No Need To Test?

[Cloudlesssky]

Hi there,

I went for my appointment with the diabetic nurse today.
I have been diagnosed for three months.
My glucose levels have fallen from 31 but I am still very up and down, with spikes I can't always identify.
I am generally now between 8.5 and 10, but there are several times a week I am between 12 and 14. I have also several times a week when I can be low 7s to 8.5.
See, I'm still a mess!

However, today I was told I no longer need to test my blood every day.
It was suggested that I need only test 2 or three times a week and only more than once in any day if my levels were in double figures.
I said that I thought I needed to be below 6.0 and was told that 7.0 was fine. In fact, so long as I'm in single figures that is apparently ok.... ?

Now, I may be slightly sceptical, but I fear that this is only being suggested as the cost of the testing strips are so high, not because its not beneficial for me to test.
From all I read here on the forum, testing, especially when I'm not stable and still well above the recommended levels, testing is virtually essential.

Any advice gratefully accepted!

Thanks,

Bee Gee

 

[Lamont D]

If you are eating carbs and or sugars you have to test before and two hours after to see what happens to your BSLs. Your dsn is spouting rubbish and is towing the official cost cutting line. Did the dsn tell you when to test? Fasting? After a carb heavy meal? A salad? Before bed? After a bath? Or in the middle of the night?
Unless you know for sure what a certain meal or food does to you, then you need to test! As recommended on this site because we've been there!

Keep testing and experimenting, especially if you are low carbing.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Most of us are told not to test, or if we do, once or twice a week.
So much depends on the reasons you are testing. There are two or three reasons.

The most important for newly diagnosed is to test out meals, before and after, to see how we react to that food. This is the ONLY way to learn what we can eat.

Then we can test occasionally, morning fastings, pre-evening meal, or random. This is to tell us if our general levels are stable and behaving properly within accepted ranges.

Our NHS people haven't yet clocked on to testing out meals. It seems to be something they never even consider, yet is so logical and obvious one has to wonder why.

 

[eddie1968]

Sounds like the old cost-cutting strategy is in play again here. Seems DSNs like to punish people and withdraw their strips. Bee gee you said BSLs at 31 is that an HbA1c of 31 or a meter reading of 31 mmol/l ?

 

[Cloudlesssky]

I am completely in agreement about testing to find out what makes me "spike" - as yet I have no clear picture, although I am better informed than I was. It has been really helpful, for example, to learn the reason why I should eat protein with carbs, that is information I've only found out on here.
I don't know if others feel this, but I almost wonder if the medical profession is content for me to "do better" but not necessarily to "be really well". Does that make sense? I'm not bitter and twisted (honest!) but I wonder if they were diagnosed with diabetes, if they would be content to take their own advice, or would they also want to try to attain the very best outcome for themselves?
Yes, I am sure that my lifestyle and previous bad/ignorant choices have contributed to my now having diabetes. Yes, I fully accept that I have to take responsibility for my own health and improving my habits. I wish I had done so before.
However, what I was told today, alongside the things other forum members report having been told by their medical professionals, makes me wonder if there is almost a negligence in the way many people with diabetes are treated and informed. Sounds harsh, because I actually have been well "treated" and monitored since diagnosis... Sorry to go on.
Bee Gee

 

[Cloudlesssky]

Hi Eddie,
Hba1c was 122.
Meter reading at diagnosis was 28.8 then 31 two days later.
Gulp

 

[eddie1968]

Well Bee Gee those are meter-melting numbers. Anyone with your HbA1c levels should be given free strips+meter. My initial HbA1c was 112 mmol/l 5 years ago and I am on insulin now.

 

[Nuthead]

Hi there,

I went for my appointment with the diabetic nurse today.
I have been diagnosed for three months.
My glucose levels have fallen from 31 but I am still very up and down, with spikes I can't always identify.
I am generally now between 8.5 and 10, but there are several times a week I am between 12 and 14. I have also several times a week when I can be low 7s to 8.5.
See, I'm still a mess!

However, today I was told I no longer need to test my blood every day.
It was suggested that I need only test 2 or three times a week and only more than once in any day if my levels were in double figures.
I said that I thought I needed to be below 6.0 and was told that 7.0 was fine. In fact, so long as I'm in single figures that is apparently ok.... ?

Now, I may be slightly sceptical, but I fear that this is only being suggested as the cost of the testing strips are so high, not because its not beneficial for me to test.
From all I read here on the forum, testing, especially when I'm not stable and still well above the recommended levels, testing is virtually essential.

Any advice gratefully accepted!

Thanks,

Bee Gee

Yes I know how you feel. I had my appointment with the DN A couple of weeks ago. She told me to miss out the lunch time test. I only need to test three times a day. I pointed out that I eat to my meter and I'm T2 on insulin. Walked out with double my strips and an appointment with the consultant.!. Frustrating isn't it.

 

[Cloudlesssky]

Yes, Eddie, wasn't good, was it!!!
The nurse I saw a couple of days after I was diagnosed was great.
She gave me a testing kit for ketones, a blood glucose monitor, arranged my eye appointment (which came through really quickly) and an "education" group appointment. She saw me weekly for the first month then fortnightly till now.
I shouldn't complain - and I'm not really.
I'm still hoping to avoid the insulin if I can!
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Cloudlesssky]

Yes Nuthead, sure can be!