superdrug test

[donnabrain]

has anyone here done one of these do it yourself tests?

I did one, but they were unable to work with the sample as it heomolysed.

They have sent me another, but last time i really struggled to get enough blood.

I used all 3 needles but couldn't reach the fill line

[fbirder]

I didn't think haemolysis affected the B12 assay.

FlipperTD is our expert in that area.

[donnabrain in reply to fbirder]

I have just emailed them saying that, as they have just rejected my second tube for same reason

[Narwhal10]

Hi Doonabrain

Yes they can be tricky especially with tremors. I have done my own thyroid and cortisol tests at home. You can ask for more lancets but it would be nice to just to do it in 1 go.

Hopefully this link will work and help.

youtube.com/watch?v=wan-pvv...(Not working as expected?)

The most important thing is having warm and pink fingers. The video says have a bath or shower but just soaking you hands in very warm water for 20 minutes is far easier. Make it nice, cup of tea/coffee, magazine, radio on.

The video says prick finger centrally (1/2 way) I’m inclined to do 1/4 to left or right. Gravity does help.

Good luck. 😀

[donnabrain in reply to Narwhal10]

Thank you

[Nackapan in reply to donnabrain]

I used to do Guthrie trsts on babies. I used the same sort of Lancet. I always warmed their heel in warm water and let their feet drop . Made a huge difference. Warmth and gravity works.

[Narwhal10 in reply to Nackapan]

Snap - 😉

[wedgewood]

I’ve found that the lancets that are supplied with those home test kits to be useless -Much too short to get through my elephant skin . I’ve bought some more serious lancets from Amazon . They dig deeper and now I have no problem in getting enough blood .

[fbirder in reply to wedgewood]

When I had my home test for covid-19 antibodies I found the supplied lancets useless. I dug out an old blood glucose monitor and used the lancets from that. Much better.

[TFH1]

Hiya Do you know any Diabetics? As already mentioned the fingerprick devices you get with a blood sugar kit do work much better (the lancet within the device is changed between uses, so you're not needle sharing!) or they can be bought in the pharmacy at big supermarkets / chemists. For best results choose a fleshy spot slightly on the side of ring finger, turn the finger upside down, press the clicker to make the hole and use your other hand to massage the blood out of the hole, a by squeezing gently and releasing a few times - you'll see the droplet of blood get bigger as you massage in a downwards motion, gently squeezing and releasing until the drop falls into the vial and you can work on the next drop, keeping the finger upside down throughout. If it dries up (which it shouldn't if finger is warm and it is kept upside down) you can turn the finger the right way up, let it dry up for a few moments and then do a second finger prick nearby, or on the fleshy side of your little finger.

[fbirder in reply to TFH1]

If it does dry up, I've found that rubbing a rough bit of kitchen towel can get it flowing again.

When I was diagnosed as diabetic I found loads of places that would give me a free blood glucose monitor. All I had to do was tell them that I had Type 2 diabetes. They hand the monitors out for free and make their money from the test strips.

[donnabrain]

I followed all instructions, but have had the same problem with my second sample.

The trouble is, I have a medical condition called antiphospholipid syndrome, which literally means sticky blood.

I used to be on thinners, but they took me off a year ago