• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Excuses given why you shouldn't test

Not entirely on topic, but I once saw a dietician and in the conversation I asked for suggestions of things to snack on when hungry but with high, or at least not low, sugars. She said that if I felt hungry, I probably was low anyway.

I contradicted her (as un-bluntly as I could muster) and she said, "Oh, I think you'll find you do." At time of course I wasn't very used to diabetes, having been on insulin only, let me work it out... thirty years or so...
 
On topic or off topic I doesn't matter it's more about people's experience with how they are treated about getting strips


Sent from my iPad
 
I'm Type 1 so doesn't affect me personally but I know a few Type 2's. When I first heard they wanted to stop Type 2 testing I thought it was odd so I asked a Type 2 friend why and they were told "too many people were overeacting to their test results" . BIZARRE!! The girl I was speaking to was newly diagnosed and she has no idea what is happening from one doctors appointment to the next, she was eating a bar of chocolate the other day and I said doesn't that affect your blood sugars and she just shrugged and said the doctor said she was doing fine.
 
Sandy dee that is the exact reason I started this threat


Sent from my iPad
 
I have had pains in both feet for three years and only last year I was told I was diabetic - T2. I had in fact peripheral neuropathy. I was invited to spend a day with the Desmond Education session. I found this very instructive and learned a lot regarding diets. They agreed that with my very plain eating habits, there was very little that I needed to change. Now I come to the theme that is bothering people. The Desmond team recommended that we all obtained a metre to monitor our blood/sugar. They said this was the only way that we could keep an eye on our condition. From that moment I tested just once a week and managed to do this at ruffly the same time each week. Some time later I had to see my doc on another problem and mentioned that I was using a metre. She was horrified and said she would contact the Desmond people to complain strongly that they should definitely not be advising folk to be testing at home. I ask - what are we supposed to do ???

I ignored the doctor and continue testing weekly. I know I should be exercising to lose weight but walking is out of the question due to my painful feet. I have a Nintendo Wii machine and Wii Fit Plus and have a routine comprising of nineteen exercises that take just thirty minutes to complete. I have to sit down frequently to ease me feet. Any ideas how else I can lose weight?

By the way, in the fifteen months that I have been testing my readings have ranged from 5.4 to 9.4.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
If you fancy low GI, ask on here. Douglas99 is helpful.
Some of us advocate LCHF - see Dietdoctor.com I have lost 1 stone 2 lbs on this diet. There are recipes on this site. Good luck!
 
Anatoli - the Desmond teacher is right - testing is very important, & any doctor who says it is unnecessary is seriously ignorant of diabetes management. Ask around the pharmacies to find out which practices encourage testing. I get enough test strips to test more than once a day - I'm type 2 on metformin, not insulin.
 
anatoli. I managed to loose weight roughly using the 2:5 diet. I say roughy as I didn't always fast 2 days a week. I often only managed 1. I also lowered by carbohydrates by reducing bread to 1 slice a day and cut out potatoes and halved rice and pasta. ( I only have one pasta or rice dish a week)
On my fasting days I have eggs as my main meal. For example welsh eggs: boiled eggs + leeks +cheese sauce =200-250cals. Or spinach with boiled eggs and cheese sauce. I am far less hungry than i used to, so find that I now eat far less.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I was told that I was being obsessive for wanting to self test! The doctor in question basically ranted at me, called me a hypochondriac and obsessive and that as long as I took my meds and stuck to my diet my BG would remain fine and I'd never need to know what it was. Incidentally, I am on gliclizide so have random hypo's as well!

The same doctor also saw no need to run hbA1c blood tests!

Needless to say we had quite a few heated discussions!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Classed T2 (hereditary gene on both sides of family, 4th generation diabetic)
hbA1c at diagnosis (old numbers) 29.7
Last hbA1c (new numbers) 34
500mg Metformin x3
40mg Gliclizide x2
Low carb
 
Similar to the above, my doctor told me not to test as I might get obsessed. I ignored her, as I find it motivating to see it going down or up. If it goes up, I try harder to keep it down. I haven't been offered strips or a meter, so am financing it myself. I doubt I'd get it even if I asked.
 
If you are on gliclizide and drive anything you have to test before driving by law so docs has to provide you with testing equipment


Type 2 diagnosed 24/01/2013.
Novomix 30, Victoza, metformin 2000mg sr (but not taking them as they play havoc with my insides,
 
Crimsonclient said:
After reading a lot of posts on here, I have seen some of the most bizarre excuses from doctors, nurses and HCP's. So I thought I would start this thread to see what the most bizarre reasons are for not testing.


Sent from my iPad
Click to expand...
Has anyone thought that the pharmaceutical companies and those that manufacture the test strips are ripping everyone off? Ok so they have to make a profit, but how much does it cost to produce the drugs and equipment needed? Also how much is the cost to NHS?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…