A commenter asked about obtaining the Glucowatch.
Animas Corp at http://www.animascorp.com owns Glucowatch now. I would assume you would contact them in the US and find out if there is any way to get one in your country.
I'm honestly not sure of the price because of the ownership change.
Yes, I have a glucowatch and I have blogged extensively about it. I've put most of the entries under the category Glucowatch if you want to read about my experiences.
Yes, it burns. I have two burns right now, one on each wrist, but it isn't as bad if you use the spray they recommend first, and after. It's Cortizone-10 Quick Shot spray. There is a prescription spray too. I got mine from Drugstore.com and it did take a bit to arrive.
I find it useful to verify and test basal rates.
You can not use it if you are going to sweat -- though it does work okay when I spend a few minutes in the hot tub -- I miss about 3 readings after I am in the tub.
For example, I couldn't use it at school last year, because the classroom was about 95 degrees and above, and I sweated a lot. I think I can use it now.
Like the Guardian (it shows trends, not exact readings). Also like the Guardian, the more finger stick calibrations you do the more accurate.
I actually ordered new sessions with my next Animas order, and today decided to pull it out and play with an expired sensor.
Seemed to work well, but dummy me, my battery wasn't fully charged and it went dead and lost all the data. The Quick Shot Cortizone spray really helped with the burn. It itches but isn't uncomfortable. I'll try another run tomorrow after I get my workout done. AND have a fully charged battery.
I am a bit concerned because the Lithium battery in the watch hasn't been holding a charge.
I haven't needed my glucowatch in a while, but since my blood sugars were running low all during break, and I don't have as much time and energy to keep up with them, I'm going to wear my glucowatch most of this week. It will be interesting to see what is really going on.
I throught the Glucowatch sensors came in a box of 10, but just noticed tonight, that they come in a box of 16.
That brings the price of each use down to $3.55 -- of course, they will probably go back up to the original price, which means each use is $9.85.
It is going extremely well. I have good numbers, and good trends.
However, it's been a cool day in the classroom and relatively calm.
It went so well, I went ahead and ordered 2 boxes of autosensors since they are at the reduced rate.
I think I'll talk to my CDE about getting them setup with the insurance.
I think I have the watch in a better location this trip. Also Monday's burn is healing better and faster than the previous burns from the watch. I still have itching and visible marks.
Good news, though, Diabetes Forecast came out with a review (clinical trial) that shows that the watch works well at "normal" blood sugars, tracking trends.
Bad news, it doesn't do as well as it could with low blood sugars.
Today is my first daytime trial of the Glucowatch.
I put the spray they recommended on first. I can't decided if it helps yet or not. And I've gotten a few perspiration warnings during warm up period, so we'll see how it goes.
Test 3 was successful -- while it alarmed for a low glucose event, and my glucose wasn't quite that low, it showed what was going on, and was even accurate at the end.
My assessment -- the device is something that takes getting used to -- I am definately going to call about the cream. However, I can sleep with it.
It is definately NOT for day to day use. It's too difficult and expensive to use for that. However, it's what I wanted -- something to take the stress out of basal tests. It's idea for basal tests.
Things to keep in mind -- and true for ALL blood glucose monitoring devices. It is NOT 100% accurate. It shows tends, and that is even true of finger stick devices.
It doesn't handle day to day monitoring. I doesn't handle exercise, food, or even insulin administration well.
However, it's ideal for basal tests.
Is it worth the price? It is certainly NOT worth the original price. At $400, it's still pricey, especially since the software isn't included. I also want to be able to export the data and do things with it. That's my next goal to look into.
At $4.00, it's not bad for basal testing. I would definately finger stick more than once though -- and be prepared to calibrate several times.
I stopped this round when I started getting funky results and it still itched.
Going to try again tomorrow.