Diabetes is something that steals your time for sure. Between multiple testing’s a day, sometimes upwards of 12-15 times, multiple daily injections, or multiple boluses of insulin through an insulin pump, remembering medications, counting carbs, preparing your meals, etc., etc., you get it, it is a time thief.
Waiting an extra few moments even seconds to test your blood sugar can really seem like forever, especially when you have to do this up to 15 times a day.
That is why sometimes, even the littlest changes can bring the biggest improvements for managing your diabetes. When you test your blood sugar you are “supposed” to change your lancet each and every single time, so up to 15 times a day. (I say supposed to because those with diabetes know that this doesn’t always happen as regular as it should).
The process goes something like this:
- Take the old lancet out
- Replace it with a new one
- Prime the new lancet (pushing or pulling back the button, depending on your lancing device).
- Press down another button to release the lancet into your finger to get a drop of blood, hopefully big enough that you can actually get a reading (Don’t even get me started there)
Phew! If you managed to be lucky enough and get enough blood for your test the first time, that’s where your process stops, for now. Only to be done again and again, and again, and again, you get the picture right?
Then comes along a new device (at this point it’s a few years old, but still oh so new to many who did NOT know about it), the AccuChek FastClix. The FastClix came in to replace the MultiClix that many of us in the diabetes community loved.
I recommend reading the following article:
The big difference between the two, the FastClix takes away one additional step!
Imagine that you are able to check your blood sugar single handedly, because you don’t have to prime the lancet now. All you have to do is press down one button, ONE!
What other benefit does the FastClix offer?
Each lancing ‘drum’ features 6 lancets in one single drum. That’s right, you don’t have to change with each and every single test.
What you do instead is slide the slider over to change to the next lancet in the drum. So if you test 12 times a day as an example, guess what, you only have to change it two times versus twelve. If you have type 2 diabetes and only have to test 2 to 4 times a day, well look there, you may only have to change it every day or every other day.
Talk about a real time saver for sure.
Inserting the Drum
Inserting the lancing drum is really super simple. You simply pull off the cap, pull out the old drum, the counter will reset to 6, and replace it with a new drum and put the cap back on. That’s it. There really isn’t any difficulty associated to replacing your lancets in the FastClix.
What I like about this is the lancets are covered within the drum, and you don’t have to worry about accidentally stabbing yourself in the finger. Believe me, I’ve done this multiple times with other types of lacing devices.
Benefits to the FastClix
You’ve heard that it is a time saver, you won’t puncture your finger trying to change out the lancets and you only have to change a few times a day or less, so what else is there?
Let’s take a look what AccuChek has to say the benefits are:
- Fast Delivery: The lancing device is already primed and ready to go, release it easily and quickly with one quick, avoiding additional steps.
- Less Pain: In a recent test, the FastClix was reported to be the least painful and easiest to use among other types of lancing devices
- Precision Delivery: The intricate manufacturing of the device helps to ensure smooth entry into the skin each and every time.
- Convenience: The FastClix lancets are preloaded drums with 6 lancets in each.
- There are 11, not just 5 or 7 settings for depth to give you the best possible comfort for testing your blood sugar.
Wrap- Up
It’s really an amazing device overall that can help give you back a bit more time that diabetes steals from you on a daily basis.
The only downside to the device I would report is that it is only available in one color, black.
I’d recommend to AccuCheck to produce the FastClix in a few different colors like blue, green, pink and purple. Diabetes is boring enough with the repetition we have to endure on a daily basis, why not make it a bit more customizable and fun, especially for younger kids. Hope you find this article useful!
What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below.
TheDiabetesCouncil Article | Reviewed by Dr. Sergii Vasyliuk MD on June 01, 2020
