14y and never gotten or heard of it. Will ask at next appt. thanks
karen the albumin/creatinine ratio is the one I get every 3 months. however I have never had the 24h one, never even heard of it till now. will ask about it though next visit.
If you are a young T1 in good control, very unlikely there will be a need to check for protein in urine for, well, decades.
Docs often put diabetics on the "standard diabetic test schedule" at first but after seeing no positives for protein etc. and a history of good control, the better docs will back off on the unnecessary tests so they can work on the areas they can actually help in.
The "standard diabetic test schedule" assumes poor control typical of 30 or 40 years ago.
I have had a couple 24-hour collections over the years usually when I'm participating in clinical studies etc.
You little devil, Clare!!!
Maybe she doesn't consider it much because of the difficulty I have in ambulating. I am in a power chair and it is difficult getting around in a lot of bathrooms not in my home. Although, I should ask her specifically because I have been having pain in my back near where the kidneys are that can't be specifically attributed to my normal back pain.
I must say that I am more and more impresssed with the intelligence displayed here. I should be ashamed of myself. Having had the big D for so many years (maybe 30), I should know a lot of this stuff. Of course, I didn't even get a computer of my own until 1999. I guess that shows that I am slow on the uptake! :o(
Lois
ok… I get it now!
Thank you Tim,
I'm not that young, but my body is pretty young relatively age wise, however D ages us faster. I understand the reasoning behind less frequent testing, at least for some docs, because some people have said here that their doc tests more than frequently others, but I'm not sure I completely agree with the reasons to test less. There also seems to be a trend to do less preventative healthcare/ testing often for relatively inexpensive tests, and this often results in finding out too late that something is wrong when if it were caught earlier treatments could be started earlier to help. We all know most cancers are much more curable when they're caught early.
I really do understand the need to test often enough to see if a complication is developing.
At the same time I've been T1 for a third of a century and gone to labs/hospitals for hundreds of A1C's and about as many urine lab tests over the time and a whole bunch of dilated eye exams and a succession of fancy eye test machines and cameras... at some point it really is worthwhile to scratch your head and ask "whoa, do I really need this done every 3 or 6 months?". I think the better docs do ask those questions and schedule tests less frequently for those at lower risk, and focus the tests on the areas and patients at higher risk, and I think this is a wise use of resources. Here resources is not just insurance company dollars but also the docs time and effort, and my time and effort. There's probably more important things for the doc to help me with, issues that I am actually having (I'm old enough that I have a number of issues not directly related to diabetes!), rather than worry about a problem that I don't have and have a history of hundreds of tests saying I don't have it.
I also am of the opinion that the doc is not just a machine for ordering lab tests. They are highly trained folks, and I have a couple I really trust, and one of the reasons I trust them is that they take the effort to listen to me and my needs and focus on them, rather than just "run all the usual tests". Sometimes focusing on an issue I have does involve running a test, but I feel a lot better about taking the effort to get the test done if I know the result is actually going to help me and my doc come to a good decision.
I'm glad you haven't had problems and that your doctor's schedule for less or more tests have worked for you, unfortunately some of my doctors lack of testing landed me nearly dead and in the hospital with permanent damage to my veins and some sort of damage to my eyes, so I guess I will always see this issue differently. Lack of proper testing also resulted in my father having more advanced prostate cancer. I definitely don't see my doctor as machine for ordering labs, but I do see myself as a partner in my health care, who will now always be asking questions about everything.
once a year as well. I have strips at home though
Thanks Tabaclond, I discussed this with my endo last week and will now be having it done twice per year. He agrees that other factors besides A1c can affect what damage we may be getting etc. I just had the fast test this time and may alternate to the 24 hour one next time. Do you have otc urine testing strips that test for protein & sugar etc.? I only have strips to test for ketones, I don't think any other otc strips are available in the US?