Which blood sugar test "pricker" and where to buy?

[Kiltie]

I'd be grateful for some advice from PH diabetics.

My father is in hospital and complains that their pricker "scoops divets of flesh out of his finger".

They've said he can have his own testing kit in but I can't find it in his house.

I'm thinking they can use their own strips and meter and I could maybe buy a new pricker and the lances.

Not obvious looking at the Boots website.

Can I buy a pricker anywhere? I'd like to get one tomorrow if possible.

If so, any recommendstions for best / most painless?

Thanks.

[-Pete-]

We used Roche lancets and Bayer meters.

[arebrec]

Have you had any luck getting one now?
My daughter uses the accu-chek soft clik, you can adjust the depth the needle goes in and is simple to use.

Good luck

[Kiltie]

Ah, yes, sorry for returning to this topic late - it must seem very ungrateful.

Thanks for the replies.

I must have been searching for the wrong thing on the Boots site.

I went to a big Boots yesterday. There were plenty testing kits available but I couldn't see the prickers for sale individually.

I reckoned having a spare testing kit was a useful thing for a diabetic - like a spare pair of specs.

I'd done some reading on the net and in a copy of " Balance" which I'd found in my fathers house and the Accu-Chek kits looked fine and their prickers were recommended as being pretty much painless.

I got a Accu-Chek Aviva Nano set for about £16 and a box of lancet cartridges for another £4.

I tried the pricker and it was perfect. Like you say, it's possible to vary the depth (I was using 3/6).

Thanks again and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[skeggysteve]

Bit late but it might help someone else in the future.

When my wife was diagnosed as diabetic I was told to google for free blood sugar testers. I ended up with two from different companies, both came with a small supply of test strips and prickers. Obviously the companies make their money when your GP prescribes more.

I also got a computer program and hook up lead for one. It was very useful to be able to see any trend and to print the results to take to the GP.

Our GP said that the results were just as reliable as his meter and close enough to a real blood test to be treated as reliable.

[silverthorn2151]

The blood test we have as diabetics at hospital or a clinic is different to the ones we do with personal testers.

I use an Aviva Nano with a softclix lancet (or pricker). Very good indeed and since they have slowed the 'jab' down its way better than they used to be.

I find injecting insulin is less uncomfortable that prickers I used to use.

Hospitals tend to use an open picker that a nurse just stabs you with.

[Kiltie]

skeggysteve said:

Bit late but it might help someone else in the future.

Yeah good to get things posted so someone can search for what they need.

skeggysteve said:

When my wife was diagnosed as diabetic I was told to google for free blood sugar testers. I ended up with two from different companies, both came with a small supply of test strips and prickers. Obviously the companies make their money when your GP prescribes more.

Aye, I noticed that was a possibility from the " Balance" magazine but I wanted something on Saturday.

As you say, I suppose it's intended to lock you in to buying their strips and lancets. I was surprised to see how expensive the strips were. I suppose those who need them will get them VAT free.

silverthorn2151 said:

I use an Aviva Nano with a softclix lancet (or pricker). Very good indeed and since they have slowed the 'jab' down its way better than they used to be.

Yeah that was the one I got and it really is painless.

silverthorn2151 said:

Hospitals tend to use an open picker that a nurse just stabs you with.

That stacks up with what my old fella was telling me.

Thanks.

[silverthorn2151]

As a Diabetic I have a medical exemption certificate which means prescriptions are free. I started off by using the free meters that the practice nurse had, supplied by the drug companies. I am a little more discerning now as one tends to favour a certain type. You have to make sure that the test strips are on the prescription list though.