Cost of Blood Sugar Testing

[HELEN11]

I recently forgot to get a prescription for some test strips
My wifes diabetis nurse says she must take her sugar levels four times a day
I was amazed to find that the test strips cost $20 for 51 strips.
Taking into account the insulin, test strips, and lancets , it must be costing a
fortune
Do you have any statistics indicating the average cost of testing ? :?:

 

[Spiral]

I have not started testing yet but will do very soon.

I worked out that it was going to cost me around £300 for a 6-8 week period. This included the meter and the strips. :shock: :shock: :shock:

I have an excellent GP. Initially he told me I didn't need to test as a type 2. When I went back about 5 weeks later having lost a significant amount of weight, reduced my fasting number and telling him I wanted to test to find out what food made my sugar rise and by how much and what I'd worked out it would cost, he agreed to prescribe for me. However, he said the PCT would not allow him to prescribe the number I was asking for, but I don't know how many he will prescribe yet - I seen him on 1 June for my review in his regular diabetic clinic. I will get my first prescription then. Who knows, I may even have decided which meter to go with by then :roll: I can't cope with all this choice.

I have also found out that I won't have to pay VAT on my tests strips as a diagnosed diabetic. So while it is not ging to cost me £300 for about 6 weeks, it is still going to cost.

I see people talking about free meters. Where/how do you get a free meter?

 

[hanadr]

Try looking on all the manufacturers web sites and on Diabetes Uk website. TThere are ofteen free meters offered. If not, the diabetesclinics and nurses are often given them by the manufacturers and can pass them on to patients. the manufacturers use them as "loss Leaders2 to keep customers buying their strips. I did a search recently to see if any strips were cheaper to buy, so I'd use that meter, but they are all pretty much the same price, unless you try Ebay. Check out the seller first. You could try for the new Glucoflex-r kit. It's supposed to be MUCH Cheaper, but as I found Yesterday, my big branch of Boots, Hasn't heard of it yet. I am going to discuss it with my local pharmacy today.

 

[sandymaynard]

Hi spiral,
See the top of the page, click on there, It will take you to a competion page, where you put your info in, And if your name is picked you will get a free meter!
Hope that helps...
Sandy

 

[Spiral]

I think I will ask about a free meter at the surgery. I think that T2s have a different prescribing protocol to T1s.

I signed up for the competition already but I need a meter and can't rely on winning one Perhaps a more useful competition would be for test strips I thought the meters were probably seen as "loss leaders", given the price of the test strips :shock:

I recently found out that I'd won a free holiday worth amost £4K . Then I read the small print and found out I couldn't buy it elsewhere as my "free" holiday was a timeshare and was going to cost me around £450 a year I get the impression that is what they do with the blood meters :| especially if they give away 50 of them a month.

 

[totsy]

blood testing meters are often given away, im sure if u phone some of them and explain you need a meter and will then be purchasing test strips that they will send u a free meter,as u say they will make loads on the strips alone

 

[Dennis]

Hi Spiral,

You may get one from your surgery. The manufacturers' sales reps give them out free by the handful, but it depends on how generous the practice nurse is feeling when you ask. But you will need to tell your GP exactly which model you have before he can write out a prescription, because every model needs different strips. The manufacturers get their profits from the test strips, not from the test machines, so they make sure that no-one else can make a strip that would fit their machine and sell it at a lower price!

 

[Spiral]

The manufacturers get their profits from the test strips, not from the test machines, so they make sure that no-one else can make a strip that would fit their machine and sell it at a lower price!

Devious b*gg*rs, profits before people :shock: :evil:

Come the revolution....

 

[Trinkwasser]

Come the revolution....

Come the revolution diabetics will be put up against the wall and shot for costing too much money. So no change there then.

 

[Spiral]

Come the revolution....

Come the revolution diabetics will be put up against the wall and shot for costing too much money. So no change there then.

Not in my revolution!

 

[Jody70]

I got an accu-check aviva meter from ebay for £5.49. I also got lancets and strips. The strips were £10 for 50, p+p included, lancets for £4.99 + £2.95 p+p.

Hope this helps
Jo

 

[Spiral]

I got an accu-check aviva meter from ebay for £5.49. I also got lancets and strips. The strips were £10 for 50, p+p included, lancets for £4.99 + £2.95 p+p.

Hope this helps
Jo

I got an Accu-chek Aviva from Roche (the manufacturer) Customer Services plus the whole kit and caboodle to transfer the data to my PC for free

Contact Roche Customer Services and they will send you all sorts of freebies, including batteries when the ones in it already run down.

However, I did return home a little shell shocked after buying my first box of test strips because what came with the meter won't last me until I see my GP on Monday and I ask him to write a prescription for the strips.

 

[bunty]

I was given a horrendous free meter from the practice diabetes clinic nurse and ditched it after a few weeks in favour of an Optium Xceed, which i bought direct from the manufacturer.

Then i told the nurse i wanted test strips for that meter, which she duly arranged.

Next, i saw my GP and explained that while i fully appreciated the practice's financial constraints regarding dishing-out test strips on demand, i still wanted them. She initially demured, quoting the party line about Type 2s not needing to test etc etc.

I went away and bought my own test strips for £14.00 from the manufacturer and one month later returned to the GP to discuss my very good HbA1c results.

She told me i was the only diabetic in the practice with such ace results and asked what was the secret to my success? I told her it was based on ignoring the well-meaning advice to eat plenty complex carbs and not to bother testing. Instead, i lowered my carb intake, exercised a lot and tested regularly, using my own-funded strips.

My GP laughed and said that seeing as i was proactive, informed and cooperative, i could have test strips on demand and to carry on the good work. She said that if more patients in the practice took such control over their disease, she'd be giving out more test strips!

I know i am lucky as hell with my GP. She has counselled me not to stress overly when i struggle and stray from good control; she has warned me not to keep control too tight, as it presents its own problems and she reminds me we are 'in this for the long haul'. And she knows i dont waste test strips and i dont test without need - i'm a Type 2 so i dont feel i need now to test anything like as frequently as i did when newly diagnosed and still learning.

So, to me, the cost of blood sugar testing has been - self-reliance; self-control and reasoned discussion with my GP.

bunty

 

[Patch]

Good work, bunty. A lot of meter manufacturers will provide meters free of charge (especially when a new meter is being released to the market) - just pay a visit to their website and leave your details.

 

[hanadr]

Bunty
I'd be very interested to know what problems tight control is meant to bring, as you say you excellent GP told you.
People keep saying this to me and no-one will tell me what they think will happen.
I keep my control fairly tight
Last HbA1c 5.9% after 6 years diagnosed! and minimal medication.
I aim to improve my control to get down in to the lower 5s. I just found out that non-diabetic HbA1c averages 5.1% So that's where I'm shooting for. It's not easy without using fierce medicines.

 

[bunty]

Hanadr,

i perhaps take a more pragmatic view than your own.

I'm not a non-diabetic therefore i dont stress myself nor my body to 'achieve' non-diabetic levels. Instead, i strive to gain the best levels i can whilst leading as near-normal a life as i can.

The problems associated with very tight control, as my GP and nurse friend have explained to me, are:

stress - and all that stress entails, medically.
heart problems
general malaise of 'the system' which is strained by the constant battle to minimise bg levels to what is considered to be 'non-diabetic' - my GP told me that the whole body is put under undue strain when, in her view, a less aggressive approach, providing good levels are maintained, is better in the long run.

I dont profess to be medically trained or informed but i am content to accept the rationale behind what i have been told by a GP who went to med school (and recently) and a nurse, who is in her early 30s and not at all inclined to follow a party line unless she sees it makes sense.

What i do know is, that i have been diagnosed for two years, just about and maintain decent HbA1c levels and feel fitter and more energised than pre-diabetes. Yet i dont allow myself to stress or fret and i wont live a life of such tight control that i lose sight of what is, to me, 'life'. I like food, for example! LOL!

bunty

 

[HELEN11]

My wife has Type 2 and she is on insulin four times a day Regularly checked by the Diabetes Specialist Nurse. (i also have to check her blood sugars four times aday)
So far (touching wood) I have no problems with the Dr on the large number of test stips. needles etc. I have to use
I am however conscious of the very high cost involved.
I (my wife) uses a Accu-Chek Compact PLus . I understand that this model is no longer produced.
A few weeks ago I was given a free Accu- Chek Aviva Nano by the makers.
This appears to be a lot more versatile than the old meter but I have discovered that the test strips cost at least £5 more than the Compact Plus and there are not as many
Whilst I do not pay for them I am very reluctant to increase the cost of this treatment
while the old one is still useable.

 

[stuart bilbey]

hi why is it some companies charge for computer soft ware and some charge as much as £20 ,i use
a abbot freestyle and find the soft ware very good help for me to keep my records very helpful for
showing doctor or nurse. the software cost nothing and i would not be without it.
Stuart E.Bilbey

 

[skreechy]

I (my wife) uses a Accu-Chek Compact PLus . I understand that this model is no longer produced.
A few weeks ago I was given a free Accu- Chek Aviva Nano by the makers.
This appears to be a lot more versatile than the old meter but I have discovered that the test strips cost at least £5 more than the Compact Plus and there are not as many
Whilst I do not pay for them I am very reluctant to increase the cost of this treatment
while the old one is still useable.

Hey, I have this meter, and last year I got this meter....

http://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/metersystems/compactplusgt.html

(sorry, don't know how to post a link....)
it's the new version, and it takes the same test strips, which, to my knowledge, are readily available

 

[maisiesgranny]

bunty, am liking your style. i feel fitter now and enjoy swimming and walking. i am type 2 diet only and i do test a few times a week now i know what is what. went to the nurse today and all is very well. got a bit stressed last week when i read about low carbing. had never heard of it to do with diabetes, however have read up on it and will cut my carbs a bit to loose the weight i still need to. life is for living and i want to get on with my art and my granchildren and do the best i can diabetes wise without worrying about it. maisiesgranny