What do you think about the new “strips” which read for lab equivalent results, and not whole blood? A customer service rep told me to discount their meter’s reading of 90, and go with the 70 which my old meter said, and which agreed with how I felt. I don’t want to have to subtract every test result!

The meter change is certainly confusing… Betty Brackenridge and I wrote a letter to the editor of Forecast which was published July 1998, with the same concerns you have. We feel that the change to “plasma referenced” strips is a big deal that should be reviewed with patients. When your meter reads 90 on a plasma referenced strip, it really is 90, which is approximately the same number as a whole blood reading of 70. I don’t think you should try converting back to whole blood numbers but change the numbers in your head where you are treating lows, etc. You will find that by managing with the new numbers your log book and HbA1c will be more in sync.

VV