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MY STRIPS REPEAT PRESCRIPTION HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Storyman, Your experience from your "local support service" is similar to mine. Whilst the medics are dealing with many patients, it seems the clinic nurse is seen as the expert. And they just follow the tick list.
As I have vascular and renal and CKD, caused by my diabetes, the GP asked what do I want him to do? He then went on to say that the best treatment advice would be obtained from the specialists at the hospital!
Having been concerned about the expertise in the health centre, the GP has now confirmed my thoughts.
 
Hi 13lizanne, I am so sorry to hear that your doctor has stopped your strips I think it is disgusting, there is not much I can say as others have said it all and they are right. I have had free strips since I was diagnosed in Jan this year, last time I saw my doctor he said because I had come down from 19.3 to single figures he was happy with me to only test once a day as he didn't want me to stress about the readings. WHAT !!!!!!!.. I explained that I needed to test regularly as all this is new to me and I would be more stressed by not testing. How would I know what and not to eat. I have been testing twice daily now for weeks with no stress. Now yesterday went for the 3 month blood tests, results should be back end of this week, the good news is I can not wait for the results, the bad news is if they come back good Then will he stop my strips and meter too??????
 
try amazon maybe https://www.amazon.co.uk/Accu-Chek-Mobile-Test-Cassettes-100/dp/B004JUJCMY..

or eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Accu-Chek-Mobile-100-Tests-in-2-Cassettes-free-post-Xxx-/231924927335
 
Testing was a bit of a problem with my GP at first until I explained to him that according to a person I had spoken to at DVLA said that I should check my level and make sure it was 5 or above before starting any journey in my car as any accident I may have would mean I could be charged with negligence for not keeping within their guidelines
 
Pinkorchid said:
As my husband and I only test two or three times a week now I normally only buy 100 Codefree strips at a time as I worry if I buy more they may go out of date before we have used them.
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It seems NHS policy has changed quite recently. I was told only T2 patients on medication can get testing strips free on prescription. Policy is designed to save NHS money rather than having anything to do with good clinical practice. Patients who are pre-diabetic and control by diet & exercise can no longer get free strips or meters. The fallacy is, of course, that without testing, you cannot control T2 glucose levels. You must monitor and test to manage. Only a third of pre-diabetic patents go on to develop full-blown T2 but that assumes they follow strict diet and exercise life styles...and monitor their BG levels.
 
I don't think the policy changed recently most have never been offered them and if we have asked about having them we are told T2's don't need to test so we buy our own How do they define medication many diabetics here take Metformin but still can't get strips on prescription. With most GP practices you only get strips on prescription if you are on insulin injections
 
Or a sulfonylureas like gliclazide.
 
You're lucky you had any prescription strips - I've only ever had one prescription!

Very well done on your HbA1c's though!
 
That is good news being in remission. I would not worry too much about testing, if your nurse/ doctor has given the all clear then you can be glad not having to keep testing. I would have thought they would have told you that you could always go for your blood glucose testing if you were worried your sugars were too high or low. They are usually good at after care or at least my clinic is. I think you will know if your sugars go out of sync again, just remember the symptoms and of course keep in touch with these forums. Best of luck on your great news.
 
Catlady19 said:
You're lucky you had any prescription strips - I've only ever had one prescription!

Very well done on your HbA1c's though!
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I only had prescriptions for strips whilst on gliclazide NEVER during the 9 1/2 yrs when taking metformin. You were the "lucky" one getting a prescription while on metformin
 
I don't mean to be rude but how do you think I was able to bring my blood glucose levels down into the normal range without medication after higher levels for 10yrs on medication? It was by testing my BG levels before and after eating. This is how we learn which foods spike our bloods. I think that after a while trying to bring your BG levels into the normal range without medication you might be able to understand why BG testing is so important. I'm trying very hard to be polite
 
My strips were reinstated when I requested a letter from my GP stating that she had stopped them against my wishes and that I believed any future deterioration in my condition may be linked to her decision ...
 
@clifft have you suffered with type2 diabetes? Your avatar states type1. Do you know a type2 sufferer? If you do ask them how they think they can put their type2 in remission.
You might be having to listen for some time. It's very very difficult to do. Ultimately its like when your car goes for a mot and they do a full service AND bodywork repair and welding after cutting out the rust - blindfolded. Blindfolded without putting the car on the analystic computer to see what and how the car is performing.
No strips/no monitor = blindfolded.
 
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@13lizanne I know many suffers will appreciate all the hard work that is involved in getting this monster in remission. Only non-sufferers don't get it.
I guess many type2 don't get it when a type1 goes in a coma regularly and feel that type1 suffer is being neglectful. No no. It is very hard work taming the beast and putting it under good control. As you definitely know.
 
Being diabetic must be the hardest condition to explain.
Other diseases have defined characteristics and visual symptoms.
Diabetes is an internal injury. Some can be injured a little and some injured a lot. Some are so damaged a remission is a pipedream. Others grab the monster by it's feet and swing it into oblivion.
We are all different and need to be treated as such. One size definitely doesn't fit all.
We all have one common enemy but to kill it we all use different weapons.
One tool which is needed to fight the ongoing war is a bg testing meter. Always needed as diabetes isn't a part-time disease. Never has been.
 

I'm glad to hear your clinic is so good.
I think it is generally accepted that there are a lot of practices who don't really understand why people want/need to test so often. It's about control, control of your BG in response to what you eat over the short term, upto 2 hours of starting a meal. Only that way will they understand what they can and can't eat. A nurse / doctor who told me, that because my numbers were good, I could stop testing wouldn't really being doing me any favours.
I'm not too sure how I would tell if my sugars were out of sync. I've been lower than 4 and higher than 10, once and not really felt any different. If I waited for my HbAc1 to tell me I was out of sync.... well that would not be a good place to be... 4-8 weeks out of control.
 
Change your gp. If you're not getting the support find a gp who will. Especially if you're on medication which can give you a hypo. Metformin isn't just a diabetic drug. I don't think I've seen any report of a sole metformin tablet taker go into a hypo coma. I don't mind being proven wrong thou.
 
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