expiration date on strips

[Gail in Ca]

Thought I would get some opinions on the Coaguchek XS strips and their expiration date. I am thinking I can use them beyond the date, especially since I haven't opened them, but need imput from real people, not Alere, on using them past the ex date. Alere was going to give me trouble for getting a box on E Bay, but I told the person on the phone that I didn't want her to go tell her supervisor, so she didn't!
How long past the date would you use a strip?

 

[Bev]

As far as I know, they will not work past the expiration date. My husband had the same problem with his blood glucose strips. He just got an error message, and there was no way they would work beyond the expiration date on the box.

 

[pellicle]

As far as I know, they will not work past the expiration date. My husband had the same problem with his blood glucose strips. He just got an error message, and there was no way they would work beyond the expiration date on the box.

interesting ... so I will not stock up on them then

oh and nice ethics on the part of the eBay seller too

 

[Jkm7]

I'm not a big e-bay user but is there any recourse for someone who sold expired strips? Will e-bay assist in getting the buyer a refund?

 

[catwoman]

I have an INRatio and I buy my strips online. I always inquire about the expiration date before placing the order and look at buyers' feedback on the business. I usually buy from 1 or 2 sellers.
My first machine, a ProTime 3, did detect expiration dates on strips. The INRatio doesn't but it does ask each time for the lot/batch #.
Last year I had 1 or 2 expired strips left when I got my latest box. I tested one from each -- the expired strip and the new one got the same INR results. The old strip was about 3 months past its exp date.

 

[newmitral]

I have an Inratio-2, not a Coagucheck-XS, but can't you just enter the setup mode on the meter and change the date so the meter thinks it is 6 months or a year earlier than today's actual date? That way, it would think the strips are not yet expired.

I'm not advocating the use of expired strips, but if you do want to try it, that should allow the meter to at least perform the test with strips past their expiration date. Whether the results are accurate or not will be another matter.

I have bought Inratio test strips on Ebay, and the sellers always indicate the expiration dates for the test strips they are selling. I have never used expired test strips myself.

 

[yotphix]

can't you just enter the setup mode on the meter and change the date so the meter thinks it is 6 months or a year earlier than today's actual date?

Brilliant! I hadn't thought of that. I tried to use an expired strip from a container I had forgotten about and the machine refused me. I think I still have them so I'll give that a go now. I think I'll test two in a row with some valid strips though, and see if there is a difference in the result.

 

[tom in MO]

The question is "How long past the expiration date will you use a strip?"

This is a risk measurement situation. What is the risk of death due to an error in your INR compared to the risk of having insufficient funds for ??? The consequences of both risks are not the same.

If I was getting strips from Allere, I'd use those for my scheduled reported tests. I'd use the expired strips for "gee what's my INR now?" If the INR was out on the expired, I'd retest with the "good" ones.

Every manufacturer builds in a "buffer" for their expiration dates, that is prudent, but the information is proprietary. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence of a "bad" read from a home INR with good strips, not sure I'd want to trust anecdotal information that tells me the strips are good past the expiration date...you are betting your life.

 

[Gail in Ca]

I decided to count my strips I got from Ebay, and I'll only have 3 extra beyond the 4/13 date. I thought I would use them all, but I guessed pretty close. The ones I get from Edgepark medical expire in june, so I hope it's the end of june and not the 1st!
I didn't know the machine read the date on the strip and wouldn't use it even if I tried! Good information to know. I did know the date when I ordered from Ebay, but thought I would use them all and still be able to use my existing ones from Edgepark.
I think I'll order now from Edgepark, and then I'll be ahead by 2 months. My healthplan manager won't okay more than 3 mos at a time. Now that I've used ones from another source, I will be ahead and that's what I like. You never know when you need to test 2-3 times in a week. Then, it's a big hassle to get more before they think you need them.

 

[Protimenow]

I was told by someone on one of these forums that the InRatio strips can be used for up to a year after the expiration date. I've used some expired ones, and had no problems with them.

OTOH - my ProTime meter wouldn't use strips that had expired (and, for a while, I was using an earlier date on the meter and it accepted the strips that were no longer 'expired.'.)

I don't know about CoaguChek XS. If you change the date on your meter, I can't imagine that the strips will no longer be 'accurate' just because the calendar says that they've expired. (Also, come to think of it, I would imagine that a strip that has always been properly stored may have less risk of error than one that was subjected to summer heat or winter cold).