Can I Please Throw My Meter Out the Window?

Please?

I promise to throw it really hard so it's a quick death and it won't hurt.

OK- perhaps I should start at the beginning. Lately, I have been feeling that my meter (a BD meter that is connected by radio frequency to my pump, so theoretically Very Cool) is lying to me. Bald-faced lying. It's really quite irritating because this little pip-squeak of technology is one of two things keeping me from croaking off at an early age.

So it's quite lame.

Anyhow. I've always thought I was uniquely sensitive to my lows. I'm talking ridiculous uniquely sensitive. Why is that? I can feel low as high at 85. Sometimes even 88 or 89. I always thought my body was just nice and liked to tell me when it was about to bottom out.

"Body to Allison, you're plummeting at a rate of 5 mg/dls per minute- Go Do Something!"

I have come to respect my body for this kindly consideration. However, lately I've been feeling doubt about my Ridiculously Uniquely Sensitive condition. Why is this? my Fine Blogging Friends may ask. Well, last week while home on Christmas break, I was in bed, getting ready to fall asleep when I get the Odd Sensation that something might be amiss. So I get up and trott downstairs and tested my blood sugar. At first, it registered at 101. And I thought, "Well, that can't be right." My hands were trembling slightly as I popped off the test strip bottle. So I tested again. Clocked in at 87. I thought, "Well, okay. That's a little bit more in the range of when I feel low."

But then I noticed my little Back-up Meter that I brought along, just in case. It is an Lifescan Ultra. I pop open the case and test. Little Ultra says, "Sorry hon, you're 50."

Huh? 50? Me? The girl who doesn't remember hitting below 60 in the last 4 months. But the strange thing: I felt really low. Not just kinda-sorted-shaky-out-of-sorts low, like I usually feel. I'm talking Falling-Face-Down-in-Cereal low. Requisite juice and raiding of the snack drawer was in order, seeing as how it was 12 a.m.

The next day: Went low again. Tested, per usual. Rang in somewhere in the upper 70s. Double checked with our friend Little Ultra. 68. Huh.

I've done this on two other occassions. Once, when BD told me I was 230, and Little Ultra said I was 207. Another time, BD told me I was 97. Little Ultra concured with a 97. And now, tonight. Just now. I tested on BD: 180. I tested on Little Ultra: 265. Who to trust? Who do I high bolus off of? I'm so confused!!! You have now entered Frustration City.

Now, I have some theories. The first being: all meters have discrepancies and there is no way to tell which one is truly the accurate one. BD might be dead-on, while Little Ultra aim is skewed. Little Ultra could be right, while BD is leading me astray. Second theory: The Little Ultra strips are expired. They expired last March. Does this have anything to do with the children arguing? Perhaps? Third theory: I have a bad batch of strips for the BD and this will simply pass and regulate itself once I open another set. But I've been noticing this trend for months now (feeling one way and getting a result that doesn't quite match up).

My question to you, my Fine Blogging Friends (and Resident Lurkers): Do you have any experience with the accuracies of glucose meters? Have you found one that gives better readings than others? Do you think either of my theories are legitimate or am I just over-thinking things? Is this just one of those Mysteries we must all deal with in our daily lives of diabetes management?

I still feel my lows. But I no longer know if the number I'm used to associating as my threshold is accurate anymore, it's a bit scary. Any ideas? Tips? Suggestions?

It's just a little pip-squeak of technology, but it's making me doubt my entire health. Stupid piece of [enter expletive here].