in uk who pays for test strips, etc and who doesnt?

Its a shame this varies so much, my doc said I could do a test once a week, I am type two regulating by diet, I take up to 21 tablets a day for other things so I don't want to add any more, I think if I did what the doc said I would get my self in trouble quite quickly, which is where i was when diagnosed. I pay a yearly licence to get my meds I actually test with onetouch, once a day and regulate my food accordingly as I don't yet qualify for free prescriptions. Is once a day enough? wel I guess it works for me, and as It was insinuated I was an expensive patient for the NHS. I maybe wouldn't be selected for the trip to another planet a.

Hi Kingfisher and welcome to the forum, expensive to the NHS??!! I guess you have paid a stamp for probably 40 years?? Time to get some of it back!!The comment that you will cost them even more if you do not control it properly will probably not go down too well but it is true! :twisted:

Testing once a day is no good initially as you need to see which foods are doing what to your blood sugars.Testing just before eating, then again 2 hours after a meal is what we recommend to start with.Keep a food diary and you will see which foods raise your blood sugars.

Most cost effective use of my test strips, which are mostly self funded, is to test 1 hour after eating, as that is whem by biggest spikes occur. I need to know what spikes me. By 2 hours things are on their way back to what passes as "normal" so I'm a bit more relaxed about 2 hour tests - unless I have had a big spike and want to know what is going on. If I only tested 2 huors after eating I would have missed some really important spikes :shock: :shock: :shock:

One of the things the regualr blood tests have done is make me much more aware of the physical symptoms of high blood sugar - I get headaches and difficulty conentrating whe my BS is high. i have also made connections with BG fluctuations related to my menstrual cycle hormonal changes rather thna diet.

What I did when I first started testing and what I do now, as I have more inforamtion, is quite differnt. I think people need to test much more when they first start to do it, which makes it quite expensive if you can't get prescriptions for the darn things :evil: :evil: :evil:

I decided that testing was an investment in my health and I have enough money available to test at a higher level for a while. Life was too short to argue about test strips if I was desperate to bring my BG under control. I am ordering tests strips and lancets fairly regularly and I will have discussion about this with my GP next time I see him, or if they pull the plug on my prescription.

Hi Spiral.

You stated: (quote)
Most cost effective use of my test strips, which are mostly self funded, is to test 1 hour after eating, as that is whem by biggest spikes occur. I need to know what spikes me. By 2 hours things are on their way back to what passes as "normal" so I'm a bit more relaxed about 2 hour tests - unless I have had a big spike and want to know what is going on. If I only tested 2 huors after eating I would have missed some really important spikes (unquote)


I agree to a certain extent, however it is well to remember that some foods can take much longer to have an effect on your Bg levels. A food with a high glycemic index will tend to raise the blood glucose quickly; sweets, breads, and potatoes are examples. A food with a low index will affect blood glucose much more slowly. Therefore you shouldn't just assume that after a one hour 'spike' all will go back to normal. Some foods will still be elevating your Bg levels up to 3 hrs later, as in the 'Pizza' effect. So the 2 and sometimes 3 hr tests are just as important.

Ken.

cugila said:

I agree to a certain extent, however it is well to remember that some foods can take much longer to have an effect on your Bg levels. A food with a high glycemic index will tend to raise the blood glucose quickly; sweets, breads, and potatoes are examples. A food with a low index will affect blood glucose much more slowly. Therefore you shouldn't just assume that after a one hour 'spike' all will go back to normal. Some foods will still be elevating your Bg levels up to 3 hrs later, as in the 'Pizza' effect. So the 2 and sometimes 3 hr tests are just as important.

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Absolutely, Ken. This is what I found out about pasta :shock: :shock: :shock: :? That kept my levels up for ages. Potato made me spike quite high quite suddenly :shock: :shock: :shock: So I stopped eating the food that cause these issues. Since I did that, I've become more relaxed about a 2 hour test - at around 50p per strip if I pay the full price - and done a 1 hout test. But If there is something unexpected about my readings I will test more frequently until my levels return to normal - whatever that is.

I think the Glycaemic Index has a lot to offer in terms of understanding what happens, especially when starting out.

I hope to start seeing a reduction in the insulin resistance at some point, and that may mean that I may eventually be able to reintroduce some foods once I have reached my target weight. I miss pasta, risotto and garlic bread, but not enough to waver in my goal - good blood glucose control.

Unfortunately Eli Lilly haven't published any figures for the UK, but at the beginning of the year a press release mentioned 700,000 in the US and another 70,000 in the rest of the world. As the UK was the first country outside the US to approve it, I would hazard a guess that we must have somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 users.

I`m just glad that i could afford the cost of strips when i was first told even though i am entitled to as many strips as i need because i drive for a liveing but only after contacting the local PCT.

Without being able to aford the strips i would never have my BG under control because at first i tested after all foods just to see which did what.

Graham1441 :twisted: :twisted:

i am type 1 diabetic for 3 years and have all my meds- strips lancets needles glucogel insulin etc free - i live in luton