Finger prick testing v Dr review

[les74]

There seems to be some reluctance by Drs to support the need for 'unnecessary 'daily testing by T2 patients. This forum seems to favour the practice. I'm undecided having been diagnosed by Hba1c lab result in June 2016 at 48 and retested to 39 in November. Presumably bg is constantly
changing anyway and all daily checks give you is stress and sore fingers. I worry that daily testing could become an obsession and start to rule my life!
I recognise that where insulin injections are necessary then there is a clinical need but otherwise aren't we just pandering to the hype of the growing bg testing industry?

 

[lessci]

No, How do you know how a particular food effects your BG if you don't test? At the start it does seem like your constantly poking holes in yourself, but as you learn what YOUR body can handle you test less often

 

[Resurgam]

With my meter I can show the diabetes adviser that eating fruit will elevate my blood glucose from 6.6 to 14.3 mmol/l despite her insisting that it is essential for my wellbeing, even my continued existence.

 

[pleinster]

There seems to be some reluctance by Drs to support the need for 'unnecessary 'daily testing by T2 patients. This forum seems to favour the practice. I'm undecided having been diagnosed by Hba1c lab result in June 2016 at 48 and retested to 39 in November. Presumably bg is constantly
changing anyway and all daily checks give you is stress and sore fingers. I worry that daily testing could become an obsession and start to rule my life!
I recognise that where insulin injections are necessary then there is a clinical need but otherwise aren't we just pandering to the hype of the growing bg testing industry?

Looks like your own situation has improved well. Congratulations. As for your point/question...I would not have got my blood sugar under control without self-testing. It is the only effective way to see what certain foods are doing to an individual's levels. Obviously, there are certain things which none of us would be advised to eat, but we are all variations on a theme and differ in what we can tolerate. I tested frequently at first and recorded my readings along with notes on what I was eating and what meds I was taking. It was soon apparent that a drug I was on for another condition was causing a spike in my levels, so I spoke with my doctors who cut the dose. I also found that the Gliclazide I had been prescribed for Type 2 was having little or no effect; it was diet (and avoidance of high carbohydrate foods in particular) which was achieving results I could rely on. If I had left this to one test every six months or so (HbA1c) I would have had no idea at all what my blood sugar levels were or what harm I was doing that could easily be prevented. To say BG is constantly changing anyway is vague and unhelpful...how much does it change and when - that is what counts. Testing with a meter allows for less change, more regular levels and therefore getting to keep ones toes etc etc...and small things like that. I do not get stressed from readings - not knowing is where the deeper stress lies (along with instant stress when you find out how high it is at an HbA1c). I test way less often now, but that is only because regular testing earlier pot me in the position where I am now less stressed and more in control. My diabetic consultant agrees with me and is critical of GPs not issuing meters. If the NHS had the proper funding, we would all be issued with meters (without question)...meters are the best tool we have at letting us know if our level is high or low (perhaps very dangerously so) and it is not obsession any more than wearing spectacles to see where one is going rather than finding one's way by bumping into lamposts as we go. I hope that makes sense. We all need options available to us to help us stay healthy...diabetes is not a cold bug.

 

[MaxRebo001]

I was advised by my quack that T2 can lead to depression so I shouldn't test, what i have learnt is that he doesn't want the expense of prescribing them, even when I was put on gliclazide he still did not prescribe them even though they can cause hypos and i drive every day. Since then i have only seen my DN, the 1st time i saw her after being prescribed the gliclazide she precribed test strips and i have been prescribed them ever since.

The one thing I have learnt is that i am far more controlled when testing than when I don't, there is virtually no chance of me having a hypo when i have gone through a period of no testing because my diet always goes back to my pre diabetes habits and i'm lucky if they were single digits.

Testing keeps me on the straight and narrow. The DVLA know my medication so refuse to drive without testing.

 

[Rajran]

My doctor today told me the same thing. I was .3 on my last FBS and he asked me to do another now. He said it is better to do the FSB than finger pricking at this stage. I told him that i have seen carb causing my sugar to spike but he was not that worried. He said he himself is diabetic and controlled his condition with weight loss and controlled food intake. I'll ask him again about self testing when i go for the review.

 

[ally1]

My gp refuses to issue me with strips and a meter.
At present I am waiting for a letter for my gp to receive from my psych requesting that gp issues them because one med I am on it notorious for raising blood levels. I still think my gp will refuse.
When I first got my codefree meter, I was very concensus at constantly
I have eased up a bit because I know the worst food culprits.
I always test on waking as that reading is still highish. Plus when I feel light headed or just feel generally unwell, I will test more often

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

I think self testing is very useful right after diagnosis. It allows you to figure out what foods/amounts cause too high blood glucose spikes and you ditch them and stick to foods that don't spike your blood glucose. Eventually you don't really need to test very often. I haven't tested my blood glucose for a couple of months.

 

[lowedb]

I've seen two GPs since diagnosis. One is on the old way telling me to eat carbs etc. That one also put me on Gliclazide without mentioning the possibility of hypos and the must of testing, although they did give me a BG meter. After seeing how often I was testing they did say I should cut it down. The second GP seemed a lot more up to date and pointed me to this site. They told me about how important it was to test before driving with me being on Gliclazide. But then she said last week, that I was testing too much and should save my fingers. I wonder how much is down to budgets?

 

[Phoenix55]

Hi @les74 I was diagnosed a year ahead of you and followed the DN advice to eatwell for the 3 months between the initial test and the confirming test. After the second test the nurse wanted to put me on Metformin although my figures were consistent, the only blip being an 11 after a large bowl of porridge. I refused the medication and bought myself a meter and testing strips, found this site and started recording what was putting my bg up. 3 months later the HbA1c levels were down and no mention was made of medication. Now I occasionally test four times a day, just to make sure that all is still well, but usually use the waking test to keep a check with the bathroom scales to make sure that the weight I lost stays off. No I don't have sore fingers, and never did. I use the lancet tool on the lightest setting and get sufficient blood from the side of my fingers for the test strips. I have taken back control of my health instead of hoping for the best with the occasional HbA1c. I am not obsessed with testing but I am careful about what I eat, particularly when I am away from home. It is up to you, hope for the best or find out what is raising your bg. Follow the eatwell guidelines and know that the disease will progress or find out what your body can no longer tolerate and avoid.

 

[Alison Campbell]

You know what is right for you and your health. I would never argue that people should test if they don't want to.

I do think that those that want to test should be given the tools and education to get the most out of testing. I see it as no different to purchasing scales for a weight loss diet.

Strangely, the same nurse I see who is against me self testing my blood glucose is very keen for me to purchase a blood pressure monitor.

 

[miahara]

There seems to be some reluctance by Drs to support the need for 'unnecessary 'daily testing by T2 patients. This forum seems to favour the practice. I'm undecided having been diagnosed by Hba1c lab result in June 2016 at 48 and retested to 39 in November. Presumably bg is constantly
changing anyway and all daily checks give you is stress and sore fingers. I worry that daily testing could become an obsession and start to rule my life!
I recognise that where insulin injections are necessary then there is a clinical need but otherwise aren't we just pandering to the hype of the growing bg testing industry?

Sorry, I have to disagree with some of your ideas. Testing doesn't cause me stress at all, in fact quite the opposite, as it provides me with positive feedback about my progress. Without testing I wouldn't have a clue about how well or otherwise I am managing my condition apart from when I get my 6 monthly HbA1c tests. Testing also provides me with very useful information about how foods impact on my BG and we all react differently to different foods. Testing has shown me that some foods that in theory don't spike BG, do spike mine.
I don't stress about testing and don't test every day and don't get sore fingers at all now, as I know how to do it. I did get sore fingers for the first couple of weeks though.
You may perhaps be right about the 'hype of the growing bg testing industry,' and the same would apply to the 'diabetic foods' industry. Where there's a buck to be made folk will try to make a buck! However I think most contributors to the DCUK fora, test because they recognise that self management of the condition requires good management information.
You are also corrrect that BG is constantly changing, but the variable that is most closely linked with the changes is diet, and to understand the relationship one really needs to test and learn.

Dave