Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kate on November 10, 2011 at 6:08am

Wow, Helmut - that's crazy! Please let us know how the new meter works out for you...I'm very curious!

Permalink Reply by Helmut on November 10, 2011 at 3:34pm

While I am waiting for the new BG meter I started to take 5 BG tests from the same big blood drop during Dexcom calibration:

Tests are done with

1) OneTouch Ultra Mini
2) FreeStyle Flash with previous generation strips
3) OmniPod PDM with previous generation strips
4) FreeStyle Flash with butterfly strips
5) OmniPod PDM with butterfly strips

Results in the same order:

This morning: 89/91/95/73/75
This evening: 96/93/95/78/72

Permalink Reply by HPNpilot on November 10, 2011 at 8:58pm

They included a Freestyle Freedom in the box with my PDM until the strips are approved in the PDM.
It will be interesting to see what they send you....the butterfly strips are approved in the Flash, so my guess is the new meter will not be too different.

Permalink Reply by Scott Wilkins on May 10, 2012 at 1:41pm

I just got my PDM/pods yesterday. I'm a new Omnipod user starting this weekend. Wondered why the Freestyle was in there too. Thanks for the info, it makes sense now.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on May 10, 2012 at 2:59pm

My Freestyle Freedom is not much better than the PDM. My Freestyle Freedom reads low too.

Permalink Reply by PaulG on November 11, 2011 at 9:05am

Interesting numbers. But looking at those it seems the problem is the new strips and not the PDM. Quite a difference.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on November 11, 2011 at 3:41pm

I got a FreeStyle FREEDOM meter from Abbott. The first result is not promising.

1) OneTouch Ultra Mini
2) FreeStyle Flash with previous generation strips
3) OmniPod PDM with previous generation strips
4) FreeStyle Flash with butterfly strips
5) OmniPod PDM with butterfly strips
6) FreeStyle FREEDOM with butterfly strips

155/155/157/129/125/133

For the next test I will use butterfly strips from a different box with a different expiration date.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on November 11, 2011 at 3:51pm

I just googled "freestyle butterfly reading low". The first result reads:

"So I'm seeing a difference of 20% and I am definitely not satisfied with that!"

link

Permalink Reply by Seth on November 12, 2011 at 3:28am

Helmut,

If you check the original thread from over a year ago I was the person that started this thread and contacted Insulet. Despite everyone telling me that they were fine my data is very similar to your data.

Unfortunately, Insulet chose the wrong partner in Abbott first they abandon the Navigator and now this whole strip mess. I am hoping they put a different brand meter in the next PDM. By Abbott no longer making the old style strips they are saying screw you to PDM customers. I have spoken to them many times and they say it is a shortage which is a JOKE. I heard the same line from them regarding the Navigator and they strung us along and then discontinued the product. It is clear by their actions they do NOT care about customers.

Insulet is stuck here and the best people like us can do is carry a separate meter which is a pain.

I know others have had success with the new strips but you are not crazy they do not work for me either.

So much for making diabetes a smaller part of my life.

Be well...

Permalink Reply by Helmut on November 12, 2011 at 7:10am

Seth, I agree 100%.

Permalink Reply by Helmut on November 12, 2011 at 6:43pm

A fellow TU member changed the code on his PDM from 16 to 12 to improve accuracy.

I compared previous generation strips and butterfly strips with different code settings for the butterfly strips to find my magic number. My magic number for the butterfly strips is 18.

Then I came up with an even better method for finding the magic number: I used control solution. Typical results were:

16: 80 mg/dl
17: 90 mg/dl
18: 100 mg/dl
19: 110 mg/dl

I tested with 8 different lots with different expiration dates. The results were pretty consistent.
My old strips tested at 100 mg/dl. The ideal result would be 104 mg/dl.

Permalink Reply by Mike W on November 13, 2011 at 7:30pm

So are you using 18 now with the butterfuly strips? From the preceding tests it appears that the butterfuly strips are reading uniformly low...and maybe the 18 set will correct this bias? Thanks for all this helpful information. Mike.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page