How do I know what number is right on my meter?

Friday night I was in the car with my family, was not driving, going to Liberal, Ks. I checked my blood sugar and it was 69… So I checked again… it was 172… was weird… so I checked it agin… it was 209 . This was the last time to check my blood sugar… it was 170… So what number is right on my BD meter that Minimed gave to me with my insulin pump? I did this again before bed time I checked my blood sugars 3 times this time because by the third time I got upset… The blood sugar reading where 1st-226 2nd-306 3rd-176… I haven’t call the help line to BD or the people who bought them out… I just been checking my blood sugar three times in one time frame to see what’s going on… I just don’t get it… Trying so hard to get my numbers perfect…

It’s not you, it’s the meter. This is what happened to me the last time I ended up in the ER. I went because there weren’t any open places to buy a new machine, and I was throwing up. My bloodsugars turned out to be fine, and the doctor tried to give me juice because I was dehydrated.

Use the control solution if you have it. Call the helpline. They’ll ask you a lot of questions about how you test (hand washing, how you store your meter, etc). And if neither of those things fix the problem, go buy a new meter. You don’t want to be without one.

Shawna, what is the strip code # you’re currently using? I was getting poor results with a batch of BD strips with code number 19. But my recent batch is code number 21 and I’ve been getting very consistent results. I suspect either your meter is bad or you have a bad batch of test strips. In either case, BD should replace them both with those kind of inconsistencies.

Wash your hands, replace the battery, and if disparity remains, get a new meter. FDA allows 20% error, real working meters might be as much as 50% off, but you’re reporting more than 100% off.

All the advice previously given is good advice. I just want to add two things:

  1. If you are doing “alternative site testing” don’t. The results simply are not reliable. Always use fingers. If you are repeating a test – use the same finger (I know, owie) because you can get different readings from each finger.

  2. Even with fingers there is a lag time so if you are feeling shakey and the meter does not say hypo yet, retest in a few minutes or have a light snack.

Several months ago we got a diabetes service dog for our 8-year-old daughter. He ALWAYS sniffs out a low blood sugar (he also catches highs) about 15-30 minutes before our meter shows it. We have learned to go with the dog. He is far more accurate (plus he’s cute).


Thanks for everyone input… I had a back meter and it does the same thing… Hayley, my daughter, saw an add on TV about a free Contour Blood Glucose Monitoring System… So I went online and got the coupon. Now All I need is a script from my dr…