Why can't I get a reading from a glucose monitor?
I have some concern that my blood sugar may be off (high or low i’m not really sure) so I had my mother-in-law who is a diabetic take my reading with her monitor. We tried 5-6 different strips on two different days on two different readers. The strips and needles were both new but it wouldn’t beep or show any results at all. The first day we did manage to get a reading of 161 but we are not sure if it’s accurate since it took a while to read, like 30-40 seconds after applying blood to strip, (she could have pushed a button or something since it still didn’t beep). We tried a lot of blood and a little bit on both of my middle fingers and my index fingers, but still nothing. She tests herself at least once a day and hasn’t had any problems. Also, my sister-in-law who had diabetes when pregnant tested herself and the results showed up immediately (she was normal).
If there is no problem with the device or any of its parts and we were doing the test correctly, why wouldn’t it read my blood sugar? I can’t find any information on this anywhere!
Thanks in advance,
Amy Lou
Filed under: Blood Glucose
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Most meters should give you an error code if it’s due to too little blood or trying to apply the blood before the machine is ready. Also if your sugar is too high (over 599 in most meters) It will simply say "HI" or "high" in which case I would go to the ER immediately. If the machine is just going blank I would think it’s a malfunctioning machine. If you got it to read 160. I would strongly suggest seeing a doctor. a non-diabetic should never see a number over 125-130. not even after a meal.
My dad is diabetic and we had this issue too. What you have to do is make sure there is ENOUGH blood on the strip. Once you have enough, place it in the meter. Sometimes, we had to acutually take OUT the battery and replace it and try again. If you keep trying to re-do it after it doesn’t beep, you need to put the blood (on the finger not the strip) onto a new strip!
PS..you get the best results also by pricking your PINKY not your other fingers!
Hope this helps you!
You could have a high or low concentration of iron or red blood cells. Also, your sugar could be quite high and it can’t read it. With a reading of 161 I think it would be worth it to go to a walk in clinic and get them to take it there. If you even suspect 161 might be anywhere near accurate, you need to get that checked out as I am sure you know that isn’t a good sign. However, my red cells went high once due to a drug I was taking and it was difficult to get a reading for me.
You need to call the technical service / customer service number for your meter’s manufacurer. They will help trouble shoot the issue for you and most likely will replace your monitor and/or strips if the product is bad.
The monitor could be bad, have a low battery, or the test strips themselves could be bad. If you are testing improperly usually the monitor will give you and Error Code and let you know if the test strip is bad, if the blood sample is too little, if the temperature is too high or low for the monitor to operate properly, if you applied the blood sample too early…etc.
Call the 800 number or head to the drug store and just by a replacement.