Expired Test Strips

[doctordun]

Do they really go bad?

[susique333]

I buy my strips off eBay (and some are expired) and I test them against a vile of new ones that I keep around. Have yet to find any expired strips that were off the mark. Walgreens usually has a "sale" basket and theyre sometimes in there at a reduced price. I think its a way for the manufactures to get folks to toss their lot and buy more. Google expired strips and its the manufatures that say toss em. Many diabetics continue to use them.

[notme]

I have had strips actually say "EXPIRED" on my meter. I was glad it was the strip and not me.

Yes, they can go bad.

[JediSkipdogg]

Expired strips do go bad. Usually though if they aren't too far past the expiration date they won't. THere's also one meter out there that when they do expire the meter won't accept the strips at all. That was brought up on here recently and I can't think of which meter it is, maybe someone else can chime in on that.

[doctordun]

I wonder how they can go bad. It appears they are just an electronic device. Do they have chemicals in them?

[susique333]

Expiration Dates, Expiry Dates of Pharmaceuticals / Drugs / Information Xchange / StuartXchange.com (http://www.stuartxchange.org/ExpirationDates.html)

I use the Freestyle freedom and test my ebay strips (if theyre soon to or are expired) along side a new strip. Easy way to check. I too question what goes stale on a glucose strip. Read below where they say that Freestyle strips can last 1 1/2 yrs after opening. #9 in the list.

Blood Sugar Monitors - What You Need to Know (http://www.diabetes-blood-sugar-solutions.com/blood-sugar-monitors.html)

[Holly]

A few years ago when my FIL was living with us - I was getting his readings at 2mmol. I wasn't seeing it in his behaviour. I made an appointment urgently with his geriatrician. His readings were really 18! The strips hadn't expired yet but only had about a month to go.

[slipperyelm]

I wish you all would say what brand of strips you are talking about, whether good or bad.

Only once have I had a box of expired strips. They were One Touch strips backin the days when One Touch took a "long time" (What was that? One minute? Forty seconds?) to give a result. The results seemed to be reliable, though they were 1 year past the date.

If someone wanted to give me an expired box, I would cheerfully accept. :)

[xanlexian]

I get the exact same results (sometimes off by 2 or 3 mg/dL) with my almost 1 year expired UltraSmart strips verses my Ascensia Contour strips that expire sometime next year.

The UltraSmart strips (which expired in May 2007) seem to be accurate.

[duck]

I've used Freestyles that were a year old, and compared them with new Freestyles, and the variance was within the "acceptable range". Actually, if IIRC, the variance was negligible. So I don't freak out about "expired" Freestyles that are less than one year expired, at least.

[morrisma]

The only thing I assume that can go wrong with most strips is moisture. Most have some form of dying agent in the packaging which will eventually stop working. More so in hot humid climates than cool dry ones but...
I suppose if you saved all the drying packs that come with many shipped items these days and threw them in a plastic box where you keep strips, it could help them last longer.
Mike

[w5wjp]

There are chemicals in the strips. Usually glucose oxidase or hexokinase. These are enzymes that will reduce glucose and with some other chemicals in the strip, either produce a color that is in proportion to the amount of glucose present or a small amount of electric current proportional to the amount of glucose. Since these chemicals are enzymes, they are highly specific to glucose, but they can be fooled. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) will give false results as well as some other common things. Some other medical conditions may also interfer. I can't remember which ones.

I was a senior medical lab tech for 20+ years in the Army and at Tacoma General Hospital.

[doctordun]

So now something new. I take vitamin C and Iron every day to combat anemia. If vitamin C can give false readings, I'm in trouble.

[rj5620]

Abbott Precision Xtra will not allow expired test strips, gives an error of E-6, change the date on the meter and they will work again.