I was recently in hospital there in relation to my diabeties and i was just wondering if anyone can recommed a good blood sugar machine - maybe one of a few different options or can also give you other readings ie. averages, HBA1 results, ketones etc. Thanks
Hi Curly =)
In my travels I have not found a 3 in 1 glucometer.
The usual method for testing ketones is to urinate on a special ketone detecting stick. I use Ketosticks. They come 50 to a bottle and I rarely need to use them. I only check for ketones if I register a BG of 250mg/dl. Sometimes I will actually only test if I get two readings in a row that high.
There are home A1C tests as well. They are single use items that you would just purchase every few months to get a ballpark on your A1C test. I am hesitant to recommend any of them though. Their accuracy is under great scrutiny at the moment. I can’t recommend them as a replacement for getting a lab run A1C test. There is a durable home A1C test kit coming soon. You can read about it here.
As far as glucometers go, i’m currently using the BD Link meter. This meter has recently been discontinued. I only use this meter because it works in tandem with the insulin pump I am using. I have been using an Accu-Chek Aviva as a backup glucometer since I have been on the pump. I really like it and it will be taking over as my daily use meter after I run out of test strips for the Link.
Hope this helps 
Mike
The Dawn Phenomena
I have an optium glucometer that has two functions:
- test normal blood sugar levels
- test blood for ketones
You just do a normal blood test for the ketones and it comes up on the machine, to be honest, I have not used that function yet as I am waiting to get rid of my Ketosticks first!