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Annoyed with myself

cugila said:
Have you discussed this with your GP. There is much help available and I personally know of someone who was terrified of using needles or lancets. They had some counselling and one to one with a DSN and finally got over it. It doesn't get cured overnight.

The longer you leave it the worse it will get.Go and talk with your GP or Nurse. Tell them what you have told us.

Ken.


This advice still stands. Have you taken it ?
 
i have a solution - i eat before going for a blood test - thus meaning i can not have one! :D ;)

i havent been to the doctors yet - i avoid them at all costs if i can :D
 
Hi Maskedman

Apologies for putting this pretty bluntly but with a fasting BS level in excess of 13, and no way of knowing whether it has improved, it may not be too long before you either don't have any fingers to test or can't see to read the test monitor.
 
OK, look at it from your partner's perspective, does he/she really want or deserve to be saddled with looking after someone whose health is just going to deteriorate, and probably sooner rather than later? Do you want this, because it WILL happen? Kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, blindness, amputations. The reverse is also true, take control now and you minimise the risk.

I hated testing initially, and you should see the instruments of torture for doing so that were available back in the 80s. But I've read a few times in this thread about using the sides of your fingertips - this is absolutely brilliant advice, forget about just not hurting, you may not even feel ANYTHING! Honestly!
 
the thing is - i'm not scared of it hurting - i know it wont - i think i've just gone mad :D

i'm guessing its something ive got to get over. time will tell. the thing that gives me hope is the my Diabetic nurse said it wasnt necessary for me to test.
 
Maskedman said:
i'm guessing its something ive got to get over. time will tell. the thing that gives me hope is the my Diabetic nurse said it wasnt necessary for me to test.
I'd take that advice with a pinch of salt. Your DSN needs to retrain, or take the DS out of her job title. A fasting bg reading of 13.7 is not at all good, being more than twice what it should be. It would seem counselling of some sort may be a way forward? You need to do something...
 
Masked man, (shakes head sadly) I looked at your web site.If you do not test and carry on with high BG's like you have now you will very soon no longer be able to see or do that web site.I know that it is all new to you but you simply need to accept that this is your life from now on.
Please have a good read round this forum,you are not the only person who came here in denial and has turned their life and diabetes around.You need to take control now so that you can have a long and active life,you are only a young person with a lot of life ahead of you,please make the most of it.
 
Maskedman, get your partner to launch a stealth attack while you're asleep. Or take up gardening, car maintenance and DIY as hobbies; they never fail to provide me with adequate amounts of blood for a test!

Seriously, I know how you feel. I've had a deep-seated phobia about needles since having adrenaline injections for asthma as a toddler. Scared the living daylights out of me. Yet, I've managed to become accustomed to stabbing myself at regular intervals since diagnosis. If I can do it, you can, and despite what your DSN might tell you, there's really only one way to get your diabetes under control and that's to test until you've found the right diet for you.

Very best wishes and PRESS THAT BUTTON!
 
Right - i did it - pushed the button :D but i couldnt get enough blood out :( i ended up testing about 10 times - but still didnt manage to get enough blood out of my finger :( i wasted 3 testing strips - only have 10. i did everything i was told to do - i washed my hands in warm water, i test on the side of my finger, i massaged my finger to get blood out. but i still didnt get enough of the red stuff :( arrrrrrg!! :cry:
 
Have you adjusted the setting on your lancet, it might have to go a bit deeper. Are you using different fingers?

It does take a while to get used to it.
 
When I prick my finger, very little blood appears - I then have to squeeze the finger til enough of the red stuff comes out
 
Brilliant - well done you! Now you just need to work on getting that number lower :D

Not wishing to p*** on your parade, but there is apparently some evidence that squeezing your finger excessively - to coax a blood droplet to form - can actually REDUCE the reading displayed on your meter?! Something about plasma diluting the sample. Doesn't seem to stop ward nurses who IME could part-time with the Spanish Inquisition! I don't know if anyone else has heard this or could shed any further light...?
 
My Freestyle Mini meter requires the smallest blood drop. Even if you can hardly see it, the machine beeps. I have a Contour too and it needs far more blood, although it has a COOL countdown 8)
Ken
AST isn't less accurate, it just lags a bit behind fingers, so isn't advisable if you are experiencing changing BG. Since I'm, T2 on very little medication, that doesn't really apply to me.
 
well done masked man,
as already said ,we need to get those bloods down so you dont suffer serious health probs,
you did it yayyyyyyyyyyyyy :D
 
woop not sure how to get my levels down - but hopefully it will soon :) i was surprised my blood was still high - i had eaten the crusts of my daughters toast this morning - so that may be why.

the meter i've got is an accu-chek nano - but i'm now going to have to get some more sticks and lancets. so will have to visit the D-nurse soonish. still dreading having a blood test,
 
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