Glucose monitoring helps you to manage your diabetes and avoid the symptoms of high or low blood glucose. Abbott Diabetes Care manufacturers the FreeStyle Lite and FreeStyle Freedom Lite glucose monitors. The FreeStyle Lite is a smaller model than the FreeStyle Freedom Lite, and each model uses the FreeStyle Lite test strips. The procedure for testing blood glucose is the same for both of these FreeStyle models.
Step 1
Choose a test site. This can be your finger, forearm, upper arm, hand, thigh or calf. If you suspect low blood sugar, Abbott Diabetes Care recommends using your finger as a test site.
Step 2
Wash your hands and the test site to make sure they are free of creams and lotions, which can interfere with the test results.
Step 3
Insert a FreeStyle test strip into the front of the meter with the notched side first and the lettering facing up. Push it in until it can go in no farther and the FreeStyle monitor powers on.
Step 4
Note the system check screen. This will look like a large "88.8" with a row of 8s underneath. This indicates the FreeStyle is working properly.
Step 5
Wait for two icons to appear -- one looks like a drop of blood and the other like a test strip. If you are using the FreeStyle Freedom Lite, the date and time will briefly appear before these icons. When the icons appear, the meter is ready for a blood sample.
Step 6
Use your lancing device on your chosen test site. Touch the front side edge of the test strip indicated by a half-moon shape to the blood.
Step 7
Hold the test strip in the drop of blood until you hear one beep or see a dashed line moving clockwise on the screen.
Step 8
Listen for two beeps and then watch for your glucose test result to show on the screen. The higher the glucose level, the longer the result will take to display.
Tips and Warnings
- Once you insert the test strip, you have two minutes to start the test before the FreeStyle monitor times out and powers off. If this happens, pull the test strip out and put it back in to power the meter back on. If you do not see the dashed line moving in a rectangular pattern within five seconds of taking the blood sample, the sample may have been too small. You will have 60 seconds to add more blood to the test strip before the test times out.
- According to the FreeStyle manuals, test results below 3.3 mmol/L indicate hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose. Test results greater than 13.3 mmol/L indicate hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose. Follow your doctor's treatment advice for these conditions.
