So, I knew it was coming. Type 2 Diabetes, much like cancer and depression, fairly gallops in my family. It’s a miracle the bloodline continues.
Anyway, so the doctor let me know, yesterday, that I need to start testing my glucose levels. I don’t mind taking an extra pill in my quest for immortality, and I don’t (much) mind changing my diet (as long as I can still have the occasional sushi blowout). What I do mind, however, is the blood glucose testing.
Anyone have any recommendations for a glucometer? I’m kind of irritated that the height of technology still appears to be lancet-and-strip testing, especially since it appears that the glucometer companies make the bulk of their profits in the strip sales. I see that there’s a non-invasive laser system that was developed years ago, and which the FDA has yet to approve- my inner socialist and my inner conspiracy theorist are arguing over why, exactly, such an improvement hasn’t already been mass-produced. Grr.
I’m also pretty annoyed that I’ll have another gadget to carry around. I’m already carrying around my wonderful, wonderful Treo 650 in my pocket- and being a guy, I don’t like to carry a purse of any sort. I don’t suppose there’s any sort of glucometer which interfaces with my phone, is there?
Sorry to hear about the diagnosis - a number of my friends have gotten along so far (a couple years and counting) with diet and exercise; some are looking into augmenting their diet with cinnamon.
Or type in “cinnamon blood sugar” into any favored search engine.
I was once told by a doctor with some questionable methods that I was mildly glucose intolerant (possibly related to PCOS) and with my health and family history Type II is likely if I don’t “do something” like lose weight, excercise, et cetera. Part of the hormonal PCOS and other things had me trapped in a loop for a while, but I’ve started cinnamon personally (I am not recommending this as a method of treatment for any sort of diagnosis real or imagined in people outside of my head, I am merely offering up data available and noting it is something I’m trying for myself) and am going to try to maintain a healthier eating style and up my excersise as a means to weight loss on a more permanent basis as soon as I have safe clearance to do so (I’ve got a little something going on that makes any radical changes to routine not a good idea for a while but I’ll be just fine kthx).
I’ve tested a number of monitors for family members (calibration) and the little butterfly ‘small stick’ ones seem good, the cartidge-loaders with strips are handy and easier not to wreck your strips through careless exposure, though they might be more expensive or not covered by your insurance. I’d search groups around (like us, or more Diabetes-likely folks) and see what their general reviews are.
Mynn–that’s fantastic! I’ll be making a change to my morning coffee routine, I guess.
Good news on the sushi blowout, btw–so long as you keep it to the raw fish, you’re not necessarily totally derailing your diet; it’s just meat. It’s the rice and tempura that you want to watch out for…
I have a OneTouch Ultra. I don’t know what the tester itself costs 'cause my brother gave it to me, but you can get a box of 50 test strips for about $40.00 at Costco. Brother has one he likes even better, requires an even smaller drop of blood, but I don’t know what kind it is.
BTW, Costco also has about the cheapest prescription prices around. I mention that 'cause I’m assuming your doc put you on Metformin or Glucophage, and the price for Metformin varied wildly from pharmacy to pharmacy when I was checkin on it.
Anyway, the OneTouch is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of using the test strips.
That GlucoWatch looked really interesting, Mynn, do you have one or know someone who has one? I’d be interested in learning about any day-to-day problems with wearing/caring for one.
I don’t have any recommendations, as my dad won’t test his blood sugar like he should for anything in the world, but I just wanted to say I’m sorry to hear about the news.
I also was diagnosed on my birthday, 9.5 years ago.
I’m participating in the “ACCORD” study, which is a long-term study of type 2 diabetics, in relation to cardiovascular disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure. You get all the relevent medications and testing supplies free, plus regular consultations with a nurse practitioner and a cardiologist. Find out if there’s a study group in your location. It’s really worth it.
And thank Og that you have a condition that’s totally treatable.
Sorry to hear about your joining the Sugar Society, Lightnin’. My husband and I use the One Touch Ultra, too. I used to use a glucose meter that required finger sticks, and I must say that forearm sticks are much more comfortable. I very rarely even notice any pain at all when I get a forearm stick.
Last I heard, the glucose watch cost a few thousand dollars, but this was some time ago. I couldn’t find a solid price on that website, and of course it’s too late to call now. In any case, the company claims that the watch isn’t intended to replace blood sugar monitoring, it’s to supplement it.
If your insurance will pay for it, ask your doctor about attending a diabetes education class. This will take several days, but the classes are very helpful, they cover how to take care of yourself in this new situation. The classes use the latest confirmed research. If your insurance doesn’t cover it, but you can afford it, I suggest you go.
Another One Touch Ultra user here. I prefer the finger sticks, which puts me in the minority, I guess. Sorry to hear that you got the word on your birthday-I found out the day they opened the first Krispy Kreme in the area.
Sorry to hear you’re now a ‘Sweetie’. I got my diagnosis for a late New Year gift. Are you on any medications? I’m on insulin (Levemir) and Byetta injections 3 times a day. Plus Glipizide twice a day. Oh the joy! I’m using a One Touch Ultra and it works just fine for me. You can do the forearm sticks or the finger sticks, but the forearm sticks aren’t as accurate as finger sticks. That’s what the instructions say that came with my One Touch Ultra, anyway.
Good luck!
No one who uses the watch, sorry; I’ve just calibrated the regular kind for friends and family, ran a few tests on them and myself, et cetera.
Glad I could share the info on the cinnamon - makes me wish I did have a meter so I could check before starting and now, but I don’t, such is life.
Hot coffee should be okay for cinnamon powder addition - heating the powder, from what I’ve read, doesn’t affect it’s efficacy. I even found (on about.com) a ‘recipe’ for making cinnamon tea with the powder you buy at the store. For some reason the particular whatever it is doesn’t make the transition to cinnamon oil well. I’m stopping by the store today to get my own veggie caps to make myself ‘pills’ for days I don’t have oatmeal for breakfast.
Lynn - thanks for the more info on the gluco watches - I have only very lightly looked at them. I also heard about contacts that warn ya when your sugars fall into a certain range, but I hate anything on my eyeballs, much less something that can ‘malfunction’ and obscure my vision potentially - but I’m a freakazoid paranoidiac, too.
Unless things have changed drastically, you still have to do a calibration stick at the beginning of the day.
What I would like to know is what ever happened with the read through the thumbnail glucometer [worked like the blood gas monitors that use a laser to read through the skin] that never required a stick.