This is NOT a sponsored post.
TRUE2Go, from Rite Aid, saved my bacon this Easter. We had an early Saturday morning making, so we packed up what we thought we’d need for the next 36-ish hours on Friday night. For me that included two extra pods, even though I expected to be home by pod change time on Sunday.
On Saturday when I went to test and bolus for lunch, I realized that I had four strips in my vial. I check my blood sugar 8-10 times a day and holidays or eating out can really screw me up causing me to test more often. Four strips were not going to last me through the next day.
In the past, I’ve used Wal Mart’s private label Relion meters, but we were not near a Wal Mart. I recalled someone mentioning a $10 test kit with 10 strips at Walgreens and a Rite Aid equivalent, so I made Brad stop at Rite Aid. Thanks to inflation apparently, I found the $10 meter… for $14.99 (With Wellness+ card). Close enough. I picked up a TRUE2go meter. Brad wasn’t thrilled about the need to spend 15 bucks on a meter and strips when we have a whole cabinet full of diabetes supplies at home. As in enough supplies to displace our towels thanks to the large box I got the other day.
I was happy to find a mail-in rebate form for the whole $14.99 cost in the package. The cost of tax and a few minutes to keep from having to scrimp on strips is totally worth it.
The kit unpacked
The kit came with a meter, 10 strips, 10 lancets, a lancing device, a log book (haha) and a little belt pouch. My first observation was, “This thing doesn’t come with a battery cover!” Then I realized that you screw the meter onto the top of the vial of test strips. It’s actually very convenient.
The TRUE Test strips are the wide kind that you have to shove blood into the slot. But accuracy wise, it wasn’t too bad. I measured against my PDM a couple of times. I didn’t use the poker that came with it since I already had one with me, but it takes the universal lancets.
What gets me the most is the compact size. I know people who don’t know what to do with strips, meter and lancing device while running or exercising. This guy would be a perfect exercise meter in my opinion.
Will I switch to TRUE Test for exercising or traveling? No. I won’t give up the Freestyle strips that my insurance covers for with my OmniPod. But in a pinch situation like I was in over the weekend, even a $15 meter is 100% worth it to keep me on track and in range.
I’ve used this meter in a pinch as well — in fact, there’s one in my car’s glove compartment (that has been there for three years!). The “belt pouch” it comes with is actually a strap that goes around the vial/meter, with a smaller hole that holds the lancer-device, Keeps it all together. Quite nice and compact, actually, and I’m surprised no other manufacturers have picked up on these space-saving techniques.
I was really quite impressed when I saw an interview with Bret Michaels recently (on Piers Morgan on CNN, I think?) — he tested his blood sugar on-camera and was using a True2Go meter! I figured celebrities would use the fancy-schmancy VerioIQ, but he went with the cheap store-brand 🙂