Freestyle Lite Test Strips New-style vs. Old...

[Perry and Sooty]

For those who aren't familiar with the Freestyle Lite meters, the mfr. recently introduced a 'New' style test strip, that has much smaller contact patches and needs much less blood; they also work much faster than the original type. Well we'd been using the new style ones since September and as you may know, we'd been getting very flat readings (see our SS). In October, we ordered 100 more strips from Hocks as we were getting low. For some reason, this time they shipped us the OLD, original type strips. We started using those on 10/22 at PM+9 and we IMMEDIATELY saw MUCH higher 'high' numbers. We have now been using those 'original' type since 10/22 to date - and that trend has continued, the highs were very noticably, markedly higher than before. Lots of Pink that we were not seeing before.

Well, Hocks just shipped us some more strips that arrived today, and these are once again, the NEW type. So this evening, while we have some of both types available, I have done a comparison, for each of the last 3 readings, I've used BOTH types of strip one after another with the SAME drop of blood. Here are the readings:

Time....Old style..New Style Difference
AM+10:....301........262........39
PMPS:......294........274........20
PM+3:......314........269........45

I know meters have a certain tolerance range and we can expect variations in readings - but I would love to ask for expert opinion here, are these differences reasonable / acceptable? After we saw those higher numbers last week, I called Abbott (the mfr of the Freestyle products) and asked them if such a difference was a known issue and they said NO, the two types of strips should give very similar readings.

I have to say that the sudden increase in Sooty's numbers had me completely confused - as you may know, I was wondering what was wrong with Sooty, that his numbers suddenly shot up into the pinks like that...

I know I have a tendency to overreact, so all opinions will be very welcome..!

Perry

 

[Jaye and Chester]

I was really disappointed when Freestyle introduced the new strips, noticing the exact same thing. I don't use them with Chester anymore. I have found that my OneTouch Mini is usually very close to my AlphaTrak at 1/3 of the cost (except under 100, when I double check with the Alphatrak). I won't use the Freestyle with the AT anymore.

However, I do use it with my dog on the Alphatrak because the OneTouch Mini isn't nearly as close on him. It's frustrating.

We should have a competition...he/she with the largest variety of meters wins!

I have two OT Minis, a Freestyle, a Relion, an AlphaTrak, and a Precision Xtra and I'll be there are many out there with more than me. ;-)

 

[Amanda]

You know I noticed that the new style seems to give lower readings than the old as well. I haven't had both strips at the same time- but I did look at my SS and see I noted new strips for a PMPS using the old style after having the new. Her PMPS and AMPS were only a few pts apart, and the following numbers were 'normal' for the readings I was getting previously. I wonder if the new style or the old style is more accurate (if at all)?

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

steve/jock brought the "new" freestyle lite test strips to the attention of the board back in july.
here's the thread: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=18945&p=187998#p187998.
here's the link steve referenced: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/193769.php.

"Following the recent clearance of its FreeStyle Lite® blood glucose test strips, Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced that it has also received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new FreeStyle blood glucose test strips. The new FreeStyle test strips minimize interference during blood glucose testing and are designed to offer a better testing experience.

In a similar fashion to the FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips, the new FreeStyle test strips do not use the GDH-PQQ(1) enzyme, which can be affected by common non-glucose sugars. The new FreeStyle test strips use a GDH-FAD(2) enzyme which is unaffected by common non-glucose sugars, such as maltose or galactose, and minimizes the potential for other interference."

i'd like to try the new strips out myself. i use the old freestyle meter. i find it to be very accurate at low numbers which is where i've always had concerns. according to the article, the new strips are compatible with all of the freestyle meters. did you have to specify "new" strips when ordering from hocks?

 

[Perry and Sooty]

So we still don't really know the effect of this different enzyme on kitty blood? It says the new strips now 'ignore' some sugars that are considered 'interference' so presumably this is why they come up with lower numbers...

The problem is we don't know which ones are giving us the true picture. (If either...)

On the one hand with the old-style we defintely see a more pronounced curve each cycle, where with the new-style we see much flatter numbers. It definitely seems that the higher the readings, the more the two types of strip seem to differ - so it would seem that at lower numbers, they would both be pretty close and thus, safe.

If the new ones are more accurate then I am glad for Sooty as this should mean his kidneys are at less risk...

OK well I am going to stop experimenting and just use the new ones for now. The old style ones can be our backup just in case we order too late or someone finds out something really wrong with the new type...

Thanks very much for all your responses!

 

[Perry and Sooty]

...i'd like to try the new strips out myself. i use the old freestyle meter. i find it to be very accurate at low numbers which is where i've always had concerns. according to the article, the new strips are compatible with all of the freestyle meters. did you have to specify "new" strips when ordering from hocks?

No, the old and new have the exact same product code. But Hocks may still have both types in stock so if there is a place to say that you want them to ship you only the NEW style, then that might be advisable... We didn't specify old or new but when we ordered from them in September they sent the NEW ones; but in October, they sent the OLD ones. Go figure...!

 

[Lisa and Do Lou (GA)]

Same thing here I ordered from Hocks and was very unhappy to receive the old strips 2 boxes to be exact and I had no new ones to use for Do Lou so I never would have thought the 2 different kind of strips would make any changes with his numbers but I have been using them last 3 days and well his numbers have been higher but then I have slept late 2x and gave a fur shot so I would never have linked it to possible strip changes very interesting I like the new ones but better myself much quicker and less blood

 

[Perry and Sooty]

Same thing here I ordered from Hocks and was very unhappy to receive the old strips 2 boxes to be exact and I had no new ones to use for Do Lou so I never would have thought the 2 different kind of strips would make any changes with his numbers but I have been using them last 3 days and well his numbers have been higher but then I have slept late 2x and gave a fur shot so I would never have linked it to possible strip changes very interesting I like the new ones but better myself much quicker and less blood

That's exactly what happened for us, we received 2 boxes of the old type - so I emailed them and complained, since they had, the previous time, already shipped us the New ones. Dominic Bartone (Hocks President) responded - and to his and their credit, he promptly arranged to send me 2 boxes of the new style at no charge.

 

[Lisa and Do Lou (GA)]

Same thing here I ordered from Hocks and was very unhappy to receive the old strips 2 boxes to be exact and I had no new ones to use for Do Lou so I never would have thought the 2 different kind of strips would make any changes with his numbers but I have been using them last 3 days and well his numbers have been higher but then I have slept late 2x and gave a fur shot so I would never have linked it to possible strip changes very interesting I like the new ones but better myself much quicker and less blood

That's exactly what happened for us, we received 2 boxes of the old type - so I emailed them and complained, since they had, the previous time, already shipped us the New ones. Dominic Bartone (Hocks President) responded - and to his and their credit, he promptly arranged to send me 2 boxes of the new style at no charge.

Well thats interesting they replaced them then I may email them as well since the strips are not cheap and I am not at all happy with the old ones