Where to buy test strips?

[catherinecherub]

Hi HLW,
It's not only the motivation. You cannot possibly know whether you are eating the right or wrong things for you. How can you manage your condition by guesswork?
Hope you get them soon from the Clinic.
Catherine.

 

[HLW]

Well I think I could improve my diet based on what (little) I know about food in general, for example I've never seen anything that says pastry has much nutritional benefit so I should probably not eat it, also I shouldn't eat sweet desserts etc, I could improve things like that now (I don't eat pasty or sweet desserts often but I suppose I never should!). But if I could see exactly how much they were rasing my blood sugar, that would be a big motivation to not eat them, much more persusive than just being told not to eat them.

 

[catherinecherub]

Could you afford to buy a meter, usually supplied with 10 test strips? You may never get them on prescription but relying on HBA1c tests is not a good idea. You need to be in control and if you are not then it will mean more and more medication and you still will not know. HBA1c's are not done often enough .
I did post a suggestion for how to make an argument for test strips. It is on this thread somewhere.
Catherine.

 

[HLW]

The hba1c tests results are too high so I know I'm doing something wrong, can't remember if they are rising at the moment or going down though. I don't know how much of that is due to diet, and how much is due to my mood/stress though. I definatly feel like I have high blood sugar when I am more stressed (tired, thirsty).
I could buy a meter, but I think I will wait til after this appointment with the Diabetic Clinic to see what they say, as it's not long to wait. If they won't give me one I'll buy one I think. And look in to getting my doctor to prescribe strips.

 

[Dennis]

Hi HLW,

On a different thread a lot of people have mentioned the Abbot range of blood test monitors. I haven't used one myself but quite a lot of people have recommended them in the past and, if you do have to buy the test strips yourself, they do have a big advantage - the manufacturers will supply the test strips by mail order and they only charge something like £13 or £14, whereas the strips for other monitors are only available from chemists and with the chemists mark-up they work out at arount £25 a pack.

 

[Bubsy Malone]

I have a Freestyle Lite that I bought myself and the strips are £25.50 from Boots. I admit I fell off the wagon quite spectacularly but I'm back on it now and even after spending the day at my mum's when I ate considerably more carbs than I would do at home my last result (about half an hour ago) was 4.3! Quite chuffed with that, mind you I put together a CD rack for her and walked there and back which might have something to do with it!

 

[gbtyke]

Having only recently been diagnosed as type 2 but as yet refused testing by my nurse I have been using my son's (Type 1) equipment to check my levels as I try to get my readings under control. I have put a request in writing to the nurse and also used the link at the begining of this thread to write to my MP on the subject. Please all concerned do the same.

 

[Dinky]

I was diagnosed Type 2 in October and I'm still trying to sort out medications and stuff. My GP told me I didn't need a test monitor. I think it's a bit ridiculous if you're trying to sort out medications and diet and see what works for you, how are you supposed to know? I was on Sitagliptin and felt really rubbish, worse than before I was diagnosed, and bought a monitor just to see what was going on in my body and the results ranged from 15-21! When I was given the Sitagliptin at the Diabetic Clinic I was told I wouldn't need to come back for 7 months. If I had continued taking the Sitagliptin with blood sugar that high for 7 months, what kind of damage would I be doing?

Suffice it to say I'm no longer taking the Sitagliptin, I'm not taking anything, waiting to hear from the Clinic to go back and try something else. I've ran out of test strips and simply cannot afford to replace them. So I have no idea what's going on in my body.

It's actually quite upsetting and I'm just so frustrated.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Dinky,

Unfortunately the treatment you have received is not normal, but is far from uncommon as many forum members will testify. The argument about you not needing to test is obviously nonsense as the results of your not being allowed to test have proved. This instruction to GPs to stop patients testing has come from PCTs simply in order to cut costs. It is completely against the NICE guidelines anf the Government's policy on diabetes management.

The first line medication for type-2 diabetes is metformin. Sitagliptin is a second line treatment and only supposed to be prescribed if metformin on its own is not sufficient.

When you are first diagnosed the GPs guidelines are that you should be recalled for an HBA1C blood test every 3 months, until it can be seen that you are able to control your blood sugar levels. After that it can be every 6 months, and once you have shown that you have good long-term control it can be once a year. For someone in your surgery to tell you not to come back for 7 months is downright negligence.

Is there another GP practice locally that you could transfer to?

 

[gbtyke]

Following my written request for testing kit I now have it.

Following my question to my MP I now have an answer saying that he will get back to me with the local PCT policy on supplying testing kit for Type 2 diabetics.

 

[catherinecherub]

Well done. It is nice to know that you got a result. Can I ask if that was following the advice on this thread?
Regards, Catherine.

 

[gbtyke]

The writing to the doctors I had already done on my own.

Writing to my MP was done through the link earlier in this thread.

 

[catherinecherub]

Well I am glad for you. Perhaps your success will show people that doing nothing doesn't have a result but doing something may be the answer. Thanks for that.
Regards, Catherine.

 

[catherinecherub]

Am bumping this discussion up as more and more newly diagnosed type 2's are having difficulty obtaining test strips.

 

[xsspress]

For type 2's who want to test but can't get prescriptions there is a test strip called Glucoflex-R which is half the price of other strips. Its a visually read strip so you dont need a meter. It may not give you an answer to one decimal point but it is still quite accurate and better than not testing or cutting back.

 

[cugila]

Is this available in the UK now ?
It has been mentioned before but was only available in Australia at that time.

Ken.

 

[Dennis]

It appears that glucoflex-R is only available in Australia as the manufacturers have not yet managed to find a UK agenr to distribute it. It is however approved for use in the UK if and when the manufacturers decide to launch it over here.

 

[m100]

Am bumping this discussion up as more and more newly diagnosed type 2's are having difficulty obtaining test strips.

It's not just the difficulty of obtaining strips, those (in England) trying to control by diet alone still have to pay the prescription charge for test strips. I doubt this will ever be addressed.

As far as testing regime going for 3-6 months with no self testing, with a changing diet, changing exercise routine, changing activity, changing weight, changing insulin sensitivity and relying completely on a post event HBA1c is quite frankly ridiculous.

Testing once a week or even once per day when you have a different activity regime proves next to nothing. The only thing that can realistically get BG under control, with immediate feedback to the patient is random testing as and when the patient deems it necessary, this doesn't necessarily mean seven times a day but the question has to be asked...

Is the tight control of BG worth the cost of up to 50 strips a week? That's around a maximum cost (net cost in BNF) of £1300 per annum. The average contribution / spend to the NHS per capita in the UK is, if I recall correctly £1800.

 

[Dobbs]

hi DannyB and others,
just to make you feel less bad :lol: I too bought a Freestyle Lite meter where I live (Amsterdam) for €25 - pretty good price, I thought. Then when I went back to my local chemist to get a box of 50 strips they charged me €61 :evil: (£53.67)!! Outrageous! I've now discovered Boots sells them for £25. Inexplicable, the price difference. Somebody's making a nice profit. I'm sure online is the best way to go.

 

[Dobbs]

Re: Where to buy test strips? PS

oh yes, and in Holland if you're on pills for diabetes (as I am) the insurance won't pay for test strips as they don't consider them necessary. Good, eh?