Why don't Dr's prescribe testing kits?

[pil79]

I was wondering if anyone knows the real reason Dr's don't prescribe testing kits? I was diagnosed a few weeks ago after getting another abscess operated on I asked at diagnosis if I would get a blood testing kit and was told "no it will make you depressed" at a later appointment with the 'diabetic' nurse I asked why I had not been offered one to which I was told "you will just make your fingers sore".

Why when I demonstrate a wish to control my diabetes am I denied the tools which will help me? Surely it will save the NHS money in the long term?

I have bought my own kit but just can't understand the mentality.

 

[jack412]

they worry about this years budget, a budget in 10 years time is someones elses problem.

most get the code free because of cheap strips
testing and SD codefree meter
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm
if you buy extra boxes of strips there is a discount code ..5 packs 264086

From the Southport gp who posts here
http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/Sp.../March 2014/PP Unwin final proofs revised.pdf

it’s a long page and a few good video’s
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

 

[phoenix]

Why?
The reason that they are unavailable to many people with T2 in the UK (and lots of other parts of the world also; it's not just the UK) is that review of several research studies suggested that there is no clinical value beyond a slight one during the first 6 months, and indeed that their use can make people depressed. You can read the arguments about it in a Diabetes UK position statement.http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us...ucose-levels-for-adults-with-Type-2-diabetes/
The big problem in the past was that many people were prescribed them and not told what to do with them beyond testing and writing down the results. Often this was just a once a day reading which didn't tell anyone very much. Without being told how to use them, it was a huge waste of resources. Unfortunately, test and do nothing, was also the case in one of the major and very influential British studies (the one where depression was reported)
If you are taking drugs that may result in hypoglycaemia, then you can probably argue a good case against a restriction. ( driving, safety) If you don't use any medication or just diet it will be much harder.

As you see, on this forum and many such forums, there are people who use the strips to successfully educate themselves about the best way to manage their own diabetes.
Many of these have unfortunately found that they have had to buy their own strips. There are some companies that supply them relatively cheaply compared with the major manufacturers (put codefree in the search box above for some threads on this). I've read of a few people who have used these cheaper strips and when their doctor's have seen good results they have been given a prescription. Sadly, not always the case.

 

[Daphne917]

I was wondering if anyone knows the real reason Dr's don't prescribe testing kits? I was diagnosed a few weeks ago after getting another abscess operated on I asked at diagnosis if I would get a blood testing kit and was told "no it will make you depressed" at a later appointment with the 'diabetic' nurse I asked why I had not been offered one to which I was told "you will just make your fingers sore".

Why when I demonstrate a wish to control my diabetes am I denied the tools which will help me? Surely it will save the NHS money in the long term?

I have bought my own kit but just can't understand the mentality.

A) Because of costs - although if you balance that against the number of people who have probably saved the NHS money because they have managed to control their sugars through 'eating to their meters' so do not suffer, or have delayed, the complications of diabetes it is a little short sighted
B) There is a perception that regular hba1c or fasting tests are sufficient - which may be so if they were 3 monthly but the majority of us who are well controlled are probably only tested annually or, at best, 6 monthly.
C) There may be an element of worry when we don't see the results that we think we should be getting for eample I was concerned a month or so ago because my morning BS levels were either 6 or mid 5s when other forum members were regularly below that - when I mentioned my levels to my DN she told me that as 5.9 or below was normal then I shouldn't worry about it too much.
D) Advice seems to be based on the concept that 'one size fits all' when infact we are all different and what raises BS in one does not affect others and vice cersa.
E) There could be a concern that testing becomes excessive or compulsive which may be the case for some however it's our fingers and we pay for the strips so it's our choice!

 

[mojo37]

Yep cost is the main one I think ..although I was given a meter by the DN she told me at the same time it would be very unlikely if I was given the strips on prescription and lo and behold she was right lol . Hence I have to buy my own ,at the moment bidding on ebay is the cheapest option tho when my bulk buy of lancets run out I with be purchasing the meter most folk on here advocate with far cheaper strips. This said I work for the NHS ( though not in a medical area ) and several of my work colleagues are type 2 and get strips etc on prescription ...different surgeries and areas

 

[mojo37]

I'm going to try and "banter " with my doctor when I go next she prescribed statins which i won't take and have never collected so she can have the statins and I'll have the strips lol do you think it will work

 

[Enclave]

It's a money thing .. If you want to test then you may have to do what most T2s here do and self fund !

 

[Paul59]

Never heard the Nhs say it will make you depressed before.
May be if the gave better diet information & test kits we would be far happier in the long run with a reduced cost to the Nhs because more will have things under control & have far less complications to be dealt with. (Note to self) must write to my MP about this. She is on the medical side of things.

 

[Nuthead]

Can't add anything other than to agree with all above posts. You can get lucky and find a gp practice that will give you a tester such as my gp nurse did. And that was before being on insulin. . But don't hold your breath.. ....It could be worth trying a well researched and polite worded (very well rehearsed) written statement and have counter arguments for the reasons you will be given not to have a tester. I have found that if any health care professional I have encountered KNOWS you know what you're taking about, you stand a better chance of not being fobbed off with the 'we know best ' attitude.

 

[Paul59]

Can't add anything other than to agree with all above posts. You can get lucky and find a gp practice that will give you a tester such as my gp nurse did. And that was before being on insulin. . But don't hold your breath.. ....It could be worth trying a well researched and polite worded (very well rehearsed) written statement and have counter arguments for the reasons you will be given not to have a tester. I have found that if any health care professional I have encountered KNOWS you know what you're taking about, you stand a better chance of not being fobbed off with the 'we know best ' attitude.

Or as other have said in the past on other threads
"WOULD YOU DRIVE YOUR CAR WITHOUT A SPEEDO & END UP IN TROUBLE".

 

[Nuthead]

Or as other have said in the past on other threads
"WOULD YOU DRIVE YOUR CAR WITHOUT A SPEEDO & END UP IN TROUBLE".

Been there done that

 

[strange famous]

My DN gave me strips and testing kit right from the start. She actually gave me two so I could keep one at work and one at home.

But when I was first diagnosed I was taking insulin for the first 3 months or so, so I guess that may have been a part of it.

I do think that I become compulsive about testing my BS and it probably does make me anxious and stressed more than it does me any good. I keep trying to force myself to test just once a week so I'll see if my BS is getting really out of control and I need to change meds, but I end up doing it once a day, and if I get a "bad" result I have to keep testing myself more regularly until I get a "good" one.

 

[pil79]

I'm going to try the whole it's fundamental to my treatment route. Surely when the Dr sees I've lost four stone in a few months she will see I'm taking my condition seriously?

 

[frankman]

Friends, I think the NHS or at my surgery, is trying to fool me around.

I had my first testing kit 10 years ago when I was diagnosed type2. Since then, I have had my meter replaced twice, through the post from the manufacturer. Recently I asked my daughter to purchase for me 2 boxes of 200 lancets on internet for approximately £24. My surgery didn't repeat my prescription for lancets; yet last week they easily supplied me with a tub of 50 test strips!

Discussing with my GP, I cheekily suggested to her that if the NHS doesn't care about my type2, then why should I bother? I can simply go back to old ways and eat whatever I like, regardless. Of course she didn't like that, but mentioned that I should carry on as I've been doing, taking care with my diet. Also I don't need to check my blood as I take Metformin! Well, I shall indeed keep checking my blood, as my diabetes changes from day to day. I get confused when I'm feeling peckish, but my result is over 7. On the other hand, I feel ok on occasion, yet my result might be 4.5!! What's going on?

I'm nearly 58 years old, and I'm continually being preached at to lose weight, and get more exercise. Ok, so how about the fact that for about 8 years, my weight has hovered around 80KG - isn't that OK? When I was first diagnosed, I was heading for 14 stones, that did shock me. Then there's the simple fact, that I have had problems with my lower left back since age 18, although not every day - nor am I on benefits, no I was self-employed. Since last year, I was diagnosed with heart disease, which is absolutely marvellous, especially as I don't get any help or advice regarding this.

Frank.

 

[Spiderjo]

I was diagnosed Sept 2016 and a friend advised me to get a test kit. I went to chemist to buy one and was advised that my GP
should prescribe one. I rang the GP to be told "you don't need to test, you're on Metformin". Predictably I ignored them and bought it anyway, got all the supplies online. I swing between testing before & after breakfast and same after evening meal to thinking I feel ok so won't bother testing. As I'm still learning what affects me, this can lead to "I feel nauseous, I must need to eat" - instead I've tested, to find I'm 7-8+ so obviously eating is the last thing I need to do! I do get anxious if I can't figure why my reading is high, but a T1 friend told me not to worry too much about imbalances as they're to be expected. I would like to have a go at the LC diet but not sure I can manage it as I'm a lifelong carb addict, so even cutting way down has been difficult.

 

[librarising]

As I'm still learning what affects me, this can lead to "I feel nauseous, I must need to eat" - instead I've tested, to find I'm 7-8+ so obviously eating is the last thing I need to do! I do get anxious if I can't figure why my reading is high, but a T1 friend told me not to worry too much about imbalances as they're to be expected. I would like to have a go at the LC diet but not sure I can manage it as I'm a lifelong carb addict, so even cutting way down has been difficult.

Slightly confused. You seem to think that your blood readings are a guide as to when to eat. I would suggest they are a guide as to what not to eat, usually too many carbs. Irregular eating can lead to snacking of the wrong kind. Most lowcarbers credit fat for the suppression of hunger pangs, and have learned various ok snacks, such as nuts.
Before diagnosis, I could easily demolish a tube of Pringles, eat a 100 gm bar of chocolate etc. Now I know that long-term therein lie diabetic complications.
I don't see being hungry as part of being a diabetic.
I would point out that T1s and T2s aim for control in slightly different ways. T1s can 'cover' their carbs with insulin. T2s aren't usually on insulin, and therefore have a greater interest in avoiding blood-spiking foods.
Your friend is right in that you shouldn't beat yourself off for high readings. If you've learned something, all the better.
Geoff

 

[bulkbiker]

I was diagnosed Sept 2016 and a friend advised me to get a test kit. I went to chemist to buy one and was advised that my GP
should prescribe one. I rang the GP to be told "you don't need to test, you're on Metformin". Predictably I ignored them and bought it anyway, got all the supplies online. I swing between testing before & after breakfast and same after evening meal to thinking I feel ok so won't bother testing. As I'm still learning what affects me, this can lead to "I feel nauseous, I must need to eat" - instead I've tested, to find I'm 7-8+ so obviously eating is the last thing I need to do! I do get anxious if I can't figure why my reading is high, but a T1 friend told me not to worry too much about imbalances as they're to be expected. I would like to have a go at the LC diet but not sure I can manage it as I'm a lifelong carb addict, so even cutting way down has been difficult.

A lot of us were lifelong carb addicts.. that's what got us in this mess to start with... once you have decided to stop then it becomes much easier. I prefer to have my eyes and toes intact rather than have that slice of (when you really think about it) rather tasteless bread.

 

[Chook]

I agree with @bulkbiker - and I would also say that eating carbs makes you hungry for more carbs... and more .... and more - and your blood glucose goes up and up.

I find it is actually easier to eat a very low carb diet as I don't really get hungry for snacks like I used to and, as an added bonus, my blood glucose stays reasonable stable and I have been able to stop injecting insulin.

Well done on getting your own meter - the best times to use it are first thing in the morning before breakfast (called your fasting test) then before and two hours after each meal and again before you go to bed. Of course you should also use it before and after exercise and if you feel 'odd' or 'wobbly' in any way - just in case your BG is going low.