Figuring out my carbohydrate tolerance was an important part of regaining focus and control – every benefit outlined in the below clip is accurate in my personal experience; unfortunately, most insurance seems to want to insist upon 2 level checks a day if you’re “well managed”.
(As if getting there and staying there doesn’t require a minimum of 4 to 6 tests a day, with spikes to the routine if/when new foods are introduced to the diet).
I find it ironic that in this day of “big data” and all swirling thereabouts, even in the insurance industry, no one has looked at a combination of testing frequency/monitoring and intensive metabolic system education or what effects a solid application of both can render.
The “training” I received as a newly diagnosed Type II a decade ago was clearly the personal project of a very passionate and caring health care professional…. but it was not what I needed to create and stick to modifications that would help me.
Instead, I spent years figuring it out for myself. Analysis and research, strategic questions to my health care providers, and an iterative nutritional plan to slowly build to something that felt “normal” again. (Yeah, Agile and Lean helping me out in real life!!)
While admittedly anecdotal, my personal experience is pretty powerful; near normal (5.1) self-management and I had begun cutting my medication (with doctor’s permission). I was excited because I could actually see a day when I wouldn’t have to take all these pills to try and regain control of my health so I could actually enjoy living.
Our insurance changed recently (husband changed companies), and the new provider will not allow prescriptions testing more than twice daily without written doctor’s records in support. For reasons still not quite known, my doctor suddenly decided she had never intended me to test that often (I considered sending her a snap of my last refill by her order, clearly stating 4 – 6 times daily, but really, why? Nothing will change.)
So, naturally, my last annual physical revealed that I had slipped into “unmanaged” again…. go figure. I explained to the doctor that I need more focused testing at times and that twice a day wouldn’t be sufficient.
In the meanwhile, this is a pretty solid overview on the matter and your endocrinologist can give you specifics about all of it – don’t be afraid to set up an appointment to simply talk to your doctor(s) and get the answers or help you need (even if the insurance companies really wish you wouldn’t).
Perhaps someone out there will get a continuous glucose monitor into consumer-affordable range so people can learn their unique relationship with the foods they eat… become healthier. #HealthCare happens when resources are accessible as needed by the patient to actively contribute/pursue their best, healthiest being.
#diabetes #insurancepolicies