nova Max Plus Blood Glucose Monitoring System

I recently bought this glucometer to manage nutritional ketosis as I am following a low carb diet. I had some reservations from reading other reviews about it being inaccurate for glucose readings, however, I decided to try it anyway and I am so glad I did. After reading the manual and doing a little bit of research I made sure to thoroughly clean my fingertip before performing a glucose check, the reason being that depending on what you have on your fingers from the millions of things we touch everyday, one spec of glucose as small as a piece of dust can throw the meter way off due to the small sample size. Also, making sure you don't touch the test strip to your finger and just touching it to the blood drop gives you a higher chance of avoiding contaminants.I checked my control solution, and it was perfectly in range. I checked my glucose and ketones and both readings seemed quite accurate! I think this meter just needs a user that will follow guidelines for use, and for the difference in price it is worth having to be a little bit more finicky.All in all, I would absolutely recommend the Nova Max!

I had never used this brand of machine before. Let me tell you, I love it. The needle is so small that it doesn't make my finger even a tiny bit sore. It takes less blood than any I've ever used and it is entirely affordable. It also measures ketones so it's a win-win for me.

I had read other reviews that said the glucose monitoring was very problematic, but that the ketone monitoring seemed to be accurate. Since I didn't need a glucose monitor, but only needed to monitor ketones, I decided to give this a try since it was so inexpensive compared to other ketone monitors. I was happy with it the first couple of weeks, then out of nowhere the monitor returned a result that you can only get when using glucose test strips. The reading was "LO" . The instructions say this is only an available reading when testing glucose, and there is no LO reading when testing for ketones, as ketones can't be too low.So why did this machine return a "LO" reading when testing for ketones? Obviously the machine thought I was testing for glucose even though all I have been using are ketone strips, so the machine was confused, which indicates it is defective. It is the only time I have received such a reading in using 10 ketone strips. Except for this problem indicating a defect in this particular machine, the only other problem I've had are with the test strips themselves: they aren't very stiff, they flex easily when trying to insert, and blood must be applied from the top of the end of the strip, and I had an error with one strip.Since I was not offered a replacement but only a refund (after many problems with getting this taken care of), I may try this again from another seller..

Good

I don't take writing negative reviews lightly.I am posting this because it could be dangerous for insulin dependent diabetics. I am using this glucometer to measure my ketones and glucose during a water fast. I kept getting really high glucose readings (125-154mg/dl) after one week of no food, and I tested a couple of friends that have normal blood sugars and theirs were reading high too, so I knew something had to be wrong. I used another more expensive glucometer that came back with levels in the expected range. When I compared them directly with the same blood stick, the nova Max read 131 and the other brand read 73 (which is expected for me on a fast).On the plus side the ketones seem to be more accurate - they are measuring where expected and less than 10% different than the other monitor. Being that the test strips are less expensive for this monitor, I will continue using it to test ketones.

This device is great to use for diabetics monitoring their ketosis levels. It tests both glucose and Ketone blood levels. It's only issue is that the free pouch that comes with it for holding everything is not quite big enough other than that this device works well

I agree with the other negative reviews. I fast regularly and started to think I had a health problem. the readings were 130-150 even after long periods without food. This meter and the strips are NOT trustworthy. If you google you will find a multi-year history of complaints and recalls also at least one imposed by the FDA in 2013. This is not rocket science so very disappointing that this company has not resolved its quality issues and does not care of the risk it is potentially exposing people to.I also tried the control solution and got the same reading.... something wrong with strips, meter or both.

Seems to work well for price.. mine didn't come with any test strips. In the "what's included" section of the manual it states it should have come with a vial of test strips. I ordered a pack seperately but they are expensive!! I'm using mine to test my level of ketosis. Results have been seemingly accurate and consistent.