Anyone Bought An INR Home Testing Machine?

G-Man66

my doctor is looking in to getting funding at the mo and i managed to get the hospital to keep testing for now , but if i get no joy ill have to see if i cab buy one

thanks G

doblo1

Hi, just sen ts and have found that Roche have a special on till 30 March so the coaguchek xs is being sold by them at £299.00. This is the same one tht my Surgery uses. So I am off to get it.

FREEDOM. at last now I can go away for more than a wek at time :j

Cherryscone

oh i would love one of these as well ive been on warfarin since i was 16 a long time ago and detest the weekly blood tests

kazsta10

Anyone know of any offers still on with these machines please?

I need to be on Warfarin for life as I've had 3 blood clots in my legs, I am too hard to get blood out of as my veins are wrecked from IV antibiotics, they can only get blood out of me twice in a row then that's it.
They tried me on the Clexane injections instead but they contain pork products, and I'm allergic to pork, and pork products. I can't be on Tinzaprin injections for life as they weaken your bones too much. So my only way of getting any treatment is to buy my own testing machine, my GP doesn't have one, the hospital is a 30 mile round trip and I don't drive I rely on my mum whose unwell herself and cannot keep driving me all that way, I cant afford a taxi there and back and cant use public transport as I'm disabled.

I live on disability benefits so no way I can afford the £600 for the Coagchek xs one ive found for sale on Amazon, and ive no idea if I could get any strips etc on prescription and couldnt keep affording £90 for 24 test strips for the Coagchek xs - couldn't seem to find any other make on there either. This site won't let me publish a link to it to show you, as I'm a new member.

I know this thread is old but would be so grateful if anyone knows of any offers on machines please?? Thanks in advance

frugalstephen

Hi There,

A few months ago I purchased the 'Alere' INR machine on offer at £199. (see previous post) To be honest, if I was now given one of these free, i'd still leave it and go with the Coaguchek.

The service from Alere is very exceptionally poor, in addition, back to back testing with the 'alere' machine , my surgery's own Coaguchek, and laboratory testing, showed the Alere to be way off - but apparently, according to their 'help desk' a 30% differential is OK!

Also, the Coaguchek is much easier to use, with the blood sample being taken from the side (like a blood glucose meter). Also, Alere want to charge me £18 for a bag of 50 capillary tubes to aid blood sampling. I can buy them direct from USA (including FedEx!!) for £13. The Alere doesn't even come with a free testing strip to get you started. (or the tubes to see if they help)

I am not a fan of this company at all, although the ethos of INR home testing is great and very freeing. I'd pay the extra for Coaguchek, after all, this is something you'll be doing the rest of your life - wish someone had given me the advice I'm dispensing :rotfl:

By the way, you should be able to get both strips, Alere & Coaguchek on prescription.

Grenadianexpat

Just to keep things up to date, ROCHE have an offer which runs until 31st Dec 2011 for the Coagucheck XS system for £299 including postage. The UK patients freephone contact number is...0808 100 7666.

frugalstephen

Grenadianexpat wrote: »

Just to keep things up to date, ROCHE have an offer which runs until 31st Dec 2011 for the Coagucheck XS system for £299 including postage. The UK patients freephone contact number is...0808 100 7666.

Good pointer, and if Alere INR2 start their offer again at £199, from experience, I'd still buy the Coaguchek!

frugalstephen

Hi Rubyjam,

Not waffling at all! Have no idea how you've coped for 10 years without self-testing. I lasted 4 weeks before making the decision. I guess I already had prior knowledge of self testing being diabetic too, and taking regular blood samples. As for speaking up, don't leave until you get confirmation that they will support you! You'll need their consent signature when buying the machine, in addition to the on-going prescription for the strips. Can't comprehend in getting involved in the hassle of visiting hospital/Dr for a test which at home takes 2 minutes.

Hopefully, your current arrangement will allow you to use one of the machines (if you haven't already) to see what's involved. It really is very easy.

The Roche (Coagucheck) is definitely the one I would recommend, despite me ending up with another brand (Alere INRatio) - but that's another story...

Let us know how you get on. Good luck...

ilikebargains

I am on warfrin for the last two years and I was thinking about getting the coagucheck XS self monitoring and testing machine and was going to buy the machine, because I thought the strips will be provided on NHS. I have been to see my Doctor's nurse was informed that I will only get certain amount of strips but will have to purchase any extra strips myself. I am seeing my doctor next week and if he informs me same as above that they will supply 12 strips for one year and I have to purchase any extra strips myself, can they do this or can I demand they provide the strips which are needed.

frugalstephen

In short, yes they can hold this decision. However, depending on your circumstances, you may present a valid argument for them to change it. For instance, 12 strips will give you a test result once a month - how many times and how frequently do you get tested now? Are your results usually fairly stable without much change in your Warfarin prescription?

I'm fortunate in that my GP will issue as many strips as needed, but to be honest, I've been fairly stable now for a while, so only really test every 3 or 4 weeks. Last time I checked, the strips for my machine (AlereINRatio) were around £4 each, I'm guessing the Coagucheck would be something similar.

Not sure if that's any help or not? (probably not!)