Mean doctor

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casey

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Twice in the last two weeks i have put into my GP surgery a very polite letter asking if they would prescribe me some ketostix, both times they have refused. I was wondering if most people get them on prescription or do you buy your own, as i had to.
 
shocking.......................never had to buy them.................the next step is to get an appointment with the doc, to get them added on to the script
 
Have they given you a reason for refusing? Maybe you can get your DSN to write and explain why you need them.
I have some ketone stips on prescription, but they have expired and I haven't got round to ordering some more yet.
 
i see we are in the same area (we go to the poole hospital clinic). My daughter has ketone strips on her prescription - did your doctor give any reason why you couldnt have them? If you can give the clinic a ring - perhaps thay can speak to your doctor for you. When k was dx they didnt put testing strips on her scrip but that was an oversight (i hope)
 
Has you Dr ever prescribed them for you ? If not it could be that it is the prescription clerk who is rejecting the request not the Dr (who may not see your repeat).

When I started on insulin - I rang up to get BM strips for the meter the hospital were giving me and the receptionist said I couldn't have any without seeing a Dr. When I rang on the Monday and explained I needed to see a Dr about the strips the second receptionist said that she could get the Dr to call me.

When the Dr rang - and asked who he could help - there was no problem.

Maybe you could ring the practice and see if they can get the Dr to call you.
 
It could be as Margie says, if they aren't on your repeat and the doc doesn't deal with the request then nobody is bothering to sort it. Not good enough though, get in touch and maybe ask the doc to ring you back, hopefully it will be resolved.
 
Disgusting behaviour refusing a type 1 diabetic Ketostix, is he not aware of the perils of ketones in the urine and life-threatening ketoacidosis? Kindly remind him that it is a requirement that you have access to these at all times so that you can test for traces of ketones when unwell or running elevated blood glucose. Should you have access, take along the DAFNE handbook which states this on the 'sick-day rules' chapter.
 
Thank you for the replies everyone, i will phone my doctor tomorrow and have a word with him.
 
If you can't get hold of your doctor, try asking to speak to their secretary. I always get good results with mine, from emergency repeats to adding stuff to it that's not been prescribed by them (or anyone, in a couple of cases when eg I've needed to change test strips). The secretary isn't the same as the receptionist, they normally have a lot more leeway :D
 
It's a shame no-one has said why the request for ketotix was refused. However, a very plausible explanation could be that the GP thinks testing for ketones in blood is more effective, as it reflects what's happening now, not what happened in the hours leading up to a full bladder. As there is only one meter that can test ketones in blood as well as blood glucose, the Optium Xceed, and they would know whether you already get blood glucose sticks for that meter, that could be why. Blood ketone sticks are expensive - about the same price for 10 as for 50 blood glucose strips, and most people don't use them very often, so they often expire before use. http://www.abbottdiabetescare.co.uk/inspired-products/optium-xceed
However, an explanation would be better.
 
Tell us please what he said! I'm really curious what can be the reason for such behavior.
 
I had never had ketostix until recently when my DN told me to get hold of some when I was poorly. I spoke to my gp on the telephone and told him DN had said I needed them and he left a prescription out for me the same day.

You certainly shouldn't have to pay for them.
 
My GP prescribed ketostix the first time I saw her. They did get removed from my repeat when I didn't re-order any, but I have since persuaded the GP to prescribe the blood ketone strips. No-one on insulin should be without a method of testing for ketones as they can be potentially very dangerous. We've had the discussion on cost before - is it actually more expensive to get blood ketone strips which have a much longer shelf life than urine testing ones - once you have opened the urine ones they are only effective for six months, after which time you have to throw them away, whereas blood strips can last up to two years.
 
The Ketostix for testing urine are cheap and you can purchase them for around ?3.50 for a box of 50, but just the same there are no reasons why insulin users should have to buy them.
 
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