Yes. I am newly diagnosed and was informed by the diabetic nurse that testing was unnecessary. I declined medication for the moment, as the GP had advised me that this was reversible so have opted to try to effect better blood sugar levels by diet. However, I do not see how I can achieve this without testing so could someone please advise me which glucometer and strips to buy, please?
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Have you been told not to test your blood sugars?
- Thread starter desidiabulum
- Start Date
Daphne917
Well-Known Member
@Chesil bith @Rachox and @Bluetit1802 have provided good guides on here re meters - I use the Accu -Chek nano but 5he strips are a little bit expensive but I’ve tagged them so hopefully they will be along to assist.
Bluetit1802
Legend
Thanks for the tag @Daphne917
The most popular meters for self funding T2's are the Codefree and the Tee2+ because the strips are much cheaper than other meters, and you need a lot of strips. You can't buy them in pharmacies.
Try here for the Codefree meter
http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/
and here for the extra strips
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/
There are discount codes if you buy in bulk. (applied at the check out stage)
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833
The Tee2+ is here
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product-category/shop/tee2/
Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for either meter)
I use the Accu Chek Mobile for its convenience, but the replacement test cartridges are expensive. Whichever meter you buy, check the cost of the strips, as they range from about £7.50 to about £30 for 50.
The most popular meters for self funding T2's are the Codefree and the Tee2+ because the strips are much cheaper than other meters, and you need a lot of strips. You can't buy them in pharmacies.
Try here for the Codefree meter
http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/
and here for the extra strips
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/
There are discount codes if you buy in bulk. (applied at the check out stage)
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833
The Tee2+ is here
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product-category/shop/tee2/
Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for either meter)
I use the Accu Chek Mobile for its convenience, but the replacement test cartridges are expensive. Whichever meter you buy, check the cost of the strips, as they range from about £7.50 to about £30 for 50.
miriamy
Well-Known Member
I completely agree. It is a scandal that is causing people to become sicker, quicker and be without the CENTRAL mechanism for TAKING CONTROL OF OUR HEALTH.
I've been told more than once by health professionals that I don't need to test. The culture of health professionals is to take control of our healthcare, not to support and educate us to take control of our own health, which is one of the reasons we have a diabetes epidemic.
Testing is the basis on which I decide what and when to eat and when to exercise to manage my diabetes. Its a reliable way to find out what is REALLY going on in my body. Feeling and sensations are not reliable by themselves.
I learned so much from this forum about control and management. We have set up a Type 2 low carb group and run a regular monthly session at the community centre. Local doctors send people along who they deem are pre T2 diabetic or at risk or diabetes or in crisis and needing support. Its led by a fab health promotion expert, not a health professional. There is also a group run by a T1 doctor and dentist which teaches and supports people to adopt low or no carb lifestyle.
Both groups are well attended and popular. Its all about getting control back.
When we get the right government in place, there will be a programme of support, like this, rolled out nationally.
jjraak
Expert
Beautifully said.. Fully agree.
sweetierufus
Member
I've been told by my diabetic nurse as I'm type 2 and not on a medication that causes Hypos I should not be testing. She also thinks doctors will take prescription off me for lancets/strips. Haven't tried to put in a repeat prescription yet. Must admit I haven't been testing much as don't want to use all my strips.
she also said it was a fluke I was given a machine as they don't usually give these out for type 2.
she also said it was a fluke I was given a machine as they don't usually give these out for type 2.
Daphne917
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately she is correct. They don’t normally prescribe glucose meters or strips to Type 2s who are diet only or on Metforim. However it’s about the only way that we can see what effects our so called ‘healthy’ diet ie the eatwell plate has on our blood sugars thus enabling us to make informed choices re diet. I was told I would end up with sore fingers - which I prefer to high blood sugars!
HSSS
Expert
Because they don’t understand using testing for type 2 testing foods and how it can be done and what it can achieve. They see it as hypo prevention and for insulin dosing alone.
I was diagnosed type 2 in August 2018. After a really sorry experience with existing diabetic nurse I changed to a diabetic specialist doctor. My Hba1c was 97 at the time. No one had advised me to test my glucose but I'd bought a meter in the sheer panic of the diagnosis. I meticulously tested and wrote down the readings each day - I even made a graph. Went to new doctor expecting him to be impressed with my diligence but instead he laughed. "Let me prove something to you he said". He did a test with a meter. It said 6.7. He then tested with another meter that said 7.2. 2 minutes later he repeated the test with both devices - the first said 7.2 and the second said 5.6. He said that the only test that meant anything was the Hba1c. He said that the glucose can vary greatly within the space of minutes and added to that, the meters were an expensive nonsense. 13 months later my Hba1c is now 36. Every day I think of what he said - live your life, I will worry about your blood numbers and you stop being hung up on diabetes. He said being diabetic doesn't mean that you have to spend money on gadgets and if I followed the right diet (learned on Xpert Health programme) I could trust that my numbers would go down - and they did. I realise now that testing my blood 6 times a day wouldn't actually have done anything for me except make me obsessive about eating. I occasionally test out of interest but other than that - what's the point - if you eat rubbish - the glucose will go up. Do we need a meter to know that?
I've been t2d for about 17 years I used to test frequently in the early years but stopped I felt like I might as well be using a random number generator. The numbers were all over the place. Recently I've been hospitalized ( bowel cancer, an ileostomy, bowel resection , liver resection ....) and the nurses have diligently done tests 4 times daily and its only effect was to make ALL my finger sore. An HBA1C is far more useful . Being able to have one more frequently than every 3 months would an improvement .
M
Member496333
Guest
You may not, but many people do. Since it's unclear what constitutes "rubbish", it is often very useful to test foods in order to gauge one's own reaction from a glucose response perspective. Additionally, some people may find it unimaginably difficult to overcome their insulin dysfunction, and simply giving up "rubbish" is not enough. Speaking only for myself, if I had relied solely on HbA1c as a measure of my progress, I'd probably have died before regaining control.
Remember, what's good for the goose is not always good for the gander. Discouraging diabetics from self-testing if they wish to do so is irresponsible and potentially dangerous. Oh and your doctor is wrong. Used alone, HbA1c is the weakest available marker of metabolic health.
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M
Member496333
Guest
This will be in no small part because glucose actually is up and down all over the place when you have metabolic dysfunction. Self-monitoring should be a means to gauge trends over time rather than obsessing over the individual readings. This is exactly where HbA1c fails - in isolation it tells us nothing about hypoglycaemia or hyperglycaemia, only the mean average of the extremes. It also tells us absolutely nothing about insulin.
Don't misunderstand, it is by no means a useless tool, but used on its own it is a very blunt instrument. It is also an indirect measurement and can return erroneous results in some individuals. It also won't highlight diabetes until it's already too late - if HbA1c was all it's cracked up to be by some doctors, the world probably wouldn't be in the midst of a metabolic meltdown.
On the wider topic (not aimed at yourself) - if someone chooses not to self-test themselves then that is of course fine, but since this topic is discussing other people being told not to test, I take umbrage when that is exactly what happens. To advise people not to test their own glucose shows a fundamental misunderstanding of diabetes and its implications on long term health. You are of course entitled to your opinion.
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mariefrance
Well-Known Member
When I was first diagnosed, my practice nurse told me not to use a home testing kit, that it was unnecessary, pointless and would only worry me. (This was the first time I'd met her so how she knew what would worry me I don't know). I was also told by a couple of people who have Type II diabetes that testing was 'ridiculous' and 'pointless unless you are using insulin'.
I bought a home blood glucose monitoring kit and started using it (took advice from on here as to which meter to buy and how to test). For me it did 2 things. It showed me the downward trend in my blood glucose levels pretty much as soon as I went low carb - that was such a boost and motivating to continue with what were/are big changes to my life. Then, testing before and after food guided me in what I could and couldn't eat.
I have to say that the advice I was given on diagnosis about not using a meter was just one example of unhelpful, often contradictory and confusing advice given at different points of the Type II diabetes support system. The eyes and feet checks, however, were and still are really good.
I bought a home blood glucose monitoring kit and started using it (took advice from on here as to which meter to buy and how to test). For me it did 2 things. It showed me the downward trend in my blood glucose levels pretty much as soon as I went low carb - that was such a boost and motivating to continue with what were/are big changes to my life. Then, testing before and after food guided me in what I could and couldn't eat.
I have to say that the advice I was given on diagnosis about not using a meter was just one example of unhelpful, often contradictory and confusing advice given at different points of the Type II diabetes support system. The eyes and feet checks, however, were and still are really good.
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HSSS
Expert
That’s a bit of a leap from advising you not to test.I have been told by a doctor , not even a nurse, that I don't have diabetes, to stop the insulin and go home.)
How, when and why were you diagnosed (which type?) and what is making the dr tell you that you don’t have diabetes.
I think more info is needed for sure
poemagraphic
Well-Known Member
Your right to some extent and wrong to some extent. It depends on your whole view point. Some will say you are 100% right and agree wholeheartedly with your doctor. Others will say that their meter gave them huge insights and be able to quote exactly what those benefits were/are.
I found it extremely insightful and helpful at the beginning of my journey. when I was taking insulin it was an entirely essential bit of kit. When I stopped taking insulin it came in to a whole new world of testing for a whole new set of reasons.
As for waiting 6 months to get an average number that may be wrong (yep the A1c is not 100% )
Seeing on a daily basis what your average was for that day is insightful however you have the ability to see your 7 day average (handy) your 14 day average (helpful) your 30 day average (very useful) AND your 90 average based on actually readings of you BS level over the last three months. Often they correlate with your A1c however often they don't. Where does that leave us?
I would rather have and use my meter as it helps me to stay on track... AND see when I am not.
I know what foods will effect my numbers and the time frames mostly. However I still prick my finger and dip the strip just for the fun of it. Said Po
