# Freestyle Optium Neo - Fail



## Matt Cycle (Nov 20, 2015)

Have been using the above meter for about 5 months and to date I have been reasonably impressed with it.  Check my bg this morning and it was working fine then went to work and about 2 hours later inserted a strip and ....nothing.  Tried another strip and another - still nothing.  The meter still switched on but the strips weren't registering.  So I phoned the Abbott careline and the person advised me it was the batteries!  I explained there was no low battery sign, the meter still switched on and I'd only had it 5 months - he said it switched on to get the results but there was not enough power to do a test and sometimes it didn't show the low battery sign! 

On the way home I got some batteries and I got one test strip to work after inserting and removing several times then nothing!!  So it wasn't the batteries.

By this time it's after 5 on Friday night!!  I phoned the Abbott careline again explaining my predicament and after reeling off the serial number, strips lot number, my details (which they should have had when I registered it) he said they would send a new one... it would take 2 to 3 working days!!   He asked me to return the faulty one and also said when I got the new one if I contacted them they would then send a spare.

Obviously I then needed a meter so I searched around and found my old Accuchek Nano (which must be at least 10 years old) and have been to the chemist to get some strips.  Whilst there the assistant also gave me a One Touch Verio they were handing out free which has 10 strips in it.

I've had a few meters over the years and some have had some real hammer and until today I've never had one fail and it's only 5 months old.  I'm therefore not impressed both with the meter and with the original advice from Abbott.

Lesson learnt - always have a working spare.


----------



## grovesy (Nov 20, 2015)

I had problem with One Touch meter about 10 years ago, they sent a replacement immedtiately and had to send old one back for them to examine!


----------



## pav (Nov 20, 2015)

Had a glucomen meter which kept resetting the date to 01-01 with no error codes, I rang them up and they sent a replacement by return of post.


----------



## Flutterby (Nov 20, 2015)

Sorry to read of this - what a pain for you.  Hope the replacement turns up more quickly than expected.


----------



## trophywench (Nov 20, 2015)

After never having a spare for about 35 years - well when they cost me a month's salary, I'd hardly buy 2, would I !  Admittedly at the end of that they didn't cost me anything, but you don't think you'll have a prob do you!

Anyway then something similar happened .... and in the finish I landed up with about half a dozen random spare meters all different makes!  I gradually gave them away to good diabetic homes (LOL) and when I had the Combo I asked for a spare AccuChek meter that used the same strips, and was issued with 2 Nanos!  Still got em both now over 5 years later. 

Perhaps I ought to check they work? - one of them may have been used a few times a couple of years ago but t'other - never turned on!


----------



## Matt Cycle (Nov 21, 2015)

trophywench said:


> After never having a spare for about 35 years - well when they cost me a month's salary, I'd hardly buy 2, would I !  Admittedly at the end of that they didn't cost me anything, but you don't think you'll have a prob do you!
> 
> Anyway then something similar happened .... and in the finish I landed up with about half a dozen random spare meters all different makes!  I gradually gave them away to good diabetic homes (LOL) and when I had the Combo I asked for a spare AccuChek meter that used the same strips, and was issued with 2 Nanos!  Still got em both now over 5 years later.
> 
> Perhaps I ought to check they work? - one of them may have been used a few times a couple of years ago but t'other - never turned on!



I only paid for the first one I got and after that I got upgrades from the manufacturer, ones from the DN, surgery etc. I've actually managed to get the Neo to work intermittently now by inserting and removing the strip several times.  It must be a fault in how the meter is reading the strip.  Not ideal but should be okay until the replacement turns up plus I've got the One Touch Verio strips (quite impressed with it for a freebie handed out by the chemist) and those I got for the Nano.


----------



## Northerner (Nov 21, 2015)

I don't think the Nanos are quite ten years old - I got sent one free after two years of registering my Aviva. Tried it a few times then it started failing, called the helpline, went through the Spanish Inquisition, removing and replacing batteries etc. I already knew it was a known problem as I'd read it on forums. Eventually they agreed to send me a replacement and I had to return the old one after fumigating it, removing the batteries, packing it in a lead envelope with skull and crossbones signs and sending it off. New one had the same problem after a few uses so no longer trusted it, I'm afraid. 

My worst fail was probably when my Contour Next USB failed at a Diabetes Wellness day because the battery charge decided to run down just before lunch!


----------



## trophywench (Nov 21, 2015)

Did you ever have to have a new battery in the one you had to pay for?  The meter was just over £30 (I picked up £32 7s 7d a month - on a 4 week month, less on a 5 cos of the extra NI - I've always remembered that, it's such an odd amount!) and some years later when the battery failed - cost another £17 to replace!


----------



## Matt Cycle (Nov 21, 2015)

Being a bit of a tightwad I made do with visual BM strips until the 90's hoping they would be giving out free meters eventually.  When that didn't happen I had to buy one and one of the selling points was free batteries.  It wasn't like the coin cells they use now it was a bit bigger.  Now they hand meters out like confetti.

It reminds me of the pen needle farce.  When the pens first came out, the pens were free from Novo, the cartridges were on script but the pen needles weren't.  How the hell did they expect you to use the pen?  Of course you had to buy your own.  My very nice DSN at the clinic used to give me a bagful each time I went but I had to buy a box a few times and if you pay for them yourself you made 'em last.  None of this change them every time nonsense.   The BDA ran a campaign to get them put on prescription but it was around 4-5 years before it happened.


----------



## Northerner (Nov 21, 2015)

Ridiculous that you couldn't get the needles!  I do remember reading a story from the time that one of the 'advantages' of the pens were that the needles were re-usable - obviously hadn't been able to see those horrific pictures back then


----------



## PhoebeC (Oct 22, 2018)

Matt, I know this is a old post, but I have just had this issue.

My neo tester worked at 6.00am , I have walked to work and put a strip into it and the little high and low arrows both flashed on and off and few times and now itrt has gone off and will not come back on.

I checked this manual and this isn't a fault.

As I have been writing this, I have taken the batteries out and rubbed them both and put them back in again, because its cold. And now it has worked hurrah!

Its annoying because the Xceed was so good, and I had that for ten years it would tell me when the battery was old and it was cheap, and boots had their own version even cheaper, so I always had a spare. Even like my honeymoon where there was a situation where my bag with my tester got locked into a car, without access to it . We could go into any chemist and buy one.

So now I am nervous that this will be a new thing I have to consider, which is a pain. Need to research  new ones now


----------



## trophywench (Oct 22, 2018)

Well no meters work when they are too hot or too cold, whatever brand they happen to be.  Us girlies are lucky though cos the quickest way of warning batteries up is to take em out of the device and bung em in underneath one of your boobs in the bottom of your bra cup.  As soon as they no longer feel freezing, they'll be warm enough to work!


----------



## Matt Cycle (Oct 22, 2018)

PhoebeC said:


> Matt, I know this is a old post, but I have just had this issue.
> 
> My neo tester worked at 6.00am , I have walked to work and put a strip into it and the little high and low arrows both flashed on and off and few times and now itrt has gone off and will not come back on.
> 
> ...



Hope you get it sorted.  Following what happened above in the end I somehow ended up with 3 spare Neo's from Abbott.  All 3 eventually suffered from the same problem.  Although I could get them to work intermittently.  I still use one for ketone testing but for my normal meter I'm now on the Contour Next as that talks to the pump.  I think the problem with the Neo is a quality/design issue with it.  The same fault occurred on my Libre reader (using it with the Neo bg strips) and Abbott changed the reader.  The replacement reader also stopped working with the strips although the sensor scanner part is fine.  By that time I'd had enough and just used it for scanning the infrequent sensors I had.


----------



## PhoebeC (Oct 23, 2018)

Well the time is 13 hours out and it will not let me add the date. Which is fine if I can log it on my phone at the time, otherwise this is going to get annoying fast.
I haven't ever changed my strips, so don't even know where to start. Do I just order the meter I want and tell my doctor?


----------



## grovesy (Oct 23, 2018)

PhoebeC said:


> Well the time is 13 hours out and it will not let me add the date. Which is fine if I can log it on my phone at the time, otherwise this is going to get annoying fast.
> I haven't ever changed my strips, so don't even know where to start. Do I just order the meter I want and tell my doctor?


That is risky as they may not prescribe the strips. It might be better to ask what meters they support.


----------



## PhoebeC (Oct 23, 2018)

Thank you.


----------



## Matt Cycle (Oct 23, 2018)

PhoebeC said:


> Well the time is 13 hours out and it will not let me add the date. Which is fine if I can log it on my phone at the time, otherwise this is going to get annoying fast.
> I haven't ever changed my strips, so don't even know where to start. Do I just order the meter I want and tell my doctor?



Hi Phoebe.  Most companies will hand out free meters, have a look on the websites.  I was always impressed with the quality of the Roche Accu-chek meters.  The Contour Next (was Bayer) I now use with the pump is decent as well.  Medtronic wouldn't pair their pump up with any old crap.   I'd try and get a few freebies and see which you like and then approach the doctor/nurse armed with some info.  If you explain the Neo is broken and you'd like strips for the Accu-chek, Contour etc.  From what I can remember the Neo bg strips weren't particularly cheap anyway.  Quote the NICE guidelines NG17 1.6.17 "When choosing blood glucose meters: take the needs of the adult with type 1 diabetes into account".  If you are currently prescribed ketone strips for the Neo then you can keep hold of it for the few times you may use it to check.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17/chapter/1-Recommendations#blood-glucose-management-2


----------



## PhoebeC (Oct 24, 2018)

Thanks for this Matt. This is useful for more than meters


----------

