Not getting enough test strips

[Brillo]

I realise GPs try to save money by not giving test strips freely to diabetics, but just how common is this problem? I have always tested my bs requently (maybe too frequently), but I thought this was a good thing. In my youth I was always told off for not testing enough, whereas now I have a perfect Hba1c. My GP threatened to write me off his list because he found me too troublesome and demanding of sticks. Does anyone actually get the number of test strips they want? I am currently pregnant, so believe I have to check my bs at least 8 times a day from what I've read and been told by diabetic specialist nurse (I do about 10 a day, give or take), but my GP said I shouldn't test more than 4 times a day, pregnant or not, ideally just once or twice a day even.

If I don't test my bs, my diabetes will not function. I have no idea of whether my bs is high or low. I really don't know what to do. I end up crying every time I try to get new test strips, because my GP is causing me so much trouble. Are there any 'diabetes friendly' GPs at all in this country, or am I the one over-testing and being difficult? My diabetes specialist doesn't seem to think I'm doing anything wrong, and praise me for my good Hba1c, but why then is my GP (and some other GPs before him) on such a completely different level? I really don't know what to do. Thanks for any suggestions or advice.

 

[DiabeticGeek]

I am afraid that quite a lot of newly diagnosed T2s don't get any strips at all. Unfortunately there have recently been a couple of papers published in the British Medical Journal doubting the cost effectiveness of self-monitoring. Details of these are on another thread. I am fairly sure that in light of this PCTs are strongly discouraging GPs from prescribing many strips.

When I was diagnosed, the main advice that I was given was "whatever you do, don't test" :evil: and "eat lots of complex carbohydrates with every meal". :evil: :twisted: :evil: And people wonder why there are 300 diabetic amputations per week.

I have bitten the bullet and buy my strips off e-Bay. It is expensive, but the way I look at it, as an investment in health it is cheap in the long run. I might have another go at trying to pry a prescription out of a medic at some stage, but I'm not wildly optimistic.

 

[TROUBR]

I had a problem a few weeks ago when I asked for some (with a view to also making sure I have some stashed at work and in my car in case I ran out ) I have only been diabetic for a few months and didn't realise that this could be a problem until then. I eventually got them but spoke to my diebetic nurse who confirmed I need to test at least 4 times a day being type 1and she said this is often a problem. You could try asking your diabetic nurse to speak to the doctor, I think you should try and push for this if you can, you have every right to try and protect yourself and your baby.

 

[Brillo]

Thanks for advice re printing out NICE guidelines, and other replies. I'm seeing my diabetic specialist doctor next week, and will ask him if he can suggest a 'diabetes friendly' GP, and then change GPs asap. In the end I think this surgery will actually lose money, as I believe they get paid for each mother giving birth, now their greed will actually lose them money. When I lived in London, I never had any problems getting test strips either, it was only when I moved down to Brighton. Maybe I should write to the Brighton PCT instead, and ask them to stop bugging the GPs, and instead educate them properly.

 

[Tinkerbelly]

Hi Brillo

I'm afraid that you're not alone with all this. I have had diabetes type 1 for way too many years and last year my new GP also wanted me to cut down on the amount of test strips that I was getting through when she asked me how many times a day I tested. When I told her 4-6 she threw a fit and said that I should only be testing 3 times a week. I pointed out to her that I was using fast acting insulin and needed to keep my bg levels more controlled due to being told that I had the start of background retinopathy in my right eye. She could see my point but said it was down to the cost of the test strips and many PCT's trying to claw back some of the money that is spent on diabetes care.

With this, I stormed out of the surgery and came home and decided to contact my local MP who sent me a letter from my PCT stating their policy on test strips. The letter stated that all diabetics using insulin should have ample test strips to manage their condition and that it was down to GPs to use their discretion. I even got the PCT to telephone my GP as they said that she was misinterpreting their guidelines.

When I next saw the GP she agreed to let me have 150 strips per month (I used to get 200) so now I have to either get the other 50 from a seller on eBay or get them from a chemist. My GP is a small practice and didnt want any bad publicity that I would have caused because I would have threatened to not inject insulin at all if I couldnt get the test strips to find out what my bg levels were doing. I would have contacted my local gazette newspaper and made a huge issue out of it. :roll:

Sadly, there is a huge profit margin that is being made by the manufacturers of test strips. They cost no more than 1-3p to produce per strip. The NHS should maybe agree to fund the test strips for one particular meter and the manufacturer should then be made to reduce their cost on the test strips. That would save so much aggrevation that we are all having to endure now.

 

[gefmayhem]

Where do the folk on Ebay get them from?
One seller of OneTouch ultra is starting bidding at £23 for two packs and looking for £25 for Buy it now.

So far I've had no problems getting them, maybe I should order extra from my doctors and sell them myself

 

[Dennis]

Where do the folk on Ebay get them from?
One seller of OneTouch ultra is starting bidding at £23 for two packs and looking for £25 for Buy it now.

Very simple - you set yourself up as a Medical Supplies Retailer, get yourself some headed notepaper, business bank account, etc, and you can buy medical supplies from any of the wholesalers and sell them via Ebay. The retailer's profit margin on most items is a minimum of 50% and on many lines 100%. Also you don't need to carry stock in-hand. You can just order it from the retailer when someone orders it from you. With no overheads of staff or premises or stock, you can see why more businesses are using Ebay as their retail "shop outlet".

 

[DiabeticSkater]

Don't buy anything. DONT DONT DONT.

I had this problem a few years ago. So I took all my insulin, test strips and testers to the docs placed em all on his desk and told the idiot I have had enough and dont want anymore treatment. He asked why and I told him that he either gives me what I need to survive or I'm not interested in living. I didnt really mean it but it worked.
Oh yes I also reported him to the consultant at the hospital whom wrote a to the GP. After that point I had no problems. You could also try a different GP.
Hope you get it sorted. This sort of bureaucratic nonsense is the last thing we need.

 

[timo2]

Hi Brillo,

If you're going to have to fund some or all of your test strips yourself, then it's worth
investing in a freestyle mini test meter. There's a regular seller on ebay doing 50 strips for
£12.50 (which includes postage costs). This is by far the cheapest strips I've come across
for any of the meters currently on the market.

Regards,
timo.

 

[wiflib]

Hi Brillo.
I'm a Midwife. You don't need me to tell you how imperative it is for you to control your BS (which you seem to be doing perfectly!).

Have you tried asking the obstetric/enocrine team at the hospital for a prescription? Best practice dictates that the two should be working in conjunction with each other now you are pregnant, especially at your
hospital appointments.
You may even be able to stockpile a few.

Good luck

Wiflib

 

[DiabeticGeek]

I had this problem a few years ago. So I took all my insulin, test strips and testers to the docs placed em all on his desk and told the idiot I have had enough and dont want anymore treatment.

Nice idea, but unfortunately this is only likely to work if you are on insulin. For people on insulin testing is necessary for safety. For T2s not on insulin, testing is for monitoring the condition and for learning how best to control the condition. This is essential for long term health, but much less likely to cause short term problems. If I did this to my GP he would say "Good, I have been telling you not to test!".

I would print out the NICE guidelines for your GP if I were you. I would also report him to the GMC if he threatening you with being removed from the list due to your test strip use. I would also put it in writing to your GP how he makes you feel each time you ask for test strips(guilt trip)

Again, this is likely to work for people on insulin, but for non-insulin using T2s the NICE guidelines are really ambiguous. I can't remember the exact wording but the gist is that testing isn't essential and it should only be made available as part of an integrated education and management strategy. No where does it say that GPs should be encouraging testing, it implies that they shouldn't.

 

[DiabeticGeek]

If you're going to have to fund some or all of your test strips yourself, then it's worth
investing in a freestyle mini test meter. There's a regular seller on ebay doing 50 strips for
£12.50 (which includes postage costs). This is by far the cheapest strips I've come across
for any of the meters currently on the market.

It's a bit hit and miss, but the going rate on eBay for most major brands seems to be very roughly half the high street price.

So far I've had no problems getting them, maybe I should order extra from my doctors and sell them myself

I suspect that some people are doing exactly that. One hears stories that some doctors are willing to prescribe pretty much unlimited quantities, and some of the strips that turn up on e-Bay seem to have patients names peeled off the box. Ho hum... no one said that it was a sane system.

 

[The Governor]

I met with my GP today for my 1 month check, she was telling em about how some GP's won't prescribe for Type 2's but thought that was ludicrous and she knew how important it is at the arly stages to get your head around the ffects.

So I guess I'm luckky. I hope eventually to not be testing everyday anyway...

 

[janabelle]

This is the most shocking disgusting story I have read on this forum. In my opinion your GP should be struck off. Not only for restricting your testing strips,and therefore endangering your health and pregancy, but for causing you deliberate stress and upset while you are pregnant. He's a disgrace, and I feel very strongly that these type of GPs should be made to atone for their actions instead of hiding behind financial excuses and their PCT. As the midwife earlier said, it is very important during pregnancy to maintain good BS control. He is potentially putting your pregnancy at risk, and as your doctor that is totally unnacceptable. A lot of us on this forum have been in the situation you are in, perhaps not pregnant though. Your story highlights an issue that needs to be made very public, so that these unscrupulous individuals cannot masquerade as "caring professionals" any longer.
I have no sympathy for these sort of GPs, they also know what the effects of inadequate testing will have on an diabetics, and more imporantly on a pregnant diabetic on insulin. And to threaten to take you of the practice list in your condition is a hanging offence in my book.
All of us need to stand together and support each other-something needs to be done!! :twisted: Let me know if I can help in any way.
Jus

 

[tasha]

I have also had this problem. I have managed to drop my Hba1c by 2 whole points in a year basically down to testing 8-10 times a day.
Not only did this doctor say it 'was ridiculous that any consultant would expect me 'to do such a thing' and that my 'fingers must be filled with holes' (yeah-that's what I worry about when I go to bed at night), but he also didn't believe me when I took my medication to him when I first signed up!!!

He phoned the pharmacy several times during the 10 minute consultation because he didn't believe that I needed such amounts of strips, that needles were available on nhs or the sharps box. In fact he refused the sharps box at first until I insisted that I had one at my last address and that I was not a liar.

this is the same surgery that recently charged me £15 for a piece of headed paper that had my name and the fact I was diabetic written on it. Furious! I now refuse to see this particular doctor as it always seems to be him that has the problem. :evil:

How do these doctors get away with not being up to date with research? They even try and second guess the expert consultants!

T x x

 

[DiabeticGeek]

Ah but in this case the op is a type 1 diabetic and expecting a baby. Hence why I posted the comments. :wink:

Oh I agree - the problem is very much more serious for the OP than it is for me (I am a non-pregnant and indeed male T2!), and in any case I can afford to pay for my own strips. It is the principle of the thing that infuriates me. If one believes in a welfare state, and some of us still do, then it is an important principle that healthcare should be freely available to all. It is a sorry state when one is reduced to depending upon e-Bay for such things.

 

[lionrampant]

Where do the folk on Ebay get them from?
One seller of OneTouch ultra is starting bidding at £23 for two packs and looking for £25 for Buy it now.

Very simple - you set yourself up as a Medical Supplies Retailer, get yourself some headed notepaper, business bank account, etc, and you can buy medical supplies from any of the wholesalers and sell them via Ebay. The retailer's profit margin on most items is a minimum of 50% and on many lines 100%. Also you don't need to carry stock in-hand. You can just order it from the retailer when someone orders it from you. With no overheads of staff or premises or stock, you can see why more businesses are using Ebay as their retail "shop outlet".

You have my attention. Keep talking. :shock:

 

[lionrampant]

I realise GPs try to save money by not giving test strips freely to diabetics, but just how common is this problem? I have always tested my bs requently (maybe too frequently), but I thought this was a good thing. In my youth I was always told off for not testing enough, whereas now I have a perfect Hba1c. My GP threatened to write me off his list because he found me too troublesome and demanding of sticks. Does anyone actually get the number of test strips they want? I am currently pregnant, so believe I have to check my bs at least 8 times a day from what I've read and been told by diabetic specialist nurse (I do about 10 a day, give or take), but my GP said I shouldn't test more than 4 times a day, pregnant or not, ideally just once or twice a day even.
.

I think it'd have taken all my self control not to swing for the *******. And I mean that.

These guys aren't interested in helping people or taking care of them - they're interested in a bottom line and annual turnover. Which, is all well and good if you're an NHS manager - but not if you're a Doctor. His first duty is to your health - not his trust's budget.

So yeah, get a new doc.

 

[Nellie]

I know Sue has already suggested you print off the NICE guidelines but I remembered this thread when I came across a link to them whilst looking up something else. I thought I'd quote the relevant clauses ( for anyone else in the future)

Women with diabetes should be advised to test fasting blood glucose levels and blood glucose levels 1 hour after every meal during pregnancy.
1.3.2.2
Women with insulin-treated diabetes should be advised to test blood glucose levels before going to bed at night during pregnancy.
1.3.2.3
Women with type 1 diabetes who are pregnant should be offered ketone testing strips and advised to test for ketonuria or ketonaemia if they become hyperglycaemic or unwell.

http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG063Guidance.pdf

Thats 5 tests a day + any needed for hypos, exercise, snacks, driving etc

 

[nativenewyorker]

Hi
Try at your Antenatal Clinic. I am a Midwife and we give boxes and boxes away. We would rather you tested more frequently to ensure a good outcome for both you and your baby.