Glucometer on prescription

[MrsDiabetic]

Hi, Newbie here

What glucometer did you get for free on prescription please? (Or from diabetic clinic) (uk)

I was given GlucoMen Areo and I get strips on prescription for it.

Are there any other brands available through gp please?

Will I get another one if this one stops working?

If I get different glucometer myself will my gp prescribe strips for it please?

 

[Rokaab]

Are there any other brands available through gp please?

Depends entirely on your CCG as they decide what they will and will not fund, yours may prescribe different strips to the neighbouring CCG area

If I get different glucometer myself will my gp prescribe strips for it please?

In most cases no, your doctors will only prescribe what the CCG allows them to which is more than likely what they can get the cheapest. Unless you also have hospital consultant who specifically writes to your doctors with instructions to prescribe a different type - mine do that I as only a specific meter talks to my pump so my pump consultant wrote to my doctors saying they needed to prescribe the specific strips for it

If your meter fails you should be able to get a replacement from either your doctors surgery/diabetic clinic or the manufacturer - last time it happened to me (has only ever happened once) I talked to the manufacturer and they sent me a new one asap

 

[Mrs HJG]

Hi @MrsDiabetic I have the Glucomen Areo 2k which I was given by the Diabetes Nurse and it has been great for the last 3 months, have you had problems? Their backup is excellent - I was having trouble uploading to my phone and they called me the next day as it was easier to explain in person. If it is faulty they will supply a new one. Intrigued why you are asking

 

[MrsDiabetic]

Thank you for replies

@Mrs HJG I am absolutely happy with the one they gave me but I don't have any knowledge or experience with glucometer hence me asking.
I am still learning how to use it properly and I waste lots of strips as I squeeze not enough blood.

I was thinking of getting a spare glucometer to have it at home just in case this one stops working in the middle of night. I know I am being paranoid but it is all new to me.

 

[Mrs HJG]

Thank you for replies

@Mrs HJG I was thinking of getting a spare glucometer to have it at home just in case this one stops working in the middle of night. I know I am being paranoid but it is all new to me.

I had that thought when I was first diagnosed, (so long ago back in December!), but then thought to be honest, my bloods will be the same if I am monitoring or not, and the longest I would have to wait for a replacement would be a day or 2 maximum, and I must have gone months without being aware anything was 'wrong' and with way higher bloods - I wouldn't change my new diet just because the monitor was lost or broken.

I did buy a pack of spare batteries from Amazon though to keep a couple in the little pouch just in case.

I wasted a load of strips at first because my eyesight went soon after diagnosis and I ended up squishing the blood as I couldn't see the droplet! Just make sure the strip is at a right-angle to your finger and doesn't actually touch your skin, just the blood, it might help.

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

If I get different glucometer myself will my gp prescribe strips for it please?

I'm doubtful on that, if you get another meter from elsewhere, it's a good chance the GP will say I gave you a meter use that with the correct strips.

The strips you get on prescription only work in the GlucoMen Areo, they will not work on other brands of meter..

 

[MrsDiabetic]

@Mrs HJG exactly my thoughts, I must have been existing on very high numbers for weeks or months without realisation and I survived so I probably would survive a day or two without glucometer. Thank you for understanding. That was actually very helpful.

I have been having trouble concentrating when I look at my phone screen and I have been having headaches too. My gp knows about it and she thinks I need to have my eyes check but we wait for the gad and c peptide results as she thinks if I was type 1 I would be taken more seriously when I go for my eye test

 

[EllieM]

I have been having trouble concentrating when I look at my phone screen and I have been having headaches too. My gp knows about it and she thinks I need to have my eyes check but we wait for the gad and c peptide results as she thinks if I was type 1 I would be taken more seriously when I go for my eye test

Are you on insulin at the moment? The last time I mislaid/broke my meter I felt completely bereft until I got it back/replaced it. (This was pre dexcom, I am now much more relaxed about it as I use it more as a back up for my self funded dexcom.) Having said that, I've had no trouble getting a replacement from my local chemist, but as the NX equivalent of the NHS only stock one brand of meter you can pretty well guarantee that a pharmacy will have a spare in stock (at least round where I live).

But an issue with having a spare meter is that if it isn't the same brand as your existing one you may find that its test strips are out of date before you next use it.

 

[MrsDiabetic]

@EllieM thank you, I could just possibly get a spare one but the same brand then.
Yes I am on insulin. On the 7th of Feb I found out I had diabetes. Started with Medformin. On the 8th of Feb I collapsed and was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. I went into DKA and they put me on the insulin.
I am now on 4 injections a day plus tablets. I am petrified.

 

[Mrs HJG]

@EllieM I went into DKA and they put me on the insulin.
I am now on 4 injections a day plus tablets. I am petrified.

Oh @MrsDiabetic as I was only on a basal insulin for a few weeks, so the meter didn't matter so much, but if you are matching your insulin to your readings them my answer was a bit flippant, sorry.

I am still waiting on my 'proper' diagnosis after c-pep (really high, must be T2) but also all the antibodies (T1!), and I have gone from blind panic and literally a blind Christmas and New Year, to taking it in my stride, well if everything stays settled and routine, (not coping so well when days are a bit different), and seeing a private consultant in 3 weeks time. It does get less scary, I am only 3 months in.

Happy to chat any time.

 

[becca59]

If you end up with a confirmed diagnosis for Type 1, you should be under a hospital team. They should ensure you have a back up meter. Your meter should also be able to use ketone strips. I actually have access to 3 different blood testing machines on top of my freestyle Libre. Though these days I rarely blood test more than once a day.

 

[MrsDiabetic]

@becca59 I am 32, no family history of diabetes, doctors weren't sure what type I was. I had ketones in my blood and spent a week at the hospital and I was given 8 drips of fluid. They sent blood samples for gad antibody and c peptide. At the moment I have been discharged from the hospital care and my main team is community nurses and my gp. Would this be changed if I turned to be type 1 please? Will I get to see consultant at the hospital?

 

[Colin of Kent]

This is an interesting discussion for me right now, too. I've been using Ascensia's Contour Next strips and meter for many years, having been attracted to it initially because of its accuracy - much higher than is required by regulations, I believe. However, my clinic have informed me that they've become too expensive, and that my CCG won't fund them any more. They've moved me onto Nipro 4Sure strips. I've done some side-by-side tests (while I still have a few Contour strips left), and the results are often quite different - this morning the 4Sure said 6.0 and 6.3, while the Next said 7.0 and 7.0.

Does anyone have any advice on meter accuracy, please?

 

[Zilsniggy]

@becca59 I am 32, no family history of diabetes, doctors weren't sure what type I was. I had ketones in my blood and spent a week at the hospital and I was given 8 drips of fluid. They sent blood samples for gad antibody and c peptide. At the moment I have been discharged from the hospital care and my main team is community nurses and my gp. Would this be changed if I turned to be type 1 please? Will I get to see consultant at the hospital?

As a T1 diabetic you should be under the care of a Consultant(often a Consultant Endocrinologist) at a hospital near you. You should also be under the care of Specialist Diabetic Nurses, not just your GP's community nurses. With the best will in the world, these nurses are often not specially trained in Diabetes nursing at all, and are often Jacks of all Trades(I'm a nurse myself...)

 

[EllieM]

Would this be changed if I turned to be type 1 please? Will I get to see consultant at the hospital?

I believe (though it's been a while since I lived in the UK) that UK T1s can ask to be under a hospital consultant, though some stay under their GP. Personally my GPs always freely admitted that I knew more about my diabetes than they did so were happy to send me to a consultant.

The advantage of getting an official T1 diagnosis is that you would be eligible for things like a cgm (continuous glucose monitor) and (long term if you want it) an insulin pump. (Note not all T1s get cgms, but you could at least argue for it.)

Though I am sure things are very scary now I truly believe that you will get the hang of this. My single recommendation for a new insulin user is that you always have easily accessible glucose (or equivalent, eg jelly babies). You will eventually experience some hypos and you need to be able to treat them easily, as one of the symptoms of a severe hypo is that you can start to get confused.

Good luck. You can do this.