The four readings average out at 96, all of them are within 7% or so. Another possibility is that your blood sugars went up from 93 to a hundred with the 'trauma' of waking up. Did you confine yourself to the same finger and same hand. That too can make a difference.

Thanks for that info... I forgot about that. I try not to have it touch my finger, just the blood. Do you think that matters?

I think I did, but I'm not sure. Isn't that terrible. I can't remember didley squat! Grrr! My pinkie looks like i did!!!

Thanks guys!

I read in a post (this forum, I think) that some company said it mattered (because they didn't want to replace a bad vial of strips for someone) but I don't believe that it matters... does not make sense that it matters, and does not state so in the detailed instructions... In fact, if this were a significant point, I am certain it would state so ian LARGE PRINT on the BOTTLE, IMHO. I always use the surface of my skin to stabilize the strip. Perhaps, that is technically incorrect but I seem to get decent precision.

Others' mileage may vary but I highly doubt it.

Cyaz,
/smile

Korban, that was me that called Bayer about the testing strips. They had me run a bunch of things with the meter, and then I had to take a test with a strip. The guy said it is important that only blood touch the strip (not when you are just putting it in the meter, that's ok - but when actually testing). He said not to touch the skin.

As to using the same finger on the same hand, in Dr. Bernstein's book he says to use the same finger stick for all 4 tests. They are run one after the other, so one finger stick should do them all. The only thing I can think of that might affect this method is that if you squeeze too hard to get the blood drop, you run the risk of other fluid being part of the blood, so it's diluted and not accurate.

But I think the idea is to just try and figure out if all 4 tests in a row are within a small range. Nothing is perfectly accurate, even lab tests can be slightly off.

i have a freestyle but recently purchased the reli on (sam's/walmart). the strips are about 1/2 the price and the monitor was $8.88. it reads w/in the same range w only a two point difference. that seems about the same as the difference betw other monitors. it does say to continue to hold the strip in contact w the blood drop after the beep.

I found but did not buy a monitor and test strips here in China, for several reasons.

A meter can be purchased here for as little as $21.....

Test strips can be purchased for about 18 cents each in boxes of 40...........

The hastle is unbelievable. If you find a meter at a place, they don't have but a hand full of strips and don't know if and when they can get more. The instructions are only in Chinese, of course, but I do have interpreters. The meter reading is in a different system than in the USA, so the number you read has to be multiplied by 18 or something like that. You can't try it in the store and once you walk out with it, there is no return or refund. I don't trust the reliability of it. These shops are all exposed to the weather/elements every day, so depending on how long the meter and strips have been in stock, they've been exposed to a lot of temperature variations, which can't be good. Then I'd be afraid to stock up on test strips to last a couple of years (I might not return for that long when I leave) as the dang meter might break in the first month or so...

I'm going to run out of test strips in a few weeks, but I feel I have such good control now, I won't worry about it till I go home and just buy more strips for my relion meter and live with that.......

Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience at trying to come out cheap on meters an test strips....

I've finished with 100 strips and the Prestige iQ meter.
It works well but I don't like the blood draw method.
You have to put blood into the strip,look at the back of
the strip to see if you collected enough blood and,when
you have enough blood in the strip,shove the strip into the
meter and start the test.The test takes between 8 and 20 seconds.The repeatability of the readings is slightly better
than Relion but I will probably start using Relion again.
And so it goes...
Eddie

"Test strips can be purchased for about 18 cents each in boxes of 40...........
"
Cajun Boy - this tells me that strip may actually be expensive to produce, more than a penny a strip. I would now guess 5-10 cents. Why aren't our insurance companies on our side, and world source some of these supplies?

good point! Relion cost about 42 cents a test strip... We buy everything else from China, why not meters and test strips that are less expensive...