Question Regarding Glucose Monitor

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Cini Mini's Mom

Cini Mini's Mom

Member Since 2011
Hi,

I am reading more and more each day on this site and it is all so interesting! I am getting a real education here.

I have some questions regarding BG monitors and Insulin.

The Monitor I have is an AlphaTrak, and from reading the posts from others I see I am not the only one who thinks this is a pricey way to go for a daily testing routine. The costs of the strips is killing me with having to test Cini so often. Not to mention running to my Vet's office practically every week to pick up another bottle of strips and having them look at me wondering what I am going through these so fast. In their opinion, I should just be giving him 1 unit twice a day and be done with it and come to the conclusion Cini will be on insulin the rest of his life.

I was thinking of getting the ReliOn Confirm monitor from WalMart. Consumer Reports rates if fairly high on their site and say it's a "Best Value" item. The strips are a little more realistically priced as well. I can get 3 bottles of the strips for what it's costing me for one bottle of the AlphaTrak.

Anyone have any experiences with the ReliOn Confirm? Positive or negative? Or maybe even want to throw out another choice of monitor and strips I may not have heard of?
 
lots of people on here use the relion. many also buy strips online - it's so much cheaper than in the stores. my only thought is that you might not need this for too long . . . perhaps there is a cheaper source for the AT strips, although i think they're expensive everywhere.
 
So nice of you to send out those positive vibes, Julie :-D

Amazon is about $5 cheaper than the Vet and the ADW with shipping is the same price as the Vet.

Just for the cost of another bottle of AT test strips I could buy the Relion monitor and a bottle of test strips for the same money.
 
you might look online for coupons too - i don't know about the relion but some brands have coupons - even the meter free with the purchase of the strips.
 
I use the Relion Confirm and love it. ADW has the generic version of the meter, the Arkray Glucocard 01 as well as the strips in combinations that make it far cheaper than even Walmart's prices. I save even more through the following:

1. Always link through a cashback site like Mr. Rebates. You get 4% cashback, which isn't much but adds up surprisingly fast!
2. Always use coupon codes. I got one today for completing a survey for $10 off a $100 purchase. Another 10% (Code is Survey1114 for anyone who wants to try it)!
3. I always try to spend at leat $100 to get the free shipping. While their shipping isn't outrageous, saving $7-12 isn't bad!

ETA: For an example of the savings, I just placed an order on ADW for 7 boxes of test strips (one set of buy 4/get 1 free, one set of 2 boxes/100 strips) and a box of 100 33 gauge BD lancets. My total with shipping was $100.26, and I will maybe get another $4 back from Mr. Rebates (sometimes they don't like coupon codes that aren't listed on their site). For just the test strips, i would have paid $154+ with tax at Walmart, saving me $54-58.
 
I second everything Christie said. I switched from the One Touch Ultra Mini to the Confirm a few months ago for the same reason: the price of test strips were killing me:

Here's the link to the generic Arkray strips that work with the Relion Confirm:
http://www.americandiabeteswholesal...lucose-test-strips_4050.htm?source=SiteSearch

If you do some the fancy footwork Christie mentioned, along with going with the "Buy 4, get on Free) offer in the above link, the strips work out to about 23 cents each.

If you do switch, you'll have to adjust how you look at the numbers, since human meters read lower than the ATrak...just something to remember!!
 
Cathy

As long as you are using the Alpha Trak...you should be sure and note it in your subject line of your daily condo and also in your signature line. With so many kitties, it's tough to remember who uses an AT and who doesn't and that can make a big difference in how you handle the numbers. Zener's beans and Maggie's bean use ATs so you can see how they annotate it in their subject line.

To give you an example, if in a subject line, I saw a 70, I wouldn't be concerned about the kitty. But if that is a 70 on AT, then it's like a 40 on a human glucometer and then I would be jumping into Cini's condo to make sure all was ok.

I use a OT ultra mini. The strips are more expensive then the Relion but I order them in bulk off ebay. I like my OT because it is small. I was looking at switching to the confirm but it's large and Gracie doesn't like large stuff near her head.
 
We also use the Relion Confirm and highly recommend it. We do NOT NOT NOT recommend the Relion Ultima - it takes way too much blood and doesn't draw well at all. We have used the Wavesense Pronto also and find it comparable to the Confirm but the strips are more expensive.
 
Marjorie and Gracie said:
Cathy

As long as you are using the Alpha Trak...you should be sure and note it in your subject line of your daily condo and also in your signature line.
Click to expand...

Hi Marjorie, thanks for the suggestion. I went ahead and did that in both places (my subject line for his daily condo and also my sig.)
 
Marjorie and Gracie said:
To give you an example, if in a subject line, I saw a 70, I wouldn't be concerned about the kitty. But if that is a 70 on AT, then it's like a 40 on a human glucometer and then I would be jumping into Cini's condo to make sure all was ok.
Click to expand...

What? I'll have to do math!? :o You mean if I get a human glucose meter there's conversions to make? I think I saw where someone else mentioned solutions? I don't want to be a chemist.
 
Hi Cathy,

There is no math involved --you just have to use the proper dosing chart with whatever meter you use.

EDIT CORRECTION
http://felinediabetes.com/Roomp_Rand_20 ... otocol.pdf

The first table is for use with a human meter and the 2nd table (Table 3B) is for the Alpha Trak.

The Alpha Trak reads higher compared to a human meter so as most people on this site use a human meter they must substract 30 points from any readings you get to make a comparison to figures they are used to dealing with and the BG targets they base their doses on.

The cat's blood glucose is what it is no matter which meter you use, but it is very important to use the proper dosing chart.

If you get a 70 with an AT you need to be looking at the Alpha Trak chart for dosing information. Everybody else will substract 30 and use their human meter dosing chart. If you get a Relion Confirm just use the chart designated for human meters.

Elaine
 
We used the relion micro from wal mart and loved it .. Strips were cheap enough for us and it required such a tiny drop of blood! Plus, you can turn off the noise on it .. mocha did not like those beeps!
 
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