Newly diagnosed Type 2

[DENISE_G]

Hi all

I have been diagnosed TODAY (18/11/2013) with Type 2.

I have already had some lovely welcome messages on here and I am sure that I will find this forum invaluable.

I am due to return for another blood test tomorrow and would value your opinions, as I want to be armed with "some" info' before I visit the nurse tomorrow.

A quick question:
I would like to "home test" and I wondered what testing equipment you are using at the moment. Have you got any recommendations please ??

Thank you - Denise x 🙂

 

[Northerner]

Most home testing meters are very similar in their use, cost and accuracy. If you are given a meter by the nurse then you will most likely 'get what you get given', but the main thing to bear in mind is getting a prescription for some test strips. Meters aren't given on prescription as most reps leave some with surgeries to give away, or you can often get them free from the manufacturers as they make all their profits from the strips which can only be used once each and can only generally be used for specific meters or at most by the meters from a particular manufacturer. Some surgeries are restricted to what meters/strips they can offer due to deals being struck.

All that being said, if you do get a choice some common, good meters are Bayer Contour Next, Accuchek Aviva and Nano, Freestyle Optium. The main thing is to try and secure some strips on repeat, so I would take whatever they offer - unless they offer urine testing strips instead of blood testing strips, urine strips are practically useless in most day-to-day situations.

Tell them that you want to understand how your diet and modifications to it are impacting your blood sugar levels. They may counter that they will test you every 3 or 6 months, but tell them that you will feel in the dark and not in control if you can't monitor yourself. You might also like to point out that diabetes is managed 99.9% of the time by you, not them - they only see you once in a while at appointments, you deal with it every day.

If they do decline still, one avenue you might consider is funding your won self-testing, recording the results for a month or so, then returning to them with evidence of how it is helping you. Many will then relent and prescribe some strips. One of the cheaper meters available we have found is the SD Codefree Meter with test strips at around ?7 for 50.

 

[DENISE_G]

Blood Testing Monitors

Thank you so much for this reply.

Your knowledge has really helped me and hopefully will help me to obtain the correct Blood Testing Monitor for my needs.

SOOO new to me and like a lot of people on here, it is somewhat daunting.
I really aim to "do as I'm told" as I have always lived a healthy full life and don't want to stop NOW, Lol 🙂

This is an AMAZING site "WELL DONE" and I look forward to reading and contributing posts in the future.

Thanks again Denise x

Most home testing meters are very similar in their use, cost and accuracy. If you are given a meter by the nurse then you will most likely 'get what you get given', but the main thing to bear in mind is getting a prescription for some test strips. Meters aren't given on prescription as most reps leave some with surgeries to give away, or you can often get them free from the manufacturers as they make all their profits from the strips which can only be used once each and can only generally be used for specific meters or at most by the meters from a particular manufacturer. Some surgeries are restricted to what meters/strips they can offer due to deals being struck.

All that being said, if you do get a choice some common, good meters are Bayer Contour Next, Accuchek Aviva and Nano, Freestyle Optium. The main thing is to try and secure some strips on repeat, so I would take whatever they offer - unless they offer urine testing strips instead of blood testing strips, urine strips are practically useless in most day-to-day situations.

Tell them that you want to understand how your diet and modifications to it are impacting your blood sugar levels. They may counter that they will test you every 3 or 6 months, but tell them that you will feel in the dark and not in control if you can't monitor yourself. You might also like to point out that diabetes is managed 99.9% of the time by you, not them - they only see you once in a while at appointments, you deal with it every day.

If they do decline still, one avenue you might consider is funding your won self-testing, recording the results for a month or so, then returning to them with evidence of how it is helping you. Many will then relent and prescribe some strips. One of the cheaper meters available we have found is the SD Codefree Meter with test strips at around ?7 for 50.

 

[Northerner]

Thank you so much for this reply.

Your knowledge has really helped me and hopefully will help me to obtain the correct Blood Testing Monitor for my needs.

SOOO new to me and like a lot of people on here, it is somewhat daunting.
I really aim to "do as I'm told" as I have always lived a healthy full life and don't want to stop NOW, Lol 🙂

This is an AMAZING site "WELL DONE" and I look forward to reading and contributing posts in the future.

Thanks again Denise x

Happy to help 🙂 Let us know how you get on!

 

[LeeLee]

Hi Denise, doing as you're told is sometimes the best plan, but do compare the instructions you're given to the posts on this site. Some healthcare professionals are very good, but many are woefully out of date and give advice that may have been gospel 20 years ago, before research proved it wrong. Remember that this is YOUR condition, and YOU will be the one in control of it for the vast majority of the time. Good luck! 🙂

 

[trophywench]

I echo what LeeLee has said.

Make it your business to find out all you can about the condition - sticking round here and reading LOTS of other people's posts about what they found helped them is a good place to start.

Because there's a lot of baloney talked about diabetes and a fair bit of it is and has been spoken by folk who you would think on the face of it, ought to know best.

Compare it to a TV prog recently where they were discussing statins. Top dog eminent professor at a MAJOR UK university said 'Hardly any people have problems from side effects'. A GP said he didn't agree. At least 10% of his patients who were or had been talking them all had various problems with them.

Who is right? - the man who reads all the learned research papers and bases his knowledge on those 'facts' or the bloke who actually deals with a reasonably sized cross section of the real people with the real lives in the same part of England?

LOL