Freestyle Lite instead of Alphatrak w/ new asthma diagnosis

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tinnyandodd

tinnyandodd

Member Since 2020
Hi folks.

My big boy was diagnosed in 2017 but he only ended up with insulin for a month before he went into remission. He just came out of remission in January (turns out he had resorptive lesions) so he had a full mouth extraction in March. I'm practically a newbie now as I never fully had to handle his diabetes before. I've been using the Alphatrak 2 meter twice a day since February and love it. I do not however love the cost. I'm in Canada and have heard good things about the Freestyle Lite meter and am looking into picking one up from my local pharmacist but I welcome other suggestions I can buy in store and not online (don’t have a credit card.) If I download the coupon online for a free meter with the purchase of 100 strips, should I fill in my information or Reid's information? Will they even ask when I go to pick it up?

Second question: Reid got diagnosed with asthma today so my vet and I have ordered him an Aerokat inhaler and we'll start him on Flovent 125mg twice daily for 14 days down to once daily with close monitoring. Since the risk of complications between diabetes and asthma is there, is it wise to change meters at a time like this? I have tried looking at how to do the math with human meters and I can't figure it out. I'm really really really really bad at math. lol. I just want a meter that will give the most accurate readings for the least amount of money. The price of vet bills + his strips / insulin / syringes and now his inhaler are adding up. I don't have pet insurance and I lost my job due to Covid so it's all coming out of my savings. Since he gets tested twice a day, I'm blowing through a box of 50 strips each month. Does anyone have experience seeing a big jump in readings from a Freestyle vs. Alphratrak? For example: If the Alphatrak2 says he's 6.7, will the Freestyle say he's 6.9 or, say, 9.6?

Thanks again.
Jack and Reid.

PS - I more than welcome individual conversations if anyone wants to baby step me through trying to figure out how to get a handle on reading a human meter :)
 
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Welcome Jack and Reid!

I use freestyle lite but I’ll let someone more experienced answer the question about the reading difference between alphatrak and freestyle since I never used a pet meter. I also just recently bought Walmart’s ReliOn is that available in Canada? Most folks here use it and it’s the most affordable human meter and the strips are also very affordable. I totally get where you’re coming from and even freestyle strips are getting too expensive for me give how fast I’m going through them home testing. To give you an idea, I got the ReliOn meter $9.99, 100 test strips about $19 and lancets less than $2 at Walmart for about $30

a few questions to help folks more experienced help you, what insulin is he on and what dose? And what food is he eating?

I’m adding a few helpful links below you can read to get you started:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

:)
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
I also just recently bought Walmart’s ReliOn is that available in Canada?
Click to expand...

I have heard a lot of people suggest this meter but it isn't available in Canada :(


Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
What insulin is he on and what dose? And what food is he eating?
Click to expand...

It should show up in my signature, but he's on Caninsulin 4 units twice daily. He started at 2.5 units in February and gradually increased to 4 with way better results. He's on Friskies Pate 2 tins per day.


Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
Click to expand...

I have a processing disorder so it's hard for me to digest information unless it's visually and verbally given. I have tried to read these links over and over again and they literally read like a foreign language to me. lol. This is why using the Alphatrak 2 has been really simple for me. When it comes to mmol/l and mg/dl and such I have no idea what that means. I've only known how to read the lower readings on my Alphatrak such as 6.8, 7.2, etc not the 300 or 400 readings I see some people in other countries post. I hope that makes sense?
 
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tinnyandodd said:
I have heard a lot of people suggest this meter but it isn't available in Canada :(
Yes it is sorry I was typing too fast and missed that!

okay, let’s see what other folks will say. I do know we have lots of members from Canada here like @Wendy&Neko

It should show up in my signature, but he's on Caninsulin 4 units twice daily. He started at 2.5 units in February and gradually increased to 4 with way better results. He's on Friskies Pate 2 tins per day.




I have a processing disorder so it's hard for me to digest information unless it's visually and verbally given. I have tried to read these links over and over again and they literally read like a foreign language to me. lol. This is why using the Alphatrak 2 has been really simple for me. When it comes to mmol/l and mg and such I have no idea what that means. I've only know how to read the lower readings on my Alphatrak such as 6.8, 7.2, etc not the 300 or 400 readings I see some people in other countries post. I hope that makes sense?
Click to expand...
 
tinnyandodd said:
I have heard a lot of people suggest this meter but it isn't available in Canada :(




It should show up in my signature, but he's on Caninsulin 4 units twice daily. He started at 2.5 units in February and gradually increased to 4 with way better results. He's on Friskies Pate 2 tins per day.




I have a processing disorder so it's hard for me to digest information unless it's visually and verbally given. I have tried to read these links over and over again and they literally read like a foreign language to me. lol. This is why using the Alphatrak 2 has been really simple for me. When it comes to mmol/l and mg and such I have no idea what that means. I've only known how to read the lower readings on my Alphatrak such as 6.8, 7.2, etc not the 300 or 400 readings I see some people in other countries post. I hope that makes sense?
Click to expand...

don’t you worry, I know there’s someone here who can set up the spreadsheets for you once they have your info @jt and trouble (GA) do you know who that is?

Stay tuned!
 
I started out with the Freestyle. It may depend on the drug store. I got mine from London Drugs, but I just asked them for the 100 strips and free meter than went with it. I told them it was for my cat, but didn't need to say anything else. They were quite helpful. I originally went in asking for the meter with the smallest blood drop size, and that's what they recommended.

I later went to the Relion meter, but that's because I live near the border and have a US post box I had things sent to, or did some cross border shopping. I went through a lot more than 50 strips a month, hence the desire to find a better price.

The Alphatrak numbers will generally be higher than the Freestyle ones, with larger differences in high numbers and much closer in lower/normal numbers where it really counts. You don't need to do any math to convert as there is no conversion formula for one to the other. On the human meters, we give high carb food if they go below 50, on the AT that number is 68. All of our dosing methods were written with human meters in mind, so just take the numbers at face value. Once you can wrap your head around that - and it's not hard, there shouldn't be any risk to switching now.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
The Alphatrak numbers will generally be higher than the Freestyle ones, with larger differences in high numbers and much closer in lower/normal numbers where it really counts. You don't need to do any math to convert as there is no conversion formula for one to the other. On the human meters, we give high carb food if they go below 50, on the AT that number is 68. All of our dosing methods were written with human meters in mind, so just take the numbers at face value. Once you can wrap your head around that - and it's not hard, there shouldn't be any risk to switching now.
Click to expand...

Does the 50/68 you're quoting mean mg/dl? The calculator I found online does mg/dl to mmol/l conversion :bighug: Guess I'm using mmol/l?

His readings are all over the place still but I'm definitely seeing better numbers since his surgery. Prior to the surgery he was pulling mostly all mid 20's and now I'm pulling 10's - 18's with the occasional 5/6/7/8. He has always had higher numbers as opposed to lower. The vet says he is still higher than she would like to see but he's definitely improved since she last saw him. I just want to make sure that if I do change meters it won't give me a big jump from his Alphatrak readings since I do rely on those readings before I give him his insulin each day. Plus I don't want my vet to get mad at me. lol. Would it help if I posted a photo of a few of his recent readings?
 
tinnyandodd said:
Does the 50/68 you're quoting mean mg/dl? The calculator I found online does mg/dl to mmol/l conversion :bighug: Guess I'm using mmol/l?
Click to expand...
Because this board is hosted in the US, and a large number of members are from there, we "talk" mg/dl. In our language that is 2.8/3.8. Once you get a spreadsheet set up, you enter values in the World or mmol/L page, and they are automatically converted to the US numbers for you.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Because this board is hosted in the US, and a large number of members are from there, we "talk" mg/dl. In our language that is 2.8/3.8. Once you get a spreadsheet set up, you enter values in the World or mmol/L page, and they are automatically converted to the US numbers for you.
Click to expand...

Ah okay that makes sense. The pharmacist today showed me a GE200 meter. I've never seen it before but he said it was the cheapest option. In your experience was the Freestyle any good? Since I can't get a Relion is there a meter I can get in Canada that you would recommend?
 
The Freestyle is a popular meter in Canada....also the One Touch and Bayer Contour. The most affordable meter is the Bravo but it's only available online so you have to be sure to order strips in advance so they get to you before you run out. Strips are the highest ongoing cost of treatment so picking one you can afford to use is important.

If the GE200 is affordable, it will work fine too! Being able to get strips easily (and affordably) is the most important thing!
 
tinnyandodd said:
In your experience was the Freestyle any good? Since I can't get a Relion is there a meter I can get in Canada that you would recommend?
Click to expand...
I use the Freestyle Lite meter. Originally I used the Alphatrak but soon realized the strips were almost $2 each. That can add up real fast. Freestyle and Alphatrak are made by the same company and require the same blood droplet size (.3 I believe it is - that's really small). Most meters are free... so don't go by that when choosing a meter - investigate the cost of the strips because that is where the cost comes in.

Regardless of the meter, some folks on here have had good success with buying insulin strips off of eBay at a significantly reduced price.

Here is a link of meters and blood droplet size: http://main.diabetes.org/dforg/pdfs/2017/2017-cg-blood-glucose-meters.pdf (it's 2017 so there may be some new ones out since).

Some members on this board also use the One Drop where you can get unlimited strips every month - I don't have personal experience with this meter but here is the website; http://main.diabetes.org/dforg/pdfs/2017/2017-cg-blood-glucose-meters.pdf

Here is an example of a free glucose monitor coupon - for other monitors, check online before you buy. Usually have to buy strips before you get a free monitor.
https://www.freestyle.abbott/ca/en/order/lite.html
 
Update:

Hey folks! So I did end up picking up the Freestyle Lite strips yesterday afternoon to use in my Alphatrak 2 meter (the actual Freestyle meter had to be ordered and should get here tomorrow.) I took a reading with both strips in the evening before his shot last night. The Freestyle Lite was 9.6 and the Alphatrak2 was 8.4. I was surprised the reading was that close. Whew! He started his inhaler today (which he hates of course) so I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't interact with his low numbers I've been seeing. I also received the update on his Fructosamine test and his number came back at 246 ... This is good? Thankfully now with his strips being SO much less expensive I'll be able to keep an eye on his curves to see where he's at during the day with the Alphatrak. Thank you again to @Chris & China (GA) for all your help! If anyone has any advice going forward let me know :) YAY! lol.
 
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