Hi Everyone...

I lost my thread, so if these appears twice...sorry. Anyway, I'm new to testing and have a question. I don't take any meds yet and decided to start testing to see how food affects me. I have a one touch ultra mini monitor. It's been going ok so far, but tonight I had a result of 188. Since it was high I decided to check it again about 15-20 minutes later and it was 149. Now, I didn't do anything inbetween to cause it to go down like exercise, so I was wondering if the first test could have been wrong or could it drop that fast? I am new to this, so don't know if my technique is all that great - I don't think I smeared the blood or anything the first time...but I'm just getting use to this...any thoughts?

Keep in mind that the industry standard for accuracy in meters is 15 - 20%. So if your blood sugar is actually 160, then the meter may read as high as 192 and as low as 128. And your glucose may have been dropping at the time.

Try not to get too caught up in testing several times close together. If you feel the meter is drastically wrong, by all means, test again. But remember that there is a level of inaccuracy involved.

BTW, did you test 2 hours after you started eating? That is the best time to check.

Good luck.

Cora

curious... did u wash your hands before testing? i've tested with very high bs because ive had something sugary on my fingers... just a thought

Thanks for your help. Wow, that seems like a huge margin of error to me...but is good to know. You mentioned something I was wondering about - you test 2 hours from when you begin to eat...I was trying to test 2 hours from the time I complete my meal...so that is good to know as well. This is really an information time for me to figure out what affects me and what works better...once I know a little better how my body reacts, I hopefully shouldn't have to test as often. I have been able to avoid meds thus far and am really trying to keep it that way as long as possible. I had one a1c at 7 about 7 years ago and have kept them at 6.2 or below ever since. Then this year I had one at 6.6, three months later 6.2...so I've been trying to watch it better. Thanks for you help.

Thanks for the thought, but yes I did wash my hands....darn!!! :)

Sorry, the other thing I forgot to add is that the next time you go to the lab for bloodwork, remember to take your machine along and check your own blood sugar when they take your blood. That way, when the results come in, you will know how accurate your own machine is. I have 2 freestyle minis and they are never out by more than 5%.

Cora

i have this same meter along with another by the same company. when you got your meter you should have a small vial of control solution. just follow the instructions in your owners booklet and do a control testing .on page 28 of the booklet it tells you when to do a control test and one of the reasons is an unexpected blood glucose result. also make sure when you change test strip vials that you check and recode as needed

i have this same meter along with another by the same company. when you got your meter you should have a small vial of control solution. just follow the instructions in your owners booklet and do a control testing .on page 28 of the booklet it tells you when to do a control test and one of the reasons is an unexpected blood glucose result. also make sure when you change test strip vials that you check and recode as needed

Control solution is great, but it only tells you that your machine is accurate when the glucose level is around normal. You have no idea how accurate it reads if your sugar is high or low. Doing it in comparison with the lab will give you a better idea, especially if your level is off on the day of testing.

Cora