5. Glucose Monitors.

Continued from my 4. Diet and Exercise post ........

The problem I now faced was monitoring my blood sugar/glucose levels at all times - especially immediately after I'd eaten. Without such information I would be unable to control them with any kind of accuracy - so I decided I would have to discuss the problem with my doctor.

He told me I would need a blood glucose monitor but that I would have to purchase one from a local pharmacy as the NHS did not supply them. After a short 'phone conversation with my usual Tesco* pharmacist, he told me it would cost £10 and was an Accu-Chek Compact Monitor which they had confirmed were in stock. He then gave me a prescription for the test strips and lancets to use with it. He said I would be able to train myself to use the monitor from the instructions that came with it.

It was apparently quite a simple process so, with some trepidation, I assembled the monitor to 'have a go'. It turned out to be quite painless and the readings came within seconds. As I've used this equipment now for many weeks, I have found that clean fingers are essential so I always wash my hands with soap and water before doing a test. (I've had no trouble doing it this way so have never had to try the 'alternative site' method.)

I have, however, had to purchase a second glucose meter, as back-up, as my first one's batteries ran out and, although the free batteries are supplied by Accu-Chek post-free (for life), I had to wait several days for them to be delivered.

I was soon getting a much better idea of what was going on in my blood and the varying results obtained when different foods were eaten. By recording the meter's number in my food diary, I was much more in control than when I only had the Diastix strips to go on. (By the way, I now use these strips to test food I'm about to eat for their glucose levels - they work very effectively.)

*   I wanted to link to the Tesco's Accuchek Glucose Monitor here but, being in their Pharmacy department, it doesn't appear to be listed anywhere on their website.    (Instead, I could only find their Atkins-based eDiets - this relates more to my last post about Diet and Exercise than it does to this one. I haven't tried the diets myself but hope they may be of some interest !)

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