When my Diabetic Nurse started pulling out stuff to give me so that I could start testing my blood sugar 2-3 times a day, one of the items that caught my attention was the
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strips. First thing out of my mouth? "Do I have to use my finger?".
I remembered when I was pregnant with my son and I had my sugar and iron tested. They took a lancet and jabbed my finger to make it bleed. It hurt! I didn't want to have to do that to myself 2 or 3 times a day.She said that, unfortunately, they were strips for finger testing, but to use the side of your finger, not the tip as I had had done before.
The
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strips come with 50 tests strips in a vial. some come in "drums", which holds test strips for you. These are 50 individual and loose strips in the vial, so use a little care when popping the lid off.
The
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strips are for use with the Accu-Check Advantage or Complete Meters. The bars that the meter use to read the strip only work in certain models, so please make sure that you purchase the correct testing strips for your model of meter.
The vial is 2 1/2" long and 1 1/2" in diameter, making it small enough to carry in a purse, if you don't have a case for your meter. Each vial comes with a Code Key to place in your meter so that it can read them. You should always check that the Code Key shows the same number on your meter that is printed on the back of your vial. If it doesn't match, return the vial for a new one.
If the meter is showing the same number as the vial when it is first placed in your meter, then you should always test the first strip with the Control Solution. There are two vials of Control Solution in each package, so be sure to use the one for your sugar issue, either high blood sugar or low. There are levels for both printed on the back of the vial. Make sure that the number that your meter shows for the control test strip is in between the range on the back of the vial. If so, you're good to go!
The
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strips are not quite 1 /34" long and are paper thin pieces of plastic. On one end, on the front side, there are two small, silver strips. At the other end, same side, is a blue space with the yellow testing window in the middle. The silver strip end goes into your meter.
After you have placed the
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strip into the meter, and it is ready to go, lance the side of your fingertip. Some people use the fingertip itself, where the print is, but according to the directions you shouldn't do it that way. It doesn't say why. It hurts me more using the tip, so I have been using the side, anyway.
The blue area of the
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strips are curved to fit around your finger. You don't need to put the blood on the test strip, and they actually tell you not to do this. By simply placing the curved area next to the drop of blood on your finger, the blood will be pulled into the yellow testing window. They're like little vampires! The blood is somehow sucked up into the strip! The meter will beep to let you know that it has enough blood. If the yellow window isn't completely covered, you have less than 15 seconds to "milk" another drop onto that strip. If not, you'll have to waste the strip and repeat the test. I have never had this problem. It doesn't take much blood at all, so I have always gotten it on the first try.
I am now working on Vial #3 and I have only had one bad test strip. When I put the blood on it, a few seconds later is popped up with an error code instead of my blood sugar level. I repeated the test with a different strip and it was fine.
Other than having to use my fingertips instead of a forearm, like some meters and strips allow you to do, I have been very happy with the
Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Blood Glucose Test Strips. There is no effort at all in using them. The vial fits in my case, so it's easy to carry with me and use. I'd prefer to be able to use my forearm for testing, but then I didn't have to pay for the monitor or the strips, so I can't complain too much! At least there is almost no effort using the
Accu-Chek Advantage system that I was given! They've made it as simple and pain free as possible!
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