Sugar Tax

OK so say someone has a hypo every day and uses a full bottle of Lucozade each day that will equate to less than £30 a year increase. The son I mentioned in this post:-

zand said:

Well I'm sure if anyone has enough money to buy Lucozade in the first place then they can afford the extra tax. It's such a small amount it's not worth stressing about. My son who is buying a house will be clobbered with thousands in stamp duty simply because his fiancée has a house already and won't be selling until after they are married. That's penalising youngsters who are trying to provide for themselves. I realise this thread is about the sugar tax, but let's get some perspective here. As others have said if you are having so many hypos that the extra cost really matters then you need to sort your regime out.

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is asthmatic. He doesn't get free prescriptions. He pays a lot more than £30 a year for the drugs necessary to keep him alive. It isn't his fault that he's asthmatic. He has made less fuss about paying around £7k unfair stamp duty on what is perceived to be a second home when in fact it's not one, it's his first, than the people on this thread moaning about what amounts to pennies. Sorry I just don't get where you are all coming from.

Brunneria said:

Hell yeah.
The only thing worse than the hypo was/is the carb binge/inhalation/OTT binge fest it can spark (speaking as a reactive hypoglycaemic).

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Believe me, a hypo can be a very serious indeed, so stuffing one's face, to me, is nothing compared to that !

Please let's not turn this into a mine is worse than yours .

zand said:

OK so say someone has a hypo every day and uses a full bottle of Lucozade each day that will equate to less than £30 a year increase. The son I mentioned in this post:-



is asthmatic. He doesn't get free prescriptions. He pays a lot more than £30 a year for the drugs necessary to keep him alive. It isn't his fault that he's asthmatic. He has made less fuss about paying around £7k unfair stamp duty on what is perceived to be a second home when in fact it's not one, it's his first, than the people on this thread moaning about what amounts to pennies. Sorry I just don't get where you are all coming from.

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We are not all lovers or users of Lucazade and I am not moaning about the cost of a few pennies Moan over

Mrs Vimes said:

Please let's not turn this into a mine is worse than yours .

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I do hope that wasn't addressed at me, as a severe hypo, IS worse than stuffing one's face !!

Yes it was. And I know . Brunneria was cracking a joke.

Mrs Vimes said:

Yes it was. And I know . Brunneria was cracking a joke.

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Unfortunately, I wasn't in on that so called 'joke' I stand by what I said !!

So let's get back to the real issue of a 'possible Suagr Tax ' as addressed by ladybird.

oh dear.

Robinredbreast said:

Unfortunately, I wasn't in on that so called 'joke' I stand by what I said !!

So let's get back to the real issue of a 'possible Suagr Tax ' as addressed by ladybird.

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Good idea. It's a sugar tax/levy on fizzy drinks manufacturer not a hypo tax. I'm glad we got that one sorted.

Just spat my coffee on my iPad.

Mrs Vimes said:

Can't remember who (sorry) made an excellent point about the costings of organising the paperwork for setting this system up. If this is going to stop/adversely impact someones life I'd say that there is already a problem if someone is having that many hypos.
I would say they need to be going back to the hospital/clinic and get advice.

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I think it was me.

To be perfectly honest, you are right. There probably will not be a viable means to work an exemption. If discussions between JDRF and the government simply result in some sort of recognition that it's a shame that the hypo treatments are caught up that would be something.

Realistically, the financial impact is not going to stop anyone doing anything. But it certainly will feel like another little teaspoon of cr*p from the diabetes fairy. One that will come along with the feeling that it's my fault I'm hypo & of course I should be paying for it.

A feeling that has not been helped by some of the comments on this thread. I am definitely being over sensitive, and this certainly isn't directed at anyone. But I can't help taking away the message that it's my own stupid fault I'm hypo and if I just flicked the magic switch I would not be hypo so much. I have no hypo awareness, I'm hypo on average twice a day. The clinic have said to avoid hypos run at 7-12. Would anyone like to guess what I will cost the system I the long term if I run a HbA1C of 75, 80, 85? I don't know, but I've heard dialysis is expensive... So the choice I make everyday is do I run low, treat hypos and function or do I run high, avoid hypos but feel rotten and risk long term complications. Try as I might (and believe me I do try) I cannot maintain a happy medium. But I do function running lower. I treat the hypos & I don't let them stop me doing anything (apart from, you know having a driving licence!) I self fund a dexcom, I'm very lucky to be able to afford to do that (at the sacrifice of luxuries other in my position take for granted) & I buy the hypo treatments. All fine, no problem.

@zand a hypo tax is exactly what it feels like - you really sound-bite-ed it, thank you! That's the key issue for me. An issue that would be resolved by at least exploring whether an exemption would be possible.

Robinredbreast said:

Believe me, a hypo can be a very serious indeed, so stuffing one's face, to me, is nothing compared to that !

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Actually it wasn't a joke.
But then you don't have RH, do you?
You have absolutely no idea how bad RH blood sugar swings can get.

This is a typical example of people playing the 'my xxxxx is worse than your xxxx' card.

Threads usually go downhill rapidly at this point, so i am leaving now.

Brunneria said:

Actually it wasn't a joke.
But then you don't have RH, do you?
You have absolutely no idea how bad RH blood sugar swings can get.

This is a typical example of people playing the 'my xxxxx is worse than your xxxx' card.

Threads usually go downhill rapidly at this point, so i am leaving now.

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Absolutely not and not a 'typical example' at all and it is getting out of hand with pettiness. Uncalled for.

catapillar said:

@zand a hypo tax is exactly what it feels like - you really sound-bite-ed it, thank you! That's the key issue for me. An issue that would be resolved by at least exploring whether an exemption would be possible.

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Yes, I understand that. This happens at every budget though. There are winners and losers. Some of the people who lose out aren't the people targeted. It happens, just like the stamp duty thing. It's meant to discourage people from having second homes or buying to let. It's meant to help young people buy their own houses. My son has to pay the tax unfairly and it's hindering him not helping him. **** happens.

We definitely don't plan to have hypos. It is not a failing. But if someone is regularly hypoing they must get advice to sort out as many issues as possible. No one should feel a failure because this thing is a beast on your back.
I self fund cgm. I love it. I have it set between 4.4 and 6.7. I'm lucky I still have hypo awareness but I love this for the night times. I have a very quiet life, don't drink, smoke, go out to pay for it. Love Aldi.
I don't think any comments are aimed at "it's your own fault" at all.
My 'beef' is Yep it's another tax but you can still get things to deal with hypos on prescription. It's one thing educating the public but it could backfire big time. I am not sickly, I'm lucky not to have complications, I've got a 'normal' life, I rely on no one at the moment. I'm not going to start saying its discrimination to charge me the same price as everybody else for a fizzy drink.
I don't want to be thought of as possibly not worth the aggro of employing. My diabetes has never held me back but other people's misconceptions have muddied more than a few situations when it was nothing to do with them.

Sorry Brunneria - I shouldn't have stepped in.

Mrs Vimes said:

Can't remember who (sorry) made an excellent point about the costings of organising the paperwork for setting this system up. If this is going to stop/adversely impact someones life I'd say that there is already a problem if someone is having that many hypos.
I would say they need to be going back to the hospital/clinic and get advice.

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As has already been said, there are groups of people who do not have predictable hypos - people with brittle diabetes or pregnant women, as two examples.

No ones suggesting that they're going to be bankrupted by having to buy Lucozade. It's the principle that seems to offend.

People's circumstances are different, and it would be nice if we could support other people with diabetes rather than suggest they're doing something wrong.

@azure Which is what I have been doing. If someone is seriously going to be financially disadvantaged by this, they must get advice because that tells me there are too many hypos going on. There may be a way to reduce them.
You can still get things on prescription to sort out hypos. I'm not offended by the government doing this - I find the Tories themselves are offensive beyond words but that's another discussion. You could say anyone with a weight problem (for whatever reason) could be offended by this even though they've got medical reasons for being overweight.
I haven't suggested they are doing something wrong- I'd appreciate you not saying that I did.
Improving control is trial and error. Not right or wrong. People need strategies that will allow them to adapt. You don't get that over night. You need advice - so who better than their hospital/clinic?
On this note, im going to bow out as a type 1.

Mrs Vimes said:

@azure Which is what I have been doing. If someone is seriously going to be financially disadvantaged by this, they must get advice because that tells me there are too many hypos going on. There may be a way to reduce them.
You can still get things on prescription to sort out hypos. I'm not offended by the government doing this - I find the Tories themselves are offensive beyond words but that's another discussion. You could say anyone with a weight problem (for whatever reason) could be offended by this even though they've got medical reasons for being overweight.
I haven't suggested they are doing something wrong- I'd appreciate you not saying that I did.
Improving control is trial and error. Not right or wrong. People need strategies that will allow them to adapt. You don't get that over night. You need advice - so who better than their hospital/clinic?
On this note, im going to bow out as a type 1.

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Has anyone said they're going to be seriously financially disadvantaged? I didn't think so.

Yes, you can get things on prescription for hypos, even those expensive Glucojuice things in some areas, but Lucozade and full sugar drinks like Coke are commonly used, both for their convenience and because some people don't want to get prescriptions for those.

I agree - some people with weight problems for medical,reasons could be offended too.

I'm sure the majority of people experiencing sudden/frequent hypos do speak to their clinic and DSN, particularly identified groups like those with brittle,diabetes, pregnant women, etc. Even with professional advice, some of those people will still continue to have such hypos.