I've been self-testing since April 2009. I've gone through a handful of meters - Protime Classic, Protime 3, Hemosense (a piece of crap that was discontinued because of inaccurate tests -- relying on it gave me a stroke), CoaguChek S (discontinued), CoaguChek XS, Coag-Sense 1 and, now, Coag-Sense 2.
With one exception, I bought my meters on eBay - and, with the exception of a CoaguChek Pro, all worked as they were supposed to.
I've had no problem with bad strips (although I was careful to avoid the recalled CoaguChek XS strips), I didn't need a signed prescription to get a meter on eBay.
I self-manage -- I've found that, often, the dosing 'experts' don't know what they're doing. They use a dosing table, or they guess at any changes (after all, they're the experts). It's my own miserable life, and I'd rather take control of my own dosing.
This forum is a good resource for charts and accurate information about Warfarin management. Pellicle is an international treasure - he can give good dosing advice.
Now -- as far as meters go.
First - Scribe - the ProTime and Hemochron machines also calculated physical clotting.
Second - meters on eBay aren't always the overused, inaccurate meters that some may think they're buying -- some may be poor dead old grandpa's meter that he no longer needs and that Medicare already paid for. A few may come from hospitals or clinics that had to get rid of them for tax reasons. Some may be gray market. All are probably good.
Unlike consumer electronics, these are medical devices, and the manufacturers can't afford to ship products that may stop working, or become inaccurate. The meter manufacturers don't know whether their meters will be going to self-testers who run, maybe, 50 or 60 tests a years, or to clinics that may run the same amount in a day - 6 days a week. In either case, the meter must retain accuracy, and must always work.
Similarly, strips have to report values within range - if not, they'll be recalled and cause some embarrassment, not to mention liability, because of the defective strips. Bad strips are quickly removed from the market (unless, for some reason, they make their way into a gray market that just doesn't give a damn).
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I bought my CoaguChek XS 7 or 8 years ago for, if I recall correctly, about $50. If you keep an eye on eBay, you'll probably find one for below $200. The Coag-Sense was fairly inexpensive -- I've seen the original model for around $50 or so.
If you look around - and maybe wait - you'll probably find strips at a good price. One tip -- the per strip cost will probably be much lower for 24 or 48 CoaguChek XS strips than buying them 6 or 12 at a time.
I've seen Coag-Sense strips for as little as $2 or $3 a strip - still fresh, still unexpired.
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With all that said, when I first got my Coag-Sense, I did a lot of testing, comparing all meters, and found that the Coag-Sense and CoaguChek XS were usually within .2 of each other - and the lab results were often the average of the two.
The last year or so, I've had an issue with the Coag-Sense meter that, apparently, nobody else has reported: my results are lower than lab, and lower than the CoaguChek XS. Above 2.5 or so, the difference may be as high as 1.0. I've had the same result with different batches of strips, and on different Coag-Sense meters. Scribe and others have reported very good correlations with lab results.
Perhaps there's something in my blood, or some factor, that the Coag-Sense just doesn't work well with. I'm now also using the CoaguChek XS in parallel with the Coag-Sense. I'm also doing lab testing every month or two (my HMO DEMANDS this).
Coag-Sense doesn't seem to care anymore -- I've contacted them a few times and, according to one of their techs 'if your INR is consistently 1.0 below the labs, then you know what your INR really is.' This is kind of like saying that 'if your clock is always ten minutes slow, just add ten minutes, and you know the correct time.'
The Coag-Sense should work well for most people. I used to be a strong supporter of the meter. BUT the reach of Roche is broad - International. There are millions of units in use globally. Strips will be available for many years. Roche has even come out with new meters that still use the XS strips. FWIW - although I often root for the underdog, perhaps the leader would be a better choice for most people.
With one exception, I bought my meters on eBay - and, with the exception of a CoaguChek Pro, all worked as they were supposed to.
I've had no problem with bad strips (although I was careful to avoid the recalled CoaguChek XS strips), I didn't need a signed prescription to get a meter on eBay.
I self-manage -- I've found that, often, the dosing 'experts' don't know what they're doing. They use a dosing table, or they guess at any changes (after all, they're the experts). It's my own miserable life, and I'd rather take control of my own dosing.
This forum is a good resource for charts and accurate information about Warfarin management. Pellicle is an international treasure - he can give good dosing advice.
Now -- as far as meters go.
First - Scribe - the ProTime and Hemochron machines also calculated physical clotting.
Second - meters on eBay aren't always the overused, inaccurate meters that some may think they're buying -- some may be poor dead old grandpa's meter that he no longer needs and that Medicare already paid for. A few may come from hospitals or clinics that had to get rid of them for tax reasons. Some may be gray market. All are probably good.
Unlike consumer electronics, these are medical devices, and the manufacturers can't afford to ship products that may stop working, or become inaccurate. The meter manufacturers don't know whether their meters will be going to self-testers who run, maybe, 50 or 60 tests a years, or to clinics that may run the same amount in a day - 6 days a week. In either case, the meter must retain accuracy, and must always work.
Similarly, strips have to report values within range - if not, they'll be recalled and cause some embarrassment, not to mention liability, because of the defective strips. Bad strips are quickly removed from the market (unless, for some reason, they make their way into a gray market that just doesn't give a damn).
--
I bought my CoaguChek XS 7 or 8 years ago for, if I recall correctly, about $50. If you keep an eye on eBay, you'll probably find one for below $200. The Coag-Sense was fairly inexpensive -- I've seen the original model for around $50 or so.
If you look around - and maybe wait - you'll probably find strips at a good price. One tip -- the per strip cost will probably be much lower for 24 or 48 CoaguChek XS strips than buying them 6 or 12 at a time.
I've seen Coag-Sense strips for as little as $2 or $3 a strip - still fresh, still unexpired.
---
With all that said, when I first got my Coag-Sense, I did a lot of testing, comparing all meters, and found that the Coag-Sense and CoaguChek XS were usually within .2 of each other - and the lab results were often the average of the two.
The last year or so, I've had an issue with the Coag-Sense meter that, apparently, nobody else has reported: my results are lower than lab, and lower than the CoaguChek XS. Above 2.5 or so, the difference may be as high as 1.0. I've had the same result with different batches of strips, and on different Coag-Sense meters. Scribe and others have reported very good correlations with lab results.
Perhaps there's something in my blood, or some factor, that the Coag-Sense just doesn't work well with. I'm now also using the CoaguChek XS in parallel with the Coag-Sense. I'm also doing lab testing every month or two (my HMO DEMANDS this).
Coag-Sense doesn't seem to care anymore -- I've contacted them a few times and, according to one of their techs 'if your INR is consistently 1.0 below the labs, then you know what your INR really is.' This is kind of like saying that 'if your clock is always ten minutes slow, just add ten minutes, and you know the correct time.'
The Coag-Sense should work well for most people. I used to be a strong supporter of the meter. BUT the reach of Roche is broad - International. There are millions of units in use globally. Strips will be available for many years. Roche has even come out with new meters that still use the XS strips. FWIW - although I often root for the underdog, perhaps the leader would be a better choice for most people.
