• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

blood testing at chemist for diabetes

N

nikinrobbie

Member
Messages
9
Location
widnes,cheshire
:roll: i am type 1 diabetic,out of curiosity i went into a chemist the other day and asked them if they could test me for diabetes,my reading was :roll: 5.7 and i was told nope you do not have diabetes,how can the chemist be looking out for ppl who think they have diabetes when they are telling me i have not got diabetes,the lady was very embarresed and told me she was new to the testing and had not done many,well she should not be doing it then
 
A pharmacist isn't supposed to diagnose things like diabetes. Are you controlling yours in some way? 5.7 wouldn't be that unusual in a non-diabetic. It wasn't very fair of you to trap the poor woman. Uncontrolled high blood glucose, she would have spotted and sent the patient to the doctor.
I have to say my local pharmacist solved the problem I had with itchy dry skin, when my GP couldn't. BUT I knew it was simple dry skin, which the doctor had checked.
 
Unless they are doing an HbA1c test of a c-peptide test, then of course they're not going to pick up your diabetes if your controlling your blood sugars!!

Im guessing it was just a simple finger prick test that you do yourself everyday... In which case it would only ever suggest diabetes in someone who is undiagnosed and has high blood sugar levels.

I bit unfair i think, she probably thinks she did something wrong now!
 
hahaha no i wasnt trapping her at all,after my mate went and had it tested(not diagnosed)by the chemist and her blood being 9.1 and them not sending her to hospital to have tests,and she has now being diagnosed as type 1 diabetes i wanted to know why chemists was checking out blood sugars and trying to diagnose just by a thumb prick,yes i am controlling mine in a way as eating and checking my blood sugars.do you have diabetes????if so,this should anger you a little bit,if i have upset you then i am sorry.
 
Even if your Friend's pharmacist made a mistake. Are you certain your friend wasn't advised to see a doctor? In any case contrrolled diabetes isnt easy to diagnose. If you tested me, you wouldn't find it.
 
i personally got checked at my local chemist b4 diagnosis,they did it twice and filled in a form saying what my levels were and sent me straight over to my g.p, they never said i did or didnt have diabetes but that i certainly needed to see a dr, i like my chemist, they are helpful and obviously if checked now first thing at morning my blood would be in the 4 s so it was a tad unfair what you did :?
 
It's like those pesky "are you at risk for diabetes?" quizzes, they always say I'm not because I'm not overweight.

Some patients have actually been told they are "cured" of Type 2 once they have achieved normal numbers.

If you tested me today or at any time no-one would say I was diabetic. Unless I ate a big bowl of muesli. In your case if you'd not taken your insulin they'd know immediately.

That's one of the big problems of tests, they can suggest a diagnosis when they're out of range but they can't avoid false negatives when you're in range for that instant in time.
 
Those blood tests are pharmacies aren't designed to diagnose diabetes at all. They just tell the pharmacist, or whoever is doing the test, that you need to be referred to a doctor.
It's designed to make it easy for people to check if they need to see their GP.
 
i would just like to say that my chemist and the staff are great. i was diagnosed last year and if it hadnt been for the staff at the chemist god only knows what would of happened.I went to my doctor complaining of blurred eyesight, extreme tierdness ,drinking water like it was going out of fashion to be told you have a virus if your eyesight is no better in a week go see an optician. Now im not a stupid person and i googled my symptoms on the net and i came up with diabetes. My doctor did not test me for anything she just dimissed me. A few days later i was feeling even worse so i went to my local chemist who did a bs test twice with one meter and because the reading came back as high they tried a brand new meter and got a reading of 33.3. They told me to go to my gp and ask for a test to be done on my urine or to go straight to a and e which i did within 3 hours of my bs been taken at the chemist i had been diagnosed type 1 by a diabetic consultant at the hospital. Im sorry this post is so long but i try not to imagine what would of happened to me if i hadnt gone to the chemist that day and instead actually listened to my gp. I now refuse to see the gp in question for any reason and wrote a letter of complaint against her but she is still working in my gp practice. I am a regular at my chemist and the staff their always ask how i am feeling while i wait for my medication. They are lovely ladies who always have a smile for everyone. :D
 
cyb3rminx said:
i would just like to say that my chemist and the staff are great. i was diagnosed last year and if it hadnt been for the staff at the chemist god only knows what would of happened.I went to my doctor complaining of blurred eyesight, extreme tierdness ,drinking water like it was going out of fashion to be told you have a virus if your eyesight is no better in a week go see an optician. Now im not a stupid person and i googled my symptoms on the net and i came up with diabetes. My doctor did not test me for anything she just dimissed me. A few days later i was feeling even worse so i went to my local chemist who did a bs test twice with one meter and because the reading came back as high they tried a brand new meter and got a reading of 33.3. They told me to go to my gp and ask for a test to be done on my urine or to go straight to a and e which i did within 3 hours of my bs been taken at the chemist i had been diagnosed type 1 by a diabetic consultant at the hospital. Im sorry this post is so long but i try not to imagine what would of happened to me if i hadnt gone to the chemist that day and instead actually listened to my gp. I now refuse to see the gp in question for any reason and wrote a letter of complaint against her but she is still working in my gp practice. I am a regular at my chemist and the staff their always ask how i am feeling while i wait for my medication. They are lovely ladies who always have a smile for everyone. :D
Click to expand...

Did you complain to the PCT and tell the local media? What a terrible GP
 
cyb3rminx said:
i would just like to say that my chemist and the staff are great. i was diagnosed last year and if it hadnt been for the staff at the chemist god only knows what would of happened.I went to my doctor complaining of blurred eyesight, extreme tierdness ,drinking water like it was going out of fashion to be told you have a virus if your eyesight is no better in a week go see an optician. Now im not a stupid person and i googled my symptoms on the net and i came up with diabetes. My doctor did not test me for anything she just dimissed me. A few days later i was feeling even worse so i went to my local chemist who did a bs test twice with one meter and because the reading came back as high they tried a brand new meter and got a reading of 33.3. They told me to go to my gp and ask for a test to be done on my urine or to go straight to a and e which i did within 3 hours of my bs been taken at the chemist i had been diagnosed type 1 by a diabetic consultant at the hospital. Im sorry this post is so long but i try not to imagine what would of happened to me if i hadnt gone to the chemist that day and instead actually listened to my gp. I now refuse to see the gp in question for any reason and wrote a letter of complaint against her but she is still working in my gp practice. I am a regular at my chemist and the staff their always ask how i am feeling while i wait for my medication. They are lovely ladies who always have a smile for everyone. :D
Click to expand...



hey, you have desribed practically what happened to me!
my doc refused to test me for anything and just thought i was annorexic with the weight i lost.
i went to tesco pharmacy and they phoned the A+E
and i really dont know what i would of done either, my doc refused for years so it took me just over 2 years to be diagnosed. and i got all these complications! tesco is now my weekly shop as it saved my life!
 
Back
Top