[LarryTango]

Originally Posted by REDLAN

Hi, LarryTango, some questions.

Do you drive? Do you experience hypoglycemia from taking Metformin?

These 2 issues alone may be enough to convince your doctor that you need to continue testing.

Another strategy you could adopt is to explain how you use your testing to control your diabetes. For instance do you use testing to adjust metformin dose? Do you use testing to adjust your food intake? Do you use testing to assess the impact of a new food?

If you are doing any of the above then these are good reasons for your doctor to reinstate your prescription.

I dont drive and i have never really felt ill from the effects of blood sugar being low or high (when i was original diagnosed at level of 55 i felt fine and a few times my meter has told me i am 3.5 and i felt fine) but i have just said a few times i have been 3.5 and since i am not accually feeling any different when my sugar goes up or down without the meter i just wouldnt know. i was put on 4 x 500mg of metformin 6 month ago by the hospital when my levels were high, i have wondering about going on less medication but then i have the full 'make an appointment with my doctor' problem again

i dont test as much as i used too obviously because im better with my control than i used to be but thats not the point in my eyes, for instance (as shown on another post) i was a little naughty and ate a caramel chocolate bar that someone stupidly got me for easter lol and so i checked myself 4 times in space of 3 hours to see how much it rose and how quickly etc and i like the fact i can try new things (granted maybe not chocolate lol) and then know if its safe for me to eat again etc

a1c is a good average of what i have been like 3 montshs ago , how does that help me on what i am like now?

at first i thought this was a letter to me because my a1c was good , kinda saying well ur doing ok so u dont need to test (which i would still moan about) but its not its a letter i assume been sent out to everyone in this practice who is not on insulin and im sure they are people who are doing worse than me (not trying to sound big headed or anything) and who need to test alot more

i realise this strips are expensive, during xmas i ran out and needed to buy some and was going to cost me £27 for 50 strips (so i bought a new meter that was on sale for £7 with strips included lol) but money is money and life is life and all that lol

tango x

ps thnx for the reply guys

[TomB]

Here in the good old US of A, glucose self testing for type II diabetics is a thing of the past - as far as insurance companies are concerned. Check the covered quantities and conditions for getting test strips from:

Medicare: 50 per 3 months unless on multiple insulin shots per day.
Blue Cross Blue Shield: 50 per month. 150 per month if taking insulin.
VA: 50 per 3 months; 150 a month if on multiple insulin shots per day.

Folks, the money people have found a way to cut their costs and they will use any half baked study to justify cutting back on buying test strips. This is no longer a local issue. Anyone know if there might be a US congressman who would be on the testing side? It's time for a "Diabetic's Bill of Rights."

[slipperyelm]

LarryTango, I sure hope you can get this worked out. With some meds type 2s might be on, they definitely need to be able to test BG.

TomB, while I do share your concern that insurance companies will be trying to not provide payments on strips that so many of us Type 2s with good control use to help keep control, I disagree with your presentation of the number of strips allowed.

I have a Blue Cross Blue Shield policy and I get 150 strips per month. That is the amount my doctor prescribes, not a limit imposted by BCBS. BCBS plans are not uniform. There are different versions, and different states or regions have different details to their plans.

I do not know about Medicare and VA provisions. (UKers, Medicare is the US government provided insurance for disabled and elderly, while VA refers to the US federal Veterans Administration, which runs hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics that all veterans are entitled to use.)

I will work extra hours to buy strips at full retail price, if I have to. Testing my BG keeps me on the right path meal to meal! The times when I have slowed my testing (such as due to insurance mix ups ) I have slipped on my diet. That five times a day feed back is immensely helpful to me.

Perhaps I would ask my doctor for insulin if it were the only way I could get strips....

[TomB]

Slipperyelm - You're right about differences with insurance coverage. We have BCBS for North Carolina state employees which is awfully tight with test strips. A few years ago we had a different carrier that didn't care how many I used. To get enough test strips I went to WalMart and got their ReliOn meter for $8.88 and 100 strips for about $45.00. Those plus what I get through BCBS does the job, unless I start getting weird hypo numbers.
= I totally agree with you about getting feedback on where my glucose is at. Seems to me I may have avoided a few ER trips simply by knowing I was still down in the 50's.

[Funnygrl]

Yay socialized medicine!

[REDLAN]

Folks, the money people have found a way to cut their costs and they will use any half baked study to justify cutting back on buying test strips.

The NICE recommendations were based on 4 studies. The reason that they only used 4 studies was because these were the ONLY studies of sufficient quality to answer the question of does testing BG improve control for people with type 2 - and even then NICE conceded that they weren't the BEST studies.

I do find it rather ironic that a practice as widespread as testing BG, and nobody has bothered to find out properly whether it makes any difference. Whole swathes of medicine are like this. Read NICE (very boring) - large chunks of the recommendations are based on the evidence of expert panels, because there is no relevant research data on which to make a decision.

Back to LarryTango.

Hi LarryTango

Sounds to me that you easily have a case for getting your prescription back. I think your best bet, in the first instance is to go and see your GP directly. Take your test book with you, and explain that the reason you have such good control, is because you are able to test, and show him/her what you are doing. It may also help to give your GP an estimate of the number of test strips you need each week/month.

It sounds to me that the decision to stop test strips has been made at a practice/regional level. The NICE recommendations are just that. Recommendations. Your doctor still has the power to make decisions based on his/her patients best interests (this is what is meant by the term clinical decision). And it would seem to me that continuing testing is in your best interests - you achieve better control.

[Bevvie]

Hi LarryTango

I too am from the UK - and it all sounds familiar. My GP wouldn't give me any strips but I thought that was because I wasn't taking any meds. However, meds or no meds it's all about prevention and monitoring which we all know but some UK GPs don't seem to understand and think more about their budgets. I buy all my strips from the net - sad but true.

[doctordun]

Well I can confirm a portion of this. I'm a veteran using the VA Hospital and was told that I would get only 50 strips for 3 months and if I was taking insulin, I would get 200 for 3 months. I'm not taking insulin, but I convinced my doctor to give me the maximum. I still buy some on the side to make up for the times I feel the need to test more often.

Originally Posted by TomB

Here in the good old US of A, glucose self testing for type II diabetics is a thing of the past - as far as insurance companies are concerned. Check the covered quantities and conditions for getting test strips from:

Medicare: 50 per 3 months unless on multiple insulin shots per day.
Blue Cross Blue Shield: 50 per month. 150 per month if taking insulin.
VA: 50 per 3 months; 150 a month if on multiple insulin shots per day.

Folks, the money people have found a way to cut their costs and they will use any half baked study to justify cutting back on buying test strips. This is no longer a local issue. Anyone know if there might be a US congressman who would be on the testing side? It's time for a "Diabetic's Bill of Rights."

[Penny]

Just got the 6 month/30 day log, that I have to do for my insurance co. (BC/BS). I get 200 strips a month, used to get a 3 month supply at a time, now get them monthly....this is because the supplier made a billing error and wanted me to pay for it. I refused and they started giving me a hard time.

[HelenM]

The NHS itself hasnot advocated no test strips, so you need to convince individual doctors. This also might help.


Home tests for diabetes

Its from an 'official' NHS website about the recent type 2 testing research. It explains what the research actually said and also the flaws in the research. whats more it says

It is not surprising that patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes found it had more of an impact on their lives and their mental comfort when they had to adapt to regular blood sugar testing compared with their counterparts who did not self-monitor and, to all intents and purposes, could continue life as they had previously. However, this does not mean that self-monitoring of blood sugar has no role in diabetes care. It remains vital that diabetics maintain their blood sugar at as balanced a level as possible in order to avoid the many complications associated with diabetes.

and

The issue of self-monitoring of blood sugar being a “waste” or being a “harm” has been slightly over-emphasised by the news. All people with diabetes should continue to be monitored and carefully controlled in the best possible way, on an individual basis

[pegasus]

Check this thread for ideas too:

Test strip frustrations...