compared meters

[George&Bert]

I recently bought a Relion mini. The price was very appealing, but I bought it because of the small sample requirement.

I have had a One Touch Ultra for years and recently compared it to the vet's meter and they are within 10 points.

I tested my cat and with the OT Ultra the reading was 338. The reading on the Relion was 318.

Also, the Relion was supposed to use a very small sample of blood. I can tell you that the Ultra picked up blood easier and faster.

 

[MikeysMom]

338 and 318 are easily well within the 20% variance allowed on meters. A BG of 300 on any meter can fall in a range of 240-360. A difference of 20 in that range is hardly any difference at all. If you're getting a difference of 20 at, say 70 and 50, that's a bigger difference and could be an issue. I suspect, though, the meters would be closer in lower numbers.

The sipping of the strips will be a personal preference for you. I never had an issue with the Relion strips, a drop of blood the size of a pinhead was always more than enough for me to grab a sample, but someone did have a problems with a batch that wasn't cut right and didn't sip well. I think they called the company and got a new bottle sent.

 

[Grayson & Lu]

If I recall correctly, meters may have a variance of about 20-30%. So the 318-338 falls clearly within that allowance.

Sometimes, it's not that the number is the most important - it's the patterns we see from the numbers. Using one meter consistently gives us the trends we use to make dosing decisions.

As for the blood, I've got a Relion Ultima, and have used Libby's Relion Confirm when Hershey visited. I think the Micro and Confirm use the same strips. Hers definitely used less blood than mine - and sipped it up more quickly. I initially thought that hers was registering considerably lower than mine (maybe explaining Hersheys normal behavior when his numbers get low, but when I tested my meter against hers, they were within a few points.

I would encourage you to stick with one meter - whichever you prefer. Every once in a while, calibrate it to the other, or the vet's (using the same drop of blood) to see how much difference you're getting, but not to dwell on the individual differences, unless of course, they're off by A LOT.

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

Don't try to compare numbers on meters. It will just drive you crazy. The SAME METER won't even give you the same number if you test twice. We are not looking for exactness, we look for patterns and trends. As long as the meter is within normal limits and isnt off by hundreds (the Free____ meters have reported issues)then most any meter will suffice as long as you use one brand consistantly.

The "sipping" of the blood definitely varies I think. My Aviva takes a 0.6 sample put sips better and ends up requiring less blood than my ketone meter the Nova Max Plus which only takes a 0.3 sample.

 

[George&Bert]

That's all I'm trying to say. I am not using two meters. My friend got a Relion and I wanted to see how it worked and did not like the way it drew blood supposedly using a wee bit. I like the "ONE TOUCH ULTRA" better for drawing. All the numbers are relative and not accurate per se. I just look for the "Zone"