[sandmcd]

Hey...did you all purchase the meters because you wanted to or your Dr. suggested it?????I haven't and do not honestly know whether I should. ?????????????

[princesslinda]

Doc gave me a free meter when diagnosed. Also, CVS Pharmacy gives away free meters quarterly, just ask their pharmacy when the next give-away is. If you check under the "freebies" thread, there are things to fill out for a free meter, and if you watch DLife TV on CNBC (Sunday nights 7 pm EST), there's always a number to call for a free meter.

If you want to buy one, Walmart has a "generic" one that is much less expensive and the strips are less expensive as well.

Most office have free meters given to them by Drug Reps, as they make the most $$ off of the testing supplies.

[xMenace]

I use what I want to use. I've never paid for a meter. Up here if you buy 100 strips, they'll throw in the meter free. The companies know the real money is in the strips. They bend very easily.

[sandmcd]

Thanks....will talk to Dr. next week...going for echo/card....just routine!

[Ronin]

Hi Sandmdc!

I purchased mine. Since my health care provider is the VA I have to have a diagnosis of full blown Diabetes to get a meter from the VA. (Please note: I'm happy with my care through the VA here in NJ -- other veterans may have a different experience, but mine is good so far.)

I find having one important to managing myself and test at various intervals. Right now, since I'm pretty well under control (as witnessed by my HbA1c numbers) I only do an FBG each morning. If these go irratic I add tests during the day or if I change my regimine I add test to monitor their effectivness.

Meters provide information. Information is what you need to manage the condition. Don't wait for some MD to tell you what you need to do. As Linda mentioned, go to your local CVS and you can usually get a good deal. Their in-house meters were made by "True Track" and I have one of those meters and they work well.

[morrisma]

Once I realized the value of testing (years ago now) I quickly felt naked without my meter. Since I carry it with me everywhere, I like to have a spare at home & work.

I use an Abbot Freestyle Flash (I have no connection to the company) but you should consider the features you find most important. My list in no particular order:
Blood drop size - smaller is better
Speed of reading - faster is better
Where you can get the blood: fingers only vs arms, fingers, & other places - I strongly prefer forearm testing
Downloadable data - most meters will keep a history of the last 100-500 readings and many will download it to a computer using software and cable
Size of meter - smaller is often better as long as you can read it
Cost of strips - I haven't checked in a while but the prices seem fairly standard across most meters when I looked at some time ago. Diabetes Forecast has an annual review.
Insurance - if your ins co preferentially covers one type of meter, that probably outweighs all other considerations.
Lefty vs righty - I am very right handed and find that some strips which accept blood straight on are not as easy to use as those that have a right hand / left hand blood acceptance points. My Freestyle has blood acceptance ports on both sides of the strip while BD strips have one point at the end (or they used to). Not a big deal really.

Thats all I can think of but I'm sure others will jump in if they have other preferences.
Mike

[Montana1]

I have Insulin Resistance/pre-diabetes. As soon as I found out I went on line looking for meters. I got one, theBayer Ascensia Contour (free on line when filling out a short form) I go a prescription from my doctor for strips. I check about 3 times per day even though my doctor asked me to lower that down to 2-3 times per week. (Maybe because my bs elevation is not extremely high.) Hope this helps.
Montana