. She has to keep one at school also.

I second the reccomendation for the freestyle!! I used to have accucheck and hated it, my hubby became diabetic last year immediately went for the freesstyle and after seeing his ease I switched over immediately. it lets you do arm sticks, and the lancer that came with it lets us slap the arm a few times to bring blood to the surface then a prick, less than a mosquito bite pain and a tiny amount of blood is all that is needed, the size of the head of a pin is sufficient!! you still have to take from fingers or hand if you are feeling hypoglycemic because the blood levels from your arm are about 3-5 minutes "later" than what they are in your fingers... so when you start looking at your reading remember to account for that when you are feeling low. in the middle of a hypoglycemic attack I checked once and my arm read at 81 but my finger read at 62! so just remember if you are symptomatic, go for the hand reading, even with the freestlye, but for normal everyday maintenance testing I love the lower pain and ease of the arm stick with the freestyle.....

Colleen

I also like the Freestyle system and have used it for about a year. I tried the Accu-Check Compact [the one with the 17 strip drum] but didn't like it. The lid on the drum vial was difficult to open and it required to large a blood sample. You can usually get a meter for free because they catch you with the cost of the strips. They are all expensive. Good luck!