Have you been told not to test your blood sugars?

[Wil burn]

I was told because I am type 2 they don't supply any testing stuff, just come back in three months for their test, so I bought my own, but not knowing at the time I bought a accu aviva which is expensive to buy the strips and lancets for.

The testing strips are really expensive for everything. You need to ask. I'm type 2 and said I need them to keep control.

 

[Daphne917]

I was told because I am type 2 they don't supply any testing stuff, just come back in three months for their test, so I bought my own, but not knowing at the time I bought a accu aviva which is expensive to buy the strips and lancets for.

I've got the accu aviva nano and buy the strips from e-bay at between £8.00 - £10.00 for 50.

 

[JenniferW]

If you're collecting evidence, I'd say I'm in a related category.

Because of what I'd read in discussions on this website, I've never told either my GP or the nurse that I'm testing. I assumed I'd get negative responses and haven't wanted to deal with those (on top of the diagnosis shock, lifestyle change, etc). Although I have a low income, I decided it was worth buying my own meter and supplies. But over time, this situation's going to become ridiculous. The GP and nurse won't know what I know. In time, I'm sure I'll tell them - but the present situation's having effects like this as well as the more obvious ones.

 

[Daphne917]

When I told the DN at my last check up that I tested she asked me why I wanted to make my fingers sore - my response so that I can maintain, or reduce, my current hba1c level (36). However when I went to see the practice nurse the other day for something non-diabetes related she had to prescribe some pills and checked that it wouldn't raise my BS - she asked if I tested and when I said yes she said 'good' at least I can see if the pills do have some affect.

 

[Tinkerbelle1]

the diabetic nurse I see has told me that you are not allowed to test your sugars when first diagnosed, l have to see her every 2 weeks for a while and she will do the tests at the drs. my concern is how do l know if what to eat is sending my sugars up if l do not have a meter to test my levels? only diagnosed 2 weeks and lm really stressed about this

 

[andcol]

the diabetic nurse I see has told me that you are not allowed to test your sugars when first diagnosed, l have to see her every 2 weeks for a while and she will do the tests at the drs. my concern is how do l know if what to eat is sending my sugars up if l do not have a meter to test my levels? only diagnosed 2 weeks and lm really stressed about this

Just ignore her. It is your body you can do as you wish!

 

[Magsx1]

the diabetic nurse I see has told me that you are not allowed to test your sugars when first diagnosed, l have to see her every 2 weeks for a while and she will do the tests at the drs. my concern is how do l know if what to eat is sending my sugars up if l do not have a meter to test my levels? only diagnosed 2 weeks and lm really stressed about this

They cannot tell you not to test, I bought my own testing kit,and find it invaluable to regulate my BG ,
If you can buy your own but get the one recommended on here as the one I bought is expensive as I didn't know much about it at the time, I'm sure someone on here can advise you of the cheapest one I can't remember the name of it unfortunately.

 

[chinta]

It's the Codefree one which is £12.99 from Amazon with a starter kit of 10 strips and lancets. Subsequently the strips are £7.99 for 50 and the lancets £3.99. I don't know what the view is here in France, my doctor just prescribed metformin, told me to give up sugar and come back in 3 months so I decided to research for myself and found this site. I consider that I know a fair bit about nutrition (trained as a nurse but over 35 years ago and never worked as a nurse) but I have been very surprised at what raises my sugar levels and what doesn't. I've got my FBG down from 22 to 10 in 3 weeks and I don't think I would have done that without testing. I also think I would have gone mad not knowing if I was killing myself until the 3 month check-up!!!

 

[Clivethedrive]

the diabetic nurse I see has told me that you are not allowed to test your sugars when first diagnosed, l have to see her every 2 weeks for a while and she will do the tests at the drs. my concern is how do l know if what to eat is sending my sugars up if l do not have a meter to test my levels? only diagnosed 2 weeks and lm really stressed about this

Hi tinkerbelle1 of course its important to " monitor " our bs's thats what you need to stress when asking for a blood monitor and test strips, my doc initially refused,but when he saw i was serious! He relented and has now seen for himself the dramatic improvement in my bs's...so keep at them

 

[FloraDora]

If you're collecting evidence, I'd say I'm in a related category.

Because of what I'd read in discussions on this website, I've never told either my GP or the nurse that I'm testing. I assumed I'd get negative responses and haven't wanted to deal with those (on top of the diagnosis shock, lifestyle change, etc). Although I have a low income, I decided it was worth buying my own meter and supplies. But over time, this situation's going to become ridiculous. The GP and nurse won't know what I know. In time, I'm sure I'll tell them - but the present situation's having effects like this as well as the more obvious ones.

JenniferW - I think if you just mention it to them without making it a big deal, they will probably be quite happy. The surgery did give me a meter, but it was not a very accurate one, so I bought another brand. I buy my own strips even though I am on a low income and they would prescribed them but I can't be bothered to chase them all the time (and I only get 50 strips at a time which seem to last no time at all). I now test my BG regularly and check my blood pressure too. The surgery seems more than happy to accept my readings. It's good to feel in control of things!

 

[JenniferW]

JenniferW - I think if you just mention it to them without making it a big deal, they will probably be quite happy. The surgery did give me a meter, but it was not a very accurate one, so I bought another brand. I buy my own strips even though I am on a low income and they would prescribed them but I can't be bothered to chase them all the time (and I only get 50 strips at a time which seem to last no time at all). I now test my BG regularly and check my blood pressure too. The surgery seems more than happy to accept my readings. It's good to feel in control of things!

I think when I'm next in to see the GP (rather than just seeing the nurse for blood tests) I'll ask about this. Even the odd 50 strips from time to time would be nice!

 

[JenniferW]

I live in America where you either pay out of pocket for your supplies, or you pay for insurance which then pays for supplies. If you are insured, you must have a prescription for your supplies from an Internist, General Practioner, or Endocrinologist. Usually, one calls the office of a doc who knows you are Diabetic and the office calls the pharmacy and prescribes as well as lists the number of refills without making you have an office visit, thus a copay of twenty or thirty dollars to get the prescription. Sod, one internist having retired, they called the new one as I needed a new Rx for testing supplies. A week later, already a bad sign, I get a call to call the doc's office. I'm told that " in order to get the Rx, you'll have to schedule an office visit."

"But I've already established I'm diabetic. I'm out of supplies. Is the doctor against frequent testing?"

"The doctor has not established how often you should test. " came the reply, after a wait for the doctor to be consulted.

"I test at least 6 times a day," was my reply, to which I added" As you know, I have an appointment on the 15th of January. Should I leave off my daily testing before and after meals until then?"

"Let me ask the doctor."

"Leave a message on my phone when you have called in the prescription," I said, and reminded the person calling that I was going to be the person with the financial loss for the supplies.

Btw, still no Rx and using outdated strips

Ouch! That's seriously hard on the pocket.

 

[dbr10]

my concern is how do l know if what to eat is sending my sugars up if l do not have a meter to test my levels? only diagnosed 2 weeks and lm really stressed about this

I was too. Not helped by being told not to test. You are expected to managed your condition and keep your BG within the proper range without knowing what it is. Simples. Just ignore what they say.

 

[JenniferW]

I was too. Not helped by being told not to test. You are expected to managed your condition and keep your BG within the proper range without knowing what it is. Simples. Just ignore what they say.

I wasn't told not to test - but I also think that so far, I've avoided telling either my GP or the practice nurse that I'm testing regularly. At first, I thought the cost would be too much. but I'm managing. I started with testing 7 times a day and kept that up till I got an overall picture which started to be pretty much the same day in, day out. My highest reading is the first one of the day, so now I just test that one every day. I carb-count, and it's a good start to the day to make me look back at the previous day's carbs and plan for the new day. It would be nice to have my test strips paid for by the NHS, but I've been paying for extra foot healthcare sessions for years, and a part of me just accepts the NHS will never cover everything I wish it would. I'm not optimistic that there's going to be a change of policy any time soon.

 

[dbr10]

I'm not optimistic that there's going to be a change of policy any time soon.

Cost comes first; patient care comes second. The consequence is that long term costs resulting from lack of care in the earlier stages will actually be more expensive. Nothing I have learned via the NHS since diagnosis has made any sense at all.

 

[JenniferW]

Cost comes first; patient care comes second. The consequence is that long term costs resulting from lack of care in the earlier stages will actually be more expensive. Nothing I have learned via the NHS since diagnosis has made any sense at all.

I agree - they seem to have no way of balancing the short-term cost against the longer term savings they'd make by really supporting us right from the start.

I did mean to say, though, that by shopping around, I'm now getting supplies at a much lower cost than when I started off, when I bought them from this website's shop.

 

[Brian109]

My doctor and nurse refuse to give me a machine saying I'd be undermining them making me feel guilty and worthless

 

[JenniferW]

My doctor and nurse refuse to give me a machine saying I'd be undermining them making me feel guilty and worthless

More than any previous illness or medical condition, my T2 diagnosis has made me re-think my relationship with the NHS - what I expect, what I want or need, and what the NHS itself thinks its role and responsibilities are. For me, it's turning into a 'healthier' sort of relationship because I'm accepting greater responsibility for things which are within my control or which I can be taught how to manage for myself. But it's been a steep, and difficult learning curve! This forum's been crucial. This is where the support, encouragement and good advice has come from, not from my GP or diabetic nurse. They just give me my HbA1c tests!

However, one thing from the NHS has been good - they sent me on an X-PERT 6 week course. The company of other people with T2, all at different stages, all dealing with different problems, was a real eye-opener. The person who ran it was superb and I learnt so much from it - and it was the NHS which paid for that.

 

[Brian109]

Been diagnosed since 2013 although I reckon I've had diabetes for years to be honest,
Is it worth me buying an sd code free tester for myself as to be honest I've never had a record of any sort off my diabetes nurse every time I've asked when I go for my annual test she always says it's okay I, Llandudno sort your data out next time never does so I don't bother asking anymore, in the beginning when I was first diagnosed the first few times all I got was a call saying either take more metformin or less or change the dose of something else and can you come and pick another prescription up so to be quite honest I don't know if I'm high or low in my blood sugars I do feel lethargic and tired at times

 

[JenniferW]

Been diagnosed since 2013 although I reckon I've had diabetes for years to be honest,
Is it worth me buying an sd code free tester for myself as to be honest I've never had a record of any sort off my diabetes nurse every time I've asked when I go for my annual test she always says it's okay I, Llandudno sort your data out next time never does so I don't bother asking anymore, in the beginning when I was first diagnosed the first few times all I got was a call saying either take more metformin or less or change the dose of something else and can you come and pick another prescription up so to be quite honest I don't know if I'm high or low in my blood sugars I do feel lethargic and tired at times

Brian - This sounds like a recipe for disaster! As well as getting a monitor to test your blood sugar yourself, you need to ask for - demand - and keep a record of your HbA1c tests. They're a different form of test to what you get from a monitor - you need both to get the whole picture.

Also, ask to go on an X-PERT course. every health authority area has one (though with some, it's a different name). In a series of weekly sessions they'll teach you what T2 is all about and how to learn to manage it best for yourself. I went on one a couple of months back and it was an enormous help. Without a basic level of learning about the condition, you're not going to be able to make a lot of sense of the blood test results, I'd guess.