# Do you abide by meter expiration dates?
**URL:** https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263
**Category:** Tips, Tech & Gear
**Created:** [January 24, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263 "2019-01-24T16:28:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@T1Allison](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/T1Allison)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/1 "2019-01-24T16:28:24Z")
Do you abide by meter expiration dates? When I’ve looked, I’ve only ever seen the expiration date printed on the box, not on the meter itself. Unless I’m missing something, unless you keep your meter paired up with its original box, how would you ever know it expired?
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### Author:  [@Thomas](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Thomas)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/2 "2019-01-24T16:35:46Z")
The actual meter?
No. Never.
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### Author:  [@cardamom](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/cardamom)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/3 "2019-01-24T16:50:43Z")
Wait, meters expire? (So my answer is, no)
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/4 "2019-01-24T16:57:55Z")
> [@T1Allison](#):
>
> Do you abide by meter expiration dates?
I have never seen one 🙂 Is it possibly because you cannot change its battery? If not, I also would totally disregard.
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### Author:  [@T1Allison](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/T1Allison)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/5 "2019-01-24T17:05:24Z")
The endo who fired me during my second pregnancy was big about meter expiration dates. She flipped out when I didn’t know whether my meter was expired…BC IT’S NOT PRINTED ON THE METER.
Sorry for the internet yelling. She was frustrating to work with.
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### Author:  [@glitzabetes](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/glitzabetes)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/6 "2019-01-24T17:18:33Z")
I also had no idea they expired. Sounds like a scheme to make you buy a new one
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### Author:  [@TiaG](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TiaG)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/7 "2019-01-24T18:41:33Z")
I wait till they die. They usually do within a year or two for me, so I figure that roughly corresponds to the expiry date.
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### Author:  [@MM2](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/MM2)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/8 "2019-01-24T18:46:24Z")
I just got new meter at no cost, because my insurance company changed from One Touch to Accu-check. So had a box handy. The box contained meter and one container with 10 strips. The outside box and label on BG strip container have same date, 12/31/2019.
I think meters that ship with strips show the strip expiration date on outside of box.
I do get new meter every couple years. I think the slot where strip is inserted might degrade over time due to dirt, moisture, etc. Typically get award points from CVS, and often use that to buy meter, or buy cheap on AZ.
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### Author:  [@Beacher](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Beacher)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/9 "2019-01-24T18:47:31Z")
> [@T1Allison](#):
>
> She flipped out when I didn’t know whether my meter was expired…BC IT’S NOT PRINTED ON THE METER.
Wow. The people they give degrees to! Using that logic, I assume a lot of things around me have expired. My daytimer, the plate I just ate my lunch off, my pencil, myself …
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### Author:  [@T1Allison](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/T1Allison)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/10 "2019-01-24T18:48:50Z")
> [@MM2](#):
>
> I think meters that ship with strips show the strip expiration date on outside of box.
I wondered the same thing, but I recently bought two different Contour meters which did not come with sample strips, and both boxes showed expiration dates.
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### Author:  [@Eric](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Eric)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/11 "2019-01-24T18:51:24Z")
> [@Beacher](#):
>
> My daytimer, the plate I just ate my lunch off, my pencil, myself …
I have posted on FUD about how pencils work well after the expiration date.
Oh wait, that was insulin. Nevermind.
Toss those pencils, Beach.
😀
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### Author:  [@Thomas](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Thomas)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/12 "2019-01-24T18:52:17Z")
My wall calendar has an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2019.
I usually blow those expiration dates off also.
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### Author:  [@Eric](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Eric)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/13 "2019-01-24T19:02:37Z")
> [@Thomas](#):
>
> My wall calendar
Does it have cute little pictures of vaguely marsupial creatures?
Like a picture of a mongoose hanging from a tree limb with the caption, “Hang in there baby, it’s almost Friday!”
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### Author:  [@Lisa](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Lisa)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/14 "2019-01-24T22:50:49Z")
I don’t think that meters expire. I think as long as they are working accurately and checked every one in a while with control solution then they are fine. If there is a problem with a meter, call the company and they will usually send a new one (I had a Freestyle Lite meter replaced once). It’s the strips that they make the $$ of off, not the meters.
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### Author:  [@Beacher](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Beacher)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/15 "2019-01-24T23:50:02Z")
If a meter expires and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/16 "2019-01-25T00:03:35Z")
> [@T1Allison](#):
>
> The endo who fired me during my second pregnancy was big about meter expiration dates.
Did she also tell you to only use your poker lancets once?
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### Author:  [@bkh](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/bkh)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/17 "2019-01-25T03:16:10Z")
I never actually ran an experiment, but assumed that the meter expiration dates were because the analog portions of the measuring circuitry would have components such as resistors that could go out of tolerance with age, possibly reducing the accuracy. This whole notion of “drifting out of calibration” is a real thing, but I don’t know if it actually matters with our glucometers.
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### Author:  [@T1Allison](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/T1Allison)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/18 "2019-01-25T03:27:44Z")
The way she flipped out indicated she was onboard with that idea.
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### Author:  [@T1Allison](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/T1Allison)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/19 "2019-01-25T15:51:41Z")
FWIW, I talked to a good friend today who used to work Customer Support for one of the major meter companies. She said they received no training related to meter expiration dates. She said that if it is not printed on the meter then it is not an FDA requirement. In their trouble shooting script, there was no question about age of meter. She said the test strips is where all of the magic happens and that is what is regulated by the FDA as far as expiration dates.
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### Author:  [@Thomas](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Thomas)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/do-you-abide-by-meter-expiration-dates/6263/20 "2019-01-25T16:49:06Z")
> [@T1Allison](#):
>
> She said the test strips is where all of the magic happens …
100% agree.
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