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Lost bs testing kit in foreign country!

A

Andy41

Well-Known Member
Messages
51
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I’m in Japan ( holiday- I have one more week) and have just discovered I’ve misplaced my testing kit. I’m quite stable with insulin dosage and know when hypos are coming. What do you think is the easiest way to acquire a new kit tomorrow? I know this is a long shot but my wife is stressing out. I will phone my health insurance company tomorrow morning.
 
When I sent my meter swimming in Australia twenty-one years ago, I went to a pharmacy and asked. They sold me a new one - cost a bit, but not too scary. I'd expect this to be easier now, though I obviously didn't have to negotiate a completely different language
 
Thanks for the reassuring reply. My wife Is Japanese but she seems to think it will be a problem. I agree with you. I’m sure there are many other diabetics in Japan!
 
I agree with @evilclive (who, incidentally, is starting to shed his "evil" demeanour). The easiest option is to walk into a pharmacist and ask to buy a new meter. If you are taking insulin, no matter how hypo aware you are, I would not recommend a week without testing especially, as being on holiday, your food and activities are likely to be different to what you are used to.
Whilst the meter won't be uber cheap, it is likely to be less than the usual excess on travel insurance.
Once you have your replacement meter, you may also want to buy a chain a padlock so you can be certain it is with you at all times
 
Hi, @Andy41 , as evilclive says, it should be easy enough to buy one from a chemist, but I think Japan might use mg/dl instead of mmol/l. If that turns out to be the case, divide by 18 to get the mmol/l equivalent.

A much cheaper option might be Glucoflex-R, which are old fashioned colour changing strips. You can't really pick those up off the shelf, normally an online purchase, but folks use them for testing diabetic pets, so there's a slim chance that vets might stock thwm, or even larger pet-shops.
 
Andy41 said:
Thanks for the reassuring reply. My wife Is Japanese but she seems to think it will be a problem. I agree with you. I’m sure there are many other diabetics in Japan!
Click to expand...

It strikes me, particularly if your wife can communicate on your behalf, the place to go is the local pharmacy. If thay, specifically, can't help, they should know how to go about it. I'm sure, with all the gadgetry available in the Far East that a blood glucose monitor will be readily available. Like in UK, there will likely be a charge and the consumables may be eye-watering for someone not used to footing that particular bill, but I feel comfortable it will be do-able.

Erm,......... probably a bit late to ask if you'd taken a spare with you.

I'll get my coat!

Please let us know how you get on.
 
It seems you can buy a kit but not the test strips so I had to own up to my father in law, a doctor, who managed to get me one. Was trying to sort out the problem on my own though. Felt like a bit of an idiot! We already missed a flight in Korea due to idiocy!
 
Thank you for your support and replies though.
 
You won't do that again anytime soon
 
You say that... I have just left my coat on a coach! Can diabetes trigger memory loss!
 

Gosh, that's quite bizarre, in terms of strips being unavailable. Great news you resolved that part though. Shame about the coat..........

When back in the UK, it could be an idea to get at least one spare meter kit, but you know that already.

It's horrid when these UK irritations become a harder puzzle, just due to location.
 
Being diabetic in Japan is quite tough I’ve found. The general eating habit is to order dishes and then share so its really difficult to know how much you’re going to eat or, even, have eaten if you decide to inject at the end. Kind of given up and going for around 6 each meal. Blood sugars have generally been in the teens which I’d like to us as excuse for all the ridiculous forgetfulness
.
 
You may have to buy a different by meter so make sure you buy enough test strips too
 
I found that if you need to buy a new meter you’ll also need to buy local strips because even if the meter is the same brand your strips might not be compatible! Strange but true!
 
My testing kit (SD Codefree) is made in South Korea. I'm holidaying in Philippines at the moment and realised that I'm going to run out of testing strips. Fortunately - a quick look on their version of Amazon (called Lazada) and there they are! And cheaper than UK!
 
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