The latest pearl of wisdom from my GP

Sadly many G.Ps are the same :?

lovinglife said:

Why do you need strips? - you don't need to test - you should KNOW what foods are bad for you :roll: - yes that is right I should - by testing - no by reading the info I gave you - oh that will be all lovely carbs - yes thats right - ok thank you doctor - NEXT!!!!

Decided to put the strips battle on the back burner while I am very fortunate that buying them doesn't pose a problem - I have other battles to fight with him at the moment - but geeez - brings to mind that old addage - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

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Very frustrating lovinglife! :evil:

Nigel

It's more than frustrating!
While you can read in a book that certain foods are good for your BS levels and other foods are not good, you can only find out what works for you by testing yourself after you've eaten. Not everything works the same for everyone, for example, basmati rice is supposed to release slowly but my friend finds it makes her levels shoot up.

Which has got me wondering, how much is the medication to keep my BG down, compared to the cost of a monthly supply of strips :roll: I'm sure the meds cost more.

Unfortunately the manufacturers of testing strips have a captive market and charge “what the market will bear” and that is high and generates a handsome profit. It is not ethical really but they will argue that they have shareholders who have risked capital and deserve the rewards. The shareholders may well be our pension funds so there are many people with an interest. You would think that the NHS would have more of an entrepaneurial awareness and set up for themselves to manufacture testing equipment.

As for GPs not prescribing the testing strips it seems almost a job creation scheme or job keeping scheme for health workers as this serves to ensure that there are people out there with complications and deteriorating health. :evil: :roll:

On the other hand there are people out there who are so frightened by the whole diabetes scenario that they just don’t want to know. :roll:

Ideally there should be opportunities for those who would take control if they could to be prescribed the testing strips. 8)

my DN told me last time that they arent too keen to dish them out as they believe a lot of people do the numbers but dont understand them, which as i told her was fair enough, but when you DO understand them and what the numbers mean, how they are affected, etc, then you shouldnt have to grovel on your hands and knees just to get some more. I am going armed in April with the whole meds/checking arguement, as i am off my gliclazide, which must be offsetting the cost of the strips, as well as the arguement that i need them if i am going to the gym as regularly as i am...

cocacola said:

Which has got me wondering, how much is the medication to keep my BG down, compared to the cost of a monthly supply of strips :roll: I'm sure the meds cost more.

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I was told by the dietitian leading the X-PERT course that Hounslow PCT don't like Drs prescribing test strips because they spent more on strips than diabetes medication. My comment was that that could show how effective testing is ... She didn't argue.

Surely if they do prescribe strips, they should also advise on how, when & why to test, & what to do with the results. The rep from Roche who demonstrated how to use the meter, put the lancet against the finger pad - good job I was there to put her right.

As Kipling (not the cake maker) said:
I have six honest serving men
who taught me all I knew.
Their names are what & why & when
& how & where & who.

'They' are bringing in a novel calculation for HbA1c which will stop us easily relating our tests to theirs. This is to enable researchers to have immediately comparable results with each other. WHAT ABOUT US :?: :?:

I saw a conversion table somewhere but have (helpfully!) forgotten where! When you find it you oculd print it out and keep it handy. Though the daily strips and the hba1c aren't testing the same thing... but there is some sort of correlation that we find useful.
DG

There are some good conversion tables BG to HbA1c on the web. there's one in pretty colours even.
Hana

dragongirl said:

I saw a conversion table somewhere but have (helpfully!) forgotten where! When you find it you oculd print it out and keep it handy. Though the daily strips and the hba1c aren't testing the same thing... but there is some sort of correlation that we find useful.
DG

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That isn't the problem. The conversion factor is about 7. When I have BG readings averaging say 5.6 & my HbA1c is reported to be 5.9% the relationship is obvious. [Even though BG is mmol/l & HbA1c is % ] When they report HbA1c =41, & I've been happily averaging 5.6 there is no obvious relationship.

No, but the conversion tables tell you what 41% would normally have been reported as. So we can just check it out and remember it how we used to. That's what I meant.
DG

'They' are bringing in a novel calculation for HbA1c which will stop us easily relating our tests to theirs. This is to enable researchers to have immediately comparable results with each other. WHAT ABOUT US

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The equivalent of 5.6 % Hb A1C is actually 6.3 mmol/l eAG, 7.2 % HB A1C is 8.9 mmol/l eAG. and 8.5 % A1C is 11.0 mmol/l eAG (according to the 'official' ADA conversion chart devised after recent research into it).
http://professional.diabetes.org/GlucoseCalculator.aspx
The old figures aren't as straight forward as some people think. Many people get the idea that an Hb A1c of say 6% is the same as an average of 6mmol/l. It isn't and even an estimated average is only applicable to an 'average' person, some people glycate 'better' than others, some people have longer lasting red blood cells and some people have fewer red blood cells.
If you use mg/dl, as does much of the world outside the UK, Canada and Australia, this similarity of numbers disappears anyway. My latest HbA1c was 5.6% and that reflects an estimated average of 114 mg/dl eAG. (in that supposed average peson).There is no way an ordinary person would look at the figures and see a relationship., they'd have to use a calculator.
I'm sure people will get used to these new reporting figures in the UK.
What is more indicative is the trend upward or downward and the variability between tests. (which is why I think that they should be done at a minimum of 6 monthly intervals)

This explains about some of the variations between people and the reasons why,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycated_hemoglobin

We are not all the same and age, biological variations, red blood cell life etc.....all play a part.

You should fight the point next time, otherwise you'll simply embolden said GP.

I would have thought that being on gliclazide which i believe can cause hypoes...i could be wrong?....you would need to test. Do you drive? if so are you not supposed to test to make sure you dont hgypo while at the wheel ? legal requirement or does that just apply to insulin only?

Just my thoughts

Brian

I don't understand why the NHS can't agree to supplying a limited number of strips on request. So, if a responsible diabetic asks for strips they should just get them, no argument, but personally I'd have no problem if that supply were limited to, say, 30 a month, or even 25 a month. People who want to test more frequently than that (which includes myself) would then just pay for extra strips.

Dobbs said:

I don't understand why the NHS can't agree to supplying a limited number of strips on request. So, if a responsible diabetic asks for strips they should just get them, no argument, but personally I'd have no problem if that supply were limited to, say, 30 a month, or even 25 a month. People who want to test more frequently than that (which includes myself) would then just pay for extra strips.

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Great idea but this could really hit the pockets of people who have to test several times a day. I do think that if people know how to use their results, they should be allowed to test rather than there being a blanket ban on testing for certain people.

I should have added that I was talking really about type 2s - type 1 is a different situation. Sorry I didn't make that clear.