Recent Diabetic

(Granola Bar) said:

Hey everyone! I just got type 1 diabetes last week. I'm 25 and have a twin brother who got it when
he was 10. I've spent the last 15 years chasing after him so it came as a real shock. Based on my
brother's advice (he has a pump) and since I don't have insurance I stated off taking Lantus and
Humlong. Since I was never actually diagnosed by a doctor it was a real pain in the rear to find a
doctor who would even write me a prescription. In case you were wondering my blood sugar was 600,
and lost 18 pounds. The first doctor told me to stop taking insulin until Monday (it was Friday
then) so I could get a lab test. What a bonehead!!!.... I thought you have to be smart to get in
med school? This guy didn't speak English to well, sounded like he was from the Caribbean or
something. Anyways I ended up going to this shady med clinic and the guy basically wrote me a
prescription for whatever I wanted. Real cool... anyways no hypo episodes yet and my blood seems to
be really good. I notice in the morning I had to take about 4 more units to cover breakfast.

What really pisses me off is the cost of these strips! These things couldn't cost more than 50cents
for a box to manufacture. With all these companies out there it doesn't seem like there's a lot of
price competition going on. I actually have to ration my testing?! Then the other day I noticed on
eBay people bidding on these things! Is that screwed up or what? I'm bidding on test strips so I
won't go blind in 10 years! and here we are pissing off another 87 billion on IRAQ!!! We should
have just thermo nuked the whole country and spent the other 86 billion on research.

Hi Anonymous (Granola Bar just doesn't sound right - too many carbs:-)

Welcome. I suppose if you've gotta join us, you may as well come in angry. You obviously learnt a
lot from your twin - is he a poster/lurker here? I'm T2 so I won't give any medical advice, there
are experienced T1s here who can answer nearly all your questions. Enjoy the discussions and don't
get put off by the occasional other angry poster - we all have days where we remember how we felt
when we were first diagnosed, or wish again that we hadn't been. You've come to the right place -
welcome again.

Cheers Alan, T2, Oz

(Granola Bar) said:

Hey everyone! I just got type 1 diabetes last week. I'm 25 and have a twin brother who got it when
he was 10. I've spent the last 15 years chasing after him so it came as a real shock. Based on my
brother's advice (he has a pump) and since I don't have insurance I stated off taking Lantus and
Humlong. Since I was never actually diagnosed by a doctor it was a real pain in the rear to find a
doctor who would even write me a prescription. In case you were wondering my blood sugar was 600,
and lost 18 pounds. The first doctor told me to stop taking insulin until Monday (it was Friday
then) so I could get a lab test. What a bonehead!!!.... I thought you have to be smart to get in
med school? This guy didn't speak English to well, sounded like he was from the Caribbean or
something. Anyways I ended up going to this shady med clinic and the guy basically wrote me a
prescription for whatever I wanted. Real cool... anyways no hypo episodes yet and my blood seems to
be really good. I notice in the morning I had to take about 4 more units to cover breakfast.

What really pisses me off is the cost of these strips! These things couldn't cost more than 50cents
for a box to manufacture. With all these companies out there it doesn't seem like there's a lot of
price competition going on. I actually have to ration my testing?! Then the other day I noticed on
eBay people bidding on these things! Is that screwed up or what? I'm bidding on test strips so I
won't go blind in 10 years! and here we are pissing off another 87 billion on IRAQ!!! We should
have just thermo nuked the whole country and spent the other 86 billion on research.

The cost of sticks are outragious. Many of us are forced to use EBay out of necessity. If you are a
mentally strong person and have a strong internal fortitude, then you may survive EBay. But, if you
lack, EBay is not for you. Since last part of June, I've made eight purchases off EBay for sticks.
Only one purchase went like clockwork. One said he never received the postal money order. Had to get
ugly with the creep, but got my sticks. The last purchase, the Seller disappeared for two weeks.
After another purchaser left a Fraud complaint, the scammer seller finally decided to come up with a
total [censored] excuse and ship the sticks. Should be here today. Dealing with EBay is like walking
through a military minefield. Be prepared to get ripped off. Some Rules to live by while using EBay.

1. Use Walmart Relion as a benchmark $42 for 100 sticks. If the sticks on EBay exceed that,
don't bid.
2. Call the meter vendors and request a Free meter. Also get them from your local hospital,
clinics, doctor's offices, etc. Get as many as you can. Just purchase the sticks with the
cheapest price on EBay.
3. Freestyle and Elite XL sticks have only a few listings on EBay. So their costs are higher. All
forms of Lifescan sticks are expensive on EBay, just like at Walmart. Lifescan is just expensive
no matter where. Wish I knew why. Accechek sticks have the most listings, normally three
screens. You will get the best deals on Accuchek sticks.
4. I lose a lot of auctions in the last few seconds. Others use sniping programs which bid in the
last second or two prior to the end of auction. Very frustrating.
5. Look for Negative complaints especially indicating Fraud by the Seller. Take a serious
look at these.
6. If you get ripped off, EBay WILL NOT help you. EBay is there to make sure their Fees are
collected.
7. Packaging is a huge problem. The BG stick boxes often arrive somewhat crushed. If the seal on
the box is broken, you have a serious problem on your hands. I just experienced that. the Seller
could have tampered with the sticks. A dangerous possibility. You email the Seller and inform
them of the broken seal, and they reply that the box was sealed when shipped. The stick box was
probably put in a plain brown envelope and mailed. It costs 86 cents to ship a box of 50 sticks
in a brown envelope. A lot of sellers state on their listing that they are not responsible for
damage in shipment. The listing never says how the stick box will be shipped. A good idea to
follow is to ask the seller how the stick box will be packaged prior to your bidding. Saves a
lot of headaches. Remember, the Seller will deny all your claims.
8. As in any transaction, it is Seller's world. But, with EBay, it is really a Seller's world.
Seller Fraud is wildly rampant on EBay. And, the worst part is EBay doesn't do jack [censored] about
it except make sure their Fees are collected.
9. Look out for expired sticks being listed on EBay. This happens frequently with Freestyle and
Elite XL. I've seen a seller hustling Freestyle sticks that expired in year 2000. That was about
a week ago. Stay away from such unscrupulous people. Next week he may be pushing good sticks.

So far I've received everything I've paid for. I have had to get quite aggressive to get the
transaction completed on several occassions, but probably no different than any other distance
transaction. I have read postings where people say that EBay purchases are better than most online
purchases. Some of my neighbors have had real nightmares with online purchases.

So, take the above for whatever it's worth and good luck. Diabetes will bankrupt me long before
it kills me.

_____________________________________________
tcainternet.comindex.htmlOpen ↗

Granola Bar wrote

Quoted message said:

Hey everyone! I just got type 1 diabetes last week. I'm 25 and have a twin brother who got it when
he was 10. I've spent the last 15 years chasing after him . . .(snip). . .

What really pisses me off is the cost of these strips! These things couldn't cost more than 50cents
for a box to manufacture. With all these companies out there it doesn't seem like there's a lot of
price competition going on. . .(snip). . .

Wal-Mart wormed their way into that cute little cartel and convinced one of the manufacturers to
relabel their strips as a house brand and sell them at a discount. The Relion brand is about
half the price of the others.

I tested a Relion head to head against my very good Accu-Chek (my particular meter is dead on
according to the hospital lab) and found that the Relion looked good. Very accurate up to 150 or so,
then reading 5-10% low at higher sugars.

One would hope that this first break in the strip cartel would have some long term effects. I think,
but don't know for certain, that LifeScan at least has come down a bit. I used to see their strips
at $74/100 and now am seeing them in the $60's.

The very best legitimate price I know of is at Hocks

hocks.comteststrips.htmOpen ↗

The EBAY deals are by people who are mostly defrauding their insurance companies.

Er. . .no way $0.50 per box. I'm a retired chemical engineer and recognize the difficulties in
making them, especially for a pharmaceutical market. I would guess their liability insurance is more
than that.

FWIW, LifeScan will wholesale at $56/100, Accu-Chek at $48/100 but both will give rebates to the
volume customers to favor their brand. Rebates of this type are called "kick-backs" in many
industries and can produce jail time for both parties. However, the medical industry seems to be
able to pull it off.

I normally give new folks a long dreary lecture on basal/bolus and adjusting your own dosages but it
looks like life and your brother have already attended to your needs. Carry on.

Remember, AACE says your HbA1c target is 6.5% but the docs are looking at
6.% as a new target.

Keep coming back and reading the two diabetes newsgroups. We are loaded with smart folks, some of
whom have some really good docs. The newsgroups give us a chance to share the advice of the best
docs in the field.

Regards Old Al (Humalog + Ultralente, last HbA1c = 5.7)

Welcome to the land of free enterprise! Sorry about your diagnosis. I don't think you "just got type
1 last week", however. Maybe you got the NEWS last week...

My (my insurance) spends over $450 a month for my strips. When I used to use the visual strips (no
meter required, but recommended) I used to cut them lengthwise into 3 strips to conserve my co-pay
amount (20%). I agree that the mfgr's probably don't spend more than 1/2 a buck to produce each box
of strips. They've got us where they want us--a captive audience. One company came out a few years
ago with cheaper strips but IIRC they got sued out of existence. Someone jump in here to correct me
if I've got that wrong.

Your brother is smart to be using a pump. By pumping insulin instead of MDI, I've dropped my A1C's
from over 11 to around 6. And my lifestyle has returned to closer to normal.

Keep checking your blood, and FIND A DOCTOR YOU HAVE A BETTER RAPPORT WITH! Good luck!

dave

Granola Bar said:

Hey everyone! I just got type 1 diabetes last week. I'm 25 and have a twin brother who got it when
he was 10. I've spent the last 15 years chasing after him so it came as a real shock. Based on my
brother's advice (he has a pump) and since I don't have insurance I stated off taking Lantus and
Humlong. Since I was never actually diagnosed by a doctor it was a real pain in the rear to find a
doctor who would even write me a prescription. In case you were wondering my blood sugar was 600,
and lost 18 pounds. The first doctor told me to stop taking insulin until Monday (it was Friday
then) so I could get a lab test. What a bonehead!!!.... I thought you have to be smart to get in
med school? This guy didn't speak English to well, sounded like he was from the Caribbean or
something. Anyways I ended up going to this shady med clinic and the guy basically wrote me a
prescription for whatever I wanted. Real cool... anyways no hypo episodes yet and my blood seems
to be really good. I notice in the morning I had to take about 4 more units to cover breakfast.

What really pisses me off is the cost of these strips! These things couldn't cost more than
50cents for a box to manufacture. With all these companies out there it doesn't seem like there's
a lot of price competition going on. I actually have to ration my testing?! Then the other day I
noticed on eBay people bidding on these things! Is that screwed up or what? I'm bidding on test
strips so I won't go blind in 10 years! and here we are pissing off another 87 billion on IRAQ!!!
We should have just thermo nuked the whole country and spent the other 86 billion on research.

"Granola Bar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey everyone! I just got type 1 diabetes last week. I'm 25 and have a twin brother who got it when
he was 10. I've spent the last 15 years chasing after him so it came as a real shock.

In some cases, if caught super early, type I can be reversed. If you still have some beta cells left
(beta cells are where insulin is produced), and if you take insulin, it is possible to give your
remaining beta cells a chance to rest so they do not burn out. Go to Dr Bernsteins site diabetes-diabetes-Open ↗
normalsugars.com, he wrote the bible on diabetes control.

In article said:

One would hope that this first break in the strip cartel would have some long term effects. I
think, but don't know for certain, that LifeScan at least has come down a bit. I used to see their
strips at $74/100 and now am seeing them in the $60's.

But do look around since different pharmacies price differently. The other day I went to get strips
and the bill was over $100 (for 100 Ultra strips). I gasped and the clerk said "was this supposed to
be billed to your insurance?" Oh yeah, you better believe it was! Yowch!

--
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

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