Diagnosed in Japan

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I would have thought that taking insulin without any way to test blood glucose is not going to end well.
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
I would have thought that taking insulin without any way to test blood glucose is not going to end well.

So far so good. I am deffo getting a smartwatch when they are released though.
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
They may or may not be low gi but they do have quite a lot of carbs. As you're on insulin, you'll need to count the carbs in your food.



You definitely need some sort of blood testing meter if you are on insulin (and I'd recommend it even if you were T2 not on insulin, so that you can check the effect of different foods on your blood glucose), but I suspect your nurse just doesn't want to give you a libre, as Dr google says it's been available in Japan since 2017...
Abbott's FreeStyle Libre wins reimbursement in Japan | Drug Delivery Business

If your doctor won't prescribe it, you could try self funding. Dexcom (another continuous glucose monitor) can also be bought in Japan, but I don't know whether you'd have to self fund.
It's weird, they keep telling me that 'economic reasons' are why I can't have a monitoring system such as the Freestyle. I wonder if it was approved but subsequently withdrawn, or perhaps it has to do with the hospital. I am part of the National Health system here, just pay a tiny bit for each treatment.
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
It's weird, they keep telling me that 'economic reasons' are why I can't have a monitoring system such as the Freestyle. I wonder if it was approved but subsequently withdrawn, or perhaps it has to do with the hospital. I am part of the National Health system here, just pay a tiny bit for each treatment.
So you are injecting insulin yourself with no way of monitoring your blood sugars but your reading was 72 mg/dl.. that's a pretty dangerous position to be in.
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
If the latter and diagnosed recently, you may be able to wean yourself off insulin into 'remission', typically by a combination of low carb/keto eating (unusual, but not impossible in Japan - but little or no rice, noodles, breads, potatoes most of the time), plus exercise, weight loss if needed.

Do you have the next follow up appointment scheduled?

The latter. Totally low carb now. Dropped about 6kg in the month between diagnosis and now. Next visit in May.
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
So you are injecting insulin yourself with no way of monitoring your blood sugars but your reading was 72 mg/dl.. that's a pretty dangerous position to be in.
Doc asked me if I had any hypo symptoms to which I replied in the negative. Either they don't think so or....idk. Does seems a bit cavalier. Am investigating the possibility of a Freestyle subsidised by the Govt, since that was suggested earlier.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Just a plain ordinary testing device would be a start. The meters are not all that expensive, nor are the strips, if you pick your make carefully. Insulin overdoses can be dangerous.
 

oldgreymare

Well-Known Member
Messages
537
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Commuting, overcrowded spaces, especially after the arrival of covid-19...
It's weird, they keep telling me that 'economic reasons' are why I can't have a monitoring system such as the Freestyle. I wonder if it was approved but subsequently withdrawn, or perhaps it has to do with the hospital. I am part of the National Health system here, just pay a tiny bit for each treatment.
But do they supply a BG meter (fingerprick)? These often get supplied for free by the manufacturers - they make their money off the reagent strips which end up expensive if self funding and testing a lot - 8 times a day is possibly gold standard if on insulin. I self funded my meters in Asia so mostly bought test strips duty free at the big regional airports!
 
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michita

Well-Known Member
Messages
479
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
From what I read online, in Japan if you are diabetic you have monthly hospital appointments. Is this true?
 

oldgreymare

Well-Known Member
Messages
537
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Commuting, overcrowded spaces, especially after the arrival of covid-19...
The latter. Totally low carb now. Dropped about 6kg in the month between diagnosis and now. Next visit in May.
Well done you. Also good that you are on frequent doctors visit while it is still very early days on insulin. But ideally you do need a BG meter and read up as much as you can on hypoglycaemia and how to treat.

Separately, for low carb recipes I like dietdoctor.com - originally just western style but now lots of Asian inspired recipes. A few mention shirataki noodles - pragmatically these sound like non digestible fibre! I wouldn't bother buying here in UK, but as a local Japanese staple may be worth exploring?
 

EllieM

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
9,208
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
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forum bugs
It's weird, they keep telling me that 'economic reasons' are why I can't have a monitoring system such as the Freestyle. I wonder if it was approved but subsequently withdrawn, or perhaps it has to do with the hospital. I am part of the National Health system here, just pay a tiny bit for each treatment.

The NHS are quite mean with the libres and only aim to supply 20 or 25% of T1s and that is definitely an economic decision, but they do give a conventional blood testing meter to anyone on insulin. If they aren't giving you a glucometer either then I strongly urge you to self fund one. It really isn't safe to take insulin without knowing what it's doing to your levels. eg if you were driving you should always to a blood test before getting in the car. YOu should also carry sugar or equivalent with you so that you can treat a hypo when you get one. (If your levels are going down to 4mmol/L or 72 mg/dL then any lower will be hypo.)

Even if you manage to come off insulin altogether a meter will still be useful - the first piece of advice that T2s on here get given is to buy a meter so that they can tell whether a meal has too many carbs for their body to cope with. If your levels go up by more than 2mmol/L after 2 hours then you've probably had too many carbs. (The NHS doesn't fund meters for T2s unless they are on blood sugar lowering medication such as insulin or various oral drugs that make your pancreas produce extra insulin.)
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
From what I read online, in Japan if you are diabetic you have monthly hospital appointments. Is this true?

Only got my v limited experience to go on. I'm sure there must be a Japan specific forum but I just haven't found it yet...
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
But do they supply a BG meter (fingerprick)? These often get supplied for free by the manufacturers - they make their money off the reagent strips which end up expensive if self funding and testing a lot - 8 times a day is possibly gold standard if on insulin. I self funded my meters in Asia so mostly bought test strips duty free at the big regional airports!

They don't supply anything! Just brushed me off with 'economic blah blah' when I initially brought up the subject. Japanese dislike being direct so likely employ the usual 'stick your head in the sand and the problem might go away' technique. Except it doesn't.

The subtext I get is 'do your own research'.
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
So if you look at this in Chrome, it will show that apparently there are 3 devices available in Japan. I have emailed Abbott but no response yet. The Dexcomm G4 mentioned earlier is on the list though. I still haven't found a user group similar to here, where opinion and other info can be solicited. Still trying to find out if any device is available in subsidised form.

http://dm-rg.net/1/016/01/
 

EllieM

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
9,208
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
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forum bugs
Although cgms are useful, you don't actually need them. You do need a conventional glucometer though. These are extremely affordable in most countries, so if you can't get one cheaply in Japan I strongly urge you to order one from amazon.

Good luck.
 

WasntMe

Active Member
Messages
44
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
So 11 days after contacting Abbott Japan about the 'reimbursement approved' monitor, I get this:

"
We would like to inform you that there are several factors Libre Medical Reimbursement may/may not applicable.
  1. Type of treatments
  2. Depends on the Hospital/Clinic/Health care professional
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to provide list of the hospitals provide Libre system or Medical Reimbursement."

Oh cheers.