Can anyone remember blood test strips in the 80s

[madsal]

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

Can any body remember 'Balance' magazine in the early80's that had an advert for disposable syringes in their pre-Chrismas edition?
The advert featured a liitle girl sitting under a xmas tree opening up her present which was a pack of disposeable syringes.She looked so excited and happy with what Santa had left her!

 

[BeccyB]

Can any body remember 'Balance' magazine in the early80's that had an advert for disposable syringes in their pre-Chrismas edition?
The advert featured a liitle girl sitting under a xmas tree opening up her present which was a pack of disposeable syringes.She looked so excited and happy with what Santa had left her!

I used to get Balance, I don't remember the advert though. I do remember the adverts for products for impotency - I remember being horrified after I'd had 'the talk' and realised what they were

 

[noblehead]

I had this as my first meter too - it was fantastic as it stopped the whole family from arguing what colour they thought the test strip was!! I had a glass syringe in surgical spirits but don't think we ever used it - my parents scrimped and scraped to buy the little plastic ones for me as they weren't available on the NHS yet.

It's odd, I was also told that the plastic insulin syringes weren't available on prescription and had to self-fund, yet other members on the forum have said that they had them prescribed by their Dr.

Can any body remember 'Balance' magazine in the early80's that had an advert for disposable syringes in their pre-Chrismas edition?
The advert featured a liitle girl sitting under a xmas tree opening up her present which was a pack of disposeable syringes.She looked so excited and happy with what Santa had left her!

Don't remember the advert but the plastic syringes were a welcome relief from using the glass syringes

 

[PseudoBob77]

It's odd, I was also told that the plastic insulin syringes weren't available on prescription and had to self-fund, yet other members on the forum have said that they had them prescribed by their Dr.



Don't remember the advert but the plastic syringes were a welcome relief from using the glass syringes

Plastic syringes with the orange caps, I had tons of them. Sticking the needle into the bottle of insulin, flick the syringe and get rid of any air left in there. Oh my childhood memories lol.

Oh, it wasn't funny at the time, my world had literally ended.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

 

[noblehead]

Plastic syringes with the orange caps, I had tons of them. Sticking the needle into the bottle of insulin, flick the syringe and get rid of any air left in there. Oh my childhood memories lol.

Oh, it wasn't funny at the time, my world had literally ended.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

Yeah it did seem that way Bob.

I've gone full circle, with being on a pump now I'm back to using a syringe to fill the insulin reservoir.

 

[PseudoBob77]

Yeah it did seem that way Bob.

I've gone full circle, with being on a pump now I'm back to using a syringe to fill the insulin reservoir.

Brings back memories eh! Thinking back, since this post reminded me of it, I can even remember the smell of the syringe packets, the insulin etc... weird!

So you've gone full circle, must seem a bit strange using syringes to refill the reservoir.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

 

[noblehead]

Brings back memories eh! Thinking back, since this post reminded me of it, I can even remember the smell of the syringe packets, the insulin etc... weird!

So you've gone full circle, must seem a bit strange using syringes to refill the reservoir.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

A bit strange, but you only have to do it every 3 days so not too bad.

The distinctive smell of insulin comes in handy when on a pump, if there's leakage at the cannula site it's absorbed into the adhesive, a couple of times my bg levels have gone high and its only after running my finger along the adhesive and smelling the finger have I found that there's been a cannula issue.

Talking of smells, the surgical spirit that we stored the glass syringes in had an extremely strong smell, what was worse you had to clean the skin with it prior to injecting

 

[Jaylee]

Oh happy days indeed.!
Memories of it from 1976 onward.. My first blood test meter I was issued with in the early mid 80s? I decorated it with a gothic vampire sticker that came in a batch of "death metal" stuff with Kerrang magazine. (The rest I stuck to an acoustic guitar.)
When I got the meter out at the clinic they were most displeased.. Lol

 

[Jaylee]

Plastic syringes with the orange caps, I had tons of them. Sticking the needle into the bottle of insulin, flick the syringe and get rid of any air left in there. Oh my childhood memories lol.

Oh, it wasn't funny at the time, my world had literally ended.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

I got caught "jacking up" at college in a changing room. Word went round I was a junkie. This did me a favour at the time.. The girl I was angling after was into "bad boys".

 

[PseudoBob77]

What is it with the jacking up thing, even my last ex-gf even used that term a number of times. Well you used that to your advantage out of her ignorance

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

 

[Grumpy ole thing]

View attachment 18662[/QUOTE
Oh my...I had one of those ..lol

 

[Jaylee]

What is it with the jacking up thing, even my last ex-gf even used that term a number of times. Well you used that to your advantage out of her ignorance

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

"Jacking up" term? It's "street slang" Heroin addicts used...
It was more the ignorance of the kid that started the rumour. It was on record at the college I was a D, (if it went higher up.?) so I was hardly going to get raided.. Lol

 

[PseudoBob77]

"Jacking up" term? It's "street slang" Heroin addicts used...
It was more the ignorance of the kid that started the rumour. It was on record at the college I was a D, (if it went higher up.?) so I was hardly going to get raided.. Lol

Yeah I know, it's the fact that us diabetics are coined with that. Ok, so how is it synonymous with it. Probably because it's the only condition that has regular use of needles/syringes and that's all the rest of the population can relate it to. That's like calling a cigarette smoker a splif head, which would insult them right.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

 

[Jaylee]

Yeah I know, it's the fact that us diabetics are coined with that. Ok, so how is it synonymous with it. Probably because it's the only condition that has regular use of needles/syringes and that's all the rest of the population can relate it to. That's like calling a cigarette smoker a splif head, which would insult them right.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

All I know was when they realize I was just T1 they felt more comfortable knowing I wouldn't leave their premesis with their posessions to feed my "habit"!

 

[PseudoBob77]

Getting back to the old Reflolux meter, I was instructed by my doctors back then to cut the blood test strips into two or three. You can't cut the modern electronic ones, however the colour coded oldies I used to compare these thin blood test strips to the side of the cannister, at 1 minute, 2 minute and 3 minute intervals depending on how saturated the colour was.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

 

[PseudoBob77]

All I know was when they realize I was just T1 they felt more comfortable knowing I wouldn't leave their premesis with their posessions to feed my "habit"!

Lol, must watch the sequel to Trainspotting when it's released, Ewan Mcgregor is back in it if I recall.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app