Coaguchek test strips

[metronome]

I use the Coaguchek XS system. I have always bristled at the cost from Alere (formerly ??) for test strips.
$120.00 for SIX !!
Finally got smart and ordered from Wilburn Medical, receiving 48 strips for $240.75, including shipping.
So instead of $20.00 per strip, I pay $5.00 per strip and can go back to weekly checks. They are good for one year.
Hope this helps other members.

 

[pellicle]

Finally got smart and ordered from [some place online], receiving 48 strips for $240.75, including shipping.

agreed. I too wasted a few bucks on strips for a bit till I wised up and looked on the WWW for stuff. Even saves me time as its delivered to my home

 

[Protimenow]

$20 a strip? That's amazing. There are many sources for testing supplies. I'm just curious -- if you were buying the strips from Alere, does it mean that they went to the tremendous trouble of telling your doctor what your INR was? Will they continue to do that onerous task if you no longer buy your strips from them?

 

[metronome]

Sorry 'bout the lag time on this response.
I invested in a Coaguchek in 2003 and now have the newer Coaguchek XS. I never report my INR. The Doc. office keeps chiding me and my Cardiologist just winks.
He knows full well my understanding of my condition. I threaten to bring my copy of "Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine" and my "Dorland's Med'l. Encyclo." to my appointments

 

[kimcdougc]

I finally got my in Coaguchek machine today! Took 3 months to get it all approved through my insurance. It all had to do with the right code. It cost me $26 per month with my insurance. I get 6 strips, the lancets and the little tube to suck up the blood (don't know the proper name for that one.) I did my first home test today and was at 4.1. I feel much better knowing what it is on a regular basis instead of just once a month. No wine for me tonight. :-(

 

[Marty]

I started with Coaguchek after my surgery in 1998. I knew one of the salesman who went with Hemosense and switched to INRatio in 2004 when my Coaguchek seemed to wear out. The INRatio monitor which is used by both my wife and myself is still working fine. When Alere took over the strips seemed to get a little pricy so I shopped around and now get them through Amazon.com at less than $4.00 each.

 

[Protimenow]

A couple things. The CoaguChek XS doesn't really require the tube to get the blood -- just touch the side of your finger against one side of the strip, and capillary action should draw it in. The meter requires blood within fifteen seconds of making that incision, so in the time that it takes to draw it into a tube and then to transfer it onto the strip, you may wind up wasting most of that fifteen seconds. What are you getting for $26 a month? If you're getting six strips a month, that's more than you need. If your insurance supports weekly testing, you're probably doing okay -- but if that insurance company has given you a SIX MONTH supply, and expects you to test only once a month, it's doing you a disservice.

Marty: I did a considerable amount of testing of meters against a hospital lab a few months ago. In my testing, I found that the InRatio (and InRatio 2) were considerably higher than the lab -- so much so that I stopped using the meters entirely, leaving nearly a years' supply of strips to expire because I personally DO NOT TRUST THE INRATIO. Published papers show that many meters (including CoaguChek XS and InRatio) report higher than actual results as the actual INR rises. Your 4.1 may actually be closer to a 3.5 or 3.6 (pehaps 3.7 or 3.8). Your blood chemistry (or ???) may work better with the InRatio than mine did, but I personally do NOT trust my life to that meter. In my testing, I also found that CoaguChek XS tends to report somewhat higher than labs, and this disparity increases as the INR goes up.
By contrast, the Cosg-Sense that I have chosen to use for my primary testing seems to report values a bit lower than labe -- which suits me just fine. I prefer that my INR is a bit on the high side of my range, rather than putting me at the low end (or below the safe level) and possibly at risk of a stroke or TIA.

In summary, I chose between the CoaguChek XS, the InRatio, the ProTime and Protime3, and the Coag-Sense for my personal INR testing. My preference is the Coag-Sense (acknowledging that results may, possibly, be slightly lower than labs), CoaguChek XS and CoaguChek XS Plus (which is often somewhat higher than the labs), ProTime 3 (which makes testing somewhat more difficult than the other meters, and if it was the only meter currently available, the InRatio. But, of course, your choice should be up to you and your medical team.

 

[cewilk]

I just recently got my CoaguChek XS monitor yesterday. My insurance covers six strips/month with lacets and the small tubes to help suck up the blood. I have seen test strips sold in bulk on Amazon for considerably cheaper than what it would cost be through the company to buy extra strips. The strips that get delivered to me also come with a corresponding chip that must be inserted to the machine. For those of you who have purchased extra test strips on your own (specifically the CoaguCheck XS), did it also come with the chip to insert into the machine? It is my understanding that without the corresponding chip that goes with the strips, the machine won't read properly.

 

[tom in MO]

If it does not come with the chip it is not legitimate Roche product. They are manufactured with the strips and chip together.

Not sure why you would have been sent "small tubes to help suck up the blood." I have a CoaguCheck XS and you prick your finger and put the drop on slip stuck in the machine. My kit came with two types of lancets and two tubes of strips, each tube with a chip. It also came with instructions, a book to write results in and a DVD.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

I just recently got my CoaguChek XS monitor yesterday...The strips that get delivered to me also come with a corresponding chip that must be inserted to the machine. For those of you who have purchased extra test strips on your own (specifically the CoaguCheck XS), did it also come with the chip to insert into the machine? It is my understanding that without the corresponding chip that goes with the strips, the machine won't read properly.

as Tom has said the chip is essential. The chip is tied to the strips, the machine will read the stip inserted if the strip does NOT match the batch from the tube. I understood this was to ensure quality calibration for potential variations across batches.

The tubes are for those (unusual) situations where you may be taking blood IV and then using the capilary pipette (fancy name for a small diameter tube) to deliver the blood to the strip. For instance in cases where it would be inconvenient or physically difficult to access the patient to put blood onto the strip.

Pay attention to the 15 second rule in the documentation. That says that from puncture to placement on the strip should not exceed 15 seconds. This is a different time to the strip warm up and then strip time out times (which are alarmed on the machine).

The manual is pretty keen on repeating this point, so it must be significant.

Lastly do some dry runs (not actually inserting the strip or puncturing your finger) and time it so you get the hang of it. (assuming you have not had training as I never got training either)

There are some youtube videos to watch if you google it.

Lastly I've found that to minimise the depth of puncture and reliably get blood enough blood I use the following techinque. You must get an amount or an alarm and error code will warn you and then that strip is toast

[ link ]



HTH

Best Wishes

 

[RobThatsMe]

The 15 second rule come into play because, I believe, that the longer you wait, the more the coagulation factor will become an issue with the meter reading correctly, since the blood is from an open wound to the skin and the body will begin the process of sealing it off.