The UK being strange again. In Australia diabetics are encouraged to test regularly (often every day and sometimes more than once )and most join the diabetic association (free) they then get the boxes of strips for a nominal sum($1.00) You can get the test machine for less than $20. The only problem is that the lancets for the pricker are not free, but as most people ignore the once only rule (as long as it is only used for themselves)it wont cost much. And most doctors here don't keep test results secret,I would think a doctor that did very suss. (except in some cases involving psychological problems.
Test machines are usually about a tenner in the UK. My son (counted as adult) tests 4 times a day on average, and is required to test before he drives. He gets strips and lancets on prescription with no trouble.
Modern lancet systems are buolt to be one-off - there is a carousel with six lancets, and it rotates after each use and locks after all six are used. OTOH, he gets them free!
That is truly appalling - even if the doctor does have psychological problems! .-)
My son has his HbA1c tested at the hospital clinic and they always tell him the result. Similarly, if I ask my (different, because at work) GP, she prints out the results of any tests I ask (I'm not diabetic but have other 'things').
I have never had a problem when asking the doctor - only when asking the receptionist because I didn't have an appointment. Even then, a bit of pushing has got what I wanted to know.
Medicine is not binary. "OK" / "see doctor" is not sufficient. (Not even if you add the extra category "Not OK, should see doctor, but for goodness' sake don't tell the patient".
Your GP is not following NICE guidelines nor giving you the care to which you are entitled.
Good resources:
You can get support by contacting them, there may be a local support group you can join if you are lucky - not all areas have one.
There is a list of the checks you SHOULD have.
You should also be having your eyes checked every year by the diabetic retinopathy service.
You may, of course, already know all this.
If you are developing peripheral neuropathy then it is possible that your BG control is not as good as your GP claims.
I know diabetic nurses tend to say "well, that usually happens" but that is not good enough IMHO.
Neuropathy can be reversed in many cases.
Also a very supportive web site is
which is also somewhere to check if you really are adopting a strict diabetic diet. If you are following the advice of the NHS which tends to recommend a healthy diet for a non-diabetic (plenty of carbs with every meal, fruit, veggies, low fat) on the assumption that the main problem with Type 2 diabetics is that they are over weight then you may have better options.
Bottom line - change your GP a.s.a.p. after checking around the area for a diabetic friendly surgery.
If you need any help and support then please let me know and I will give you contacts details outside the NG.
You can get free machines, I have two. You can get free software and USB cables to connect them to a PC. You can get free test strips although NICE have decided that you should only test weekly unless you are on insulin. The lancets are free.
Testing weekly is a problem as the strips for my machine come in tubs of
25 and they expire 3 months after opening the tub so I may as well test more often.
Don't get too excited about testing, the stress is worse than diabetes and will probably kill you first.
Free machines/software/strips - where? (I'm fairly recently diagnosed T2, and although my HbA1C results are reasonable they are only done every 3-6 months. I wouldn't mind knowing more about my day-to-day BG levels.)
Are results from these machines consistent? If one person supplies drops of blood which are tested in several machines do they all give the same results?
With 40-50 machines on the UK market, how does one choose one (unless it and teh strips are free)?
Also, how does one know whether one's machine is accurate? I'm fairly sure I read something somewhere in the last few months about some machines being faulty - ah this could be it:
Post code lottery - the strips come out of the practice budget so it depends how money hungry or in debt your GP and practice are.
Loads of people (including myself) can get test strips on prescription.
Loads of other people can't - especially now budgets are tightening up.
As with all things, you need to shop around for a good service these days. If your practice is not diabetic friendly then if possible move to one that is.
One thing - if you have a limited supply of strips then you can do a short testing campaign where you test several times a day then wait a while before repeating.
My son was given a free machine or two by the diabetes nurse. Software is just free (remember the manufacturers work on the Gillette model and make their money on the strips). Strips - on prescription. HbA1c - every 4 months or so.
But this is someone who is Type 1.
Only compared two machines but they were OK.
We use whatever the hospital recommends and the GP is told to perescribe strips for.
Depends which make of pricker. The Abbott ones (medisense/freestyle) are simple enough that they can be reused - and that includes one I got in the past couple of months.
Different makes of lancets also make a difference. The Abbott ones seem to last for ages (I think I had one for a couple of years!), the generic replacement ones go blunt much quicker. (possibly BD?)
Abbott have been offering the freestyle free on a facebook ad recently. Seems pretty good. Possibly do some googling for glucose meters, then use facebook without adblock - might pop up :-)
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