Ketone Stix Vs Blood testing for Ketones

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Marc

Marc

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi all

This really comes from a chat Northerner and I was having at the Brum meet. Basically I'm no angel but my blood sugars unless I'm ill don't go into the 15mmol plus range that often get the odd 13mmol but that is about it. (Sorry if that makes me sound like a swot). I was just wondering what peeps thought about this. I at the moment have Ketone Stix which I use very rarely and so have passed the 6 month use by date and so will now have to be thrown away. I've ordered a new load from the doctors. But I was wondering how long the ketone strips for the Optium Xceed last and might it be better and less wasteful to have one of those...

What do you think?

Just been on Ebay and they have an Optium Xceed for 12 quid.

Marc
 
Ketostix are useless - they only tell you what was happening 2 or more hours ago - so not much use for 'real time' ketones. Optium exceed is much more accurate. I think the strips last for 6 months - but you can still use out of date ones by changing the date on the meter to suit.🙂Bev
 
I got a box of blood ketone strips about a month ago and the expiry date is 30/11/2011, so I'm guessing that, depending on the age of the pharmacist's stock, they can last up to two years. I think it's swings and roundabouts really - I used one strip out of the last box of ketostix, so it effectively cost ?5 and as others have said, there is a 'time delay' for urine strips. According to the BNF the blood ketone strips are ?20 for 10, so if I used them all that would be ?2 per strip.
 
im thinking of buyiing otimum exceed meter for my son, does anyone know ifcan you get the ketone testing strips on prescription or do you have to buy them. They seem to be quite expensive.
 
CarolK said:
im thinking of buyiing otimum exceed meter for my son, does anyone know ifcan you get the ketone testing strips on prescription or do you have to buy them. They seem to be quite expensive.
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Dont buy one - ring the company and tell them you want to trial one - they will send it free with 10 strips and you can get all the strips on prescription. The company is Abbot.🙂Bev
 
CarolK said:
im thinking of buyiing otimum exceed meter for my son, does anyone know ifcan you get the ketone testing strips on prescription or do you have to buy them. They seem to be quite expensive.
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Here is the web-site for Abbots - you will be able to find there freephone number there.
http://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/


They may not give you any free ketone strips but they will give a box of free bm strips.

I assume your son is under Alder-Hey rather than Aintree or the Royal. I would give the DSN at Alder-Hey a call and see if they can give you a meter, they may also give you a couple of boxes of ketone strips.

The strips are on prescription - but not all Drs seem aware of them.
 
Don't bother ringing Abbots! I did about a month or two ago and they told me that I either had to buy one or get one from the Doctors/DSN.

So I rang DSN and she gave me one pronto. Rang the docs for the strips and had no problems there either.
 
Monica said:
Don't bother ringing Abbots! I did about a month or two ago and they told me that I either had to buy one or get one from the Doctors/DSN.

So I rang DSN and she gave me one pronto. Rang the docs for the strips and had no problems there either.
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I got the same response :( My doctor has already prescribed strips/ketone strips so I'm hoping to get a meter when I go for my annual review in October.
 
I am with monica, if your type 1, and maybe 2 you can get that meter and sticks on prescription, the local clinics were I am reccommend that meter......
 
thanks for that everyone, will get him to ask nurse at next clininc appt, and then begin the trials of trying to change his prescription(hate the receptionist at my doctors surgery!) for his strips. I suppose even if I only have to buy ketone strips, wont be too bad.
By the way Margie, hes at Walton clinic at the moment.
 
I had this debate with my practice nurse the other day... and got told (fairly bluntly) that the ketostix cost ?2.50 a box so even if I only one or two per tub it would still work out cheaper & why should I need to be testing for ketones anyway?! (Don't get me started, I really had to bite my tongue! Grrrrr.... Health Care "professional" eh?!).

I had deliberately made an appointment to sort out prescription items & quantities post going on to a pump, in order to a) sort out new / delete unnecessary items, b) not be wasteful and c) not have to be dragging myself, toddler & baby into the surgery for a repeat prescription every 5 mins... her response was to mutter darkly about PCT budgets, audits of prescriptions (my name was on a list btw!!) and "of course" I wasn't testing other people was I?! (Oh yeah, like I'm some kind of half crazed, random-person-blood testing ******* vampire right?!!! 😡) I had to fight to get my test stips "allowance" raised from her initial measly two boxes and justify why I'd get through so many a month (she also commented that I could phone in for repeats - I can't - and that I could just ask for more if I ran out - see prev comment about dragging the family circus into the surgery every 5 mins!!!) *sigh*. She got quite flustered when I asked her about where to get blood tests done for hospital clinic appts (she said she didn't know, I was under the hospital's care...very joined up thinking?!)

Anyway, we then somehow got onto the subject of thyroxine levels so she did a blood test... not before asking me whether my diabetes was getting me down - well, not before I saw you today!!!🙄 She ended up packing me off out the door without a plaster, arm oozing... think she doesn't like me much lol!! 🙄 Honestly, I could only conclude that she mainly deals with T2s (God help them!) and has no idea about mdi or pump therapy and the need for frequent testing... grrrrrr.

Sorry to go off theme & rant!! Think that's been building, sorry!😱
 
None of that should have been necessary Twitchy! I just checked and ketostix are ?2.95 for 50. Perhaps they should package them in smaller quantities so that there's not so much waste? Aside from that issue, does she not think that, after three decades of diabetes, you might know a little more about it than her? Sheesh! 😱 I get 2 months supply of everything, although I can put in prescriptions when I want. If my doctor/PCT can do it, why not all - my needs are no greater than yours, and probably less testing-wise now you are pumping!
 
It drives me batty... on Dafne you test (as you know! 🙂) before each meal & before bed as a minimum - so at least 4 times a day, plus before driving, so normally that's at least another 2 times for me, not to mention if you feel hypo / high, basal tests, etc... add to that if your having problems with the canula (courtesy of mummy tummy, infusing insulin mousse if not done luer lock tightly enough etc, doh! 😱) you need to test before & after changing infusion sets too... so all in all easily I'm testing 10 times a day + at the mo! Ho hum...trying to see a funny side to all this... but did leave feeling like she had the opinion that I was getting expensive to keep alive! :( Think I'll just make sure the doc's tweak my 'allowances' next time I see one, they are normally quite good about quantities, it's the nurses that tend to go a bit fascist about it! Just find it so ironic that you get nagged if you don't test, nagged if you do...! 🙄
 
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