Blood Sugar Monitor?

Mercury1 · 5 January 2009 at 12:00AM

Does anyone know of a good blood sugar monitor at reasonable price?

Many Thanks

mineallmine · 6 January 2009 at 12:41AM

Accu-check are a good brand - about £15 I think - I'd be tempted to spend a few quid to get a decent one. If you're diabetic, you're entitled to free prescriptions and therefore all the sticks etc required for this.

Nile · 6 January 2009 at 12:44AM

Hello Mercury1

I'll move your thread to the 'Health & Beauty' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]!!!!!![/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

Mojisola · 6 January 2009 at 11:16AM

mineallmine wrote: »

If you're diabetic, you're entitled to free prescriptions and therefore all the sticks etc required for this.

Not if you're controlling your sugar levels by diet.

Ted_Hutchinson · 6 January 2009 at 12:45PM

mineallmine wrote: »

Accu-check are a good brand - about £15 I think - I'd be tempted to spend a few quid to get a decent one. If you're diabetic, you're entitled to free prescriptions and therefore all the sticks etc required for this.

I think this varies depending on where you live.
Home diabetes kits waste £100m a year, says research Since this was published some practices have been cutting back on prescribing supplies for home testings in some cases.

I'm not diabetic but I would be interested to know which foods raise my blood glucose levels the most. The low carb way of eating I follow was designed for diabetes use so is particularly geared towards low glucose levels.

elevations in blood glucose are a contributing cause of age-related memory decline, and suggest specific interventions that can preserve cognitive health. So it really is important to keep blood glucose under control.

angie_loves_veg · 6 January 2009 at 2:45PM

My 6yo daughter is type 1, and we have met most monitors at some point!

The cost of the meter is relatively small compared to the cost of the test strips.

If you are entitled to free test strips, choose the meter that your nurse recommends - the strips will fit that meter.
If you are not going to be getting free test strips, then (as mentioned before) accucheck are a good brand, and strips are available over the counter, or even on ebay. If you are planning to test often, it may be worth checking out the price of strips before you choose a brand of test kit to use.

Ultimately, all blood test monitors that are for sale in boots (for example) are simple to use and reliable. A simple (cheaper) model should achieve all you need.

The idea of contacting companies through adverts in balance magazine (the magazine that comes with Diabetes UK membership), or sweet magazine is a good one - often you could be sent a free meter.

If you only need a one off test - Lloyds pharmacy will perform one test (I believe) for free.

hope that helps

Mojisola · 6 January 2009 at 2:58PM

I agree with everything angie says about the monitors - though I only have experience of a couple of models.

I'm surprised at the results of the studies Ted mentions -

the self-monitoring group scored 6% higher on a rating scale designed to assess depression and had "a trend towards increased anxiety".

They suggest this negative effect "might relate less to feelings of powerlessness in the face of high blood-glucose readings than to the enforced discipline of regular monitoring without any tangible gain".

Perhaps there was no tangible gain because they were following the "carbs with every meal" diet recommended for diabetics and getting high readings. By following the links Ted posts about low-carb diet and following the advice given in them, I have reduced my blood readings to almost normal levels. Seeing the blood results gradually drop does not create anxiety but is very reassuring!

mineallmine · 7 January 2009 at 10:30PM

___
Quote:
Originally Posted by mineallmine

If you're diabetic, you're entitled to free prescriptions and therefore all the sticks etc required for this.

Not if you're controlling your sugar levels by diet
___

Mojisola - Sorry Mojisola did not realise this, you're absolutely right. Well done on your blood readings, tis not easy.

Mercury1 - hope you find a testing kit that's of use for you. Just remember to wash your hands thoroughly to remove any traces of food etc that could throw the test off course.

stevemLS · 10 January 2009 at 5:32PM

I really like the Accu-Check compact plus.

It has the strips in a drum held in the monitor, so you're not faffing about with strips - the machine sticks it out and you put your blood on it - press the button again and it ejects it.

It retails at about £15 - I've never had to buy a monitor though - have always been given them by the DNS at my clinic.

vegankris · 11 January 2009 at 2:53AM

OH uses the Accu-Check and likes it too

Blood Sugar Monitor?

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