Any diabetics on Yaris World?

[fluke_boy]

Originally Posted by jjonrofl

Have you tried meters with smaller blood samples? that way, you can subsequently use a lighter prick and not "milk" as much for blood.

Or, have you tried in your arm? I tried once. Didn't work for me, but works for others

Sorry for this late reply - I was informed by a nurse that they discourage blood sampling from the arm as it isn't "accurate" enough. As for meters with smaller blood samples - like which ones? And are the meters and strips cheap or cheaper?

As an aside, I've noticed that the skin on my right fingertips seem to be thicker than on the left fingertips so I tend to click on 4 out of the 1 to 5 settings on the pin pricker. Any less and I draw no blood or just too less of an amount to test.

[127.0.0.1]

Originally Posted by fluke_boy

Sorry for this late reply - I was informed by a nurse that they discourage blood sampling from the arm as it isn't "accurate" enough. As for meters with smaller blood samples - like which ones? And are the meters and strips cheap or cheaper?

As an aside, I've noticed that the skin on my right fingertips seem to be thicker than on the left fingertips so I tend to click on 4 out of the 1 to 5 settings on the pin pricker. Any less and I draw no blood or just too less of an amount to test.

1) arm isn't accurate enough for 'brittle' diabetics whose blood sugar can fluctuate rapidly and wildly.
fingertips have more circulation...hence, more accurate gauge of current blood load and what you just ate.
many nurses (I find) don't know a lot though unless they are (1) diabetic and (2) have an A1c like mine. YOU need
to teach yourself what works for YOU.

how do I know this ? If I listened to, and did what the nurses told me initially, I'd have complications by now and an
A1c of 8 or higher. certain doom. Instead, I read books and test myself, and now all anyone can say to me
is: keep doing whatever it is you are doing, and by the way need any prescriptions filled ?

2) you can get a cheap 18 dollar one-touch meter that takes a tiny sample
and reports results in 5 seconds. you can also buy a 100 dollar one-touch meter.
all you need is the number, so go with the cheap meter. the strip is the thing
calculating glucose, the meter just displays the number based on the galvanic reading
from ferrocyanide.

3) NO strips are cheap. average price is 80 bucks for box of 100. that is just how it is.
there is 'science' going on in the strip, not the meter.

4) all strips are 'somewhat' inaccurate. the closer to normal your blood glucose is, the more accurate the strip will be. if you get a wild reading you might need to wipe and dry the finger and squeeze another drop and use another strip to be sure, and if that 2nd reading is different, burn a 3rd strip.

yes it costs to use strips, but it is cheaper than dialysis later in life, knowwhutImean ?

5) the pinkies seem to have the best blood flow. I use the sides of my pinkies after washing in warm water. max blood. ring finger next. some nutbags use the other side of the finger, below the fingernail and above the knuckle. you get blood there but I am not poking that side. to each his own.

6) some medical plans pay the most for the strips (mine does) so I can get prescribed 6-8 test strips a day, doesn't cost me much, get a boatload of boxes of strips in the mail, and I can test my self to death if I want I will never run out. That is how I can run 5.6 A1c. I test a lot.

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All anyone who is diabetic really needs to worry about is 4 things:
have test strips, have insulin, have needle tips, have lancets.

oh yes you bet it is more complicated than that, but once you get
the routine down, it becomes second nature and then all you worry about
are the 4 things above.

***type 2 may be different. taking any other drug(s)
other than the steroid 'insulin' throws a huge monkey wrench in the mix
and how to manage it and whatnot...hopefully hard exercise can get
you normalized.