Diabetic Recipes
For some reason my fingers are not being very nice to me. All day I have had to squeeze my fingers so hard they hurt. They will not give up any blood! I literally tried all of my fingers three times before I finally got enough for my machine.
Now I do remember back in the day when it seemed to take a "gallon" of blood to get a glucose reading so I am thankful it is not that way any longer. But my One Touch takes a much bigger drop then some of the other machines I have used. Unfortunately my insurance will not cover any other strips but the One Touch. Again, I am thankful for that but I just need to vent a little.
My hand hurts from squeezing my fingers. I can hardly feel my poked fingers anyway so you know it's bad when the squeezing hand is hurting. I have tried the alternate site testing but it is hard for me to trust it.
The fact that alternate sites are not as accurate as finger sticks makes me uncomfortable. Not to mention the way my forearm looks like I have a disease with the awful spots on my arm.
Do any of you use alternate sites? Any ideas on getting fingers to give up blood a little easier? Have any of you ever looked a "bloody constellations" and thought about making a dot to dot picture?
I hear you George loud and clear on this subject ! Somedays I wonder if I have any blood in my fingers lol and if I use alternate sites I get such bad bruises on my arms it looks like I have been in a fight ! My insurance co. decided that I no longer need to use the freestyle strips for my Cozmo pump so now I have to use One Touch. If I had known that I wouldnt have paid all that money to purchase the Cozmo pump !
Venting too : )
Joanna
Type 1 for 31 years
sweetsarabear the cozmo pump is the best i have been haveing A1c test readings at 6.3 and 5.8 since i have been on the pump. But for sticky fingers try washing your hands in very warm water first. the warm water will expand your capillaries so more blood can reach your finger tips. this could also mean a more serious problem like you are not getting adequit blood supply to your fingers this could cause you to lose you fingers if you dont get them checked out.it is nnot a well known fact but water therapy has shnown too lower blood sugars by as much as 18 %. but like any thing else all diabetics are different you have to find out what works for you.
Hi all. I am new here and reading your comments are the same situations that I am going through. I was diagnosed as a type 2 in 2000. I started to use the Ultra One touch, which was ok. Then I switched to the Ultra Mini, which I like better. I just recently went to an Diabetes convention where you can try different types of meters. I just received a Freestyle light meter for free. This meter is lighter and easy to use. No squeezing your fingers anymore. The demo was very hurtless and easy to use. Oh also there is no coding to use anymore. I like, I am sending my sister one so she can try it also.
There is a website that you can go to and sign up for free test strips and lancets, or meters if you want to try them.
I would suggest to try out the Freestyle light.
Thank you
Liz
Liz, you mentioned a website for free testing supplies and such, can you tell me what the website address is? I am in such a financial bind and it would help me so much to be able to test. I don't know if I am under control or not. I have complications as it is now. I have a doctor that is unable to get me supplies. (I have asked). Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Kathy
It's me again, I forgot to mention that using the Freestyle Light you will be pricking the palm of your hands. You can also do this with the Ultra Mini. Its very painless and easy, no bruises. The only thing with the Ultra Mini you still have to use a code.
I use the One Touch Ultra 2, and some days test on the heel of my hands. It is just like the fingers- some parts are bleeders, others aren't. Tried the arms- not enough blood, so do not do that any more.
I find that if my hands get cold -- which they tend to do often enough -- not only will I have trouble drawing enough blood to test (on a Freestyle Flash), but a fingerstick BG reading may read as much as 20 points *low* (the reading makes look like I'm hypo even though I'm not). So if my fingers are cold and/or nonresponsive, I use a forearm reading instead of a fingertip one.
George, try a continuous glucose monitor (cgm). Finger sticks are twice a day and you get 288 readings per day. Look at Dexcom and Minimed. My a1c went from 6.8 to 5.3 over the course of a year with my cgm. Average bg is 113.5 with a standard deviation of 37.5. No pump being used, just lantus and novolog. CGM is the greatest control device for diabetes since the original blood glucose meter
To Goerge Simmons:
Wash hands with hot water, dry, and shake your hands downward. That will force blood to finger tips.