My rant of today, ok after a long hard push i do get one box of test strips per week which to most diabetics is more than fair enough. My first problem is, this is issued at the local chemist once a week which i can only get on the specific date. Running to the chemist on a weekly basis is a **** off on its own. Majority will say 7 times on average is more than enough which is a valid point. However i like to test around this on a daily basis so i know what things are doin but sometimes i may stretch abit over maybe 8/9 and a i have to get my perscription on a specific day just for the piece of mind ive been buying the odd box the new meter iam on there £20 a box from chemist i dont even work but feel piece of mind is more than anything, been on ebay brought a box for half the price. Still not ideal. I loved it when i used to get 8 boxes at a time, if anything i used to test less when i had more boxes. As iam trying to sort things out iam trying more activities which in turn gives me better sugars but the odd hypo which i test abit more. What iam ****** of with is they seem to be too generalized if a well diabetic good control says i need to test 3 4 times a day fine ive been there i never used to test much at all but if i want them surely i should be aload as many as i want. Simple fact is weather if it improves my quality of life and gives me confidence at knowing what my sugars are doing this will give me more confidence to do more things, even if it does not change my sugars one bit it should still be there no questions asked. They can dish out sleeping tablets anti depressants, replacement drugs for drug addicts sickness tablets antibiotics without batting an eyelid, and most of these are perscribed for years on end so they need to stop all the ******** and give me what i want when i want it even if it means stock piling it will all get used in the best way to treat my situation.
Do you drive, DannyH? if so you are required by the DVLA to test every time you get behind the wheel. Try that one.
Viv 8)
Viv 8)
DannyH said:
I think as a T1 you should be able to test as many times as you want. The only time this isn't a good guideline is if you are living from one test to the next i.e. just reacting and not planning or prempting.
Gary Schneier says 4-8 is a good long term goal and i would be prepared to fight for at least that if i were you.
I presented my case to my doctor the other day telling him all that i was doing and he was very supportive so maybe you need to change docs. Said fact is that many GPs are next to clueless when it comes to diabetes (& nutrition for that matter) so you need ot take the intiative yourself.
If you take in reasoned arguments and show what you are doing backed up by literature like Gary Schneier's Think like a pancreas and i think your point will be made!
Hobs
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Not only as a T1 you should be supplied with all you need, but I'm wondering if your GP practice realises that by giving you a script every week, the NHS incurs four separate dispensing charges for each month's supply. If they issues a script for 200 at a time, only one charge will be incurred.
http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/1864.aspx
http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/1864.aspx
Can you ask your GP to prescibe eg 4 boxes every 4 weeks, so that you don't have to go to chemist so often?
Hobs
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I forgot to add that the last time I asked in Boots (I have a friend who dispenses) the fee per item per script dispensed in pharmacy was 216.9p and that includes the printed label.
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I really can't see what your gp practise is trying to achieve Danny, as Hobs points out above it's hardly cost effective and you'll need a regular supply of test strips until such times that the technology for monitoring bg changes.
If you are under a diabetes consultant at your local hospital then I'd ask them to write to your gp and express their concerns, from reading the forum most type 1's get 150-200 test strips at a time and I can't see why you should be any different.
If you are under a diabetes consultant at your local hospital then I'd ask them to write to your gp and express their concerns, from reading the forum most type 1's get 150-200 test strips at a time and I can't see why you should be any different.
Sid Bonkers
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viviennem said:
That is true Viv and it did the trick for me when I was on insulin however whilst it is a requirement of the DVLA to test it is not a requirement of the DVLA or NHS to prescribe them FOC, I could equate it to the law that states it is illegal ride a motor bike without a crash helmet but you have to buy your own, there not supplied free just because it is a requirement in law to wear one.
yea like i said i do get 200 per month which should be enough but i do get the odd day during the month when iam running out and i cant have another box issued until a specific date, when iam having the odd trouble all this does is put more worry and stress of running out and i feel alot better just knowing the fact ive got them in just incase i do need them. My consultant says they can perscribe what they like and too be fair ive changed my doctors 3 times over the last couple years so feel things like this is just geting more common. Like i said before ive been to doctors feeling slightly unwell and they seem to dish out anti depressants sleeping tablets very easy which i refuse point blank to take but the things i ask for they dont want to know. Sometimes i can run out the day before i can get them, but as iam trying to improve myself and do more things i just buy a box, i didnt realise how much added pressure things like this adds on. As before had great control things have gone abit scew whiff but surely having medication on hand if you want it and need it would let me concentrate on more important things. I can fully understand the cost and 200 a month is more than fair enough to majority but each diabetic is different ive never complained of doing my injections and bloods eating regular over the last 23 years but they should meet us diabetics that are experiancing similar problems half way, if they want to make the budget stretch further start by reducing the wages of incompetant GPs then we probably all could have 10 boxes a month :thumbup: Il keep having my opinion when at the doctors and in the mean time even if its just for my own piece of mind knowing its there just in case il buy the odd box or whatever i need, in my other thread this is reached breaking point and iam sure panoram or exposure would love a story of how much of a shambles this is all getting. Oh well keeping my chin up and plugging along. 
