Question about blood glucose machines

[Ermintrude]

Hello everyone.

I have been looking at the blood glucose testing stuff as suggested by so many of you.

I'm trying to work out if I can afford to commit to it. Being only 'at very high risk'of developing type 2 I know I cant get it all on prescription even though I qualify for free prescriptions due to low income.

I can afford to buy the thing but it's the ongoing costs I'm worried about.

How many strips would you estimate are needed a month? And finger pricking things?

And once you have tested and changed a meal so you know it's right for you, as I understand no more than a 2 increase in the reading, can you just count that as a 'safe' meal and eat it without testing?

Without wishing to be too much of a debbie downer the cost of healthy food is much higher, well at first anyway, and I dont have budget to waste. But I also want to get this under control.....

Thanking you all in advance.

 

[Ermintrude]

By the more expensive healthy food I'm meaning that I'm seeing how carbs are cheaper compared to meat and decent veg cost to make a meal.

All my squeeze the budget meals are carb heavy, and I always need to squeeze the budget! No wonder we eat so carb heavy!

 

[EllsBells]

Test to suit your budget. There is a blog post somewhere on how to test on a a budget - it's entirely up to you how much you are willing to fund. It might be that, instead of going all out and testing 6-8 time a day, you only test a few times a week - say one late evening and the following morning, or before or after a heavy meal. You are not in the full diabetic range so less need to do a huge amount. The strips are around £8 for 50, ditto the lancets but most people do not change them every day so you can eke these out - I change mine every 1-2 weeks as I remember!

Your starter kit comes with a number of lancets/test strips.

You may consider testing intensively for a week during your normal schedule and then decrease testing as you figure out what your body does with your meals.

 

[Kaylz]

I don't mean to pry but where do you do your shopping? I can feed 3 people for teas 7 days a week for around £20ish from Lidl

I buy chicken breasts and mince which only comes to £8 at most, eggs etc, I do spend slightly more than I'd like to but I buy for everyone and there are nights I don't eat the same as them so I have to spend slightly more, also I do buy foods with carbs due to still being in recovery from an eating disorder I set myself carbs to eat per meal so I don't slip into my old ways

Veg is cheap at Lidl's too

If you eat a wide variety of foods then it shouldn't be too difficult to stick to a budget, buy only what you need, batch cook and freeze etc
xx

 

[trophywench]

I'm a New Type 2. Do I Really Have to Test so Much?

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

 

[Ermintrude]

I don't mean to pry but where do you do your shopping? I can feed 3 people for teas 7 days a week for around £20ish from Lidl

I buy chicken breasts and mince which only comes to £8 at most, eggs etc, I do spend slightly more than I'd like to but I buy for everyone and there are nights I don't eat the same as them so I have to spend slightly more, also I do buy foods with carbs due to still being in recovery from an eating disorder I set myself carbs to eat per meal so I don't slip into my old ways

Veg is cheap at Lidl's too

If you eat a wide variety of foods then it shouldn't be too difficult to stick to a budget, buy only what you need, batch cook and freeze etc
xx

Yes I used to shop at aldi and lidl and do so easily within budget, walking there with my trusty trolly! Lol!

But I am in the sheilding group and having to rely on home deliveries at the moment. So it just depends which supermarket I can get a slot with and the delivery charges are eating into budget too. Priority slots at tesco are £4.50, I can sometimes get a sainsbury's saver slot for a quid but even though I try hard to get the best deals it's not the same as going and choosing whats on offer / looking good at aldi and lidl.

Cant wait till the government lifts sheilding as my exercise will go up and budget will ease just by being able to shop the way I used to.

A lot of people think these extra costs are covered by not using a car , but I never had one before, working, schooling and being at home has put my electricity usage way up so they have doubled my direct debit for that too.

Some even seem to think the priority slots are free and asked how much I was saving from being at home! Lol! Some people are clueless! Xx

 

[Ermintrude]

I should add to this that I count myself lucky, as some no longer have jobs at all.

 

[Kaylz]

Shielding isn't mandatory and is only guidance, I know many that received shielding letters and carried on as normal so if you wanted to go out then you could

Do Morrison's deliver where you are? Their later slots are generally about £2.50, at least that's what they are here, just had a look and their mince and chicken breasts for instance come in close to the same price as Lidl's, I'd be able to spend less if I could buy frozen meats but as we've only a 2 drawer freezer we can't
xx

 

[Ermintrude]

I'm a New Type 2. Do I Really Have to Test so Much?

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Brill thankyou

 

[Ermintrude]

Shielding isn't mandatory and is only guidance, I know many that received shielding letters and carried on as normal so if you wanted to go out then you could

Do Morrison's deliver where you are? Their later slots are generally about £2.50, at least that's what they are here, just had a look and their mince and chicken breasts for instance come in close to the same price as Lidl's, I'd be able to spend less if I could buy frozen meats but as we've only a 2 drawer freezer we can't
xx

Yes not mandatory, but absolutely necessary for me I'm afraid.
I have brittle asthma, was in hospital for a week in oct with a severe asthma attack, and I work in a partially patient facing role for the nhs. So have to work from home and my colleagues are taking my share of the patient facing work while I do the phone work.
So even without the asthma it wouldnt be fair on them if I was still taking other risks, as they have increased thier risk to keep me safe.

No morrisons dont deliver to my postcode sadly. I have asda (can never get a slot) , iceland , tesco and sainsbury's so I'm juggling the 3 as and when I do a top up freezer shop for iceland in and out if you know what I mean.

I just hope it's not for much longer. Although I'm not optimistic l it'll be lifted on 31st xx

 

[Kaylz]

Don't you have anyone that could nip to Lidl for you?

Our town set up a help group for people that couldn't get out to get their things and posted all over Facebook etc, have you tried searching for anything like that in your area?

I haven't been out in almost a year either btw as I also suffer anxiety and contamination OCD
xx

 

[Ermintrude]

Don't you have anyone that could nip to Lidl for you?

Our town set up a help group for people that couldn't get out to get their things and posted all over Facebook etc, have you tried searching for anything like that in your area?

I haven't been out in almost a year either btw as I also suffer anxiety and contamination OCD
xx

Not easily, my mum is 75 and dosent drive either. It's a lot to put on her, and I dont want her to increase her risk just because of me. I'm a single mum and over the years I've asked a lot of her, it feels backwards. I should be looking after her , not her me, so if I cant help her I wont burden her with extra to do for me at least!

Hadn't considered the voluntary groups..... I suppose I'm more used to asking for help from them for patients than myself! Lol!

That's really hard for you anxiety and OCD are hard enough to manage without the world going bonkers too. Xx

 

[Leadinglights]

Home made soups are a good option for making a few vegetables go a long way, and are nicer than from a tin. Also tinned tuna or mackerel with the addition of mayonnaise makes a good pate which goes a long way. Frozen berries are a good addition to yoghurt for breakfast or desert.
Adding veg to mince or other meat can bulk it out for several meals. Frozen veg are just as nutritious as fresh.
But you are right that low carb foods tend to be more costly than high carb pasta, rice, and bread. We have certainly noticed our food shop is more expensive as it is not as easy to get the deals on delivered orders.

 

[Kaylz]

Not easily, my mum is 75 and dosent drive either. It's a lot to put on her, and I dont want her to increase her risk just because of me. I'm a single mum and over the years I've asked a lot of her, it feels backwards. I should be looking after her , not her me, so if I cant help her I wont burden her with extra to do for me at least!

Hadn't considered the voluntary groups..... I suppose I'm more used to asking for help from them for patients than myself! Lol!

That's really hard for you anxiety and OCD are hard enough to manage without the world going bonkers too. Xx

That's so thoughtful of you, sorry for me it's my 88 year old grandad that was being inconsiderate and trailing about everywhere when he shouldn't have been and then coming to ours and I felt he was putting us at risk

Look in to the voluntary groups please, it would be worth it to save where you can

Yes I've lived with my OCD for 15 years now, was making fantastic progress until this all started and now worse than I've ever been xx

 

[Ermintrude]

Thanks everyone. After reading that article, thankyou @trophywench , and talking gvit over with my mum, I'm goi g to get one.

To me its beginning to seem a bit like do it now or do it later, I'm goi g to end up doing it sometime, and seems logical that sooner is better than later.

Thankyou all

 

[Ermintrude]

That's so thoughtful of you, sorry for me it's my 88 year old grandad that was being inconsiderate and trailing about everywhere when he shouldn't have been and then coming to ours and I felt he was putting us at risk

Look in to the voluntary groups please, it would be worth it to save where you can

Yes I've lived with my OCD for 15 years now, was making fantastic progress until this all started and now worse than I've ever been xx

Aww I hope that it all improves soon. It's such a difficult time xxx

 

[Drummer]

Once you start to see how you react to carbs you do not need to test all the time - I test very rarely now, as after the first six months I was back to normal.
If you get used to counting carbs you might only test one day a week, to see how your response to foods is changing with time.
Once I began to get under 8mmol/l after dinner, I then saw the numbers drifting downwards without changing anything, just sticking to the same meals.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hadn't considered the voluntary groups..... I suppose I'm more used to asking for help from them for patients than myself! Lol!

Well worth a quick internet search to see. I think ’covid 19 community response’ seems to be the term to look for.

Lots of folks set up ad-hoc groups to help those in their local area in the first lockdown. If you have a local community centre that might be involved, or know the details. Sometimes local churches are coordinating things too.