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New NHS guidelines???

M

mart47

Member
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10
I've been type 2 for 6 years and my bg's go up and down. I've always had Aviva test strips on presciption and test 2 or 3 times a day, depending.
Anyway, a call to the surgery this morning to enquire why there are no strips in my 2 months worth of medication, and I'm told "New NHS guidelines say that if you are not on insulin, you only need to test once a week!!!"
Anyone else been told this, or am I being fobbed off? :|
 
Re: New NHS guidlines???

Hi Mart,

My GP has always been very "tight" with the test strips. I am allowed 100 per year. However recently I had a problem with retinopathy and was allowed another 50 !

:?
 
Re: New NHS guidlines???

I've had all the test strips I've wanted for 10 years - testing overnight fasting, & 0-3 times during the day, depending on activity, driving, food etc. I keep 2 meters, 1 in the car & 1 at home. 2 different test strips. They were both on my repeat presc, 100 of each lasting about 2-3 months

Last time they weren't. I was only allowed 1 type & only 50.

Dr knows I test responsibly & have reversed complications by diet.

The battle is on.
 
Hi ,
I was diagnosed as type 2 a week before Christmas. I was sent from my GP surgery with no dietary advice and an appointment to see the diabetes nurse a week after New Year.
I was confused and frightened, but used advice on the excellent diabetes uk website to get me through the festivities.
I have since found out that apparently there are no glucose testing meters or strips available to me on prescription. I would have to buy my own.
I did in fact buy one on Christmas eve, and am still discovering by trial and error what I can eat and drink. For example a single piece of Christmas cake, icing removed sent my bs up to 17.5mmol/l two hours after eating it ! I still have had no dietary advice, but am following a PCOS diet sheet given to me by a dietician a while ago.With low GI carbs, portion control and plenty of sugar free drink, and exercise, I am acheiving better control now, but no thanks to my GP surgery.
I feel unsupported, often scared and am often battling to keep my blood sugar anywhere near reasonable levels.
Are these new guidelines, doing anything but saving the NHS money in the short term? They are doing little to support newly diagnosed diabetics like me...
Doolie.
 
Hi Doolie and welcome.

One of the mods will be along shortly with some useful info for you but in the meantime I didn't want your post to go unnoticed. Unfortunately the issue of self monitoring is a contentious issue and many of us feel the same way as you do, my GP refuses to prescribe test strips or monitors either.
What I would advise you to do firstly is not panic! It is possible to get those bg's lowered and you have many options open to do that, probably the best way to start is to have a general look at your diet and try to cut down on the potatoes, pasta, rice, white bread etc. There are differing opinions on whether these things should be dropped completely from the diet but it is a personal issue..each one of us is different.

By the way..dried fruit in the Christmas cake? Been there, done that..not a good idea! :oops:

Have a look around the forum, get a feel for it..you won't be unsupported here, promise. :)
 
Hi Doolie
I can empathise with the way you feel. I too was diagnosed and received no help nearly 5 years ago. I didn't buy my own meter and strips until nearly a year ago. I had other health problems and I felt that diabetes 2 was something I could should be exerting some control over. This web-site is fantastic. I too went the low carb route but over Christmas my willpower slipped somewhat. I like my carbs! I'm now trying to have minimal carbs so I don't feel deprived. I have 20g /30g of Lizzie's Granola for breakfast with 30g banana.etc Yes I have a slightly higher reading than eating no carbs but feel slightly better. I am trying to even out the numbers again. It's hard work isn't it? If I didn't have a meter I would have no idea what my current numbers are. I dread to think what they have really been in the years before I bought a meter.
I'm overweight so started swimming on alternate days as well a few months ago.
Good Luck. You will receive lots of support here.
 
Doolie said:
Hi ,
I was diagnosed as type 2 a week before Christmas. I was sent from my GP surgery with no dietary advice and an appointment to see the diabetes nurse a week after New Year.
I was confused and frightened, but used advice on the excellent diabetes uk website to get me through the festivities.
I have since found out that apparently there are no glucose testing meters or strips available to me on prescription. I would have to buy my own.
I did in fact buy one on Christmas eve, and am still discovering by trial and error what I can eat and drink. For example a single piece of Christmas cake, icing removed sent my bs up to 17.5mmol/l two hours after eating it ! I still have had no dietary advice, but am following a PCOS diet sheet given to me by a dietician a while ago.With low GI carbs, portion control and plenty of sugar free drink, and exercise, I am acheiving better control now, but no thanks to my GP surgery.
I feel unsupported, often scared and am often battling to keep my blood sugar anywhere near reasonable levels.
Are these new guidelines, doing anything but saving the NHS money in the short term? They are doing little to support newly diagnosed diabetics like me...
Doolie.
Click to expand...
See if this helps
How to Lower Your Blood Sugar
The following advice, adapted from a page posted at http://alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm has
helped thousands of people with Type 2 diabetes achieve normal blood sugars, no matter how high their blood
sugars were when they started out.
Step 1: Eat whatever you've been eating and write it all down
Eat normally, but use your blood sugar meter to test yourself at the following times. Write down what you ate and
what your blood sugar results were:
Upon waking (fasting)
1 hour after each meal
2 hours after each meal
What you will discover by this is how long after a meal your highest reading comes... and how fast you return to
"normal." Also, you may see that a meal that included bread, fruit or other starches and sugars (carbohydrates)
gives you a higher reading.
Step 2: For the next few days cut back on your carbohydrates
Eliminate breads, cereals, rice, beans, any wheat products, potato, corn, and fruit. Get all of your carbohydrates
from veggies. Test your modified meals using the same schedule above. See what impact you can make on your
blood sugar by eliminating various high carbohydrate foods.
The closer we get to non-diabetic readings, the greater chance we have of avoiding horrible complications.
Here are what doctors currently believe to be non-diabetic readings:
Fasting blood sugar under 5.5 mmol/L
One hour after meals under 7.8 mmol/L
Two hours after meals under 6.6 mmol/L
If you can do better than this, go for it. At a minimum, The American College of Clinical Endocrinologists
recommends that people with diabetes keep their blood sugars under 7.8 mmol/L two hours after eating.
When you achieve normal blood sugar targets, you can start cautiously adding back carbohydrates, making sure
to test after each meal. Stop adding carbohydrates as soon as you get near your blood sugar targets.
Recent studies have indicated that your "after meal" numbers are those most indicative of future complications,
especially heart problems.
Step 3: Test Test Test!
Remember, we're not in a race or a competition with anyone but ourselves. Play around with your food plan. Test,
test, test! Learn what foods cause blood sugar spikes and what foods cause cravings. Learn which foods give
you healthy blood sugars.
No matter what anyone tells you, if a food raises your blood sugar over the targets you are aiming for, that food
should not be part of your diabetes food plan. Your blood sugar meter will tell you what the best "diabetes diet" is
for your body. Use it and regain your health!
For more information visit: http://www.bloodsugar101.com
 
mart47 said:
I've been type 2 for 6 years and my bg's go up and down. I've always had Aviva test strips on presciption and test 2 or 3 times a day, depending.
Anyway, a call to the surgery this morning to enquire why there are no strips in my 2 months worth of medication, and I'm told "New NHS guidelines say that if you are not on insulin, you only need to test once a week!!!"
Anyone else been told this, or am I being fobbed off? :|
Click to expand...
I got told the same a couple of weeks before Xmas. I made an appointment with the Doctor and told her I was looking after myself as much as possible, and the diet they recomended me to eat was rising my BG levels, and since I have been on a LCHF diet my BG numbers have improved. bascially I fought my corner and won. she prescribed me 100 stripes :D But did say I was to use them wisely, which I have done as I now have a good idea what I can and can not eat. I requested more strips last week and I got them. I think if the Doctor sees that you are in control of the situation, and well clued up, hopefully they will prescribe them to you. At least there is no harm in trying :wink:
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and valuble info. I have been restricting my carbs intake for years as I was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome back in 1987.I can put on weight if I look at Chocolate.
I only eat low GI carbs wherever possible and am testing and keeping a food diary to see what I can and cannot eat.
What continues to confuse me is how some low GI foods still seem to make my BG spike. I understand that fat and protein in a meal help to slow down absorbtion of carbs, but getting the balance right is hard.
Especially when you are trying to lose weight.
I cannot see how any newly diagnosed diabetic can make intelligent diet choices without access to a Glucose testing meter.
Thank you again for making me feel there are others out there who understand how I feel.
 
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