old protime vs coaguchek xs

[Gail in Ca]

My cardio's nurse wanted me to bring in my old protime to make sure it was still giving me true readings. I poked my finger, she took it and placed the first drop on the coaguchek strip, and it promptly read 'error'. She said that happens alot when she doesn't use the tiny pipettes to place a drop right in the middle. I then got the blood I needed for my protime ( dinosaur!). She took another drop and got a reading with a new strip. Her results 2.9, mine 2.7, which is right in the .2 parameter of the protime vs lab. I liked the smallness of the newer machine. My ? is, does the average person with the coaguchek have error problems when trying to get the blood drop in the right location?

 

[jax]

I haven't a a problem since after the first test I tried to do when I was getting trained on it. I got an error that first time because when I was putting my finger up to it I somehow bumped the test strip and it came up as an error.

 

[lance]

Hi Gail
Did you get Error 5, not enough blood, on the XS?
I have excema and dry skin on my finger tips and have to use the largest diameter lancette I can find in the winter otherwise I get an error 5.
Recently I must have not washed my finger well enough and got the message Error 5--not enough blood, My XS "timed out" in less than 15 seconds. Meanwhile blood was dripping--more than enough. Spouse used it next without a problem. So I washed my hands again and the machine was fine. Darn skin softeners.
It's interesting you are comparing home monitor to home monitor not home monitor to vein draw. Things are looking up.
Appears "dinosaurs" are long-lasting and reliable.

 

[catwoman]

Gail:

Do you have a ProTime 3 or an older CoaguChek? Your reference was to an "old protime."

I have an INRatio and, yes, it's possible to screw up getting the sample into the well so it'll get sucked up with that machine. (Sounds like a Dracula movie, huh?) It just goes nowhere. I've never used pipettes, and I seldom have a problem getting it in the well (maybe 2-3 times in 2 years).

A 0.2 variation in INRs is acceptable.

 

[Gail in Ca]

Yes, my nurse has the coaguchek, I have the original regular Protime (5 channel). Still going strong after many years.

 

[catwoman]

Gail:

That's great! Keep using it as long as it keeps working! I took my INRatio to my PCP's office and the lab tech insisted on running a test on me, instead of letting me run the test and she wasted one of my strips. If I ever take my INRatio back in to test against their CoaguChek, I'll run the test.

 

[vprnet]

I had a problem when I switched from the perscrbed 21 guage lancets to the cheaper 26 guage lancets I could buy over the counter. Turned out that for INR testing the blood produced from the 26 guage is too close to the surface to give a reliable reading. I was told by the pharmacy that INR needs blood from deeper vessels than diabetic testing. Natuarly the thickness of skin and flesh has alot to do with the size of the lancet required to draw a decent bubble of blood.

 

[catwoman]

I hadn't noticed a difference in pricing on 21 gauge and 26 gauge needles. I have an Autolet, I think it's called, that uses needles. You **can** use smaller gauge needles with it, but I've gotten the best results from 21 gauge, and I've bought needles @ Walgreen's. I'm sitting on about 300 needles right now. OUCH! Let's rephrase that: I have about 300 needles stockpiled right now, including one box of 26 gauge. I also set my lancing device to 5.