10/24PowderPMPS319

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Kathy&Powder

Kathy&Powder

Member Since 2010
Yesterday's Condo viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28082&p=287529#p287529


WCR All Powder's Ps in place. He was up when I went to check him. Then I realized I'd left his food down and didn't wake up to pick it up at 5:00. ohmygod_smile Judging by the wet food on his mustache he had eaten not too long before. :YMSIGH: He is such a beggar now it's cute and reassuring since he doesn't play any more. I miss that.

The Relion meter controversy continues. I think I've narrowed things down a bit. If the cat's BG is under 200 it is accurate with other meters. If over 200 it there can be as much as a 150 points difference :o . Here is how the two meters compared today:

RELION AMPS 526 +2 387 +4 155

Freestyle Freedom LIte AMPS 373 +2 222 +4 158

I guess from the perspective that the dose may not necessarily be determined by the high numbers it probably doesn't make that much difference. However if the cat may be considered to be in extreme hyperglycemia and brought to the vet or gets a dose change because of it then that concerns me. I imagine that it must do the same thing in humans. I know now that on 10/4 Powder wasn't in extreme hyperglycemia it was the meter. I wonder how we negotiate this. Thoughts?
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

I use the Reli-On Micro myself....I called the number in the booklet and they sent me a testing solution which is not available to purchase anywhere. Might be good to call and check the meter out...
That is quite a big difference at the higher numbers though, isn't it? I don't know what to say...except that there will always be some discrepancies when you use different meters. Do you have a objection to using the Freestyle if you like it better?
Lets see if others have thoughts...
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

Pat the only problem I have with the Freestyle is that the strips are extremely expensive. It is my meter for testing but I'm using up the strips I get with insurance on the boy.

This is a replacement meter sent to me after those readings earlier. They sent me testing solution so I checked the meter before using and it checked out ok. I just find it very odd that the calibration is off so much. When I had to switch from One Touch to Freestyle due to insurance they were almost identical. confused_cat
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

Kathy...why did you have to switch from One Touch to Freestyle? I absolutely love my One Touch Ultra Mini. I also have a Contour and when I'm getting really low numbers, I will double check with that. I like the Contour but Gracie doesn't...it's too big coming at her ear :lol: :lol: I found them to be very close (within 10) at low numbers and within 40 at high numbers. Here's a thought and what I did....I compared both of the glucometers to my vet's Alpha Trak. I checked them on my civvie who has normal BG and on Gracie. I found the Contour to be 20 over the AT and the One Touch to be 20 under the AT. So that equates to what I'm getting here...the Contour i 40 over the OT except at very low numbers...and then they are close. Does your vet have an AT and can you check them against the AT? I have heard that it is in the higher numbers that you get variation between meters but yours does seem extreme.

Hope you all are doing wonderful today.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

The only reason I switched was my insurance co won't cover them :sad: I loved my ultra mini too and it was pretty too :lol:
Thanks for the tip to compare with vet I will tomorrow.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

I know my meter (Presto from Agamatrix), has 2 different coding solutions. One for low calibration and one for high calibration. They warned to only use the high calibration solution if you are consistently measuring over 300. They said usually only hospitals will use the high calibration.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

I sure can relate to your relion concern after seeing the diff like I said its the reason I do not use it would love to trust it for the cost not sure where you get your freestyle strips I buy mine from Hocks they have them at a pretty good price there
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

Brian thanks for weighing in. The solutions don't calibratre the meters they check the calibration so I'm puzzled why they told you that. Most manufacturers have three testing solutions. In my field the state is recommending monthly testing with any one solution and quarterly testing with all three to be sure the meter is functioning well at any level. You never know when you may fall into any one of those levels. I'm not sure it's necessary but it is their protocol.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

Pretty doesn't do the job. If one is closer to the doc's #s then use it. If you don't trust either and you have done control checks as directed by the manufacturer - contact them and tell them.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

Kathy, I'm not sure what to say except that meters can have up to a 20% variation that is considered acceptable. That means that as the numbers go up, the acceptable range in readings gets wider.

Personally, I use a Relion, don't have anything to compare it to, but I am perfectly happy with my results. It's working fine for me. I think you need to pick ONE meter and use it, and your results should be fine. IMHO, If you use more than one meter, you'll drive yourself crazy. If you are not comfortable with the Relion, use the Freestyle. It's a personal choice.

I've lost count of the threads dealing with meter differences. This comes up all the time, and the answer is always: in the grand scheme of things, the variation makes no real difference. All of the meters (with a few exceptions) are accurate enough for our purposes. Those that want the best accuracy buy an AlphaTrak, and pay the $$$$.

Lantus dose adjustments are based on nadir, and in the higher ranges, there is more room for a larger dose adjustments. Even if your meter is reading over 300 when it "should" to be reading in the 200s, the chances are that the larger dose adjustment is not going to be a problem since there's still a good sized cushion there. That's why when the nadirs start to get lower, the dose adjustments are smaller, to fine tune it more. The protocol is well tested, it works....even with people using different meters.

Being a former PZI user, this is bigger issue for PZIers. They adjust dose based on PS numbers (well, except me, but I was a maverick lol). The wider variation in the higher numbers would naturally give them more of a problem....but even they seem to manage to find a sliding scale that works for each of them individually by collecting data.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

My only experience with this is that last Wednesday I used the ReliOn and the vet used the AlphaTrak at the same time and they were within 2 points of each other, for what it's worth.

Jenny
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

I was having a problem with the Relion Confirm not being close to the Accu-Check Compact plus meter.
The Accu-check tests strips were getting close to being outdated tho. Once I bought new strips, both meters read about the same.

Check the dates of the strips.
 
Re: 10/24PowderAMPS373+2 222+4 158 Relion meter concern

I have to agree with Laurie and Mr. Tinkles. The only meter I have ever used was the relion meter and am very satisfied with it. When I first started to home test, I took it to the vet w/me and tested against theirs, and there was only a two point difference and I have been using it ever since. You really need to just use one meter and that's it. Use the one you feel comfortable with and stick with it. Don't double check against another meter....it will only drive you nuts.
 
Re: 10/24PowderPMPS319+2 206

Thanks everyone for weighing in. Maybe the problem is with Relion Confirm Meter and while its true about the variations those BG readings over 200 were more like 40-50 percent higher . I was seriously freaked out that morning when he went HI on it and had I not thought to check it w/my other meter I would have called out and whisked Powder off to the vet for no reason which would have stressed him. My vet who is not really on board with Lantus might have been able to convince me that Lantus was not working or to use Reg too. At any rate I will be glad to test tomorrow with the vet and the Alpha Trak because Powder is usually over 300 that time of the day. It will be interesting to see how they compare. :smile:

Hope everyone had a good weekend and under the weather kitties and beans are feeling better. There was a lot of green numbers in Lantus Land it was so nice to see. Especially Muffin joining the trial ranks. I'm wishing for more kitties to join Muffin and all the other OTJ kitties soon. :mrgreen:
 
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