[VermontChick]

what one would you recommend? my insurance will cover any of their models, and i was wondering what you guys woud recommend...

[meowee]

Personally I'd pick whichever one appeals to you the most and for whatever reason. They are each as accurate as the other IMHO.

I like one that uses a very small blood sample because it means less vicious finger pricking. Some need to be coded (just once for each new set of strips) and others don't. Not a hardship one way or the other in my opinion.

Some are designed to be used either on the finger or on the arm (for example) where things are supposed to hurt less. Mine is one like that but I've never been happy with the way it works on anywhere but my fingers anyway. Seems to take more effort to get the blood out. But it definitely doesn't hurt.

They all keep track of a million and one things, but I don't use any of those features anyway so for me simpler is better. I do like my Freestyle MiniLite because it is quite tiny and thus easy to cart around in its own little case.

Just another little tip from my experience -- I use a different finger every day in a regular ten day rotation, so that each finger doesn't get it all the time. Helps spread the prick around a bit.

[Ruthxxx]

I have a freestyle that tests with a tiny drop of blood which I take from my arm near the elbow crease. There are fewer nerves there than in the fingers so it doesn't hurt as much as finger pricking.

[sapphire9]

I use One Touch. They make a mini size you can carry around easily. I've never paid for one. My HMO sent me two and when the batteries ran out I called Life Scan, the manufacturer, and they sent me a replacement, gratis. The strips, however, are expensive. Life Scan will also provide you with a nice little book to keep track of your readings. This I take to my doctor appointments.

[blueeyes49442]

I have used both the one touch and the acu-check. I prefer the one touch. It worked much better for me and seemed to use a lesser amount of blood.

[thedawnster]

I prefer the one touch to the accu-check, but that is just my personal preference.

[VermontChick]

well i might as well close up this thread and announce that i ended up going with the one touch mini. my one comlaint about it, is that it seems to give a lot of 'error' messages. you do not have a lot of time to get your blood into the strip before it times out. and it times out if you don't put the blood onto the strip by a certain time....and also i don't like how it doesn't beep.

[meowee]

Prick you finger before you stick the strip into the machine.

[Ruthxxx]

I put the strip into the machine and then prick and use the machine and strip to pick up the blood.