Question about FreeStyle meters

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Helene & Cleo

Member Since 2012
I've read in various places on the forum to avoid the FreeStyle meters with the butterfly strips, as they are inaccurate and underestimate BG readings. That's fine, I was okay with that as I have a FreeStyle Optium, which does not use those butterfly strips.

However, I have just read a post where it is recommended to avoid ALL FreeStyle meters for the same reason, regardless of presence of butterflies on the strips!

This has concerned me. My main meter is a OneTouch Verio IQ, but I've run out of strips and can't really afford to purchase any more at the moment (they really are rather expensive). My back-up meter is a FreeStyle Optium - it isn't available in the USA, but appears almost identical to the Xceed or Precision Xtra, and uses the blue test strips, not the butterfly ones. It has always read within a very small range of the OneTouch, and since I have 50 strips left for it I've been using that.

Should I be concerned?

Thanks.

H
 
The issue with the Freestyle Lite was different than the True/Tru meters - the Freestyle Lites (whether they are older models, or if it is just the butterfly strips or what, who knows) do not like to read over 300. I think there was a thread recently where the owner was having this issue. I will try to find it. For now I have revoked my reservation against the True/Trus but not the FLs.

Edit: Found one, the owner got a 270 on the Freestlye Lite and a 524 on a ReliOn... it could've been a meter error, bad strip, etc. but in all my year of testing I have only ever had one false reading. viewtopic.php?f=28&t=79110

Here's another one : viewtopic.php?f=28&t=80867 Note this quote:

(for the past 2 yrs, he has always been between 7.5mmol - 16mmol; now he is reading 12.2-21mmol)
Click to expand...

16 mmol is approximately 288 mg/dl - so all readings with the Freestyle Lite were under 300.

Wendy&Neko also apparently had issues with the meter reading low.
 
Hm so that Consumer Reports document actually rates the Freestyle Lite (and the True Result, for that matter) much higher than the OneTouch Verio (which I regarded as being a very reliable meter). Although this could just be because of the inordinately expensive nature of the OneTouch strips - 60p per strip if bought on the high street.

So if I'm interpreting the replies correctly, most of the reports about unreliable high BG readings were relating to the FreeStyle Lite, not the newer, slightly higher value models, right? The FreeStyle Optium is the newest one available in the UK, it's the one that tests for ketones as well, and retails for quite a bit more than the FreeStyle Lite.

I do actually have a third meter, a Glucomen LX Plus. A few weeks ago I tested all three against each other with the same drop of blood, and the results were within 0.3 mmol/L of each other. But that was within a 'normal' BG range, so still doesn't really answer my concerns about reliability at higher BGs, does it?

I guess it's just one of those things where you have to always take into account other aspects and symptoms, never just rely entirely on meter readings alone. If symptoms lead you to suspect a hypo/hyper situation, take all factors into account instead of just blindly relying on one piece of information. Hence the value of ketodiastix, for instance.

I would still appreciate any thoughts from others with experience of these meters, so please do let me know if you have anything to add.

Thanks.

H
 
fwiw, i have always used the old freestyle flash meter and never had a problem. i've gotten a little grief in the last year or so for using it but i think the grief comes from those who have closed their minds and only hear "freestyle" and never a word after that. i have explained that i've never used the butterfly strips but it doesn't seem they hear that detail. personally, i think the problem is with the strips, not the meter because mine is more than happy to read over 200. so as long as i can find a good deal on freestyle strips without the butterfly technology, i'll gladly use my old meter. that has become increasingly harder to do though so i do have a relion prime that i actually find myself using the most anymore. the cost of those strips is nearly unbeatable here :-)

and something that has always eaten at me about the consumer reports on meters, how can anyone give it credit when it comes from and pertains to humans? yeah maybe some of it we can use but all in all i'd take the report overall with a grain of salt
 
LynnLee,
I think the value from the CR rankings is their "accuracy" and "repeatability" input. I understand it pertains to humans rather than cats.... But blood is blood. Whether a specific reading is correct or the test results repeat reliably is what matters. I think you have to put faith in the meter you are using. On cats or humans. The added feature to this year's rankings was that they included affordability on both the meter, and more importantly to us, the strips.

I only used a Relion Micro, so I can't help with any first hand knowledge on the FreeStyle meters or strips. I do know that in the two cases with PZI cats that I am most familiar with, it was the butterfly strips that were the issue.

Carl
 
i just meant i wouldn't choose a meter based on the CR report. it's like their car reports, i wouldn't buy a car based on their reports either simply because i know more about cars than they do and their reports are basically lame, at least when it comes to cars i should say :-)
 
Neko's SS is just one example of how off the Freestyle Lite butterfly strips can be. It looks like a completely different cat after I switched 3 weeks later. One comparison I did was Freestyle Lite 292 (16.2), Relion Confirm 443 (24.6). The Freestyle did record a couple of times a bit over 300 (16.6). I did love the ease of use and the way the strips sipped the drop up.

It might be useful to do a comparison test between your two meters on cat's blood. My backup Bayer Contour runs a little bit different than the Relion, but within 10%.
 
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