Do you think your GP has got you confused with a type 2 diabetic?? That's normally the testing regime they try to push on type 2s, and I have never ever heard of a GP trying to tell a type 1 to do that. It's medically negligent and your GP could come a cropper if you decide to complain.
How Many Times to Test per Day
- Thread starter neilshots
- Start Date
I hope not 
No i think he knows i am type 1 only because we have previously discussed my regime with Novarapid and Lantus. He mentioned that the strips weren't cheap and that normally testing once a week was ok to monitor my Diabetes. I insisted on more because of my high readings in the mornings and the fact that I recently started carb counting. He eventually gave in on the premise that it would be reviewed in a years time for reduction if necessary. :?
My review is up in June next year, if he says it again I might go for the complaint option, I'm worried that i'll be back to 50 strips every 1.5-2 months approx :?
No i think he knows i am type 1 only because we have previously discussed my regime with Novarapid and Lantus. He mentioned that the strips weren't cheap and that normally testing once a week was ok to monitor my Diabetes. I insisted on more because of my high readings in the mornings and the fact that I recently started carb counting. He eventually gave in on the premise that it would be reviewed in a years time for reduction if necessary. :? My review is up in June next year, if he says it again I might go for the complaint option, I'm worried that i'll be back to 50 strips every 1.5-2 months approx :?
Debloubed
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Sookie said:I hope not
My review is up in June next year, if he says it again I might go for the complaint option, I'm worried that i'll be back to 50 strips every 1.5-2 months approx :?
I complained last year and it worked a treat, slightly different scenario but bottom line, I needed more strips. Keep at 'em! am still in slight shock that your GP thinks 1 test a week for type 1 is acceptable, when I was a teenager and didn't care much for being type 1, I would get nagged and nagged and nagged to test at least once a day! once a week just isn't enough, you may as well not bother for all the help that would do, lol! Good luck
Agree that if you only test once a week, you may as well not bother. IMO you either test a lot, eg 4* per day or else there's not really much point at all to testing, after all why are you testing? Is it to make short term adjustments eg if you tested before a meal and were borderline hypo you may give a smaller injection than usual, or is it to ensure that your medication is at the right level? If the latter then I guess if you had a regular lifestyle you could test several times a day on one day a week but this is only if your life each day was very similar, and not many of us can say that.
A non diabetic person's body is constantly 'testing' (sensing) their blood sugar and releasing just the right amount of insulin to restore it at the healthy range so I guess this is what diabetics need to be doing as much as possible, in order to be as 'normal' as possible with their bg's
A non diabetic person's body is constantly 'testing' (sensing) their blood sugar and releasing just the right amount of insulin to restore it at the healthy range so I guess this is what diabetics need to be doing as much as possible, in order to be as 'normal' as possible with their bg's
It is true that teststrips are costing the NHS a fortune in money but that is not our fault. PCTs need to address this and it should not be through restricting insulin dependant diabetcs on the amount of strips that they need.
Bolus/basal is another name for 'poor mans pump' which is exactly what it is. It should not be used at all by anyone unless they are willing to test bg levels at least 5 times a day (min). The bolus insulin needs to be carefully adjusted with carb eaten so that healthy bg ranges can be acheived. If someone cannot test then it puts them in grave danger of developing high bg levels or really low ones.
I would complain about gps attitude to testing to your PCT.
If you still cant get anywhere with all this, then confront yr GP and say with limited strips, then there is no point in using bolus/basal regime anymore and for him to transfer you on to a regime that requires little testing and keeps yr bg levels all ok. In short, there isnt a regime.
Another alternative is to just use basal insulin and eat an extremely low carb diet (less than 50gms per day) and live off your body fat which will then make you develop keytones. Yr GP should jump out of his chair with horror. No GP will like the word 'keytones' coming up in coversation especially when it comes about through their lack of care.
Bolus/basal is another name for 'poor mans pump' which is exactly what it is. It should not be used at all by anyone unless they are willing to test bg levels at least 5 times a day (min). The bolus insulin needs to be carefully adjusted with carb eaten so that healthy bg ranges can be acheived. If someone cannot test then it puts them in grave danger of developing high bg levels or really low ones.
I would complain about gps attitude to testing to your PCT.
If you still cant get anywhere with all this, then confront yr GP and say with limited strips, then there is no point in using bolus/basal regime anymore and for him to transfer you on to a regime that requires little testing and keeps yr bg levels all ok. In short, there isnt a regime.
Another alternative is to just use basal insulin and eat an extremely low carb diet (less than 50gms per day) and live off your body fat which will then make you develop keytones. Yr GP should jump out of his chair with horror. No GP will like the word 'keytones' coming up in coversation especially when it comes about through their lack of care.
:shock:
I agree. the fact that you are on Novarapid and Lantusmeans you ahve to test multiple times a day.
the last time I was told to do that level of testing was when I was on 2 injections a day and I had a fixed carbohydrate diet 30 g for breakfast, 30 grams for lunch etc. thsi was i the days before blood testing was common though! (1980??)
Is your GPs name Dr Who by any chance, and they have landed in the wrong decade?
(I do sometime think I had slightly better control in those days though...although the restricted diet was a nightmare...choice of food was fine, but having to eat 30grams of carb, when you really weren't hungry was awful!)
I agree. the fact that you are on Novarapid and Lantusmeans you ahve to test multiple times a day.
the last time I was told to do that level of testing was when I was on 2 injections a day and I had a fixed carbohydrate diet 30 g for breakfast, 30 grams for lunch etc. thsi was i the days before blood testing was common though! (1980??)
Is your GPs name Dr Who by any chance, and they have landed in the wrong decade?
(I do sometime think I had slightly better control in those days though...although the restricted diet was a nightmare...choice of food was fine, but having to eat 30grams of carb, when you really weren't hungry was awful!)
Just another thought....I thought the DVLA said anyone on insulin MJUST test before they drive? If you drive this is worth mentioning.
Yes I haven't driven since diagnosis as I lost my short term memory due to getting CFS at the same time so I haven't been safe on the road, but I think the info says not only must you test before you drive but you must be at least 5 before you start and you're supposed to stop every couple of hours too, I think, to test. And if you have a hypo while driving (involving another 2 tests at least - 1 to prove the hypo and 1 to find out if you're ok again) you have to wait at least 45mins before you're legally allowed to drive again as this is how long it takes for your brain to recover. So if you drive and you don't test before leaving you're driving illegally and if you pull off straight after treating a hypo you're doing the same thing (drug-driving - driving under the influence of insulin or something). All these tests require............. testing strips!!! The more I think about this the more I think you need to write a letter to the right people about this 1 test a week business..... I got called in to review mine because I was using over 200 a month. As soon as I mentioned I've been on the DAFNE course the conversation was over, the Dr was fine with it - I can have as many as I need. As someone else has said, if it's a question of money, it's ridiculous - what about all those naughty cancer sufferers wasting all our money on chemotherapy! They should only get one round of it, surely, because it's so expensive... what a ridiculous thing to say. Should my mum have only had the bilateral mastectomy, and not the subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy too, because of the cost?! Ask him to cure you, or give you testing strips, or return to you all the tax that you've paid to the NHS. The NHS is not, of course, actually free and quite frankly I pay a lot of money every year towards my flipping testing strips thanks very much!
Why is anyone staying with a GP who will not prescribe sufficient blood testing strips to someone on insulin? It is very easy to change your GP nowadays and I suggest you do. Check around and find one who has either a Diabetes Nurse specialist who they listen to or has studied/is studying the MSc in Diabetes Care.
Remember most GPs have had no increased training in diabetes care since their experience on a medical ward in their training, which could be over 20 years ago. GPs only took on diabetes care because it increased their earnings, they are paid for each diabetic that they do a prescribed list of tests on. No tests - no pay, it doesn't matter about the results, all they have to do is make sure the tests are done and you are seen so many times ayear. It is a cost cutting exercise that I believe leads to this sort of poor, misinformed and in fact dangerous advice from GPs who have liitle to no knowledge of modern care.
I changed my GP 6 months ago, because he believed it did not take a specialist nurse/Dr to look after people on insulin. I was sent to see a Respiratory nurse for advice as the GP practice believed any nurse would do. She believed I was T2 and advised I lose weight so I could come off my medication - fat chance after 50 years on insulin!! So knowing my rights I changed my GP, you do not have to give a reason any more to change - it is your right.
Remember most GPs have had no increased training in diabetes care since their experience on a medical ward in their training, which could be over 20 years ago. GPs only took on diabetes care because it increased their earnings, they are paid for each diabetic that they do a prescribed list of tests on. No tests - no pay, it doesn't matter about the results, all they have to do is make sure the tests are done and you are seen so many times ayear. It is a cost cutting exercise that I believe leads to this sort of poor, misinformed and in fact dangerous advice from GPs who have liitle to no knowledge of modern care.
I changed my GP 6 months ago, because he believed it did not take a specialist nurse/Dr to look after people on insulin. I was sent to see a Respiratory nurse for advice as the GP practice believed any nurse would do. She believed I was T2 and advised I lose weight so I could come off my medication - fat chance after 50 years on insulin!! So knowing my rights I changed my GP, you do not have to give a reason any more to change - it is your right.
I test around 8 - 10 times a day... I would hazard a guess that you would find a direct link between the number of tests per day and HbA1c..
neilshots said:
Depends on the person I guess Neil. Personally, I could never go to sleep without having tested my BG as I am on the pump so I need to test at least 4 times a day (although I do anywhere between 5 and 10 usually).
The thing is, if you don't test before bed you might go to sleep with a high reading which won't be corrected until the following morning at least, I wouldn't want to risk that. If you are very confident that your BG isn't high before bed then I guess you might not always need it.
