So, I went to the pharmacy, wondering why they hadn't refilled my test strips automatically, and they said the precription was written for 4/day. So, I went on the doctor's website to check, and saw it said "use as directed." It's so frustrating. I thought this was figured out last month.
So, I emailed my doctor:
I am having further issues with my test strips. I was able to fill it in February, but when I went back this month, they told me that it was written for 4 test strips per day. This is not what is written on Patient Fusion, where it only says "use as directed."
Please contact the pharmacy and correct it so that it reads 10 test strips/day.
As a type 1 on insulin, I test eight to twelve times per day. You mentioned in our first appointment that you were most interested in my tests before meals. I have found through my experience with diabetes that the time I really have to worry about my blood sugar is after I eat. In a typical day, my testing schedule is:
wake up
after breakfast
before lunch
after lunch
before dinner
after dinner
at around 10
before bed.
Because I eat at 6 and go to bed around midnight, I usually test twice between dinner and bed time. Because I eat directly after I get up in the morning, I seldom have a seperate test before breakfast, although I would test again if more than an hour or so ellapsed.
Those eight times are the absolute minimum that I need to do to feel comfortable with my health. I need to test before meals in order to confirm the amount of insulin I should take, allowing for any corrections. I need to test after meals in order to make sure I didn't screw things up. I can't necessarily feel lows coming on, especially if I'm doing any kind of physical activity.
Additionally, I test before exercise and every half-hour to forty minutes throughout the workout. I test when I'm in charge of small children--their safety depends on my ability to make reasoned judgements, and besides, they are a workout in themselves (depending on the activity). I test before I get behind the wheel of a car, and every forty-five minutes to an hour when I'm driving long distances. And I test if I'm feeling off.
When I'm low, I test, treat, and then test again to make sure I'm coming back up. When I'm high, I test, take a correction dose, and then test again to make sure I am coming back down.
There is no way I could maintain my health, my blood sugar, my A1C, or anything else if I don't have enough strips to monitor my blood sugar.
Last year, when the insurance company tried to restrict my test strips to 200/month (which works out to 6ish/day--not nearly enough). I was seeing *my previous endo*, and he wrote a letter of medical necessity to the insurance so that they would approve up to 300 strips/month with a prescription. As far as I'm aware, that is still in effect. I can get the test strips if you write the prescription. But it needs to be written for 10/day.
Thank you,
Teowyn
I just hope that this gets through her thick skull that I'm serious. And if she doesn't clear it up by the end of the week (actually, I'm thinking the end of today--tomorrow at the latest) I am going to fire her and go back to my PCP (who also thinks I test too much--sigh). I'm just sick of this. If she doesn't write my prescriptions, what's the point? It's not as though she's told me anything new in the past four months that I've been seeing her.
If I wasn't at work, I might just scream at the top of my lungs--which really isn't conducive to the feel of the library.