The Infinity Meter

David Mendosa Living With It Medical Journalist Living with Diabetes and Author of Fitness and Photography for Fun, www.mendosa.com/fitnessblog After earning a B.A. with honors from the University of California,... Send Message Subscribe: David Mendosa

Sunday, July 05, 2009
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The price of blood glucose meters isn't the problem. But the price of test strips sure can be. The last time I looked, some of the leading manufacturers were charging us almost $1 per test strip. For those of us who don't have health insurance and test a lot, that can get expensive pretty quick. Bu...

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Meters
Gracie
Sunday, July 05, 2009 at 10:46 PM

I love my Breeze2 meter, been with them from diagnosis. And since I have insurance the cost isn't too bad ( $10.00 for 300 strips) have you tested this one? If so how do you feel about it. I like it's nice big size, fits my hand pretty well. And no coding, and the strips come in a disc of 10.

Hugs,

G

re: Meters
David Mendosa
Sunday, July 05, 2009 at 10:55 PM

Dear Gracie,

That was one of the first no coding meters, and maybe the very first. I mentioned it in a couple articles on my website, but haven't formally tested it. I do like it.

Still, if you have used that meter for more than a couple of years, it's time to get a new one, even if it's the same model. Meters do get less accurate as time goes by. One endo even told me that we should get a new meter every year.

Best regards,

David

re: re: Meters
Gracie
Sunday, July 05, 2009 at 10:59 PM

David,

Thanks for the info. No this isn't the original, I upgraded when the Breeze 2 came out ( started with the Breeze) and had one malfunction, so I'm on my 3rd. But I kind of like the idea of getting a new one every year, makes good sense. I've never been to an endo, but that sounds like good advice.

Hugs,

G

meters
Gretchen Becker
Monday, July 06, 2009 at 11:44 AM

David: You've probably accumulated a lot of meters. It would be very interesting if you tested with as many as you still have strips for and reported the results here.

re: meters
David Mendosa
Monday, July 06, 2009 at 05:17 PM

Dear Gretchen,

I have tested 50 or more meters. But one of the advantages of my diabetes support group is that I have a group of people with diabetes more than ready to take them off my hands after I write about them.

Best regards,

David

meters
Anonymous
Monday, July 06, 2009 at 03:50 PM

I just recently discovered your articles and find them very useful and informative. Thank you for all the work.

I have 2 perfectly good meters, but when our insurance changed to a health savings acct., I discovered that my test strips cost over $100 for 100 strips. I have since been using the Sidekick from HOME diagnostics of Ft Lauderdale FL. A container of 50 strips with a built in meter costs about $20 at Walmart. The sample size is small and the test takes 5 seconds. Each test costs just under 40 cents.

re: meters
Gretchen Becker
Monday, July 06, 2009 at 07:16 PM

The problem with choosing a meter on the basis of price alone is that we need accuracy and precision as well as affordable cost. The next time you get lab tests, test your BG with your new meter at the same time (using finger prick, not the blood they draw) to get an idea of how accurate it is.

re: Sidekick meters
reader
Friday, July 17, 2009 at 12:14 AM

I tried the Sidekick & discovered (as other have) that it reads consistently low compared to all other meters--about 20 percent lower, and sometimes even more. Try comparing the readings to another meter.

infinity meter
fiftyate
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 at 01:09 PM

hi david, i always enjoy your postings. you said that you are not qualifiedto judge the accuracy of meters, but i recall you did accuracy testing on a wave sense meter and gave your opinion on it's accuracy. have you since changed your mind. thanks. margareta

re: infinity meter
David Mendosa
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 at 01:24 PM

Dear Margareta,

Good memory! I still like the WaveSense meters, particularly the Jazz. I haven't change my mind about them. But I have changed my mind about my ability to judge the accuracy and precision of our blood glucose meters.

Best regards,

David

Low cost BG Testing
psdlife
Saturday, August 01, 2009 at 12:35 AM
It's good to see that low cost meters are becoming more available. I had to switch to one after I no longer had major medical coverage. I miss the extended logging functions of my UltraSmart, but at a savings of 0.80 per test, it's worth my time to manually log the secondary data. FYI: The CleverCheck strips from Simple Diagnostics sell for $9.99/50 at American Diabetic Supply, Hocks has their Autocode Voice Meter for $9.99

cost of glucose strips
charles
Saturday, August 01, 2009 at 07:43 AM

Hi David: Let me first say that I enjoy your postings and emails very much and also appreciate all your efforts for diabetics and diabetes.

I have an accu-chek active machine and those strips cost about $28 for 50. I've

started buying them on ebay. I recently purchased 250 strips for about $60 and

that's about 24 cents per strip. I've often purchased them even cheaper. They always

arrive in their sealed boxes and have never been disappointed. Just another place

your readers can check into.

Good luck!!!!