Do Old Blood Sugar Test Strips Read High

Welcome dorsum to our weekly diabetes advice column, Ask D'Mine, hosted past veteran type 1, diabetes writer and educator Wil Dubois.

This week, Wil takes on a dual set of questions request about expiration dates on those handy little strips we employ to test our blood sugar levels — and whether at that place's actually any demand to respect the stamped-on expiration dates. Take a peek at what Wil has to say… as well as what one of the big strip-makers tells united states.

{Got your ain questions? Email us at AskDMine@diabetesmine.com}

Beth, type one from New York, writes: I have been a "juvenile diabetic" since 1960 — when I was six years quondam. I have recently received 1600 glucose examination strips for free. About 600 of them were expired. I did a little research, and decided that maybe the whole "expiration dat e" affair for test strips may non be true. I have been using these test strips for two months now. I occasionally test with my regular monitor and unexpired test strips to check the accurateness. Guess what? The results are the same – – maybe 5 points different. I have decided the expiration engagement on test strips is a ploy by the drug companies to suck us dry! Oh, yeah. The expiration dates were 2007 & 2008.

Simply in the same week….

Bob, type 1 from Sacramento, CA, writes: Over the last few days I take been getting higher than normal readings; 165-325 for no apparent reason. I noticed that my exam strips "expired" 4 months agone… could this be the cause of my loftier readings? Thanks for any assist!

Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: Excuse me while I stroll out onto a mine field here… Zilch in diabetes is more controversial than examination strips. Their price. Their accuracy. Their availability. Even their effectiveness as function of therapy. Just as much as I normally enjoy beating a dead horse, today I'thousand going to avert all of those hot-button topics and just focus on the issue of test strip lifespans.

First and postmost (new word alert!), regardless of the expiration date, exam strips actually do expire at some bespeak. Second and foremost, that date may not exist the one printed on the carton.

Permit me explain.

Strips elapse. Honestly, they practice. Not that I wouldn't put it past Big Pharma to appoint in "a ploy to suck united states dry," simply in this case, the facts are that the magical little enzymes and chemicals that brand test strips piece of work actually exercise suspension down over time. A test strip is more animal and vegetable than machine, and any examination strip that'south quondam enough will eventually give you bad data.

But is that indicate of bad information really the printed expiration engagement? The vial of Verio strips on my desk says information technology expires 08/2014. Does that really hateful I'd go a good reading using ane Baronial 31^st and a bad reading on September 1^st? Of grade non. That's ridiculous. Just what if I tried to stretch information technology to the middle of September? Or into October? Or into 2015 or even into 2016? Frankly, I don't know. No one knows, or if they exercise, they are paid well to keep their traps shut. And as our two readers above demonstrate, it'due south probably not just as simple as the age of the strip. Beth is happy with the results of years-sometime strips and Bob seems to be having problems with months-onetime strips.

At that place are other factors afoot.

Looking outside diabetes for a moment, I've been known to try to yank a carton of milk out of the back of the rack in the grocery store fridge in hope of getting a fresher one, considering, every bit we all know, milk has a limited shelf life. Beyond that bespeak, a process of disuse sets in. Starting time, it gradually turns sour, so it develops a foul odor. Next it gets chunky, then it grows brown, green, or pinkish mold (actually) and eventually it turns into Limburger cheese (not really).

Simply now I went into my kitchen and checked out our Wal-Mart Organic 2% milk. It has an expiration date, just there's also a note saying that the product should be consumed within seven days of opening. Presumably, if yous opened the container eleven days before expiration engagement, you'd nevertheless only become the 7 days. So there are two clocks ticking with milk. One counts down spoilage in a pristine unopened container and the other counts down spoilage in use.

Just of grade at that place are actually more clocks running than that. Some brands of milk probably last longer than others. How far you demand to ship the milk between buying it and getting information technology home to your fridge no incertitude has a role to play in how long it lasts, every bit does the temperature in your office of the state and what fourth dimension of twelvemonth it is. Oh, and how long did the milk sit down on the loading dock at the store while the stocking clerk was texting his new girlfriend? Going further up-stream, did the commitment truck maintain its temperature correctly between the dairy and the store? How long did the driver spend enjoying his fave bacon-cheeseburger en road? And did your milk even come to your store from the dairy, or did it hang out at a distribution heart first?

And, of course, milk spoilage correlates to the habits of the humans who co-inhabit your domicile with you, too. If y'all alive with people who go out the carton on the tabular array the whole time they eat their Mail service Toasties, I would call up your milk would live a shorter life than if you live with people who return the carton to the refrigerator immediately subsequently pouring information technology on their cereal. And we're non even going to talk about the impact of people who drink straight from the carton.

Guess what? All the commitment, storage, and utilization issues that bear on milk also impact claret glucose test strips, and the older they are, the more these variables stack up.

But await. With test strips, there's even more than. While milk is either practiced or bad, test strips might be fine in the "normal range" after expiring, simply brainstorm to bear witness errors at high or low ends of the claret sugar spectrum.

Too, milk is fundamentally milk, regardless of whose carton it's in. But every make of strip is fundamentally dissimilar. Different makers of exam strips utilize dissimilar enzymes and chemicals to create their propriety systems. One company might choose a less stable enzyme that gives better accuracy at the price of shorter life; while another might choose less accuracy for better long-term storage. Nevertheless a third company will choose the cheapest alternative.

So there'due south a whole host of factors beyond it's inherent life based on its design and materials that touch on the lifespan of a strip that are hard to account for. So, given all of that, allow's consider how a strip company might get almost choosing an expiration date. Of class (in theory) they know exactly how long the damn things are good for, but nosotros should also consider their liability, because I guarantee that they exercise. Permit's pretend they are 100% scientifically positive that the strip will last a year. In that case, they'd exist crazy to put a one-year expiration engagement on the vial, even if (from our perspective) that'due south the "right" and honest thing to practise, because what if one shorter-lived strip got though, you used it, got bad info, made a bad decision, and died? They'd get their pants sued off, that'southward what. So on that basis lone, they need to set the bar lower to protect themselves.

Taking all of that into consideration, I think most strips, if stored properly, can be used for a good period of time beyond their official expiration date. There'southward enough of a cushion built in that we tin can stretch information technology, and not go a mouthful of spoiled milk. But at the aforementioned time, with all the variables that tin can touch a strip's lifespan, and the tremendous variety of strips out there, I don't think we have a prayer of getting a hard-and-fast rule well-nigh how long a typical strip might last.

Lesser line, I retrieve strips are fine for some catamenia across their expiration appointment, but I have no clue how long a typical strip might last. I think that the older the strip, the more probable it is that it will allow yous down.

Might there be a conspiracy to "suck u.s. dry out"? Maybe. Perhaps not. Merely it'due south my wellness at risk if I assume expired strips are fine, and that information technology'south all most the money. Personally, I'd use an expired strip before I'd go without testing… just I programme to continue reaching into the back of the refrigerator instance for the freshest carton of milk I can get my paws on.

Editor'southward note: For the tape, we reached out to some of the large glucose test strip companies to go their accept on expiration dates. This is a response we received from LifeScan, office of the J&J family that makes the OneTouch strips. The "official" give-and-take, every bit it were:

I tin can assure you that there is nothing capricious or deceptive about how test strip expiration dates are chosen and, in fact, it is not only in the best interest of the patient to take the longest possible product shelf life, but it as well benefits the distributors of the product and the manufacturer of the test strips too. Legally, the manufacturer must ensure the product performs equally claimed in the labeling. To meet this requirement, at LifeScan, nosotros conduct tests to monitor the performance of our exam strips over time.  Once nosotros decide how long later on manufacture the test strip performance is valid, say 18 or 24 months, this information is used to calculate the expiration appointment that is applied to the strip vials at the time the strips are made.

It's of import to annotation that the active ingredient in a test strip is not stable forever.  Therefore, test strip functioning does alter over time and it will no longer perform every bit intended. It is of import for patients not to utilize test strips beyond the expiration date as LifeScan cannot guarantee the operation of the product and incorrect results could pose a adventure to patient health.  The FDA as well warns patients non to utilise expired examination strips.

In addition, expired product and product with short shelf lives institute a business expense that must be managed.  Ofttimes we cannot sell production with a shorter than usual expiration date (brusk-dated production) because wholesalers, distributors and pharmacies are concerned that they will not be able to sell brusque-dated production in a timely fashion and information technology will ultimately demand to exist returned — which is plush from logistics standpoint.  In addition, we (the manufacturer) accept returns from channel partners for expired production, which must then exist destroyed in a compliant manner at our expense.

Our goal is to accept the longest possible shelf life while protecting patient prophylactic by ensuring our products perform as claimed.

Then information technology's not as obvious as milk, maybe, simply the rules of product expiration still apply.

This is non a medical advice cavalcade. We are PWDs freely and openly sharing the wisdom of our collected experiences — our been-there-washed-that cognition from the trenches. But we are not MDs, RNs, NPs, PAs, CDEs, or partridges in pear copse. Bottom line: we are simply a small office of your total prescription. You yet need the professional advice, treatment, and care of a licensed medical professional.

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a leading consumer health web log focused on the diabetes community that joined Healthline Media in 2015. The Diabetes Mine team is fabricated up of informed patient advocates who are also trained journalists. Nosotros focus on providing content that informs and inspires people affected by diabetes.

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Source: https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/ask-dmine-how-expired-can-the-milk-be