Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter? Update!

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Christie & Willie (GA)

Christie & Willie (GA)

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Doing a bit of research on test strip prices, and found the Advocate meter at American Diabetes Wholesale with strips that are far less expensive than even the Relion! The prices are better if you buy in bulk, so for $100, I can get a meter, 100 universal lancets and 400 test strips (getting the lancets bumps me over $100 which gets me free shipping). Plus 8% cashback from Mr. Rebates, ends up being a great deal for strips.

Just wondering if anybody had tried them before I jump in!

Thanks!

Christie and Willie
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

haven't heard of it but took a look at it on that website. seems fine but what jumped out at me is the blood sample size that is needed. the one you are using now takes .3 if i remember correctly so this one will be more than twice as much. if you don't have any problems getting kitty to bleed though that shouldn't be a concern. it possibly could be a tough one for new new people who are just trying to figure out hometesting but i think once there's some experience under one's belt, any meter should be doable
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

I haven't used it or heard of it before your post, but the amount of blood needed for a test is higher than some others at 0.7 microliters.

By way of comparison the Freestyle requires 0.3 and the AccuCheck, Contour and Relion use 0.6 microliters. I've used the four meters that I noted and all four sip really fast and draw the blood well into the strip. I have no idea if the Advocate would do that to. If you're new to blood testing I would stick with what you know, if you're fine with getting the droplets then give this a try and let us know if it's a good one.
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

Thanks! Most days, we would have no problem with getting a larger droplet, but we do all have those days where the ears just don't want to cooperate. I did see that and it was a concern... but I'm so blinded by the $0.23/strip cost that I can get them to!!! LOL We're just testing alot these days, and while the Relion is SO much cheaper than the alphatrak ($0.40/strip vs. $0.80/strip at the CHEAPEST), this could save us potentially save us a good bit of money.

Just don't want to make the switch unless it works well!
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

just to clarify for those who might see this down the road, the old Relion Ultima took the .6, the new Relion Confirms and Micros only take .3 :-)

also, i think "capillary action" means it's a sipping strip. ???
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

I have used the Advocate before and the numbers were not very accurate for me. Others have had the same experience, though I believe there was a bean or two that had a kitty that it was accurate for. You can take a look at my spreadsheet on 8/2/10 when I compared the two meters (advocate and relion)

On 7/10 I compared the Precision Xtra to the relion, on 10/6 I compared the freestyle lite to the relion, and on 10/21 compared the contour with the relion. (If you are good, you can get contour strips on ebay at $15 per 50)
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

Cindy + Mousie said:
just to clarify for those who might see this down the road, the old Relion Ultima took the .6, the new Relion Confirms and Micros only take .3 :-)

also, i think "capillary action" means it's a sipping strip. ???
Click to expand...

Thanks Cindy, I appreciate the correction, I'll try to remember that going forward but I'm getting old :oops:
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

LOL!! Jennifer, it sticks with me because the new ones are pretty much just like the freestyle lites, small sample and no coding, and since i've used the freestyles since day one now it just sticks in my head about those two. I keep thinking I'll switch over but i recently got such a good deal on freestyle strips that i'm set for like 2 years on strips. :-)

i think i heard once that the old Relion Ultima was going bye bye but can't say I'm 100% on that
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

I have the advocate for my 2 fosters gotten from DCIN and it was just fine. I kind of liked it. does take a little bigger drop, but really was OK. now using the breeze2. talk about a big drop of blood needed wow!~!!, But I use whatever I can get my hands on for the fosters and deal with it
edit to add after reading more posts. it was comparable for me to the maxima ast . now breeze2 is way different at lower numbers than the advocate or maxima,(which I am not fond of) maxima is a ***** at times to get it to suck up blood at all or only halfway and if meter is cold, forget it
 
Re: Is anyone familiar with the Advocate meter?

I'm going to give it a try.... Was able to get 635 strips from ebay for under $0.18/strip, which is less than half the cost of the Relion.
 
Just thought I'd check back in. I've been using the Advocate for a few weeks now, and thought I'd share my thoughts with the class!

It definitely takes a larger blood droplet, which can be a pain at times. Also, the blood really needs to be in a droplet... If Willie squirms and the blood spreads out, I sometimes have to re-poke. I did figure out a helpful solution, though... totally by accident! Even though the strip sips from the tip in a manner similar to the Relion, I've found that if I apply the strip to the droplet with the strip face down, it gets the right amount more easily and much more quickly.

You do have to make sure you get enough blood... it will go ahead and beep, and give you a crazy low number, and you need to do it over.

I do like that the meter has a thermometer, though that is because I don't have control over the heat in my apartment, and I'm always wondering how warm certain spots are! LOL Accessing the testing history is much easier on the Advocate than it is with the other meters I've used, especially the Relion.

If cost were taken out of the equation, the Advocate would not be my first choice. Thus far, I have been most impressed with the new freestyle lite strips, though I also find the Relion very easy to use (except for accessing the history). However, when factoring in cost ($0.18/strip for the Advocate vs. $0.40/strip for the Relion or other store brand meters), I am happy that I took the plunge and got the Advocate and strips.
 
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