I am just starting to document things a little better date opened etc.
Contour next test strips how to#
In another week or so unless I hear anything I will have to figure out how to contact the FDA.
I generally don’t bring more than one vial with me so If I need a blood reading for medtronics I will keep attempting until I get a reading.
When I say failed I mean that more than 3 in a row will not work… more than one time. I talked to bayer/acensia once after the second vial failed and I just emailed To see if there were more people having a hard time with this particular brand before contacting the FDA and or if there was already something in progress which I haven’t seen. With the one touch strips I was closer to 1 in a 100 but even then that was usually when I wasn’t 100% certain I had enough blood. The mechanisms how they work so I am especially careful to try to take care of them. I am a biology instructor here and I am familiar with The house because you never know when the darn Medtronic blood demon might want a drop… But sheltered as much as possible It has been a relatively humid summer here in NJ but not like the everglades. Generally the open vial goes with me wherever I go outside I do about 4 tests /day so vials of 50 usually only last about a dozen days and these failed when the vials were more than ½ full), not subjected to unnecessary humidity no leaving in bathrooms etc. All three vials were open only between 5 and 10 days (On average I tried to shorten my initial post but should have given a few more details. my bayer meter strips never did it in my recollection. My hit rate for my J&J one touch was closer to 1 in 100.
Contour next test strips free#
I am using free strips by Livongo and my hit rate on errors (from the capillarity not sucking up blood or when the strip just returns an error) is 1 strip in about 40. If they soaked up a ton of humidity… because you left them opened… in your sauna… that might be on you.Įspecially if you are sure you didn’t mishandle them, You should definitely file a FDA complaint. The manufacturer should make good on them by replacing strips defective at manufacturing. that capillary (the small channel that is supposed to suck up blood), can be obstructed by physical damage or by humidity, and not suck up the blood, as well be blocked by the manufacturer.when the strip is assembled. The strip has a chemical in the capillary section that reacts with blood and the result of that reaction is what the meter reads. people sometimes store strips (opened and unopened, in the bathroom = big mistake. it’s best to keep your strips from excess humidity, and once opened, to completely use them in 30 days. These strips supposedly can take up more blood to complete the test once started but that only works on about every third hi Mike,Īll bg strips degrade in high humidity. I’ve tried washing my hands, doing another finger stick but nothing seems to work except opening a new vial.
They gave me a sample vial with something like 10 strips (this was a couple months ago) Big help after getting 70 to 80 bad strips. I tried calling bayer after the second vial got wonky and they said their was nothing they could do. I have used many different meters over the years and this is the only one that has given me any problems. Until I started the minimed 670g I was using a one touch ultra smart meter. they should probably have some sort of anti desiccant in the vial. I suspect it is a design flaw on the packaging. Generally i will dip a strip into an excessive drop of blood and it will fill partially and the machine will say strip underfilled. What happens is the strips will not take up blood past a certain point even if there is plenty available( a drop about the size of a sesame seed with plenty left over after the strip takes up some). I have had 3 vials of 50 go bad in the last 2 months. Has anyone had any problems with the contour next strips? For me they seem to go bad pretty quick when there is high humidity.