Doctor refusing my prescription !

C

conair

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I was prescribed a pen (the GlucoRx) for sticking my finger years ago to keep an eye on my blood sugar levels, i asked for some more of the test strips and i got a message back from my GP surgery !
"My GlucoRX testing strips have been stopped as i no longer need to be doing testing" !
Is this a common practice for a GP to stop you from getting these test strips and i cannot fathom why they dont want me keeping an eye on my levels before and after certain meals, i just like to know if my levels get spiked and if so i will keep away from certain foods/drinks, im at a loss as to why they think someone with type2 should not be looking at there levels as the blood test is only every 3 months. where as the pen is right here right now.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.
 
@grovesy is right.

I was given my Gluco Rx Q, with lancets and test strips on prescription, when diagnosed but have had to self-fund since getting my BG into normal range. Anyone testing through choice, as opposed to necessity, shouldn't expect the NHS to fund.
 
If you are not on medication which can induce hypos ie insulin or gliclazide, then you probably should consider yourself lucky that you have been supplied with test strips up till now. Most Type 2s here on the forum have had to self fund them from the start.
If you are still getting 3monthly HbA1c checks you are also very lucky unless your levels are unstable or high. Most people get 6monthly or even just an annual HbA1c test.

The other thing I would ask is, do you need to be testing so much? Generally a lot of testing is needed in the first few months after diagnosis to establish which foods cause you problems and in what portion size but after that, just occasional fasting tests maybe once of twice a week should give you an idea of whether things are ticking along nicely or if perhaps they are slipping, and then perhaps only before and after a new meal/food that you haven't had before and don't know your response to.
 
Sorry to hear your test strips have been removed from your repeats @conair

Unfortunately you aren’t the only person with T2 to be denied access to self-monitoring equipment. Either from diagnosis, or having been prescribed strips for a time.

Many T2s on the forum find they need to self-monitor a meter to help with their own diabetes management. The most important factor if self-funding is the ongoing cost of the test strips.

The most affordable and reliable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii, the Spirit Tee2, or the Contour Blue - which all have test strips at around £10 for 50. Some other brands can be 3x that much!
 
my numbers have come down quite a bit from 133 to there current 61 over 4 ish years , i dont use the pen constantly maybe 2-3 times a week and only if i feel a bit iffy just to check my level hasnt shot up which would explain the feeling a bit rough ! also if i try different foods i check before and after just to see if it spikes my levels if it does i stay away from that food so im not constantly using the pen, i have been to the chemist and i can get the strips for £15 per 50, anyways its just seem wrong to me they want to stop a diebetic checking his levels.

Quote "Anyone testing through choice, as opposed to necessity, shouldn't expect the NHS to fund." interesting train of thought !
being a 22 year military Vet ('74-'96) and having had 6 weeks not being employed in my life since the age of 8 (brought up on a farm we start young lol) and now at the age of 66 i do think i have earned the right to have a pot of 50 test strips once every 3-4 months ! everyone to there own opinon though.
Looks like i will just got get my own but hey ho.
Thanks for all the input.
 
I have never been given any yet they ask what my readings are. I buy my own and just watch how i use them. I see it that i don't buy sweets, chocolates and rarely go out. Less take aways too. (unless daughter is here).
So i gather i deserve it. Less than 2 pints depending where you go or a bottle of wine.
Less than a packet of cigarettes too.
I think I am worth it to know where my sugar stands
I will get free meds now i am 60 but before its over £13. i think for a prescription so more than buying my strips.
Kids buy games at £50 a time or more so id say go on treat yourself.
 
conair said:
i dont use the pen constantly maybe 2-3 times a week and only if i feel a bit iffy just to check my level hasnt shot up which would explain the feeling a bit rough
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To be honest that just shows there’s no benefit to the NHS in funding your testing strips. You weren’t using them for a structured testing regime to learn from the results just testing at random if you felt a bit off. Which there isn’t much point to given you can’t do anything about it at that point anyway.

It’s normal to have to self fund strips as a t2 but my advice would be to consider how best to use them if you’re going to self fund. If there’s no action based on the result, then it’s a waste of money really.
 
conair said:
and i can get the strips for £15 per 50, anyways its just seem wrong to me they want to stop a diebetic checking his levels.

Quote "Anyone testing through choice, as opposed to necessity, shouldn't expect the NHS to fund." interesting train of thought ! ........ and now at the age of 66 i do think i have earned the right to have a pot of 50 test strips once every 3-4 months !
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I have great empathy with these points of view, @conair. Apart from the blatant nonsense that because you are T2 you should not test ..... if you are interested and concerned enough you should be encouraged to monitor your BG and thus take sensible corrective action. Of course there are conundrums: funding such testing has a financial consequence and the NHS is already blatantly wasteful in so many ways; patients invariably stockpile meds on prescription adding to the waste problem; some patients will not benefit from testing for various good reasons; but most of all you become the victim of a unified lowest cost short term policy that doesn't fit your needs and competence.

You certainly have earned the right and GPs are increasingly unable to use medical judgement because of administrative bureaucracy from higher up - formerly CCGs now Integrated Care Boards, all blindly following the NICE Guidance Notes. They are Guidance Notes but have to be blindly obeyed. As you say there is an ineresting train of thought (or should that be non-thought, just blind indoctrination over time); rules are rules to be obeyed unthinkingly.

I bet you thought in '96 that you were leaving behind the all powerful influence of higher authority as you completed your 22 years service. But thank you for that Service.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
I have great empathy with these points of view, @conair. Apart from the blatant nonsense that because you are T2 you should not test ..... if you are interested and concerned enough you should be encouraged to monitor your BG and thus take sensible corrective action. Of course there are conundrums: funding such testing has a financial consequence and the NHS is already blatantly wasteful in so many ways; patients invariably stockpile meds on prescription adding to the waste problem; some patients will not benefit from testing for various good reasons; but most of all you become the victim of a unified lowest cost short term policy that doesn't fit your needs and competence.

You certainly have earned the right and GPs are increasingly unable to use medical judgement because of administrative bureaucracy from higher up - formerly CCGs now Integrated Care Boards, all blindly following the NICE Guidance Notes. They are Guidance Notes but have to be blindly obeyed. As you say there is an ineresting train of thought (or should that be non-thought, just blind indoctrination over time); rules are rules to be obeyed unthinkingly.

I bet you thought in '96 that you were leaving behind the all powerful influence of higher authority as you completed your 22 years service. But thank you for that Service.
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Yes thank you for service you gave to those that received it.
 
Lucyr said:
To be honest that just shows there’s no benefit to the NHS in funding your testing strips. You weren’t using them for a structured testing regime to learn from the results just testing at random if you felt a bit off. Which there isn’t much point to given you can’t do anything about it at that point anyway.

It’s normal to have to self fund strips as a t2 but my advice would be to consider how best to use them if you’re going to self fund. If there’s no action based on the result, then it’s a waste of money really.
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I see your point we can’t just inject to lower but can take something to raise it.
Also it gives me peace of mind and gives me a kick when its way out of control.
I think if you wasted them like i do at times just to make sure like hopping on and off the scales.
Its a personal thing.
They give out so much to folks that don't even need it financially that as you say it would not hurt. i might have free prescriptions but i chose not too. My ops were done through hubby”s insurance choosing not to use the NHS but past Prime ministers with bags of money have used it Its all wrong .
 
Nayshiftin said:
I see your point we can’t just inject to lower but can take something to raise it.
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The OP isn’t on medication that can cause dangerous hypos though (they’re only on metformin and forxiga) so doesn’t need to take anything to raise blood sugars, so that’s irrelevant. You should get test strips on prescription if at risk of dangerous hypos.
 
Nayshiftin said:
I have never been given any yet they ask what my readings are. I buy my own and just watch how i use them. I see it that i don't buy sweets, chocolates and rarely go out. Less take aways too. (unless daughter is here).
So i gather i deserve it. Less than 2 pints depending where you go or a bottle of wine.
Less than a packet of cigarettes too.
I think I am worth it to know where my sugar stands
I will get free meds now i am 60 but before its over £13. i think for a prescription so more than buying my strips.
Kids buy games at £50 a time or more so id say go on treat yourself.
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You should have been getting free prescriptions as you were on diabetic medication anyway even if you were not 60. However that would still not necessarily include test strips.
 
Leadinglights said:
You should have been getting free prescriptions as you were on diabetic medication anyway even if you were not 60. However that would still not necessarily include test strips.
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No i had prepaid thingy. We are happy enough anyways. i buy test strips as i like them regardless if others do not think i need them. Now i am 60 they have taken me off all neds for time being. So happier at that.
 
Thanks for all the input chaps, 1 thing i might do is i do have private medical thru AXA i might ask them if they will pay for them, because i am 66 now my NHS meds are all free but saying that i only have my metformin/forxiga and pain killers for a broken kneck back in '92 ! C4/C5, does help when you jump out of a plane when your chute works properly lmao. So i dont get loads of meds on the NHS, i stopped drinking in 1999 i stoped smoking in 2014 dont do sweets/cakes ect so if all else fails i will just buy my own strips as i dont use a great deal of them anyways.
Thanks again guys...
 
conair said:
Thanks for all the input chaps, 1 thing i might do is i do have private medical thru AXA i might ask them if they will pay for them, because i am 66 now my NHS meds are all free but saying that i only have my metformin/forxiga and pain killers for a broken kneck back in '92 ! C4/C5, does help when you jump out of a plane when your chute works properly lmao. So i dont get loads of meds on the NHS, i stopped drinking in 1999 i stoped smoking in 2014 dont do sweets/cakes ect so if all else fails i will just buy my own strips as i dont use a great deal of them anyways.
Thanks again guys...
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The meds are only free because we don't pay for them up front but we are paying by paying tax.
 
I am T2 and was recently taken off gliclazide, and then told you don't need to test and you won't be issued with test strips etc. No problem I can buy test strips because I feel easier being able to test. However I am very confused and struggling a bit with fasting test results. On gliclazide my results were always between 5.2 and 5.7 , without gliclazide my results are 7.2 to 7.6. All I was ever told was fasting test should be below 7.0 and then between 7.0 and 10.0. Is this still correct? Doesn't take much to confuse me or worry me at 76 years old. Any advice welcome
 
Cairie said:
I am T2 and was recently taken off gliclazide, and then told you don't need to test and you won't be issued with test strips etc. No problem I can buy test strips because I feel easier being able to test. However I am very confused and struggling a bit with fasting test results. On gliclazide my results were always between 5.2 and 5.7 , without gliclazide my results are 7.2 to 7.6. All I was ever told was fasting test should be below 7.0 and then between 7.0 and 10.0. Is this still correct? Doesn't take much to confuse me or worry me at 76 years old. Any advice welcome
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Sounds like id be happy with your results. No expert on what they need to be . Keep well.
 
What a shame. And what a load of "following the herd" responses.
Monitoring your blood sugars, learning what effects you via testing and how it effects you, is immensely useful in your overall management. It gives you control and insight.
The idea that a type 2 can suffer along with three monthly blood tests, cos you " don't need to know" is a very narrow minded thought process. A motivated type 2 can change their management right around with the knowledge that monitoring can provide, and in a very timely manner.
 
Cairie said:
I am T2 and was recently taken off gliclazide, and then told you don't need to test and you won't be issued with test strips etc. No problem I can buy test strips because I feel easier being able to test. However I am very confused and struggling a bit with fasting test results. On gliclazide my results were always between 5.2 and 5.7 , without gliclazide my results are 7.2 to 7.6. All I was ever told was fasting test should be below 7.0 and then between 7.0 and 10.0. Is this still correct? Doesn't take much to confuse me or worry me at 76 years old. Any advice welcome
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The gliclazide was obviously helping with your morning reading but people who are just dietary managed do find that morning readings can remain stubbornly high when other daytime readings are good. Metformin can help as it reduces the amount of glucose released by the liver.
The levels you should be aiming at are 4-7mmol/l fasting/ morning and before meals and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours after eating so 10mmol/l is rather high unless it is within a hour or so of eating.
 
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