Confused

I have been working very hard hard the last 18 months to bring down my sugar levels with exercise and diet with regular testing and watching the carbs. My levels the last 3 Hba1c have been mid 5's. with my doctors support I reduced my Metformin from 4x 500 tablets a day to 2 and I have even reduced it to 1 in a morning still with regular testing. I want to try to come off Metformin altogether and just control my sugar levels with diet and exercise but my nurse has stopped my testing strips quoting cost. but how much have I saved the NHS by trying to cut out the medication. If i failed to do anything proactive and just kept "taking the tablets" and letting diabetes take hold possibly get worse how much would that cost the NHS then. How on earth can I check if my levels vary or increase without testing now.

Thanks for your support I know I am new to this forum but I have started to do a little research has any body tried this link http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Advocacy/test-strips-advocacy-pack-0613.pdf