Diabetes Type 2 - for 17 years - testing strips

[clivehyman]

Hi all

I have been a type 2 diabetic for 17 years - and have always tested my blood 2 or 3 times a day. I rely on these heavily to monitor how my blood levels are doing.

I have generally good control, although I don't when I find it hard to not eat sugary stuff.

My doctor is now trying to telling me I shouldn't be testing everyday - my point is how am I supposed to monitor myself then ?

Has anyone succesfully pursuaded their doctor to give them the strips ? Just frustrated and I feel this is an NHS "cut" which in the long run will cost the NHS more if I lose my good control as it will be more expensive to sort things out once I get complications etc..

Thanks - appreciate input

Clive

 

[Northerner]

Hi Clive, welcome to the forum 🙂 Are you on any medication for your diabetes? When you test, how do you use the information that the readings are giving you? For example, do you test specifically to see how a particular meal affects your blood glucose levels, and if the result is not good do you then modify your diet to either include less of the carbs in that meal in future, so it has less impact, or even avoid having that meal altogether?

The best way to persuade your doctor to continue providing you strips is to prove to him that you are using the information they provide to improve the management of your diabetes. You need to be able to provide a reason and a beneficial outcome fr each test - this is true whether you are on insulin or not. Times are tough for PCTs at the moment, so many people are finding that their strips are either being restricted or withdrawn and it is only with clear evidence of their value to you can you persuade them to continue prescribing them.

This is Diabetes UK's position statement on self-monitoring which may help.

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forums Clive 🙂

What medication (in any) are you on?

 

[cherrypie]

Hi and welcome.

Unless you are using hypo inducing medication or continually changing your diet, why do you need to test every day?
Theere is a paper here from diabetes.org.uk about the issue of test strips.
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/How we help other/Test strips 2010.pdf
Most Type 2's find that after a few months their testing is not done frequently as they have formed a pattern of their eating habits over this time. Sick days, introducing new foods, more or less exercise, stressful situations, would prompt me to do more testing and I occasionally do a whole days testing, perhaps once a month, to make sure I am still on the right track.
Has your Care Team ever given you an education about testing?

 

[Robster65]

Hi Clive. Welcome.🙂

I wonder if you could approach your GP with the problem of resisting temptation. There may be some sort of therapy that can modify your approach to food, so that you'll find it easier to resist the foods that give you problems and you won't need to test so frequently.

That way, the PCT invest in your future and can save money on test strips. And hopefully your health improves in the long term. 🙂

Rob

 

[clivehyman]

Hi and welcome.

Unless you are using hypo inducing medication or continually changing your diet, why do you need to test every day?
Theere is a paper here from diabetes.org.uk about the issue of test strips.
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/How we help other/Test strips 2010.pdf
Most Type 2's find that after a few months their testing is not done frequently as they have formed a pattern of their eating habits over this time. Sick days, introducing new foods, more or less exercise, stressful situations, would prompt me to do more testing and I occasionally do a whole days testing, perhaps once a month, to make sure I am still on the right track.
Has your Care Team ever given you an education about testing?

I am on Metformin

I don't even know who my Care Team is

I get benefit from testing as it gives me the feedback on what new foods or meals have had effect on my blood sugar, I would feel lost with out them - its part of my regime to make any adjustments I need to my diet

 

[susie q]

Care team -

I was told my care team was based at the hospital and given the option to transfer to my GP. Ask your GP Clive as he/she will know who is taking care of you. ( They will be the ones arranging annual check ups, eye test screening, foot checks and all that.)

You can request a A whatisit test every three months rather than every 6 and you can request a referal to the diabetic dietician. The dietician will suggest you keep a food diary ( always a good idea) and will look into it for you with suggestions.

IF they offer the new STEPS course - treat with caution ! It is an " awareness" course that puts the fear of god into you ! I now know exactly how my condition can kill me... not what i was hoping the course would be about! ( Six hours of it too).

 

[Mark T]

I'd agree that testing is essential to good control and how much you need to test will probably depend on how your diabetes behaves since we are all different. The problem is that most NHS trusts and Doctors seem to take a one size fits all type approach.

I've been diagnosed a year and haven't had any issues with test strips - but in the last few months I've dropped by usage down to a couple per week by my own choice since we do eat a very regular menu (for various reasons) and thus I have a good idea where my blood glucose will be.

 

[Northerner]

...IF they offer the new STEPS course - treat with caution ! It is an " awareness" course that puts the fear of god into you ! I now know exactly how my condition can kill me... not what i was hoping the course would be about! ( Six hours of it too).

Susie, it's a shame that the course left you feeling negative about it and that you took away the frightening possibilities. It would be worthwhile giving the course instructors some feedback about this as the course should not leave you feeling this way. Yes, we need to know about the potential complications of diabetes and how best to reduce our risks of them, but it should also be a positive experience whereby you feel that there is a great deal you can do to manage your diabetes - and even end up much healthier than many of your peers who do not have this impetus.

I know that other members who have attended courses (Type 1 and Type2) have found them to be very positive experiences, so if your course was the opposite then they need to rethink how it is presented! 🙂

 

[Newtothis]

I am on Metformin

I don't even know who my Care Team is

I get benefit from testing as it gives me the feedback on what new foods or meals have had effect on my blood sugar, I would feel lost with out them - its part of my regime to make any adjustments I need to my diet

My personal opinion would be that if your regime works for you then why change it - it seems that you have good control if you are only on medication after 17 years...Control is very important and you're doing incredibly well. Amanda xx 🙂

 

[cherrypie]

I am on Metformin

I don't even know who my Care Team is

I get benefit from testing as it gives me the feedback on what new foods or meals have had effect on my blood sugar, I would feel lost with out them - its part of my regime to make any adjustments I need to my diet

You have explained it well Clive, you are using them for reassurance and I understand.
As a matter of interest what are your recent HBA1c test results and do you get all the care you should?

Here is a checklist to see if your care is good.

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/upload/About us/15 measures checklist.pdf

 

[susie28]

Strips

I saw my Dr recently and as I am diet controlled Type 2 he also said there is no need for me to check that the HbA1c is sufficient for them to know how I am doing, and therefore refused to give me a prescription for strips. I did tell him that I would purchase them on the internet and his reply was I wish you wouldn't.
I have found since I stopped checking I seem to have lost the plot and find I am eating more foods that I had stopped eating when first diagnosed.
It is a year since I was first diagnosed and decided this week that I need to get things under control again so I have ordered supplies off the internet I feel if I continue not checking then when my HbA1c is checked in June that I will be back in square one if not worse. I just feel that if I check in the morning and my reading is fairly constant then it will make me feel more under control.

 

[Northerner]

...
I have found since I stopped checking I seem to have lost the plot and find I am eating more foods that I had stopped eating when first diagnosed.
It is a year since I was first diagnosed and decided this week that I need to get things under control again so I have ordered supplies off the internet I feel if I continue not checking then when my HbA1c is checked in June that I will be back in square one if not worse. I just feel that if I check in the morning and my reading is fairly constant then it will make me feel more under control.

Quite right too Susie - what's the point of being told 6 months down the line that you must have eaten some of the wrong things? How are you supposed to identify them? What makes our levels high can vary very much from person to person, so you may think you are doing all the right things only to dicover that some of the things you are doing are not helping. For example, some people fnd porridge is the ideal, slow-release breakfast for them, yet other will find it gives them a terrible spike in their levels - how can you possible know this without testing? I would like to know how many doctors with Type 2 - whether on medication or not - would be happy with waiting for an HbA2c to see if they were doing OK, or how many would head straight for the strips!

As has been noted by others, once you have established a good menu of regular foods that you enjoy, you can reduce testing, but the occasional spot check is useful for keeping things under control.