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From: dorsy1943 on 2 Jul 2008 06:13 although I have been testing my blood for seventeen years, I have ignored the instructions on the insert that comes with the test strips which says do not squeeze. If I test just after exercise, I get a nice free flowing drop of blood. But other times I can barely get a small drop and so squeeze my finger to get a nicer size drop. Why does the package insert say not to squeeze the finger. Another question. A friend who has hypoglycemia and tests her blood for this, and who also happens to be a lab tech who tests blood, says not to use the first drop of blood, but to wipe the finger and use the second drop of blood. (If I do this I have to definitely squeeze the finger to get a second drop of blood) She says it is more accurate. I tried it with two different strips and did not see much difference, although the second drop gave a very slightly lower reading but well within the range one might expect from testing several times. My brother uses this method now and says his readings have been lower. Any comments? Dolores
From: Robert Miles on 2 Jul 2008 08:25 "dorsy1943" <dtms69(a)usadatanet.net> wrote in message news:3a8658bc-bb69-48c7-ba6f-7d82b5c5d0f1(a)a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com... > although I have been testing my blood for seventeen years, I have > ignored the instructions on the insert that comes with the test strips > which says do not squeeze. If I test just after exercise, I get a > nice free flowing drop of blood. But other times I can barely get a > small drop and so squeeze my finger to get a nicer size drop. Why > does the package insert say not to squeeze the finger. > > Another question. A friend who has hypoglycemia and tests her blood > for this, and who also happens to be a lab tech who tests blood, says > not to use the first drop of blood, but to wipe the finger and use the > second drop of blood. (If I do this I have to definitely squeeze the > finger to get a second drop of blood) She says it is more accurate. > I tried it with two different strips and did not see much difference, > although the second drop gave a very slightly lower reading but well > within the range one might expect from testing several times. My > brother uses this method now and says his readings have been lower. > Any comments? > > Dolores I usually have to squeeze also. I haven't tried the second drop method.
From: Charly Coughran on 2 Jul 2008 12:50 dorsy1943 <dtms69(a)usadatanet.net> wrote in news:3a8658bc-bb69-48c7-ba6f-7d82b5c5d0f1 @a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com: > although I have been testing my blood for seventeen years, I have > ignored the instructions on the insert that comes with the test > strips which says do not squeeze. If I test just after exercise, I > get a nice free flowing drop of blood. But other times I can barely > get a small drop and so squeeze my finger to get a nicer size drop. > Why does the package insert say not to squeeze the finger. > > Another question. A friend who has hypoglycemia and tests her blood > for this, and who also happens to be a lab tech who tests blood, > says not to use the first drop of blood, but to wipe the finger and > use the second drop of blood. (If I do this I have to definitely > squeeze the finger to get a second drop of blood) She says it is > more accurate. I tried it with two different strips and did not see > much difference, although the second drop gave a very slightly lower > reading but well within the range one might expect from testing > several times. My brother uses this method now and says his > readings have been lower. Any comments? > > Dolores The advice to not squeeze the finger stems from the fear that interstitial fluid may dilute the blood and produce an inaccurate reading even though in most circumstances interstitial fluid and capillary blood are close in glucose concentration. The advice to wipe the first drop and use the second stems from the fear that the first drop might be contaminated with something, e.g. alcohol, that will produce an inaccurate reading. As you have already discovered, in practice the effects, if any, are ignorable. A small study which included second drop and a couple pre test skin preparations can be found at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MDR/is_2_6/ai_90218711 Their conclusion was, "Our study showed that there was no significant difference between the different types of skin preparation, when performing capillary blood glucose testing." -- ------- Charly Coughran ccoughran(a)DELETE-TO-RESPOND-UCSD.EDU
From: hemyd on 2 Jul 2008 17:44 "dorsy1943" <dtms69(a)usadatanet.net> wrote in message news:3a8658bc-bb69-48c7-ba6f-7d82b5c5d0f1(a)a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com... > although I have been testing my blood for seventeen years, I have > ignored the instructions on the insert that comes with the test strips > which says do not squeeze. If I test just after exercise, I get a > nice free flowing drop of blood. But other times I can barely get a > small drop and so squeeze my finger to get a nicer size drop. Why > does the package insert say not to squeeze the finger. > > Another question. A friend who has hypoglycemia and tests her blood > for this, and who also happens to be a lab tech who tests blood, says > not to use the first drop of blood, but to wipe the finger and use the > second drop of blood. (If I do this I have to definitely squeeze the > finger to get a second drop of blood) She says it is more accurate. > I tried it with two different strips and did not see much difference, > although the second drop gave a very slightly lower reading but well > within the range one might expect from testing several times. My > brother uses this method now and says his readings have been lower. > Any comments? > > Dolores Hello Dolores, In my case, and I imagine that of many others', it would be impossible to get a droplet of blood at certain times without some squeezing. Also, I don't mind if there is a slight variation towards the higher reading - it motivates me more! If I feel my hands are contaminated by anything, I wash them before testing. Henry
From: dorsy1943 on 3 Jul 2008 09:15
On Jul 2, 5:44 pm, "hemyd" <myd!!!...@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > "dorsy1943" <dtm...(a)usadatanet.net> wrote in message > > news:3a8658bc-bb69-48c7-ba6f-7d82b5c5d0f1(a)a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com... > > > > > > > although I have been testing my blood for seventeen years, I have > > ignored the instructions on the insert that comes with the test strips > > which says do not squeeze. If I test just after exercise, I get a > > nice free flowing drop of blood. But other times I can barely get a > > small drop and so squeeze my finger to get a nicer size drop. Why > > does the package insert say not to squeeze the finger. > > > Another question. A friend who has hypoglycemia and tests her blood > > for this, and who also happens to be a lab tech who tests blood, says > > not to use the first drop of blood, but to wipe the finger and use the > > second drop of blood. (If I do this I have to definitely squeeze the > > finger to get a second drop of blood) She says it is more accurate. > > I tried it with two different strips and did not see much difference, > > although the second drop gave a very slightly lower reading but well > > within the range one might expect from testing several times. My > > brother uses this method now and says his readings have been lower. > > Any comments? > > > Dolores > > Hello Dolores, > > In my case, and I imagine that of many others', it would be impossible to > get a droplet of blood at certain times without some squeezing. > > Also, I don't mind if there is a slight variation towards the higher > reading - it motivates me more! If I feel my hands are contaminated by > anything, I wash them before testing. > > Henry- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - thanks to all who answered. Dolores |