I am a recently diagnosed Type 2 patient with an anxious vital interest in my blood glucose levels and soon after the diagnosis was confirmed by a blood test, I wanted to test for myself to take some control, as I was suffering drastic and continuous weight loss, fatigue and anxiety.
My urgent and necessary education in diabetes management was gained rapidly and almost enjoyably at four thorough and excellent, "Juggles" sessions ; an invaluable free service provided via the NHS in Nottingham.
The highly professional tutors made it quite clear to me that the best way to monitor and regulate BG was by regular measuring and timing of levels. These would help to guide me (with my GP) to adjust my diet, exercise and medication. I needed /need to 'juggle' diet, exercise, feeding times and BG levels to try to modulate or even out their interactions. Diet, exercise and feeding times are easy to record, and I already monitor these crudely by logging my weight daily. (My domestic electronic scales are between 4 and 8 ounces inaccurate).
There is no other way that I know, of measuring blood glucose than by a blood test, and no reliable, practical way but by a pin-prick monitor. I will never be able to monitor BG closely without it.
A complication in my case is that I have lost too much weight too rapidly and continue to do so at a frightening rate despite recent acceptable HbA1c results and eating better. To date, neither my GP nor I can tell, without sufficient BG level measurements and timings, what might be the cause. Further full scale blood tests have been initiated.
It wasn't until I tried to buy a basic needle-type BG monitor that I realised that if I wanted to get a firm grip on my vital BG data, I would also have to budget for at least 4 indicator strips per day at first, to gauge my levels over a reasonable period of, say, 30 days. After that, I would need at least 2 strips per day, probably forever. This is not remotely possible for me, as I am retired on a subsistence State Pension with Pension Credits and no other income.
I would, however, willingly afford the simpler pin-prick monitor if I could get the supplies of test strips and points on prescription after that. My G.P. dismissed my request even for a temporary loan of a monitor starter kit by saying that the NHS would not now offer me that service because I [only?] had Type 2 diabetes. Given the rising number of diabetics in the UK, this is clearly a cynical economic, policy.
I was not given opportunity during the appointment to question this policy and explain that it was the only way I would be able to recognise good and bad patterns with any certainty; what effects my diet, exercise and lifestyle had on my BG; and so amend them as indicated based on sufficient accurate current data.
Months late, and only after requesting it myself, I was given an HbA1c test and promised another one in 6 months or a year's time. Whilst for the NHS this is a cheaper method of establishing broad and medium-term changes in BG, it gives me little control over immediate symptoms and changes and no indication of what strategies or tactics I should adopt in order to control my BG levels and improve the quality of my daily life.
I also looked at the needle-less electronic monitors and concluded that they were much too expensive for me. They also seem to me, from the information I have to date, to be more complicated to use; more finicky than the needle type, and so far are not fully reliable. Users seem to need to check the accuracy of the machine periodically by the pin-prick and test strip method and they appear to be receiving lower, therefore generally more optimistic and, possibly, misleading readings, from the new technology. This immediately raises the questions, which method is the most consistently accurate and why?
My impression is that the newer technology, whilst very laudable and promising in its clinical aims , is still in development and being field- or -beta tested by those who purchase and use it. The equipment needs to be refined, perhaps by collecting data in a controlled way from a suitably large group of diabetics who use both types of monitor, then collating the resulting data and calibrating it, if practically possible, with the 'prick' method results. Alternatively, we could have 2 scales, once the electronic method proved consistently accurate within defined limits.
My guess is that, at the moment, the electronic sensor pad method, whilst more convenient in some ways and certainly less invasive, uses such a different method of capturing and measuring BG levels that strict comparison with the more direct method is not imminently possible.
I would like to know more about the way the sensor pads detect and calculate or measure BG. Does anyone have this detail information, or a route to it on line, please?
Meanwhile, I am going to ask my GP if the NHS will provide BG test strips and needles on prescription to enable continuous monitoring and adjustment of my diet and lifestyle based on accurately-measured daily fluctuations in my blood glucose levels. This is the only way for me, or anyone else, to obtain sufficient data to be able to try to control it.
My urgent and necessary education in diabetes management was gained rapidly and almost enjoyably at four thorough and excellent, "Juggles" sessions ; an invaluable free service provided via the NHS in Nottingham.
The highly professional tutors made it quite clear to me that the best way to monitor and regulate BG was by regular measuring and timing of levels. These would help to guide me (with my GP) to adjust my diet, exercise and medication. I needed /need to 'juggle' diet, exercise, feeding times and BG levels to try to modulate or even out their interactions. Diet, exercise and feeding times are easy to record, and I already monitor these crudely by logging my weight daily. (My domestic electronic scales are between 4 and 8 ounces inaccurate).
There is no other way that I know, of measuring blood glucose than by a blood test, and no reliable, practical way but by a pin-prick monitor. I will never be able to monitor BG closely without it.
A complication in my case is that I have lost too much weight too rapidly and continue to do so at a frightening rate despite recent acceptable HbA1c results and eating better. To date, neither my GP nor I can tell, without sufficient BG level measurements and timings, what might be the cause. Further full scale blood tests have been initiated.
It wasn't until I tried to buy a basic needle-type BG monitor that I realised that if I wanted to get a firm grip on my vital BG data, I would also have to budget for at least 4 indicator strips per day at first, to gauge my levels over a reasonable period of, say, 30 days. After that, I would need at least 2 strips per day, probably forever. This is not remotely possible for me, as I am retired on a subsistence State Pension with Pension Credits and no other income.
I would, however, willingly afford the simpler pin-prick monitor if I could get the supplies of test strips and points on prescription after that. My G.P. dismissed my request even for a temporary loan of a monitor starter kit by saying that the NHS would not now offer me that service because I [only?] had Type 2 diabetes. Given the rising number of diabetics in the UK, this is clearly a cynical economic, policy.
I was not given opportunity during the appointment to question this policy and explain that it was the only way I would be able to recognise good and bad patterns with any certainty; what effects my diet, exercise and lifestyle had on my BG; and so amend them as indicated based on sufficient accurate current data.
Months late, and only after requesting it myself, I was given an HbA1c test and promised another one in 6 months or a year's time. Whilst for the NHS this is a cheaper method of establishing broad and medium-term changes in BG, it gives me little control over immediate symptoms and changes and no indication of what strategies or tactics I should adopt in order to control my BG levels and improve the quality of my daily life.
I also looked at the needle-less electronic monitors and concluded that they were much too expensive for me. They also seem to me, from the information I have to date, to be more complicated to use; more finicky than the needle type, and so far are not fully reliable. Users seem to need to check the accuracy of the machine periodically by the pin-prick and test strip method and they appear to be receiving lower, therefore generally more optimistic and, possibly, misleading readings, from the new technology. This immediately raises the questions, which method is the most consistently accurate and why?
My impression is that the newer technology, whilst very laudable and promising in its clinical aims , is still in development and being field- or -beta tested by those who purchase and use it. The equipment needs to be refined, perhaps by collecting data in a controlled way from a suitably large group of diabetics who use both types of monitor, then collating the resulting data and calibrating it, if practically possible, with the 'prick' method results. Alternatively, we could have 2 scales, once the electronic method proved consistently accurate within defined limits.
My guess is that, at the moment, the electronic sensor pad method, whilst more convenient in some ways and certainly less invasive, uses such a different method of capturing and measuring BG levels that strict comparison with the more direct method is not imminently possible.
I would like to know more about the way the sensor pads detect and calculate or measure BG. Does anyone have this detail information, or a route to it on line, please?
Meanwhile, I am going to ask my GP if the NHS will provide BG test strips and needles on prescription to enable continuous monitoring and adjustment of my diet and lifestyle based on accurately-measured daily fluctuations in my blood glucose levels. This is the only way for me, or anyone else, to obtain sufficient data to be able to try to control it.
Last edited:
