Diabetes Test Kits

[JJReyes]

16 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Now are you still gonna trust a Philippine machine and the strips they sell here?

While visiting Walmart, I looked at diabetes testing kits. The most popular device is manufactured in the Philippines.  Test strips cost $9 for a package of 50 pieces. The pharmacist told me that the quality is the same because the FDA standards are strict. What is important is calibration to make sure the readings are accurate. The kits include artificial blood for testing. But most users don't bother using it.

[Rooster]

S&R sells Glucose Test kits located near the Vitamins.

[Dave Hounddriver]

13 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I was 5.2 and it says the reference range is 3.82 - 6.52.

I would be thrilled to maintain 5.2 as my early morning (fasting) reading.  Its a rare day I am below 6.5 unless I am spot on with my diet, exercise and medicine.  But I am thrilled to see an American using the metric system.  Usually, I have to explain that your "5.2" is (x18 = ) 93.6 in American.  (Here is a link to a chart to explain that.)

In short, I am envious.  But diabetes is about more than just the fasting number.  I have to check multiple times during the day because it is about how efficient the body is at using the glucose in your blood and supplying insulin to the blood.  Thus the 2 basic medicines:  Metformin to reduce the cell's resistance to insulin and Gliclazide to encourage the pancreas to make more insulin.  Its hard to overdose on the Metformin so no worries, but if your strip reading is wrong and you take too much Gliclazide then you will get a self-induced insulin overdose.

Gotta run.  Hope your blood glucose level always stays in the 5 range and you are golden!

[Gary D]

At the end of the day it's your HbA1c that matters and you are not going to get that from a test strip.

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, Gary D said:

At the end of the day it's your HbA1c that matters and you are not going to get that from a test strip

True, and it sounds very doctor-like. However, blood HbA1c levels are simply reflective of how well diabetes is controlled.

Type 2 diabetes is controlled by diet, exercise, and medicine.  The amount of medicine you need to take is dictated by the current glucose level in your body at that time.  THAT is what you get from a test strip, and if it's not accurate then you cannot be sure if your diabetes is well controlled.  Or you can just see a doctor and have him/her tell you something similar.  (Many doctors prescribe a regular dose of certain medicines each day.  If you get one of those I would urge a second opinion.  The meds needed will vary with how much exercise you are doing that week and what kinds of food and drink you are consuming.)

I understand that "age onset", "Type 2", "borderline" diabetes (which are similar terms depending on the decade, country and doctor where you are getting diagnosed) is acquired by many and understood by few.  It took me 15 years to get a handle on mine.  Each person is different.  No one can tell any of us how to handle our own blood sugar any better than our own trial and error experience of a long time. When I first got it, I was as clueless as anyone else who has been recently diagnosed.  Each person has to figure it out for themselves because each person has a different degree of insulin dysfunction, a different level of daily physical activity, and a different consumption level of food and beverage.

Please take this serious, folks.  If you are 90 and you get it then it's not gonna kill you.  If you get it in your 40's and don't take care of it, well let's just say diabetes-related heart disease kills a lot of people in their 60's if left uncontrolled for years.  For me, I just hate it when I try to convey my experiences to a friend who ignores them and dies and I end up at his funeral.  Too many times.  But those are the same guys who don't follow their doctor's advice either and I am sure that everyone here has an excellent doctor and follows their advice religiously