We're not the only ones with test strip problems

[Northerner]

Just read this on another board, where it seems that an insurance company in the US has taken it upon themselves to limit the number of strips they pay for to 50/month for non-insulin diabetics and 150/month for insulin-diabetics. Even I would struggle on 150 a month, which is about 5 tests a day. Maybe, if diabetes was perfectly predictable I could manage, but doubt it even then, and it's not. And how can they apply a blanket policy to ALL diabetics when it should be an individual decision as we are all different?

http://www.tudiabetes.org/forum/topics/shocking-new-kaiser-test-strip?xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_url

 

[am64]

global non testing!!! what gets me is some accountant on a huge 5 figure salary is looking for bits to trim down their budgets! at what risk? 😡😡😡

 

[FM001]

Hi Northerner

Out of interest, how many test strips do you get in a month from your doctor?

I can test up to 8 times a day, not every day but will be no less than 6.

Toby

 

[Northerner]

Hi Northerner

Out of interest, how many test strips do you get in a month from your doctor?

I can test up to 8 times a day, not every day but will be no less than 6.

Toby

I get 200 strips per prescription and my meter software tells me I test about 6.3 times a day. I'd say the absolute minimum I test is 5 in a day, but sometimes 7 or 8. I have been reading on (yet another!) site where people are testing between 13 and 20 times a day, which does sound a lot to me, but then I only really know how often I need to test and my levels are generally pretty stable. I can see that, maybe if you are not on BG lowering meds lk insulin or sulphonylureas then you might not have to test everytime you eat or after you eat - if you've established how you react to certain meals then it may not be necessary to test for that meal again (or not everytime). This might reduce the number of strips you need over time, but even so the limit of 1.6 per day seems to be an absolute minimum rather than a maximum for such people.

I read that the unit cost is about 10 cents per strip, which I suppose is about 7p, but the retail price is 50p per strip, and the NHS pay about 30p per strip.

 

[FM001]

Thanks Northerner

I know when I was on my DAFNE course back in October, it was interesting when discussing testing how many times people tested each day. Bearing in mind we were all type 1, out of a group of 9 people, there was 4 including myself who tested on average 6-8 times daily, 3 chose to test prior to eating, therefore 3-4 tests daily, another tested first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and amazingly one guy had not tested for 3 months!😱

I asked why he doesn't bother testing, he just said that he couldn't be bothered, he had no test strips with him or at home, so he had to be provided with a tub. This same guy only 12 months previous had been admitted to hospital with ketoacidosis, and spent a week in hospital for his troubles. I would have thought that this would have been a lesson learnt, but obviousely it wasn't.

Toby

 

[Northerner]

...I asked why he doesn't bother testing, he just said that he couldn't be bothered, he had no test strips with him or at home, so he had to be provided with a tub. This same guy only 12 months previous had been admitted to hospital with ketoacidosis, and spent a week in hospital for his troubles. I would have thought that this would have been a lesson learnt, but obviousely it wasn't.

Toby

I really don't understand people 'not bothering' to test, especially Type 1. How on earth do you know how much insulin you need? I did an experiment a few months back, where I tried to guess what my levels were before testing - I got nearly every one very wrong! And you're right about DKA - having experienced that it's something I hope I never ever repeat😱

 

[SilentAssassin1642]

I went through a stage of not bothering to test, and i came very close to DKA on many an occassion.

Now I test ALOt, and I get through a pot of 25 strips in about 2 days. 200 strips lasts me about a month.

 

[katie]

I guess he's either in denial or has no idea how serious it is that he isn't testing - in the long term.