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Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testing

Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

Adrian,
I, like you am on Gliclazide. As it can cause hypos you should be testing before driving , per DVLA regulations, hence your GP should be providing strips to do this.
Prod them again (with a cattle prod if neccessary :twisted: )
ps what is your active dog? Mine is a manic collie!
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

Fergus,

Thanks and yes I will prod my GP again - I haven't tried that hard yet to be honest. I will also be taking part in a clinical study at Oxford University where my friend is a researcher, so that will be further ammunition!

I have a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (Toller for short) they are very rare in the UK (2,400 dogs in total) but like a Collie they are very good at agility and particularly specialise in water retrieving. I think they are originally some unknown mix of retriever, setter and collie breeds and they look much like smaller red collies, but very fox like (intentionally to lure ducks in which they call tolling).

I walk Roxy 2-3 hours daily and can honestly say that regular (low impact) exercise is the single most important aspect of my treatment. I also play badminton but as that is high impact I find that I have to load up on calories and often take a glucose tablet before each game, else I simply can't win!!. I have always followed a fairly healthy diet anyway but I now find (with the Gliclazide) and regular exercise that I don't need to be ultra careful about what I eat. My last HbA1C was 6.1 but one month was without gliclazide. I predict that my HbA1c will be 5.7 to 5.8 next time it is tested and I think that is good enough. :clap:
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

I signed today and have shared on FB and Twitter. I bought my own meter, but people who can't afford them can't keep an eye on BS and so can't learn to regulate by not eating certain things. Meters are very important, and should be supplied to all who ask. IMO.
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

Fantastic! I signed this last night as I know testing your sugar is paramount. When I was first diagnosed I was given a meter but obtaining the strips is a nightmare as my doctor says I should only testing once or twice a week.

I tend to get some from my MIL who is type 1 but that isn't right and we should all have it!
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

I have signed the petition. I am lucky to have got strips on prescribtion. I now get 100 strips which is great towards my new testing alot regime....

hopefully someone will listen to this plea.....!!
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

I have just signed the petition and shared it with my FB friends.

I am lucky enough to have been provided with BG monitors and testing strips free of charge since first being diagnosed. Whether this is due to the area I live in, or due to my own GP practice and subsequently Diabetes Centre being more forward thinking than some others, I can't really say.

I have always found the fact that I could test my BG was an encouragement to me to tighten up my diet if the results were creeping up. It also allowed me to correctly diagnose the two hypos I suffered whilst on oral medication only, and not to just think I was suffering from a virus or migraine or some other such condition which could mimic the symptoms. In turn, this meant I was quickly able to reverse the situation.

I truly hope this petition is successful, but sadly one has to wonder if this Government will take heed or not, given their current track record of making life difficult for just about all of us, whether diabetic or not! Sorry for the touch of soapbox there. I get a bit carried away on the subject of the Government, but I know this is not the time or the place!! Apologies if anyone is offended.

Dotty
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

As a type one on multiple injections and having been diagnosed for a year when I put my prescription in, I get moaned at by the reception staff saying things like ' you shouldnt really have any until xxxxx' or ' why are you testing so much?' I test pre meal so I can inject for that and also before bed so 4 times a day as advised to, also test when I feel hypo, 4-5 times a fortnight, again as advised. I understand the expense but if I do not test pre meal I do not know what to inject and often when testing before bed need to take on some carb to get me through the night.
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

do a petition saying diabetics esp type 2 need test strips and the scientific evidence supporting it and i will sign.
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

I have signed the petition and linked to my Facebook Page.

I received a letter the other day from my gp who has, on the basis of new NHS Lothian guidelines, decided to withdraw my test strips, without any consultation with me to look at my lifestyle and not having seen me since my last HBA1c in Aug 2011. He explained that the test strips were 'very expensive'. I have checked the price on Amazon and for my strips at the rate I use them it would cost £100 a year. Also as the Scottish First Minister has decided prescriptions should be free in Scotland the cost is a moot point. Furthermore, the cost to me in terms of quality of life should I have a severe stroke is immeasurable and the financial cost of my care would run into thousands. I think the whole thing is absolute madness. How else are NIDD's meant to keep a check on their levels. Once a year HBA1c isn't often enough. what if 6 months down the line you start running to the loo and you are an irreversible type 1 because you didn't know the numbers. Surely this runs into our human rights as well to be entitled to a decent quality of life. I am now frightened to drive, frightened to go to the gym or go mountain biking on my own in the countryside in case I lose my concentration and fall off my bike or into the path of traffic. This is sooooo important especially since the number of diagnosed and undiagnosed type 2's is increasing and runs into millions. We need at least hundreds of thousands of signatures. Please send the link to everyone and anyone you know
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi


Who do the reception staff think they are? They are ONLY receptionists not doctors! I should complain next time I saw the Dr if I were you. There you are trying to cope with a condition which can have serious consequences for yourself and for others in certain circumastances and people with no medical training are telling you what to do.
Or maybe the doctors have allowed them to manage the budget too.

Of course some can be very helpful but others can't cope with the simplest matter. Maybe they think they are protecting their own jobs by saving the practice, money - with no regard for the patients .
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

type 2's on metformin DO go hypo, i have been on metformin for a month and have had one hypo, i have now been taken off them as they made me have real bad atomach cramps etc. i had had my lunch about 12.30pm and went swimming at 2.30pm. At 3.45 when I was leaving the leisure centre i began to tremble, feel really light headed and dizzy, my mum made me have a drink and a biscuit and after a few minutes i was ok, my BG was 3.3. My DSN said this was a hypo.

I think that type 2's should have access to test strips, if we don't test how do we know that we are eating correctly and that we are keeping our BG levels within the correct boundarys. my DSN says that type 2's dont need to test, but how do we know that our diabetes is controlled well enough, after all if we have to wait for our HBA1C test to check our levels something could go wrong between these tests and unless symptoms were bad we would not know.
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

I think this is a no brainer for all government officials worried about the Diabetes epidemic. They should be allowing easier access, along with encouraging more people to go for tests. I understand, issuing testers to people who never get type 2 is not money efficient, but there must be someway in which we can get people to spend, let's say, a week? Getting tested at different times of the day. It may not even need a week. Just something to say, "Your readings are all over 7, go for a check". How many people would it pick up on? When I was diagnosed, I was so scared, I stopped eating sugar immediately, and went straight onto their 'healthy' diet. Didn't do me any good in the long run, but the officials all moan about how people won't stop eating the wrong things and won't take enough exercise.

When I'm faced every morning with testing, with a direct example of how yesterday went, I never go and eat chocolate or sweets or unhealthy carbs. Anytime I want something that's bad for me, I just imagine how my BG's would shoot up, and I just don't. I imagine so many other people would think the same thing. If they had something in their hands that reacted to diet and exercise in a short space of time, wouldn't that be helpful?

I've signed the petition, even though I am allowed full access to testing. I know that other people don't, so I've signed it on their behalf and because I VEHEMENTLY believe in this. My doctor told me as I was leaving, "Not to pay too much attention to my home testing, it's the 3 monthly tests which are the ones they rely on". I suspect we may see a move towards stopping all home testing to save money. I think all insulin resistant people should get access to testing. I think testing should start much earlier.

Sorry, will get off soap box now.....
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

Hello Kasia,
I would really like to hear your thoughts on type 2 diabetes.

Channel 4 are looking for women with type 2 diabetes who would be interested in participating in a group study for the hit series The Food Hospital.

I’m currently working with award-winning, independent television production company betty on a Specialist Factual series for Channel 4 called “The Food Hospital” (working title).

This pioneering, prime-time series will explore the practice of dietetics and the possible health benefits of everyday foods in targeting a wide range of medical conditions and symptoms.

Patients attending ‘The Food Hospital’ will be advised by our team of medical professionals including a leading registered Dietitian, a GP and a Consultant. Using evidence-based, cutting-edge scientific research, the team will prescribe specific diets that could help the patients’ conditions or symptoms. The advice and treatment that the Food Hospital will offer is complementary and intended to be followed in conjunction with the patient’s existing medical regime. The Food Hospital medical team will endeavour to work collaboratively with the patient’s current medical advisors.

We are currently looking for 6 women with type-2 diabetes to undertake a specialist diet which may help to put their type-2 diabetes into remission. The diet has been trialled successfully.

Filming will start very soon at a special residential location between 17th- 20th August. We will film the first 4 days of their new diet with help from our medical team and Dietician. We will then follow their diet’s progress over the following 7 weeks.

Do contact me if you have any more questions about this project. My email Nausheen.Saiyed@betty.co.uk

Many thanks, Nausheen
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

I signed this because my doctor tells me i dont need them because i am on metformin but i would like to know being t2 is just as important as type 1 , how am i supposed to know what foods agree/disagree with me otherwise :***:
 
Re: Diabetes.co.uk PETITION for better access to blood testi

Hi!
I was diagnosed and found this forum only yesterday... too late to sign the petition.

Just wondering what was the outcome? also, could it be re-petitione.., as it seems there's plenty of newly diagnosed like me appearing each day?

thanks in advance!
 
I agree, can we re-petition this. Since the original petition being put out there have been hundreds of us that have joined the forum. With World Diabetes day coming up wouldn't this be a good time to re-launch the campaign.

I have been T2 for the past 17 months. I do not get strips and although I feel that I am sticking to the diet my levels are still not controlled. Have asked GP for strips and been told that this is not possible.
 
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