verio – Hugging the Cactus

It occurred to me the other day that even though I wrote a couple of blog posts and even made a video about it, I still haven’t addressed one major component of my new Livongo blood sugar meter: its accuracy.

How does it stack up to my Verio meter? More importantly, do I think it’s accurate?

Well…the answer isn’t cut-and-dry because I think it can be accurate…as long as my blood sugar isn’t above 200.

How did I arrive at this conclusion?

I conducted a little experiment.

Bear in mind here, I’m no expert in experimental design, so I established a simple setup for this. During the period of approximately two weeks, whenever I checked my blood sugar, I used the same drop of blood on test strips for two different meters: my Livongo and my Verio.

And the results were interesting, to say the least.

Whenever I was about 80-180, my results from the Livongo meter and the Verio meter were within about 10 points from one another. One instance, I was 86 on the Livongo and 92 on the Verio. Another time, I was 105 on the Verio and 113 on the Livongo. The meters never reported the exact same number at any point during my experiment, but I was happy whenever they showed similar results.

Things got dicey, though, any time I entered the hyperglycemic range.

Add a heading (1) — That 163 and 165 show how at times, the two meters were in agreement with one another…but then there’s that 231 and 262. Those are just a little too different for my liking.

It was weird and I can’t explain it, but the Livongo would report that I was anywhere from 20-50 points higher than what was on my Verio at a given point in time when my levels were 200+. This really surprised me, because I’d suspected that my Verio skewed a little higher compared to most other meters, so I never thought that the Livongo would prove me wrong about that. At times, it was truly maddening: On one occasion, the Livongo said I was 251 and my Verio said I was 204. That’s the difference of at least 1-2 units of insulin for me in order to correct that high! Even more frustratingly, because I didn’t trust the result from either machine, I checked my blood sugar again immediately and the Verio said 242, while the Livongo said 228.

WTF?!

That particular example was extremely confusing because I didn’t know which piece of technology to trust. And that’s the big thing for me: I need to know that I can depend on whichever blood sugar meter I’m using to deliver accurate results.

So again, remember that I’m no good with numbers, and that this is simply an estimation…but if I had to guess how many times the Livongo agreed with the Verio, I’d say it was no more than 7 out of 10 times. And I’m super bummed about that, because I’d genuinely hoped that I could trust my Livongo meter and use it full-time whenever I was taking a break from my CGM. Given the fact that it seems to be accurate when my blood sugar is in range, though, I suppose I could use that as motivation to work harder to prevent hyperglycemic readings…but I’m not perfect and I know that they will still happen from time to time. And I deserve a piece of technology that will accurately report them to me so I can make the best possible treatment decisions.

In theory, I still like the Livongo: It has a great design and some of its features (e.g., test strip reordering) are totally unique. But in practice? It leaves a bit to be desired.

Unexpectedly, I just obtained two brand-new blood sugar meters.

I’ve been a fairly loyal user of my OneTouch Verio IQ meter for about a decade now – that’s a longer relationship than the one I’ve had with Dexcom or OmniPod. It’s been mostly a loving relationship: From the beginning, I was a big fan of its sleek design, back-lit screen, and overall portability/usability. It grew a little more tumultuous over the years, though, as I noticed occasional, unprompted system shutdowns and questioned the overall accuracy of the device.

So I decided it was time to explore other options.

I brought this up to my endocrinologist during my very brief appointment with her a few weeks ago, and she let me know that a new Verio meter would be available soon. She said that she would set one aside for me when she received the shipments and that I could come and pick it up whenever I was back at the clinic.

Coincidentally, my gynecologist’s office is just down the hall from my endo, so I was able to pull double duty the other day and pick up the new meter right after my annual appointment with the lady doctor!

I was super excited to have a new meter, and even happier that it would take the same strips as my old meter. But there was one problem that I discovered when I got home…

…the meter I received isn’t the fancy-schmancy one just released by OneTouch.

Not 1, But 2 New Blood Sugar Meters_ How I Got 'Em and Why I Need 'Em — My old Verio IQ (left) with my new Verio Flex (right)

Instead, it was a generation after my Verio IQ – so it’s still a new one – though it’s decidedly less impressive, technology-wise, compared to its counterpart. It’s the OneTouch Verio Flex, and it’s very compact, but lacking a charging port (it runs on a battery) and the back-light that I loved so much about my Verio IQ.

Before I could fret too much about this minor disappointment – I can’t get too upset over a meter that I didn’t have to pay for – I noticed a letter on the counter addressed to me from my company.

I opened it up and was pleased to discover that my company is partnering with Livongo to offer a free blood glucose testing kit, free lancets/strips, and free coaching to all qualified associates with diabetes.

Talk about a sick benefit, right?!

I followed the instructions enclosed with the letter and within five minutes, my information was submitted to the Livongo website and my kit was on its way to me.

I’m totally pumped about this meter and this new program that my company set up. I’ve never heard of them doing anything like this before, and it will be a huge relief to know that I won’t have to worry about ordering blood sugar testing strips (or the associated cost) any time soon. But the meter itself sounds so dang cool, too – it has a full-color touchscreen! The meter actually knows when you’re running out of test strips and will remind you to reorder them!!! I’ve never heard of anything like that before, so I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival and can’t wait to check out all the features.

The one thing you might be wondering about these two new meters is…why the heck would I need them since I already have a Dexcom G6 that monitors my blood sugars 24/7???

There are two reasons: It never hurts to have back-ups and my Dexcom isn’t always accurate.

Let’s say that tomorrow, my Dexcom transmitter fails. Suddenly, I’d be without any blood sugar readings and I’d have to rely solely on my meters for blood sugar checks. That’s why it’s incredibly important to have functioning meters at all times, because you just never know when you may have no choice but to use them.

To compound that, my Dexcom doesn’t always work the way it should. Sometimes, I receive sensor errors and it doesn’t work properly for hours. Other times, I feel symptomatic of low or high blood sugars and my Dexcom doesn’t report them, so I resort to doing a finger stick check to verify the accuracy of my Dexcom’s readings.

It’s easy to understand, then, why I think it’s crucial to have at least one spare blood sugar meter. I may have come across these two new ones suddenly and fortuitously, but I welcome their addition to my diabetes toolkit and can’t wait to “test” ’em out (and of course, blog about ’em).