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Can anyone remember blood test strips in the 80s

Libby1726

Active Member
Messages
28
Type of diabetes
Type 1
I remember going to see my consultant. He had a cannister of strips. You did a finger prick then tested it against the cannister which showed a number of different shades of blue. He gave me a few strips to take home, but had to cut them down the middle. As a full cannister cost £5!!!. Not long after that my dn showed me a machine where I could check bs. I was able to buy one from boots for £45. I also bought my disposable syringes and needles before we could get them on prescription. I really do think times now are better
 
I can remember way before home test strips came available
 
Times are better now

My first bg meter was the Reflolux S, it took 2 mins to complete a bg test but was a welcome relief after using the Clinitest Kit for testing glucose in the urine, but as you say you could cut the strips up to make them last longer and compare the strip to the colour coded chart on the bg strip container.

 
Oh the clinitest kit. Was blue good, brown bad. Do you remember soluble insulin 20,40, or 80 strength
 
I started using Allen & Hanbury Lente in 1966, Clinitest, Clinistix, Rocket Rand syringe, Gillette disposable needles,
BD disposable syringes, BM bloodtest strips, tape measure finger pricker and then bought an Abbott Medisense card bg meter which stored 10 bg tests
 
I recall going to Italy in 91 and them still using u40 insulin then while we were on u100.
 
Before I had a machine I used 'Visidex' strips - I remember one half of the strip was a gorgeous shade of green!

When I finally got a machine (massive, blue, took 2mins 30secs, beeped very loudly at different stages of the process!) I think it used BM sticks. Brown on top, blue beneath.

Am so glad my kit today is so, so much more discreet and easy!

 
yes i have had all the above. Bought my first blood meter reflolux for £68 but the strips were available on NHS. The clinitest urine test did indeed go orange during fizzing but would then go to other colours. This meant it was over 2%. it was rare for me to be less than 2. Sometimes i would just record the eventual colour..naughty me
 
richyb said:
Bought my first blood meter reflolux for £68 but the strips were available on NHS.
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The Reflolux S was the only meter I ever bought, sure I paid around £100 for it but may be mistaken.

mahola said:
That looks like some form of torture device!
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This finger pricking device was torture:

 
I remember all these items only to well and,yes I remember the steps that changed colour.Life is so much easier these days,thank god.
 
mahola said:
@noblehead. Wowzers! Quite glad I don't have to suffer that!!
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The spring in it was cruel, you couldn't adjust it and when the lancet came crashing down it would tear your skin apart

I use to do two things, just hover my finger below the lancing plate so that it didn't hurt too much or just use a lancet and prick my finger manually, I nicknamed the device the guillotine and who ever designed it didn't have the patients comfort in mind
 
robert72 said:
This was my first syringe. Used to take it apart and boil it wrapped in a cotton handkerchief

View attachment 18651
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My mum boiled the same syringe as in the photo, in an old saucepan filled a tiny bit with cold tap water and a tiny bit of salt. Boiled it for about 10mins, then transferred the syringe over to a square tupperware container and filled it just above the syringe with some industrial methylated spirit bought from chemist. All I did everyday was get up in the morning, get my school uniform on, mum boiled the kettle and put some boiling water in a small Pyrex bowl, took the syringe out of tupperware container and submerged it in the Pyrex bowl. I then just assembled the syringe and drew up some water from the Pyrex bowl and flushed the syringe over the kitchen sink to get rid of water and then drew up my insulin from a vial in the fridge, did the injection in my leg sitting on the stairs and then eat breakfast. The whole process didn't take long really once you got used to it all
 
I wasn't so fastidious about hygiene (teenager ) - just boiled it up when it looked a bit gunky
 

I flatly refused to use that finger pricker and didn't bg test for about 2yrs......returned to Clinistix until something much better became available but I wasn't using the bolus basal way of injecting then, I just used once daily and remembered to eat food at the right time or go hypo
 
noblehead said:
The Reflolux S was the only meter I ever bought, sure I paid around £100 for it but may be mistaken.


This finger pricking device was torture:

Click to expand...

Geez that brings back memories!! (not necessarily good ones!!)

While going down memory lane does anyone else remember those sprint powered things for hypodermics? I think they were supposed to encourage children to do their own injections but it actually hurt more! (can't find a picture unfortunately!

I think there's one of those glass syringes in my parent attic somewhere, must have been a revelation for them (and me!) when the plastic ones came out!!
 
That was the Palmer Injector. I used to see one in a glass cabinet at the chemists and think nope!
 
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