I was arguing with her though that the script said for 100. Which it did. Doctor wanted me to have 100 and he wrote 100 on the script but the doctor goofed and put BID on the script. I could have dealt with that, all she had to say was look here at the script, doctor has contradictory information and you need to call the doc. But nope, she had to develop an attitude and tell me tough luck.
My biggest complaint about her was that she said my insurance company would only cover 50 per month, that was just insane.
Medicare and medicaid MAY be considered universal healthcare but not when they don’t give it to the many people who actually need it. When I had been attacked by a dog and nearly had my arm torn off in 95…they wouldn’t even help me get one bottle of insulin when I couldn’t work. I ended up having to borrow the money from family and going back to work 2 weeks after my surgery (6 weeks before they told me I could) Since then when I’ve had problems I’ve actually been asked leading questions like…are you pregnant, have you lost a limb? Are you blind? No, I just worked for a company who didn’t pay enough and couldn’t afford my meds. I made 14.00 too much to get medicaid. If I had anymore health problems or was blind or an amputee I probably wouldn’t care if I got help or not because I’d be too depressed to care.
At least 4 times a day, sometimes 6, depending on what I’m planning to eat. I always test first thing in the morning, 2 hours after breakfast. If I’m having my typical very low carb lunch, I won’t test. Then I always test before dinner then 2 hours after. After studying and writing down everything I eat ( I also hold to a 1200-1400 calorie a day diet) I pretty much know what will spike by BG and what doesn’t - example- a small baked potato doesn’t affect me but a small amount of white rice? watch out! 2 slices of thin pizza- not a problem- Quaker Oat Squares ? well I don’t eat them anymore! Also, once a week or so I just do a random check anytime during the day- Hope this helps a bit
Ed
Emma:
Next time you see your endocrinologist tell him what the nurse told you. I am assuming that this nurse works are your endo’s office. if not, and this is a general doctor, you should consider seeing an endocrinologist on top of the general doctor.
As for # of times, I test at least 6 times, typically 8. 4 is really the minimum: all tests are is samples of your BG at that particular moment. If you think of it, sugars can have a wide range of values between tests, so the more often you test, the more samples you are going to have and the better idea you will have of how your TREND has been.
Manny,
I live in the UK, and am also under 16, and therefore in the care of a pediatric nurse who specialises in diabetes. This one nurse is the nurse of every child with diabetes in my area who is not having private care. I’m not really sure about endocrinologists…
Either we call them something different in the UK or you don’t have one until you are over 16. All I know is that I don’t have one ;]
At the moment I’m just keeping up the many tests until my doctors surgery starts refusing to give me enough strips. THEN I’ll cut down.
Your doing great Emma! Like I said before you do what you have too to get yourself under control! If that means teasting 20 times a day then DO IT! After you kinda learn what does what then you can cut dowm if you want!
Probably about 10-12 times- I am busy and nothing is ever the same. That sounds like the crappiest advice I’ve ever heard!!Get another nurse! (: Is she a diabetes nurse? How long has she been at it?
David, I think that this is also a common recommendation in the U.S. as well. I think there are a lot of (wonderful) exceptions to the rule here at TuDiabetes, but in the majority of U.S. diabetics compliance with daily glucometry is low.
A good M.D. will recognize someone who wants to take control of their health, who is likely to be highly compliant, and recommend much more frequent testing (like my endocrinologist has). Unfortunately, a good endo can be hard to find, it seems.
Hi Emma: I agree with the others. That is ridiculous of her
to say that. You’re not the first I’ve heard that from so
you’re not alone. I test between 7 and 9 times a day. If things
are off, I test more until it’s corrected.
Hi. We test 6-10 times per day – and I am convinced that this is the right thing to do. The nurse sounds incompetent to me and I would tell her so. We also track our blood sugars – check out this form: http://www.libertybella.com/blood-sugar-tracking.htm.
Testing is just a snapshot of your glucose at any given time. The A1C is a blood test taken about every 4 motnhs which is an indication of your control. It shows your average glucose. So highs and lows on daily testing are just for trends and if you take medication or shots this will help you have better control. In the past month my morning readings were about 125 and usually run 108, however my A1C remained at 5.9 regardless.
Dear Emma I test at every meal and usually 2 hours after .I especially test when I know I have eaten something that I know will raise my sugar.There is no right answer or wrong.It’s whatever you’re comfortable with.
Hi. I’m a pump user and if I have CGMS with the pump I can really test only 4 times (only if there aren’t value of CGMS to be confirmed), but if I haven’t CGMS, I test about 7/8 times in a day. Only few day in the year I test 4/6 times. Why don’t you think to get a CGMS? It’s much better to know where you’re going.
You guy will think I’m nuts but I stopped testing years ago. For one I am so sensative to the sugars I can usually tell whats going on to some extent. Sometimes I guess wrong and pay the price but to honest I’d almost rather not know. I figure If I feel good for me anyway I’d bet 9/10 times I am in good range. It saves my guitar playing fingers plus a lot of $. My A1c’s are usually in the mid 7’s though once in a while I nudge 8 but I rarely ever go low. My Doc says do whatever works for you…It’s your life. If I did test I would probably do it in the morning and at night. For those that have to test 6 + times a day actually consider yourselves lucky. What that tells me is you can’t feel your out of range levels and to me that would be a blessing!
I am so sorry when I hear nurses respond this way. In their basic curriculum, no matter how many years ago, they were taught the words “at least”, but few remember it. Unfortunately, basic nursing curricula are teaching just that: very basic. They know what hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are, but have next to no knowledge about day to day management. Remember their training is mostly in hospitals with one course in the community. Licensure’s questions about diabetes are minimal. At the master’s level they can start to specialize.
You DO need to tell her about this site if she is with a family practitioner or Internist and suggest she browse and learn.
If she’s with an Endo, start asking when the Endo trained and when/how much/to what extent the “nurse” trained. Does she have her CDE? Is she getting up to date - online - sufficient continuing education on diabetes management?
The physician needs to know what she told you. And if he keeps her, he needs to give her time for current education if she is going to talk with his patients. The advice on here has been great.
I test 6-10 x a day.
Well as a nurse in a hospital setting I can tell you that I teach new diabetics that they need to test at least 4 times a day (as Leona stated). They need to test in the morning (waking/before breakfast), before meals and at bedtime. Most newly diagnosed diabetics do not get the information they need in the hospital because we do not have the time to really teach them (insurance only lets them stay so long) and the diagnosis can be overwhelming for some and they are not ready to learn or not really comprehending the information we are giving them. We do provide follow up information in the way of handouts, dietician, endo, education phone numbers for them to call and follow up with. If they need it I have been known to take my meter into their rooms and “teach” them on it, even using it on myself first. I have also went up to the hospital on my day off to help someone when one of my friends called and said she needed help teaching a patient about the glucometer. Unlike many of you on this site I see plenty of patients that do not even test those 4-5 times a day. So if we can get a new diabetic to start out testing 4 times and then add more if their endo wants it that is doing good from our viewpoint. We also work with patients of varying financial needs so some of them may not be able to afford to test more often. We try to stick to the middle road.
Now this sounds like a nurse that is in your doctor’s office - this response was uncalled for. I would never tell anyone that they were testing too much. You know what you need to do to keep your sugars in control and with what you feel comfortable with.
I have just joined here and after reading this 2 year old post, I’d like to know if this situation has changed for you any? I am also a Vietnam Vet, 57 yrs. old and type1 for at least 25 years. I receive ALL my health care from the Veterans Administration and they have been outstandingly fantastic. I get the best care imaginable. They put me on an insulin pump 4 years ago and just recently gave me the new MM722 + CGMS. I get all the test strips I need and have since I started using the VA in 2000.
I realize some VA facilities operate a bit differently, but what you indicate is hard for me to swallow.
I am interesed in hearing from you James as well as any other Veteran concerning their health care from the VA.
Here in Kansas City,Mo. the VA is great. I used the VA hospital at Hines,IL. for 7 years and they were also superb.
Let’s here from our Vets. (please)
