Blood sugar question. When checking it with a finger prick or having blood drawn from the vein are the values the same ?

[Mummy2025x]

When checking blood sugar say by finger prick and the machine and you get a reading of 4.3 and having blood sample taken directly from vein, are they basically around same value more or less ? Curious ! Thanks

Yes, it's the same blood.

OP means are the results the same and no that's not always the case - it depends on what test they're running.

Hmmm should probably say I think that's what OP means...

Are you worried about a test or something @Mummy2025x?

I see what you mean. If you take blood from a finger and a vein at the same time and perform the same test, they will both show the same BG reading (with a small margin of error). But if the blood is taken at different times or a different test is performed, it'll be different.

The blood test is usually a hba1c which looks at the longer term trend. Or are you self testing? 4.3 is within normal range.

They should be roughly the same, yes.

Finger prick and HbA1c can potentially be quite different.

That's not what she asked though. If you do a blood sugar level with blood taken from a vein it should be similar to the finger prick.

If you did a finger prick blood sugar and took a blood gas at the same time, the results should be roughly the same.

Fair enough it may mean at the same time for the same test, but OP didn't actually say that either.

Probably right though.

@Mummy2025x if you want to understand better I'm sure the team looking after you can explain what the tests are for or whatever it is you're curious about.

Venous (arm) and capillary (fingerstick) blood do give different blood glucose results due to the sample and test measurement.

Arm testing can can simply be on the blood sample or the spun down plasma from the sample.

Also, venous blood can be tested on a hospital grade analyser which but a fingerstick might have been tested on a small portable blood glucose meter. The analyser may be a lot more accurate than the portable meter.

HbA1c cant be measured using a finger prick and BG meter. It’s a different measurement

If they are testing both for BG then they will be the same if both samples were taken together. It is a momentary snapshot of blood glucose in your system at a specific moment in time, and two tests can vary quite widely if they are done at different times on the same day.

Hba1C tests for glucose bonded to haemoglobin, so is not the same thing.

Yes I know, and I'm saying they can be quite different, since one is a measurement of current blood glucose at one point in time and one measures blood glucose level over 2 or 3 months.

Hence, the readings from finger prick and blood sample may potentially be quite different. Or they may be very much similar. OP hasn't actually confirmed what she meant.

Getting myself confused - hot and tired!🙄🙄

I'm guessing OP is new to this and is trying to figure something out regarding tests taken. Hope you get your clarity @Mummy2025x!

Yes it can. With a special hba1c meter.

This depends what the blood from your arm is testing.

if it’s testing glucose (this is what your blood sugar is in that second) then they won’t be the same but they will be similar. Your blood sugar won’t be identical in both samples taken as it’s different bits of blood, and the fingerprick meter is less accurate and only has to be within 15% of the right answer 95% of the time.

Usually when you have blood taken from your arm though it’s for a three month average called hba1c. This is used to diagnose and monitor diabetes. It uses a different scale and because it’s a three month average it can be quite different to the blood sugar in that second, because your blood sugar constantly changes.