Hi
@AR54 .. and welcome
The "no need to test" line from your doctor is, sadly, the experience of many people. There are many so-called reasons for this, including: "you're on metformin so you won't have a hypo", " you won't be able to understand the readings", "metformin keeps your blood sugar down" .. all of which are nonsense. The reality is that your Doc (along with thousands of other HCPs) is either following a particular interpretation of the NICE guidelines, or trying to save money for his/her surgery .. or both
But putting that to one side for now, you have certainly made a good move coming here. I was diagnosed T2 in early Feb and, like many people, I was a bit shell-shocked with little information and no real idea of what was happening to me. Since joining this forum, though, the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need. It can all seem uphill to start with but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly.
The key point to take on board is that managing and controlling your diabetes (or pre-diabetes) through exercise, diet and testing your Blood Glucose seems to be the best way forward for many people. For me, committing to an LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum ..
I have tagged
@daisy1 for you and I suggest that you read up on the
Low Carb Program in the information that she will soon be sending you. You might also find the discussion on the
Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. and the following Diet Doctor websites ...
Low Carb Intro and Information
Low Carbs in 60 Seconds
It is a top priority that you get yourself a test meter and, for this, the following websites might help:
https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/
for the SD Codefree meter, which costs £12.98 or:
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free.
I have both which I alternate for comparative purposes and I have never found any significant difference between them.
Unless you are prescribed test strips by your doctor (unlikely), the costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. Make sure that you tick the appropriate box on the on-line order form and you won't pay VAT on the cost of your meter or strips.
For the SD Codefree, the strips are £7.69 for a pack of 50 and there are discount codes available for bulk purchases:
5 packs x 50 use code: 264086 .. cost is £38.45
10 packs x 50 use code: 975833 .. cost is £76.90
For the TEE 2, the strips are £7.75 for a pack of 50 .. there are no discount codes currently available for bulk buys
I'm testing 3-5 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for either of the two packages above but, more importantly, I know what my BG levels are .. and I can now manage them
Hope this helps