GD moms - meter discrepancies?

dmm113

So this afternoon I ate well for lunch and snack - all measured and things I've eaten before without an issue. My sugar 2 hrs after this was 170! I was dumbfounded and thought it was not possible seeing as though I've never been that high and had a good eating day. So I immediately rechecked at it was 86! How is this all possible? I ran a control on the meter and it came back within normal. Anyone else experience large discrepancies like this?
Edited for typo.

memali26

Did you make sure your hands were clean? No lotions, soaps, food residue? All of those things can mess with the number. Checked to make sure the pack of strips wasn't expired? If all of that was fine, I'd blame it on a bad strip and just make sure to keep an eye on the rest in that batch.

dmm113

I did use an alcohol pad to clean my finger - can't say I actually waited for it to fully dry - don't know if that would alter it.
Other than that, I can't think of anything else so I think I will just assume bad strip - I'm almost to the end of this batch anyway so hopefully I don't have any more issues.
Thanks - it was disconcerting to see that high number even though I didn't believe it was accurate.

mmooki

Meters are allowed to have a 20% variance... Basically if you test at 100, you are anywhere between 80 and 120. Your numbers are a bit more than 20% difference, but like pp said, maybe something on your hands... Alcohol wipes can sometimes show a higher reading.

ATXMamaDoll

This is good to know. I will have to remember to recheck my number next time I get a super high number after eating something that normally doesn't make my sugars high.

dmm113

I was just reading that alcohol could lead to higher numbers - I think I'll be sure to let it dry or just wash with soap and water from now on!

ATXMamaDoll

That's usually what I do - wash with soap and water before testing. I've only had one odd reading.

marianaz0

The alcohol mixes with the blood and gives you an inaccurate reading! Try wiping with a sterile gauze after wiping the alcohol or let it completely air dry!

beachgirl1977

Happened to me a few times. Once my fasting wasv145! Testers twice right away and it was 86/84. I just feel bad wasting strips retesting

dmm113

beachgirl1977 said:

Happened to me a few times. Once my fasting wasv145! Testers twice right away and it was 86/84. I just feel bad wasting strips retesting

I understand what u mean! I was going to retest again to make sure the 86 was accurate but I didn't want to waste any more strips either! Those things are expensive!

ATXMamaDoll

Yeah, they are! My insurance barely covers any of it, so it mostly comes out of pocket for me. My best friend growing up has been type 1 diabetic since she was six. Now I know some of what she goes through. Ick. I have to put the setting on 1 so it doesn't make all of my fingers so sore. Ouch!

MuppetOnBoard2

I couldn't believe the strips were so expensive!  And my endocrinologist just bumped me up to testing 8 times a day.  I only have 10 fingers for crying out loud.  Youch!

dmm113

Ouch! Thankfully I'm only testing 4x/day now. It's mostly out of pocket for us too - I'm not sure why more isn't covered by insurance. And our insurance is annoying bc since I'm not on insulin I can only get 50 test strips at a time so I have to go back to the pharmacy every 10-12 days or so.

elio23

I know what you girls mean.  I once had a reading of 170 and tried again immediately and got a 117.  I usually don't let the alcohol dry completely though so that's definitely good to know. And I always seem to run out of strips a day before my insurance will (partially) cover a refill.  There's a day or two in my log where I didn't test.  I'll just have to explain that to my doctor. Those things are not cheap...