has anyone been refused test strips for type 2

It is bad enough when Joe Public is uneducated about diabetes but when so many of the doctors are as well it makes you despair. :shock: The doctor at my surgery who undertakes all the diabetic care told us he knows nothing about diabetes – and I have to say that he has very much proved that he is telling the truth! :roll:

I am so grateful for the care that I have found with all the staff at the hospital and even more so when they offered me the choice of where I have my ongoing care. Needless to say I plumped to continue going to the hospital! 8)

We just have to continue to argue, cajole and attempt to educate wherever we can!! :evil:

I was lucky in that I got a cancellation app for eye and foot checks quite early on, due to the bad weathr prob so have had that done. I was reffered to the Desmond education programme nearly 8 weeks ago and have heard nothing. Also I have just seen a dietician but she just reinforced the regular meals with starchy carbs rule which the NHS seem obsessed with. I havent been told I need to see docs at hospital. I havent seen a doc at all from diagnosis just diabetes nurses who are all very nice but I feel I am getting really poor advice. But then I had the same problems with my breast cancer treatment. I am on hormone therapy now and no one can decide whether I need to avoid soya or not. Soya is phytoeostrogen and my tumour was eostrogen fuelled. So now I am on statins, tamoxifen, aspirin and anti depressants to help me cope with side effects from Tamoxifen and, if I have understood correctly, I have to eat low fat, low sugar, low salt, low Gi,low carb, high fibre and avoid soya like the plague........nightmare :?
Thank you everyone for your replies
Debbie
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Forgot to ask. Are you feeling any better Nannybee?

Maybe easier said than done but when it happened to me i just changed doctors. I told my new gp straight away and he said every diabetic should have them even if not used regularly. I have found that almost every medical professional i have seen about diabetes has a different opinion in some way or another. It can definitely get frustrating deciding who to listen to.

I've been a type 2 for just a year, and I have had the Doctors and nurse say that I should test only once or twice a week, I have proved to them that regular testing helps me control my diabetes better, I am now allowed a box of two tubs a month, however I am on oral meds and injections too, if it wasn't for regular testing I would not have been able to control my diabetes as well as I am. I am also a driver and a full time carer, so I argued also that to do these tasks every day I need to make sure I maintain a safe level whilst caring and driving. I say that perseverance does prevail in the end, you have to make a statement to your Doctor that you can't control your diet alone without testing.

Hi Nannybee,
I have been consistently refused test strips by my doctor.
I was diagnosed T2 last summer and control mine, fairly well, by diet and exercise. However this has only been achieved by a considerable outlay on test strips so I can see for myself what foods and drinks to avoid.
Fortunately for me I can afford to buy them now and then but I know many people are unable to.
My doctor said something like there isnt a need to know (blood sugar levels). I said it was only through regualr testing that I was able to bring down my HbA1c and so avoid the need for medication (and saving the NHS the cost of drugs)
It seems some people have doctors who are much better informed than others but my own personal opinion is that everyone should be offered a meter/strips on first diagnosis, advice how to use it and interpretation of the results.
What can we do? Write to out MP's? (there is an election coming) Write to newspapers? Keep asking the doctors hoping they get fed up and give in? I think someone has already done a petition to Downing St!

I have been buying my own strips for ages. I've found that Abbott Diabetes Care is the simplest place to get them. They supplied my Meter and have a system, so it's a free phone call and £14.?? per pack of 50. My PCT won't let me have more than 2 tubs per year. I get annoyed as I do LOADS of exercise and even on Metformin alone, I can need to check, I can't persuade them.
Perhaps, I should ask to go on insulin( I'm absolutely not going there )
I've tried to tell them they'd save in the long run.But nothing doing.
Hana

Hi Nannybee

A typical day for me would be

breakfast

1oz porridge made with water and cooled with a small amount of skimmed milk

lunch
two slices of weight watchers granary bread with 1oz protein and salad. an apple

dinner

4 - 6oz new potatoes or 3-6 ounces of pasta or rice, 1-2oz protein and veg.

Throughout the day, I allow about a pint of skimmed milk or half a pint and some natural yoghurt and 2-3 portions of fruit.

This is based on the weight reducing diet the hospital dieticain recommended except they recommend much more carbohydrate. I know from past experiences that I would not be able to lose weight if I ate more. Dont know what effect this will have on my HBA1c. I have that at end of March. Still waiting for app for the Desmond education course. Now waiting 8 weeks......perhaps they are hoping we will all educate ourselves if they take long enough in sending apps out.

Debbie
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Hi Debbie

I note you say that you don't eat all the carbs suggested in your diet but do wonder what are your bg levels like with all the carbohydrate (the porridge, bread, potatoes, pasta or rice) that you actually are eating?

Hi Synonym

I dont know what my bg levels are like. I have been told not to test and the doctor wont supply test strips. I have a meter and have bought some strips myself but no one has shown me how to use lancets etc. I have tried following the instructions but made my fingers sore. For now I am using the advice on food that I have been given, until my next HBA1c at end of march. If my level has not reduced from 8.2, hopefully someone will see sense and offer me some support in allowing me to monitor myself. I realise that I need to take responsibility myself for managing my condition but feel very ignorant at the moment. I am attending a Desmond course soon so maybe that will help.
Debbie

Hello again Debbie

I note you say that your fingers were sore when you pricked your fingers so just in case you haven’t found out…..

Use the lancet on the lowest number to start with and aim at the side of your finger end but not too close to the nail. (My pinkies or the next ones along seem to work best for me.) Don’t squeeze, just wait for 3-5 seconds and if there is not enough blood then squeeze gently, just a little – stroking firmly is probably better. If there still isn’t enough blood you may have to set the lancet at the next number and try again. (Mine is currently set at 3 out of 9)
I usually wait until I have got enough blood before I insert the testing strip into the meter or I get myself into a rare fankle. Don’t put the blood on to the strip until the meter shows the ‘idiot guide’ picture of doing so. Then just wait for the result. 8)

If your GP is determined not to enable you to test by providing you with a prescription for testing strips he may well put you on to medication regardless of your desire to manage your condition. You will need to prepare for that i.e. decide what you want to do. Whether you want to see an endocrinologist before you agree to go along that path or whether you will go along with what the doctor wants.

It does sound as if you may have to buy your own strips. :roll:

As a matter of interest what was the diet advice you have been given :?:

Hi Synonym

The dietary advice I have been given is the usual carbs at every meal which seems to totally contradict what everyone is telling me and which seems to be the standard advice given despite the fact that we all know that carbs convert to sugar etc. I was told to choose low gi carbs but, when I did pluck up the courage to test, I found that shredded wheat, for example, which is low gi, sent my bg level rocketing as did a slice of granary bread toasted. I told the diabetes nurse this who again told me not to test but to tell the dietician. The dietician had no answer and said that I might be one of those people who need medication regardless. One of the many who are medicated simply because the NHS wont pay for strips and wont support self monitoring. At the moment I just feel overwhelmed by it all.

Debbie

Hi Debbie

You know that the carbs are not helping your BG levels by the little bit of testing you have done so why not change what you are eating. It could make a difference to your next Hba1c and prove a point. :idea:

I wonder what the cost of medication is in comparison to the testing strips - I think that is probably the answer and not hard to guess at either! :roll:

It is an absolute maze to fight your way through but there is always someone on here to help so don't lose heart. Ask questions. 8)

Thank you Synonym

I appreciate all your advice. Everyone is so helpful on here
Debbie

Hi thrifty,
Whatever diet plan you decide to follow means you really need to test and test again in the early stages. It is so hard when you are denied test strips.
I do follow the low G.I. plan with success but in the early stages there was plenty of testing to do as everyone reacts differently to certain foods. Because a food is listed as low G.I. it still needs testing. Read through this artice and see if it is of any help,

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/72818.php

The secret to successful G.I. is to balance the meal so I add nuts, seeds and fruit to cereals that do not spike me. If you are going to just eat a carb laden meal, i.e. cereal or toast on it's own, then it will spike more than if the meal is balanced. Shredded wheat is medium G.I. and on it's own would spike.
Another thing to take into account is portion control. My main meals contain 25% low G.I. carbs, 25% protein and 50% vegetables. I may even add a side salad to this, depending what I am eating.

Whatever you decide to do then good luck with it. Low carb/low G.I. you will still need to test and when you next see your healthcare professionals try and make a case for testing equipment.
Keep posting as to how you are progressing and am thinking of you, we were all newbies once and it is so confusing.

Regards,
Catherine.

Thank you Catherine. Have replied to your pm

Debbie

At a recent Desmond meeting I attended, I asked the question as to why test strips and monitors were not generally given to T2 diabetics., I was quite curtly told that if these tools were given to every diabetic there would be no funding left for any other medication. It is purely a financial reason as to why they are not given as they come out of the doctor's budget. Each time I ask I have been refused so I bought my own meter and strips (spent over £80 so far) but the value of testing far exceeds the cost involved. When I first tested I was getting readings of 15 and 11 after breakfast and eating what I considered to be a healthy meal of Weetabix and half a banana with perhaps a slice of toast. Was horrified with the results so changed all that.Readings this morning and yesterday after breakfast were 5.7 and 5.9. So switching to a low carb diet and testing has given me more control then I would have had which is surely what self management is all about.
I still think that I have a bit to go but at least I'm moving in the right direction and have become much more aware of how to control the condition and get on with life.
To sum up here we are all involved in a post code lottery in which some practices will allow some strips and others refuse point blank.
One final point,
I was lead to understand that people with chronic illnesses such as Diabetes should be able to claim VAT relief on the diabetic products that the buy provided that they are being prescribed with diabetic medicine i.e Metformin. The question is why do so many internet sites and even chemists such as Boots not inform purchasers of this concession?

Hi Frankie

I am due to attend a DESMOND course in April and will also bring up point about test strips. I have even had to fight to get a place on this course. I was referred to it in Dec and have heard nothing since. I casually mentioned it when I saw a dietician ( had to fight to see her too ). She said I should have heard and would chase it up. Weeks later, having heard nothing, I rang her. She had spoken to the coordinator that very morning ( yeah, right ) and I would hear that week. Two weeks later I got a letter, rang straight away and was told that the first dates in March had gone and I have to wait till April. This will be 3 weeks after my second HBA1c test having been on diet and exercise only. I know it will be high as I have been testing with strips I bought myself and I am having consistently high readings following NHS advice on diet and changing now to low carb wont give me long enough to reduce the result. OOhhh and the statins are playing havoc with my hair so v fed up at moment...lol