Looking for tech advise please!

[JenniferD333]

Hi all.

Hoping you might be able to direct me to some useful info please, regarding blood glucose monitors and any apps that could help manage diabetes.

A quick intro ...my husband was diagnosed with diabetes 15 years ago, but doesn’t manage it very well at all.

He’s been on insulin for about 2 years now, but he doesn’t test his blood (even though the nurses always tell him to) and he doesn’t really understand how to adjust his insulin doses based on the carbs he eats, so he just doesn’t.

He wasn’t feel well today and so did test his blood and found his sugar was very high, but he was confused about how much insulin to take.

He’s said he’s keen to finally get his diabetes under control, and thinks technology would help!

I think he’s hoping for a more advanced (but still affordable!) glucose monitor, and an accompanying app that can track his blood sugar levels, look for patterns, and help him adjust his insulin doses.

(rather than just writing in a little notebook!)

I’ve had a quick Google search but hoped here might be a good place for personal recommendations!

(I think a bit of tech might give him the push in the right direction!)

Thanks in advance for any pointers!


Jen

 

[Kaylz]

Hi there

As an insulin user he will get everything free on prescription but not all CCG's will prescribe the strips for all meters so it's a case of finding out what strips are available in your area unfortunately

What meter is he using at the moment? Unfortunately Accu-Chek are discontinuing their meter that gives bolus advice but they are moving to use their Mobile meter along with the MySugr app which I think does bolus advice but this will only help when he's established his insulin to carb ratio, correction factors etc (if he's on a basal/bolus regime)
xx

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @JenniferD333

Sorry to hear about your husband’s diabetes.

Many BG meters have apps that integrate with them these days, though these aren’t necessarily the ones with the cheapest strips.

As a first step it might be worth you and your husband working through the (free) BERTIE online course which will help give you a good grounding in how to use insulin for diabetes management. And this in turn will help you decide what tech is appropriate either for monitoring, or for dose calculation.

Alternatively a book like ‘Think Like a Pancreas’ might help fill in lots of the blanks for you both.

Remember that this is a marathon not a sprint, and that this won’t be something you can ‘fix’ overnight. You will have to work steadily and gradually through the challenges, frustrations, triumphs and disasters, but none of this effort is wasted - whatever small steps you can take in understanding and slightly improved BG management will pay you back many times over