Reviews for iBGStar® Blood Glucose Monitoring System provided by Sanofi US

Accuracy of glucose reading are vitally important. I, and others, will base our insulin injections off the meter's result/reading. If the reading is telling you your blood sugar is higher than your actual glucose levels and you end up taking too much insulin based upon an inaccurate high reading, this will lead to low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. A very dangerous condition ! With this meter I have had this happen many, many times. I can take two readings, back to back, and have them vary by up to 50 points ! Generally, even when I am feeling low, this metter will read higher than I am. Adding futher to my aggravation is that I often get "Error" messages when testing - there goes another expensive and wasted test strip ! If you don't get the correct amount of blood up the test channel of the strip, well, there goes another test strip as well. If your hands are not completely dry (and I mean bone dry), you run the potential for another error message with the strip. The results you get in terms of the app software are basic at best - and they mean very little if they are inaccurate. Finally, the batteyr life of the meter is garbage. Don't ever inadvertently leave a test strip in the meter after a test. This will speed up the draining of the battery. And don't think by plugging in the meter to the electrical charger that you'll be back up and immediately be able to test - expect to wait hours for the thing to re-charge !! I AM GOING BACK TO MY OLD METER THAT HAD NONE OF THESE ISSUES !

16 of 17 people found this useful

I'm definitely a little biased as an Apple fanboy among other things, but I personally think this is the most amazing product ever. The screen on the device is beautiful. The fact that it works even without my iPhone or when the iPhone is out of batteries is just amazing. And the sync process when I've tested a bunch of times is totally seamless. Plug it in, download happens automatically, hit confirm, and that's it - it just works. The animation on the (iPhone) screen when you test is really cool too.

I don't get some of the previous reviews knocking the product for the strips not being compatible with the users' existing strips/being expensive:
1) No duh - it's a new system from another company - I mean would you expect OneTouch strips to work on your Contour Meter? Of course not.
2) They're not any more expensive than other branded strips (no more than my OneTouch strips).
3) They ARE covered on most plans - in fact you can probably find co-pay assistance coupons that equalize to the lowest co-pay tier

Oh, and with a case around my iPhone and my iBGStar, the whole thing looks like one device and I feel like I have one fewer thing (a glucose meter) to carry around. Just have a pouch for strips and lancing device now. This is probably the best thing about it.

What I'm looking forward to seeing is if there will be other apps that work with the iBGStar! That would be so cool.

50 of 52 people found this useful

I have had type two diabetes for six years now and with meds,diet and exercise have been able to control it pretty well. My three month a1c is always in range but i have days where it runs high.I have had this meter for three weeks now and i love the features it has and it is going to help me along with my Dr to pinpoint the times,food and habits that effect my blood sugar.I love that i can either bring my phone to the Dr's or i can email him my results and it is so much easier to use, understand, keep records and share results.Nice Job.

37 of 37 people found this useful

The app and the meter integrate nicely and make it really easy to log info. But this has a few limits:

1) supplies not yet covered under most insurance plans
2) because the meter connects to the iPhone dock, you can't just leave it plugged in permanently--you have to unplug it every time you need to recharge the phone, which for me is at least once a day. I would prefer if it plugged into the headphone jack, which I use less often, but that may not be true for others.
3) the size of the lancing device is nice and compact, but I much prefer the Accu-Chek Multiclix device since you load it once and get six lancets.
4) you can customize the list of notes to attach to each reading, but it would be nice to also be able to enter a free-text note for situations where none of your predefined notes apply and you don't need to add a new one to the list
5) if the app is going to use a (customizable) predefined pick-list of notes, it would be nice to be able to analyze the data according to those notes (for example, what's my average post-meal glucose reading when I'm sick?)
6) it would be nice if sticking a test strip into the meter wakes up the phone and opens the app
7) there are times you really should be able to delete a reading, but the app won't let you. For example, if I get an unusually high reading, sometimes I immediately take another to make sure it's correct. Leaving both of these readings in the data biases my averages upward.
8) it's frustrating that Sanofi offers a case to protect the iPhone with the meter attached, but not in the US. The Canadian site on which they sell it won't ship to the US, either. So no protective case. That's a problem.

32 of 35 people found this useful

If you are already monitoring your blood sugar, this device is cool, but don't plan on using your current supplies. You have to buy specialized test strips from IBG, and they aren't cheap. Good luck trying to get a prescription from a major health care provider...because iBG is NOT included on their formulary. Out of pocket cost for test strips would be $65 per 50 strips. Thanks, but no thanks. returning.

45 of 56 people found this useful

I am a clinical pharmacist who specializes in Diabetes. I bought this yesterday and used it myself to give it a try before recommending it to patients. It is the most intuitive, user friendly meter I have ever used. I also love the clinical interface and the information it captures for me to review on the report prior to a patient appointment. It also allows for the user to input notes or tag a reading with specific notes, e.g "dirty finger" for a unusually high reading that may have been due to not washing hands after eating.

Finally, a product that is designed for a patient and the provider, making the user experience incredible while saving the provider time that can be spent on the patient instead of distraction! Great job sanofi and kudos to Apple for truly being customer centric and taking the first step towards helping so many people with diabetes and their providers!

44 of 45 people found this useful

I'm 17yrs old and I've have had Type 1 diabetes since long before I bought my IPhone. This is the reason I became an Apple user in the first place. Innovation!! This is a great product. Small, discrete with great App. I was at the Apple store with my friends and I bought the iBGStar with my own money but my Mom and Dad were so excited to see I could email my stats to them they paid me back. Doesn't get better than that!!

98 of 102 people found this useful

Finally, a healthcare product truly designed with the consumer in mind that meets modern standards for both consumer products and diabetes testing supplies. Other meters have tried to offer connectivity and data management functionality, but only this meter does so in an an easy and intuitive way. If you have diabetes and don't yet have an iPhone, now is the time to jump on the Apple bandwagon.

50 of 53 people found this useful

Easy to download and set up. Great graphics. Easy to share data. Needs better cloud support and backup.

27 of 32 people found this useful