When I go on a vacation and when I work I test my blood sugar more often. This causes me to fall short on my test strips. My work insurance covers my strips but they only allow so much. What can I do so I don't fall short aside from testing less. I also have trouble recognizing if I am low. I am on the One Touch Ping.
I've run into this issue too. First, you should look on internet sites like ebay and amazon. You can sometimes find people selling unused test strips for a lot less. The other option is to get one of those new Relion meters and strips from walmart to use as a back up (which I plan on doing). The test strips are WAY, WAY cheaper than the one touch ultras (what you use). This does mean that you'll have to take a second meter with you, but that's a minor sacrifice. In my case, the Walmart strips are (cost-wise) about the same as what I pay out of pocket for my regular one touch strips.
Would I be able to get them in Canada?I live in Windsor Ontario and have searched on the Walmart site and have not been able to find them.
i dont know if you have target in canada, but they also have their own meters and test strips. the meter cost me about 10 dollars and the strips i got on sale-9 dollars for 25 strips, usually 36.99 for 100. bargain. i tested the meter against my accu-check meter and the numbers were the same.
We will be getting a Target in September. Do you think they will have it? I'm thinking that the pharmaceutical companies and our government won't allow it because it would take business away from their companies. I read alot of reviews online about it being inaccurate. Why do some say it is?
hello dee. i would guess they would have it if theyre gonna have a pharmacy department in it? you wouldnt think the americans would let some drug store push out big pharma but i dont know. i live in spain so when i go home to nyc and sc i stock up because here there are no cheap brands. national health covers three strips a day for me and i need more. im just about to have my lunch so when i test in two hours ill compare them. when i compared them on purchasing the target one, they had the same number EXACTLY! i was really surprised. suspicion is how the big companies want us to view the store brands but they dont have any magical meter making powers. i dont think... ill get back to you.
Since you're on the Ping I would assume you want to use your meter/remote. Before considering switching meters and buying strips, I would see if your doctor can write a waiver or letter of necessity saying you need more strips. I don't know anything about how insurance works in Canada, but here in the U.s. my doctor wrote a letter to my insurance company that I needed 900 strips for 3 months which was over their regular limit and then I got the 900.
I have my doc write a PX for 300 a month, then i have to get it approve the my (US) insurance co. They normally do but its always a hassle 1x per year. I test just under that normally so I can sometimes stock pile a few
right, the target meter was 165, the accucheck was 171. and my honeymoon is coming to a screaming halt!
the time i checked and the numbers were exactly the same it was fasting and it was like 80. maybe the lower the more accurate both are?
off for a brisk walk...
If I have to I will do away with my monitor for my Ping if I can get cheaper test strips.I think my doctor has given a waiver,but it still isn't enough.I get 12 boxes every 3 months.That's 4 boxes a month which calculates to 13 blood tests a day.I test btween 10-12 times a day.That's not including blood tests.If I can get cheaper test strips I won't mind paying for the extra that I need.
Target and Walmart both offer mail order purchase of pharmacy item through their websites. At least in the US, you don't need a local Target or Walmart to do this.
I also use Walmart glucose tablets. They have recently droppped their price to $3.98 per 50 count, cheaper than anywhere else. I am not a big fan of Walmart for many reasons, but you can't beat their prices.
I've taken blood tests using the same meter and the same batch of test strip, but two adjacent fingers within a 10-second time frame and have seen different results. I think they say results are within accurate to, what, +-10% of the actual number. Almost always good enough to make good decisions on what to do.
The best way to handle it is to tell your doctor you are testing ore often then you used to.
I was on average of 4 per day. I asked my doctor to put me on 6 x a day. That gives me lots more strips if I need them and I never get hassled. I just get more when I go to get them.
Your doctor has to write the order for the number of strips you need per day. That is the key to this.
I would talk with your doc before going on vacation. Tell her about this problem and see if she can do something to help you. Doctors have resources that they can't use unless we communicate our issues to them.
I would be cautious when purchasing from an online seller because you cannot guarantee that these strips have been in a controlled environment. Many (not all) online sellers are actually online re-sellers...that is, purchasing strips from people that have too many (at a price higher than most copayments so the patient gets a small profit) then reselling them at a higher price (but still lower than full retail price).
With all of that being said, testing with potentially "bad" strips is better than not testing at all.
I have used Amazon and American Diabetes Wharehouse with excellent results and I was using 30 strips a day at one time.
I have more problems with certain caveman fingerprick machines that do not properly calibrate and read on water densities and non glucose D sugars in the blood - corn sugars et all because strips do not properly filter out.
There is no good reason to pay twice the price at the drug store unless stuck and need in emergency.
My wife says Costco is currently running a $10 special OTC, for the "Contour" USB Meter, and it comes with the normal 50 strips she claims?!
Or the local Walmart or Target will have a generic machine. For 20 bucks you'll get 50 (or more) strips and another "backup" machine for "emergencies", your car glove compartment, or whatever else happens. Take it on vacation instead of your normal machine.
But frankly there is absolutely nothing wrong with testing less. If you are truly afraid of lows then treat ultra conservatively for your coverage and eat a little bit more. Every 2 hours +/- after a big meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) eat a snack.
A little higher wont hurt you for vacation...
Hello jims:
Come again 8 O.... ?!?!?! How many???
This is a good conversation to throw this question into. I'm early on with all of this, diagnosed six months ago, so I am still learning. I am wondering if the people who test more than, say, 8 times a day or so are really getting any real additional benefit from doing so? I feel I have been over-testing to some extent-- burning through 300 or so strips a month, even though the majority of the time when I test, I already pretty much know that my levels are within normal ranges. It seems, for me, that testing has become a bit of an obsession, to the point that I am testing more than actually helps me improve my treatment... therefore being pointless. Is this a common tendancy? I am aware that others don't have it as easy as I currently do because I'm still in the honeymoon period-- but I'm curious to know, do those who use, say 10+ strips a day really feel they are better able to control their levels in the big picture than if they used, say, 7 for example? Thaks, Sam
I absolutely agree with Shawnmarie. I have a script for 10 times a day (900 for 3 months) but my "regular" tests are only eight: waking, before and after each meal and bedtime. I use the "excess" for before driving a long way (that would be a regular if I didn't live in a tiny town), when I feel low, and after corrections of lows or highs to see that I've achieved the desired results.
I've gotten hell (or anyway heck)on here for saying that obsessiveness is an issue for some people, because we want to encourage doctors to prescribe needed strips. But I do think that can happen and that anxiety level can have a negative impact on your well being. Shawnmarie nailed it when she said "if I'm not going to do anything with the information." Are you using the info? Do you log it and do you review your logs periodically to see if there are sufficient highs or lows to tweak your doses? Do you make different choices about foods based on blood sugar results? Maybe most importantly from my point of view: Do you use the information to promptly correct highs or lows (and also to test your ISF)?
Excellent comment.
Depending on what is watching - tracing for, the number of strips needed used may vary.
If one's liver iw ell behaved and adding glucose sub 70 under control ( ie not dumping the whole dam liver buffer to 511 and sliding back to 278/315 as heart pumping averages out the mess) and the BG is slowly moving trends and repeatable and no extra spurious liver dumps - why yes - you too can use small amounts of test strips successfully.
In my case Doctor said to keep BG above 100 so as not to trigger a nasty dump.
Essentially one has to keep a tigher watch in case of glucose shortfaslls from intestine /liver as well ads to add extra snacks in timely fashion to prevent it going too low.
I honestly get fed up with the incredulous stupid answer - how many?
As many as necessary to capture sufficient data. Any other comments are unhelpful.
Yes I no longer do 30 as there are cgms can fix that and getting body running smoothly. The extra strip testing and thru midnight did in fact capture all the aspects of my liver miss performance on dawn effect and when blood glucose goes sub 70 as well as spurious liver dumps as well as metformin performance.
Even more hilarious is that CGMS could not track my liver accurately through a liver dump and its peak that the $ 20 caveman machine could.
So to repeat; the number of strips one uses will depend upon the nature of real time data one needs to capture and how well your diabetic body is still mostly working smoothly, slow moving BG waveforms and how repeatable that is.
If not ones choice for data capture for most of us is caveman machine with sufficient strips or if posssible and cost possible - use cgms.
Had I not done the intensive testing, my Doctor would not had sufficient data to help arrest my diabetic mess and get it back on track not withstanding the incredulous remarks - How Many??????