Little annoyed - test strips

Bluetit1802 said:

It requires less blood than the Codefree

Click to expand...

Certainly, only the tiniest amount required.

All the meters I have used with strips require quite a big blob

Bluetit1802 said:

Don't forget the advertised price includes VAT, which you don't have to pay.

Click to expand...

Do Boots discount the VAT when I'm buying? Or do I have to claim it back somehow?

berylc said:

Do Boots discount the VAT when I'm buying? Or do I have to claim it back somehow?

Click to expand...

You tell them when you are buying and they deduct it.

My doctor has taken me off test strips even though I am on 3 different medications to lower blood glucose- Metformin, Gliclazide and Linagliptin. I find it very worrying

bobbieb said:

My doctor has taken me off test strips even though I am on 3 different medications to lower blood glucose- Metformin, Gliclazide and Linagliptin. I find it very worrying

Click to expand...

You should have them prescribed because of your Gliclazide alone if you drive or operate machinery. Gliclazide is a drug that increases your risk of hypoglycaemia.

NICE Recommendations:

1.6.13 Do not routinely offer self-monitoring of blood glucose levels for adults with type 2 diabetes unless:

• the person is on insulin or
  
  
• there is evidence of hypoglycaemic episodes or
  
  
• the person is on oral medication that may increase their risk of hypoglycaemia while driving or operating machinery or
  
  
• the person is pregnant, or is planning to become pregnant. For more information, see the NICE guideline on diabetes in pregnancy. [new 2015]
  

That is bad news - for people like us routine testing is essential.

I wonder what they'll do about me when I come up for review. Every time I have a review they are pleased with my HbA1c - and then mention the strips and testing - then I have to remind them that if I ate a sandwich or jacket potato I would have to inject insulin - which is what I used to have to do before starting low carb - so, so far, they've carried on letting me have my 200 strips a month on prescription. Thing is, the next HbA1c will be my third low one.

Best thing would be to get a new meter when you visit the nurse. They always come with a load and the companies give them away so it doesn't cost the NHS anything. Even if you can't do that every time, it should save you a few quid.

2610 said:

Best thing would be to get a new meter when you visit the nurse. They always come with a load and the companies give them away so it doesn't cost the NHS anything. Even if you can't do that every time, it should save you a few quid.

Click to expand...

My diabetic nurse won't even do that!

My DN said she would but never did.

bobbieb said:

My doctor has taken me off test strips even though I am on 3 different medications to lower blood glucose- Metformin, Gliclazide and Linagliptin. I find it very worrying

Click to expand...

It is often not the doctor but the practice manager who takes type 2s off repeat prescriptions - its all about money.The practice managers are administrative staff not clinicians and they know f*** all about clinical issues. They basically just input an algorithm into the computers to identify type 2 patients who are getting strips, and where the practice can save som £££
Im also on gliclizide and encounter the same problem every year to 18 months when the practice manager has another purge.
I find writing to the senior doctor at the practice, quoting the NICE guidance (see blue **** reply) and asking whether it is the CCG, the G.P.s or the admin staff who are choosing to ignore NICE guidance? works wonders every time and I get a repeat through the post within days