[shiftzor]

I was talking to my GP and she said I was at risk of over testing resulting in me getting fed up and not testing when I get older. I wouldn't say 6-8 times a day was excessive. How many people have experienced this?

[Stuboy]

hmmmm...

i think this depends on the individual...

I myself go through phases of testing 8 or so times a day, and i do find myself getting fed up with it sometimes, and as a result i stop testing so much...

However, you could look at it a different way... you can time 8times a day for a while and then lower the amount of tests for a short while and not see any serious affects resulting from only 4 times a day say... as long as you know where you are at when you decrease the number of tests.

For me, it tends to get to a point where i just can't keep it up, so i have to reduce the number of tests a day for a while.

So i guess i have experienced this "Testing Burnout" a few times.

But i think it really will depend on the individual. Having said that... it's no reason for a GP to reduce you're amount of tests available to you.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by Stuboy

However, you could look at it a different way... you can time 8times a day for a while and then lower the amount of tests for a short while and not see any serious affects resulting from only 4 times a day say... as long as you know where you are at when you decrease the number of tests.

For me, it tends to get to a point where i just can't keep it up, so i have to reduce the number of tests a day for a while.

I've been in a slack mode since October. I'm only doing about 6 a day and I've done no charting at all. I want to follow a course where I sort of cruise at 4-6 a day then quarterly go crazy for a week and do 12-18 a day to basal test, profile a meal, or verify my rates.

For me
-cruise mode is 4-8. I don't go below 4
-watch mode is 8-12. I am charting, sick, stressed, change in activity, whatever. There's a need to watch cloer.
-intense mode 12-18 a day. I want to do this quarterly for a week. Maybe every 4-6 months.

[Glucoweb]

I go through phases as well, right now I am on the downswing of a heavy testing phase, 9+ times a day. I will get down to around 4 or 5 for a while and then swing up again. I have found that doing this every so many months helpd me adjust my basal rates, and insulin to carb ratios.

[ant hill]

xMenice is right on the ball when you come to control and I am much the same.
Back in the old days when I saw meters come to us and my adventure has begun as we know that to see 6 MMOL/L is the target!! and I just had fun like I swallow a slice of bread and test 2 hours later and see 2 - 3 MMOL/L difference. And there were no bolus to have either. So can you imagine having a meal, You would be too scared to eat the whole plate.
Back then you would have to know to carb count!!! or you would be not happy but with this meter we can control BG's with boluses and again look at our meters to see that we're on the level.
Testing is vital to control. Shiftzor, You may have burn out but really to know whare you are is so important.

[Penny]

I am "older", sometimes I get tired of testing, but I test much more than I did when I was younger. When I get tired of testing, it usually corresponds to when I get tired of always being good about my diet. It seldom lasts more than a day, when I realize that day of letting things go resulted in some bad numbers and me not feeling too good.

[soso]

some days I hardly test at all.. maybe once after dinner... mind those days are when I have been very LC and eating my staples and/or cery busy and no signs of hypos...

Other days 10+ times.... different foods...exercise....hypo feelings... just remember at the right time and curious...

I def get fed up with testing and don't worry too much over a couple of days, but I am aware it will be a big part of my life till they invent something better... doesn't mean I would be happy with less availability of strips..
Even if one does burn out occasionally or when one is older, the body will not be as wrecked as it would be in the meantime... we have to do what we can as long as we can.. we are playing the long game and the short game with this..

Look at your excellent progress with your A1c...does your Dr think that was good luck or good management?

[davef]

I'm relatively new to diabetes and therefore testing, I guess I know where your doctor is coming from but I don't necessarily agree. I test 4-6 times most days, sure there have been some when only tested 2-3 times, but they are exceptional days and not because I got fed up testing, more because I was so busy out and about that I forgot to test.

I feel I have made good progress since DX (A1c from 11.6 to 6.8) and know I would not have managed that without testing as often as I did/do. It had been suggested that I only test twice a day (morning and night) but that wouldn't have told me about what foods worked best and there is no way I would have gotten things under control.

I feel I would rather have good control and run the risk of getting tired of testing when I'm older rather than poor control and have to deal with a mess of complications when I'm older.

I'm hoping to develop habits as a habit is something that is hard to break.

[Scratch]

Burnout is potentially an issue.

For well over a year now, I've been testing usually somewhere between 8 to 12 times a day and yeah there are days when I just feel absolutely po'ed about doing it, but I'm putting up with it because it gives me access to the quality of life I want -- A1c's below 6, improved bloodwork, improved kidney function, running and working out. I'd have a lot of trouble achieving all that with under 8 tests per day.

[Scrabblechick]

You and I are completely simpatico in our views on testing, Dave!

I test right after I get up in the a.m. I tend to eat the same things for breakfast every morning, and I know how they affect me, so I usually don't test again until I go home for lunch. I test then and take my meter back to work with me and test 2x before I go home for the day. Then, I test after supper and sometimes before bedtime. It all depends on what I had for supper.

Sometimes, it is frustrating when the meter reads higher, then test again, and it's a much better number. Which is right? Makes me crazy. Usually, a third test will go with the lower number, so I take that one. LOL.

Like you Dave, I'd rather risk testing burnout now than have complications down the line!!

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by shiftzor

I was talking to my GP and she said I was at risk of over testing resulting in me getting fed up and not testing when I get older. I wouldn't say 6-8 times a day was excessive. How many people have experienced this?

And this is the GP who wouldn't prescribe your strips "as needed"???? Is she a mind reader?

I've been diabetic over 40 years. I got my first meter in the mid-1980s--it was the size of a hardcover book. I was reluctant--the idea of having to pay that much attention to my diabetes was discouraging (and this predated the newer quick- and long-acting insulins that mimic BG levels much more closely and therefore give an opportunity for closer monitoring). So I began, slowly, to learn how to integrate it in ways that worked for my life, and to adapt.

What I heard later was that the meters had actually been developed in the 1970s, but that docs had an debate among themselves about making them available to us. That they were worried we would not be able to take proper control of our own lives.

I didn't realize that sort of mind-set was still being taught in med schools 30 years later. Tell your GP that it's *your* decision about how you handle your health care--she's there to advise, educate, treat as needed with your involvement (and that includes what kinds of meds of *any kind* you take, and when), and that when [i]you[i] say you want to test 0, or 2, or 5, or 8, or 30 times a day, she should take out a pen and write!

Geez!

[davef]

Originally Posted by Scrabblechick

You and I are completely simpatico in our views on testing, Dave!

Maybe we're just as mad as each other but I'd like to think we are just as clever as each other

[fgummett]

Ahh yes... can't beat the roar of a big V8 under the hood/bonnet, rear wheel drive, the smell of burnin' rubber... doin' donuts in the parking lot...

Oops wrong burnout

Yes I also have phases where I test more and then others where I "relax" for a while... when things change it is still important to test but when you get settled in a routine it is less so. Just don't beat yourself up about it for "being bad"... everyone does this from time to time... just confirms that we are human after all

[shiftzor]

I prefer to eat donuts instead of doing them in packing lots, in a car i might add.

I know she said it because she didn't really want to put pen to paper, although to be fair she had given me my supplies by the time it was suggested. It’s her way of saying be careful you’re in it for the long game not just the short game. I just wondered if others experienced it and I totally agree that I am better off controlling bg now and having a couple of days (not months I hope) "burnout" later. We briefly discussed pumping and CGMs, I hope when I see my endo I can acquire them, but that’s another issue . I have had the D for 21months and I still haven’t experienced burnout if anything I’ve tested more with every passing month. Take it as it comes I guess, hopefully the availability of strips will increase over the coming months .

[Stuboy]

bring on non-invastive pocket sized glucometers that's what i say... no burn out required!

I think it's litterally just the fact that it involves pricking that leads to the burn out. If there was no pain (and i use the word pain very loosely) involved i'd do it every 15 minutes! quick thumb on a pad and boom, result.

Quality!