Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marfem on November 29, 2012 at 1:49pm

I've used a number of different meters over my 15 years living with diabetes and have never seen the option of switching between mmol/l and the US scale. I think they are factory set. Which meter are you wanting from the US?

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Permalink Reply by Dee Meloche on November 29, 2012 at 2:11pm

I was looking at the True Test glucometer.Amazon.com will ship to Canada and their test strips are alot cheaper than in Canada.My insurance company only allows 2400 test strips a year which isn't near enough.I test at least 7 times a day.Plus basal testing 3x a month.I figured out the math and 2400 doesn't cut it.So I am forced to buy them outright.What a shame!

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Permalink Reply by Aeon on November 29, 2012 at 2:30pm

This is a terrific and important point in this thread. Sadly even the new Tandem pump I got does not offer the option to use millimoles. That's a shame. Of course we all know why. A hand full of people might get confused. I would like the whole world to use the one system, and it would surely be based on moles. I refer both the bG and A1c values. There are expert who would agree.

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Permalink Reply by Laddie on November 29, 2012 at 2:32pm

In the old days, you could choose the measurement type on some of the meters. I remember a recall on One Touch meters where they were replaced with meters that could not be switched. So I think that it's very unlikely that you can buy meters that allow you to convert back and forth.

I suppose you could get a US meter and try to get really good at dividing numbers by 18....

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Permalink Reply by Dee Meloche on November 29, 2012 at 3:28pm

That's what I thought as I wasn't able to find any information on changing the measurement.

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Permalink Reply by Clare on December 1, 2012 at 3:37pm

I got a free Insulinx meter from the UK and it won't allow me to use mg/dl, it is set solely in mmol/g. I believe that there should be some in the US that allow that conversion.

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Permalink Reply by Marfem on December 6, 2012 at 9:27am

I currently use the Insulinx Meter and like it for the most part. I programmed it myself, but no where did I see the options changing the mmol/l to mg/dl.

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Permalink Reply by Vancouversailor on December 6, 2012 at 10:02am

Most meters are programmable i.e. you can set the date, time and what system you want the result in.
Otherwise, to convert from the US to Canadian measurement simply divide by 18. Inversely, to convert from Canadian to US multiply by 18.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy on December 11, 2012 at 2:54pm

Call the company that you want to buy the meter from and tell them you are considering a new meter but you have a problem with getting it in the correct units.
I bet you they will mail you one free.
Every time I have called a meter company about something even small, they offer to upgrade or give me a free one.

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Permalink Reply by Vancouversailor on December 11, 2012 at 3:03pm

That is because the moneymaker is not the meters but the repeat purchases of test strips and lancets. So giving away meters to get new regular buyers of supplies for a particular brand makes a lot of business sense. In fact I suspect that when someone buys a meter in a drugstore, about 100 percent of the profit on that sale goes to the drugstore that promoted that partiular meter.

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Permalink Reply by Dee Meloche on December 15, 2012 at 6:43pm

I have the problem solved.My insurance company has lifted the ban on test strips and now I can order as I need them.It doesn't matter what the price as I can test as often as I need to.What a stress relief!!

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Permalink Reply by Clare on December 15, 2012 at 6:52pm

Glad to hear that Dee, it's an unnecessary stress to begin with but one intensified by the insurance company bureaucracy. I have gotten lucky recently though and got a G4 CGM so I am using far fewer test strips now.

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