My blood sugar Meter
Blood sugar readings are only numbers, always remember that. Its not the be all and end all of life.
When I was first diagnosed I was given a Glucomen LX plus blood meter from the hospital. It test your blood sugar levels and is also a blood ketone meter.
Over the past couple of years I have tried about 8 other meters and always find myself coming back to this one. It doesn’t have lots of bells and whistles like some of the others but I have faith in it and that counts for a lot in my book. The average seems to reflect closely my HBa1c results so it ticks that box well.
Things I like about the meter are
1. It is compact and discreet to carry about
Comes with a nice case and is small enough to fit in your pocket if you are not into your manbags
2. It only needs a very small blood sample
Some meters I tried needed quite a bit of blood to do a reading. Not this one just a tiny drop does the trick, although a bit more is needed for ketone tests
3. It tests for ketones as well, no need to carry 2 meters about
Uses a different strip for ketones but still a great feature and literally can be a lifesaver
4. Its accurate
My averages on my meter very closely match up with my clinic HBa1c results, can only be a good thing surely. Having said that all meters must meet a certain criteria in regards to accuracy
5. The pc software although quite dated in appearance puts out some useful reports
I do like a good graph, and this software kicks loads of them out for you, always a good thing for trend spotting
6. It syncs perfectly well with Diasend
mater works perfectly with the diasend uploader
7. It is fast
Gives BG reading in 4 seconds and blood ketone readings in 10 seconds
8.Great battery life
Had my meter 18 months on the same battery, and that’s with an average of 8 tests a day
9. Great telephone/web support
The website is great, set up an account, register your meter, then you can get free cases, finger prickers, log books, test solution and more, all for free
Check out their ➡ website here
The downsides are
1. No bolus calculator
Many other meters have this built in and lots of people use this feature. I have an app for that though, or the good old grey matter.
2. No logging of carb intake
This would be handy, would save having to type all the data into mysugr app
3. Not backlit
Would be nice to be able to see what you are doing when having a 3am hypo
4. Looks dated
It does look like the designers are living in the late 90’s on this front
As with everything in life it really comes down to personal preference. I wanted to try other meters as i wasn’t convinced the NHS doesn’t just dish out the cheapest option. Even if this is the cheapest option, which it isn’t, it certainly ticks many boxes in my eyes, and for the time being I am staying put with this one. And by staying put it saves having a long drawn out GP appointment just to get my strips changed over!!
Take care and test everywhere
Type1Bri