Cutbacks?

[adgriff]

I have just been refused more testing strips on prescription on the grounds that they cost so much! I had my last supply of 50 over a year ago - and have been told that to use that many in the space of a year is extravagant. I try to adopt a responsible attitude towards my diabetes, but am at something of a loss now. Perhaps I'm expected to go and pay over the counter in the Chemist for them?

 

[sugarless sue]

So what were you advised ? Test once a week or less !! Total madness ! :evil:

 

[noblehead]

50 test strips to last for 52 weeks..........sounds about right! :x

Try writing to your PCT and complain about this, and demand a explanation of how you could possibly monitor your diabetes control with so few test strips.

Nigel

 

[SophiaW]

I expect we'll see more cut-backs in the future. Last time we saw the diabetes consultant at clinic she was making noises about testing less often. She thought anything over 4 test in 24 hours was unnecessary. Not possible when you have a very sports active insulin-dependent child whose BS's are often unpredictable and who has very little hypo-awareness. Thankfully our GP who is the one who does the repeat prescriptions is more understanding and sensible.

 

[badmedisin]

The advice on testing is inconsistent and bizarre. I spent my childhood being told off for not doing enough tests- they wanted me to do 5 a day. Recently a different consultant told me I didn't even need to test once a day. Whatever. I'm following Dafne rules, I'll do as many tests as it takes to get decent control, and I'm fully prepared to argue with my doctors and put repeat prescriptions in every week if I have to!

I really don't understand why type 2s should be any less entitled to strips. They're still diabetic and risk the same complications as type 1s through poor control. Surely in the long run, it'd be cheaper to give strips to type 2s than treat the extra complications brought on by not being able to control the blood sugar that they're not allowed to test?

And yet they can afford to spend £4 million a year on homoeopathy...

 

[Synonym]

I really don't understand why type 2s should be any less entitled to strips. They're still diabetic and risk the same complications as type 1s through poor control. Surely in the long run, it'd be cheaper to give strips to type 2s than treat the extra complications brought on by not being able to control the blood sugar that they're not allowed to test?

Most of us proactive T2s would agree with that! The current trend to look only as far as the current budget is the biggest problem and until we get someone who can see further, and past the end of their nose, we won't get beyond the situation we are in. :roll:

 

[adgriff]

I was told that I don't need to bother to test and that my HbA1c checks will pick up anything untoward whic, of course, they will but isn't that a bit like shutting the stable door after the proverbial? I explained that I don't test regularly - only occasionally after eating something unusual to check it's effect and to determine whether I should eat the same thing again etc. The conversation then turned to the risk of testing becoming some kind of OCD! At that point, I just decided to shut up!

 

[cugila]

I was told that I don't need to bother to test and that my HbA1c checks will pick up anything untoward whic, of course, they will but isn't that a bit like shutting the stable door after the proverbial? I explained that I don't test regularly - only occasionally after eating something unusual to check it's effect and to determine whether I should eat the same thing again etc. The conversation then turned to the risk of testing becoming some kind of OCD! At that point, I just decided to shut up!

The HbA1c test is an average over a period of the last 3 months........it will give an idea of the trend in Bg levels, however it will not show the whole story as will frequent testing. the HbA1c is known to miss out both 'spikes' and hypo levels. I found this out when I was receiving Cancer drugs which played havoc with my Bg levels. From 2+ to 24+ sometimes in the same hour or so !!! Eek !
Yet my HbA1c wasn't badly affected. I was though, hypos and hypers all within an hour or so.....not good I can tell you.

As for testing becoming OCD.....just the party line I am afraid. The enlightened HCP's will be more flexible and sensible.......hopefully. :roll:

Ken

 

[tmylward]

I've been diabetic for 4 years now.

Initially I tested my blood sugar before each meal and before bed.
How else could I learn what effect different foods would have?

Once I got a working regime I tested 4 times on each Saturday, then after a few weeks, every other Saturday.

If I get a deviation from what I consider to be normal, I go back to 4 tests a day until I discover what the cause was.

I really don't see how else blood sugar can be properly managed. Even as a type 1 surely you must check regularly. Once a quarter with HbA1c is nothing but a confirmation that what you do is working or not.

 

[RichardNY]

I have had a fair few visits to the GP over the last few weeks as well as visiting the nurse and all (excluding one) have pointed out the danger of becoming OCD about testing. I find it strange at the same consultations I always get asked what my sugars were when a particular set of symptoms were aggravated or pronounced, then shortly after that told what excellent control I have and to keep up the good work and for being so aware about my condition.

So am I aware of my condition or OCD about it ?
Are you aware of your sugars or OCD about them ?
When does awareness become OCD ?
Why all these obsessive questions ? :wink:

What baffles me even further is that the Dr's here are relying on me to provide information on sugars (via testing) to help them in a diagnostic fashion when I have a flare up of cramps and pins and needles. Without the strips and lancets I couldn't tell them that.

I honestly fail to see why PCT's don't look at the bigger picture and are reassured by pro-active patients doing their best to keep very expensive diabetic complications at bay. I know from personal experience that my number of GP visits has soared since complications have set in and far outweighs the costs of strips in just the number of GP visits over the last 2 months.

Apart from the one GP who I now always see (even if I have to wait) I often feel like saying to the GP ... “apart from you Dr<X> my strips are the biggest tool I have to combat my diabetes” :twisted: unfair and childish in the extreme I know but maybe that little statement would leave them feeling as confused as people that are told that testing isn't needed.

All the best.

Richard.

 

[sugarless sue]

Now the excuse is OCD, before it was too much testing causes stress, the worst one I've heard was testing too much causes callouses and when you go blind you wont be able to use braille !! :evil:

Do they have someone thinking up these excuses somewhere just so that we will not use test strips ? ! Perhaps if they got rid of this person their wages would help fund someone's test strips ! :shock:

We need to test to maintain control, even if we are experienced diabetics we still need to test sometimes to keep a check on the foods because our bodies change.

 

[badmedisin]

Don't really see what's wrong with OCD anyway! I test before I eat anything and before bed and if I feel wrong. It's the only way I know what I should be doing at the time. I used to just guess and I had ****** control. My HbA1c was in double figures for years. Since I did Dafne in January it's come down to 7.4 so the testing must be a good thing!

Yes i am slightly obsessive, but it doesn't cause me problems. I have various other random and bizarre obsessions and compulsions, mostly involving counting and symmetry, but they don't intrude on my life. OCD is only a problem when it really affects your daily activities, like people who can't leave the house cos they're afraid of leaving the gas on. Testing frequently is really not the same thing!

As for the finger callouses, that cracked me up! I went to the GP to ask if I could have two packs of strips instead of one on each scrip cos I was spending half my life at Boots. She wanted to know how often I was testing so I showed her my book. She said I shouldn't test too often cos my fingers would get sore! Who cares?! I would much rather have sore fingers than have a foot amputated! But then we're back to how they can't see the bigger picture or the long term possibilities. Oops.

 

[JohnFT]

I submitted a request for a test strip prescription at my GP's on Tuesday. On turning up today to collect said prescription I was politely told that it had been turned down. I was given a note saying "well under control no need to test". This is from a GP who hasn't seen me for 6 months. I explained that I was experimenting with new eating habits and wanted to test more frequently. Fortunately the receptionist was lovely and she happened to mention that the former Diabetic Nurse was in for the day. I saw her and had a good old chat as we knew each other from before. After a bit of discussion I left with a prescription for 50 strips.

This hardly ranks up there with negotiating world peace but I felt a bit chuffed with myself.

Just thought I'd share.

 

[moonstone]

Now the excuse is OCD, before it was too much testing causes stress, the worst one I've heard was testing too much causes callouses and when you go blind you wont be able to use braille !! :evil:

...

That was me who got told that, when very newly diagnosed with type 1, by a paramedic (not my Dr or diabetes team thank God). And I believed it, too, and repeated it once on this forum a while ago, until at some point it dawned on me that my fingers haven't got the slightest sign of callouses... nothing! I used to play the guitar - now those were callouses, I had grooves in my fingertips and the upper tips were hard as rock, when I tapped my fingers on the table it sounded like proper drums. I know a callous on my finger when I see one, and testing doesn't do it! Who knows where he got that from.

Having said that, he wasn't actually advising me to stop testing, but to do it on the sides of the fingers, so that I could still read braille even with these supposed callouses... and even though it's clearly rubbish in hindsight, I'm grateful because doing it on the sides is better for me and I've stuck to it. Doing it in the middle means I sometimes hit the bone - it reverberates through my finger and is a pretty hideous sensation :evil:

 

[Sid Bonkers]

testing too much causes callouses and when you go blind you wont be able to use braille !! :evil:

Thats it, I shall never test again Sue :lol:

Seriously, I used to test 5 or 6 times a day when I was first diagnosed, finding out what foods did what to my numbers, maybe I was lucky in that I was placed straight on insulin so getting enough strips was not a problem.

Now I have come off insulin and I have pretty good control IMHO and know what portions of what foods I can eat without sending my bg soaring I only test around once or twice a day, and only about 3 or 4 days a week and I'm happy with that.

Just had my 1st HB A1c since stopping insulin treatment 3 month ago and it was 5.7% and I'm pretty sure that without extensive testing in my first year I could not have achieved this level of control.

It really saddens me that so many GP's want to restrict the one tool we have to actually take control of our bg levels.

 

[clearviews]

So, has there been a study showing that the incidence of OCDs is rising rapidly amongst diabetics in Australia where ALL diabetics (T1, T2, insulin dependent, tablet or diet controlled) are able to buy subsidised strips? The mentality of the NHS policy makers in the UK is beyond comprehension. Perhaps the HCPs do not subscribe to the dogma "we are all different" or that different foods affect different people, differently?

 

[lovinglife]

The conversation then turned to the risk of testing becoming some kind of OCD! At that point, I just decided to shut up!

To go off topic slightly but I get so angry when genuine medical conditions are "dumped down" especially by health professionals - my 14 yr old son who is high functioning autistic has an official diagnosis of OCD -here's just two examples of his OCD

filling and emptying the bath 5 times because he "saw" something floating in it (only has to be a bit of fluff) - a bedtime routine of over 30 actions taking 25 minutes - if he is interrupted even on action 30 we have to go back to the beginning - they should try living with/like that!! -

THAT'S OCD!!!!! - not pricking your finger 20 times a day to get genuine results to act upon :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: - makes my blood boil - it seems to be done with the awful condition tourette's too - you use a lot of bad language so you must have tourettes :roll: