We did this the other night...for the first time.  What a performance.  The pen we have been given is called a Softclix II and it has very fine gauge needles.  So the punctures we made with it were so small it made a miniscule drop of blood, which clotted very shortly aftebefore making a blob substantial enough to fill the filter spot which has to be completely saturated both sides.  It has to fill a 1cm circle anyway which it did not.  So we did it again..and again...and on the fourth go had to resort to a lancet.  Ashley was not best pleased and packed a sad.  After the second try he did not want to do this and tucked his hands under his arms and the bottom lip dropped.  I felt awful continuing it actually.  the blood drop would be sufficient I guess for diabetic purposes, but for trying to get such a substantial amount of blood.  Well I don’t think it will work.

I dropped into my local pharmacy in the hope that they did larger gauge needles.  It has 5 setting on it and we used number 5 which is supposedly the one that gets deepest or larger puncture. 

We eventually managed to get the filter spot filled...after 5 punctures and sent the card off in the post yesterday.  Results should be back in two days and we get those also.  I am just wondering out of those of you that use this method, exactly what you use to puncture with and if I could look at getting another pen of some sort that is more effective.  This one we purchased off the metabollic nurse at Starship who came to train us how to do it.  She said it would not produce as much as a lancet.  I mean did they actually test these things before they were recommended for this use is what I am wondering--or even if anyone else is having bother with the?

Anne-Marie