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too many test strips

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DaisyDuke

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Just had a call from Diabetes nurse to say I am using too may test strips. I get 250 a month and always use them. I have a fear of hypos , I have to test 8 time a day to feel safe. I also have an autistic child who is school refusing and has been off on extreme anxiety since sept. My life is very stressful and I cannot control my diabetes. I am often high and need more insulin to correct it, I think the stress leaves me with high blood sugars. My son has been on a waiting list for camhs for 18 months for his severe anxiety and school phobia and should be seen soon. Everything is so stressful, how do I control my blood sugars with even less strips, I may as well give up. I was told I don't need to test before exercise but I do, my bloods go down fast with exercise. I don't think 8 times a day is extreme. I have levemir twice a day and novorapid for meals. She said my last HBa1c was 9.4.
 
Get an appointment with your doctor or consultant (not the nurse) and explain your situation and the reasons why you need to test when you do. Ask them to make a note in your records about the number of strips you require and make sure the nurse knows about it. That should shut her up.
 
Who told you you're not supposed to test before exercise ? thats ridiculous! you should test before AND after.....agree with Alison's advice..hope your situation gets resolved soon!
C x
 
Eight tests a day is not extreme, I do about 6-7 tests a day and I do not have the additional problems you are having to deal with. If you have a valid reason for each test you do, then that test is necessary in order for you to be safe and try and keep your blood sugars under control. I would have a read of the Diabetes UK advocacy pack regarding test strip restrictions:

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Advocacy/test-strips-advocacy-pack-0912.pdf

The pack contains a sample letter you can take to your GP. You might also want to call the Diabetes UK careline service as this is a topic that they have been campaigning about recently.

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_help/Talk-to-someone/Careline/
 
You're on Levemir and Novorapid. Without regular, frequent testing, you cannot accurately dose your insulin. At the very, very, very least you need to be testing at least 4-5x a day (waking, before each meal, before bed) so I can't see how on earth your nurse can medically justify this decision. It will put you in danger - not just from hypos, but also hypers as well. If you drive, it is even more pressing.

Given your A1C is already quite a bit above the maximum recommended by the NHS (I'm not having a go, by the way, just stating a clinically relevant fact), I cannot see how on earth they can medically justify taking away a tool that should help you get better diabetes control. If they take away your test strips, your A1C can only increase. In addition to using the Diabetes UK advocacy pack I would directly ask your nurse what the cost of treating the complications of diabetes will be to them - put her right on the spot and tell her that by restricting your strips, that's what she's condemning you to. I know these people are pawns in a larger machine and it's not their fault but they're the frontline - if you kick them hard enough, they'll kick the next person in the chain, and hopefully that person will be one who's empowered to make a decision.
 
I echo what Alison & northerner said.

I'd see your gp & explain to them why you need so many test strips.

At the end of the day it's your condition not theirs & I doubt most gp's understand diabetes fully apart there are 2 types
 
Thank you all, she has agreed I can pretend I am driving a few times a day to get the docs off my back for a while but will read the info you have given me. I could understand it if I was using 15 a day but it is only aout 8. What if out are ill or have a hypo or high blood sugar or drive, I like to test before exercise , I don't see why I shouldn't. She was very apologetic and said it was the doctor who wanted to know why I test So much, will definately make an appointment if they do get cut back
 
DaisyDuke said:
Thank you all, she has agreed I can pretend I am driving a few times a day to get the docs off my back for a while but will read the info you have given me. I could understand it if I was using 15 a day but it is only aout 8. What if out are ill or have a hypo or high blood sugar or drive, I like to test before exercise , I don't see why I shouldn't. She was very apologetic and said it was the doctor who wanted to know why I test So much, will definately make an appointment if they do get cut back
Click to expand...

Well, I did exactly that and explained to my doctor all the valid reasons I might need to test. She was quite surprised, as clearly there were quite a few things that had never crossed her mind and she was happy to prescribe me with 300 strips per prescription, which I can get when required, so no artificial 'monthly' limits. I was at a GPs conference just before Christmas and raised the issue of strip restriction there - I was assured that no such policy was in place in my area. Your doctor may just be ignorant of the facts of effective and safe self-monitoring, so it looks like they need educating! 🙂
 
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