10/29 Luci AMPS 241/274 (Confirm/Prime Meters)

The Arkray Glucocard 01 that ADW sells is the same thing as the Relion Confirm. You can still buy it. Be careful comparing numbers from different meters or you'll drive yourself crazy. I know from personal experience.

I hope Luci slides down today.
 
Good luck with the dose increase.

Are you having trouble getting a blood sample? I use the Relion Prime and it takes the largest sample of all the Relion meters, but it's not too bad.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Good luck with the dose increase.

Are you having trouble getting a blood sample? I use the Relion Prime and it takes the largest sample of all the Relion meters, but it's not too bad.
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No trouble at all. Luci is very cooperative. It's just sometimes I poke a teensy-tiny hole and there's just a teensy-tiny drop - always works on the Confirm - that same amount did not work on the Prime. I'm considering the OneDrop (online allows me to get unlimited strips for $50 a month)...any experience with that meter and the amount of blood required?

I'm more interested in seeing what the comparisons are at the lower numbers - and since I have to transition to a new meter anyway, figured this was a good time to experiment with some of them...I think she's been fooling me by showing me those 40's when she really wasn't that low - and so I decrease her insulin every time - and then we end up like this - yellows with no greens for days...hoping now with the increase to get her there...we'll have to wait and see.
 
Olive & Paula said:
The ADW strips fit the confirm meter.
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So this one would fit the Confirm? https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/4045/arkray-glucocard-01-blood-glucose-monitoring-kit

However since I'm getting such different numbers on the Prime I'm suspicious that the Confirm or the Arkay (since it's the same as the Confirm) may be giving me false low numbers. Does that make any sense? If Luci goes down (if she ever goes down again) I'd like to see the difference at that point - 40 or lower on the Confirm has always meant a dose decrease. If she's not at 40 or lower on the Prime then a dose decrease would not be required.

I also have a Pet Meter to see what that says - but I'm only going to use it when she's lower - no point in wasting those strips when she's in higher numbers - I've tested it and her numbers were significantly higher on the Pet Meter than what the Confirm showed at the same test. (214 on the Confirm, 330 on the Pet Meter).

I feel like we lose any momentum we may have had the minute she drops below 40 (or the last time it was 3 x under 50) - and then she goes right back to higher numbers once the decrease is in place - if you look at my SS you'll see her pattern - every time we decrease she goes right back up - and then we have to increase - I'm glad she never bounces really high or goes really low - but it's between 40 - 300's - therein lies the problem - I often feel if we could just hold the dose a bit longer - she'd be likely to level off...and that perhaps the Relion Confirm has been giving me false low's - but there's no way to know that without comparing other meters to see what those readings are; recording the data and taking a look to see if there's a trend. I do know there's a 20% variance to be considered - but without a better understanding of her true numbers I have no way to know if she was 40 + 20% (48) or 40 - 20% (32)= which would make a difference on our decision would it not? That 40 btw is just an example - since I would decrease below 40 - it's just an easier number to work with.
 
Yes those are the ones. Have you thought about giving higher carb food like 6-8% in the first 4 hours after shot?

It can help slow down a drop early, and could help her surf. I think this is the hardest part of all. Figuring out how to use the food at what carb content at what your to get duration.

Olive did well for quite some time being fed 6% at +2, 3 and or +4. Then back to regular 2-3% but at same times. Then everything went screwy and didn't know why then. Now we know.
 
I used the Arkray Glucocard 01 meter most of the time beginning in 2010 and found it to be satisfactorily accurate. No meter is 100%.

Interesting to note that about 6 years ago there was discussion on the board concerning the Freestyle Lite meter: those using it discovered that its readings in the higher numbers were much lower than they really were. Many of us thought our kitties were doing ok in yellow numbers, when in reality their yellow numbers on the Freestyle Lite were pink on other meters. In lower numbers (greens and blues) there was no appreciable difference between the Freestyle Lite and other brands. I had switched to Freestyle Lite briefly (because of a promotion), but switched back to the Glucocard 01 just to be on the safe side.
I don’t know if Freestyle Lite is still manufactored, so can’t comment on it. I mentioned it simply because the problem did not affect cats whose numbers were on the lower part of the glucose scale. One might conclude that the Relion Confirm (and the Glucocard 01) read pretty accurately in lower numbers (and in higher numbers too).
 
It’s interesting what you are seeing because, over time on the board, I’ve seen the Prime reading lower than the Confirm.

At one point, I called both ReliOn and Arkray and they both said to only use the strips made for the specific meter. Although the strips look identical and the parent company is the same, there are differences. When it came to any potential safety issues with how a meter might read, I always erred on the side of caution so I took their advice.

I started with a One Touch Mini which was my favorite other than the AT2 but the sample size was too big so I went to the ReliOn Micro. It read lower than the OT but it was not to the degree of the issue we had here with the Freestyle Lites. In other words, if she was yellow on the OT, she was usually yellow on the Micro or very high blue if the OT was low yellow. It didn’t really factor into my dosing decisions.

Why isn’t the Confirm a long term option? If it’s cost, I always bought my test strips on eBay and the Confirm uses the same strips as the Micro. I was very selective....only bought from top rated sellers and bought strips that had expiration dates way out and were in original, sealed boxes. I never had any issues and I got some amazing deals (I didn’t do the bidding...I just bought outright). After a bit of time, I knew which sellers always had the best deals and that I trusted.
 
Olive & Paula said:
Have you thought about giving higher carb food like 6-8% in the first 4 hours after shot?
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Yep...I've given her all levels of carbs - low, medium - everything from 0 to 16% - to try to slow her down - sometimes (maybe lately most times) it seems she goes back up at 2+ ...she's a good eater so eats her breakfast and if it's not all gone, will return to it before 2+. If she's low at PS - I'll check and feed her again at 1+; so far none of my tricks have worked...she goes up, down and all around - sometimes just stays flat in the yellows or high blues (lately)...I think she just needed an increase to get to work on some better numbers.

Take a look at the last set of numbers at 10+ (if I were to believe the Confirm right now, I'd be thinking of testing her again at 11, 12+ and possibly considering some MC or HC food just to give her a bump before PS....now I don't think so...if she's at 100 on the Pet Meter she's safe enough to get her PM shot tonight - if she goes to 64 on the PM then she'll be getting some MC or HC (as that is the low end for that one)...
 
@Janine & Floyd switched to the One Drop. Here is a post where she talks about comparing it to the Relion.

Buying a new Arkray Glucocard 01 meter is cheap. They throw it in for free with some of their packages at ADW.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
@Janine & Floyd switched to the One Drop. Here is a post where she talks about comparing it to the Relion.

Buying a new Arkray Glucocard 01 meter is cheap. They throw it in for free with some of their packages at ADW.
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Thanks so much for that information! I've contacted @Janine&Floyd via PM to see if she'd like to elaborate on her OneDrop experience...

I don't think this is a bad price for the OneDrop:

One Drop Glucose Meter + Unlimited Strips
Monthly subscription
Get unlimited test strips shipped to your door each month (request more anytime!). This subscription includes a One Drop | Chrome Bluetooth glucometer PLUS unlimited diabetes coaching from live Certified Diabetes Educators to help you stay on track. No commitment—you can cancel anytime.
$49.95 USD

This is the Arkray: (I think we may use more than 200 strips a month...but it could be close)...
FREE GlucoCard Meter with Purchase 200 Arkray GlucoCard Test Strips
Item # 1548274110K3
autoship.png
fsa.png

Schedule AutoShip and Save 5%
Diabetic Coverage AutoShip Price: $68.59
 
Sue and Luci said:
OneDrop (online allows me to get unlimited strips for $50 a month)...any experience with that meter and the amount of blood required?
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I am not at all familiar with that meter.

When I poke Bubba, I use a fine lancet and I poke two times next to each other and then I get a big enough sample for the Prime. Can't beat the price for the Prime which is 9 bucks for 50 strips, or a $17 for 100

Sorry Bubba about the double poke. :rolleyes:
 
@Sue and Luci, I'm still using the One Drop, and I like it. The first couple of days, I did some head to head comparisons with the Relion Micro I was using, and it did tend to run a little higher. For example, the Micro read 79 when the One Drop read 109 and another time it was 114 on One Drop vs. 150 on Micro. I decided not to stress about it, because you're really watching trends, and how the cat is doing. Every machine will be different.

The strips are super easy to order through the app - a few taps and I have 100, 200 or 300 strips on the way. It takes less than a week to get them, but I have a system where I order when I open the second to last box.

It takes 0.6 uL, which is really not that much. I was a little concerned after using the Micro, which only takes 0.3 uL, but it hasn't been a problem. I do occasionally get errors, but at least I don't worry about the wasted strips anymore.
 
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