What is the normal variability for a blood glucose meter?

I recently bought a cheap blood glucose meter (the “TrueTrack Smart System” kit) over the internet to check out my blood sugars after a relative was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Since I have no symptoms and am not overweight I was just expecting to be reassured; but I found my 8hr fasting glucose over several days seemed to range from 98 to 124 indicating potential prediabetes. However, this morning I became confused on getting a reading of 144 despite not having eaten anything for over 12 hours. I decided to do several tests in a row and the results were: 144 130 117 111 126 110 104. I made sure my fingers were very clean and dry & of course used new strips & lancets each time. The meter did not come with glucose control solution but does have a test card you can insert in the strip port which then reads “OK”. My question is, what is the normal range of reproducibility you can expect in readings from a blood glucose meter, and should I disregard these results and throw it out?

The FDA allows home meters to vary up to 20%.

Even the best meters will give a pretty high variation when tested like this.

Also, remember that blood sugar is a moving target, so even seconds later, your level could be different.

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