Free Diabetic Supplies

There have been months of discussions about the vote that Congress was to have that would stop several important measures that would have a negative effect on physicians who treat Medicare recipients and a negative effect on many individuals – especially those with diabetes.

Congress voted on the measures and the result was a reprieve for doctors and their patients. The issue will be studied between now and 2010 to put together a plan that will somehow be as much of a win-win situation as possible.

Another critical area that is a huge issue is the area of diabetes supplies. The way it stands at least for the time being, is that millions of Medicare beneficiaries will have less choices and lower quality diabetic supplies, products and services than they need. Testing equipment will be a hard-hit item. This could have a very negative effect on individuals who are trying to manage their diabetes.

There is now a new Congress that is back at work this week and they – along with the new president – have vowed to look carefully at this situation to create new legislation that will eliminate the current problems. These changes, if significant enough they will prevent many medical equipment companies from going out of business. This will prevent leaving millions of diabetics with an interruption in supplies and products which are essential for them on a daily basis.

It will take time for the new Congress to get to the bottom of the situation, as there are innumerable critical issues to deal with; however healthcare is at the top of the list rather than the middle or the bottom. It is critical and fitting that Congress work to fix this complex and difficult problem as soon as possible so that people who depend upon specific products and services from certain companies will be able to expect continuous care.

During the past decade or so we have heard more and more about bariatric surgery as a partial – or entire – solution to obesity, especially morbid obesity.  As time and research has continued, there is a growing agreement that bariatric surgery is very helpful in many people.

One of the side effects, if you will, has been a welcome surprise.  A few years ago there were some hushed comments between researchers and others expressing the idea that because bariatric surgery was helping obesity, it might help other health issues.

After all, obesity quite often carries with a multitude of subsequently related health issues such as poor circulation, high blood pressure, kidney problems, vision problems, cardiovascular problems and more.  Significantly, these same symptoms very often accompany diabetes. more…

If you have diabetes and are trying to find the supplies you need, look carefully.  When you look for supplies on the internet you will find pages and pages of companies that offer free diabetes supplies.  But are they really free?

In many cases, some of the supplies are free.  Many companies offer a free glucose meter, but the catch is that you have to purchase lancets and testing strips which can be quite costly.

Most of the companies offer some sort of free item, but it is important for you to know exactly what you need to order before you contact any of the companies.  To find out exactly what you need, have your doctor write out a list.  Ask for the list to include a particular brand of glucose meter, the correct size needle/syringe for your insulin shots and ask for any coupons or discounts the doctor or nurse may have or know about.

In addition, it is a good idea to research several companies before you contact them.  Make sure to compare prices and find out whether you have to join or pay a monthly fee to get their discounts.  Don’t give out your personal information to companies indiscriminately or you will be bombarded with phone calls and emails trying to get you to buy your supplies from them.

Another important way to get the best price and to get the correct supplies is to contact the American Diabetes Association, your local Diabetes Association or your local hospital or senior center.  Usually they have a great deal of information to help you with your search.  AARP is another place to contact for information, as well as organizations such as WebMD.

There are a number of legitimate companies who can help you save money on your diabetes supplies.  Just remember to do your research before you decide which one to do business with.

In most states prescription medications and supplies are exempt from sales tax.  After all, these days, prescriptions are expensive enough without adding an extra 5% to 10% to the total.  Even with insurance and discounts, some prescriptions are just plain expensive.

Recently the father of a young girl who had Type 1 or Juvenile Diabetes went to pick up his daughter’s medication and supplies.  He was charged tax on some of the supplies because he was told that these weren’t prescription items.

Imagine having a blood glucose meter and having to buy lancets and test strips, only to be taxed on the lancets and strips.  Also, imagine having to buy syringes for insulin and being taxed on those.  Since these items can quickly add up to well over $100.00, the tax, even at 6% amounts to $6.00 that could be better used elsewhere.  Anyone with diabetes (or with a loved one with diabetes) knows exactly how this goes and is quite familiar with the cost of supplies and medication.

Well, this particular father talked to the pharmacy until he was blue in the face.  He brought in a signed note from his daughter’s doctor listing all the medications and supplies she needed.  He talked to the pharmacy manager.  He talked to the store manager.  He got no assistance or relief.

Fortunately, he didn’t give up.  He went to his state’s Department of Revenue and got information from them stating that he did not need a prescription to get the sales tax exemption for diabetes supplies; he only needed a doctor’s note which he had from his daughter’s endocrinologist.

After fighting for weeks, he finally got some positive response – not because the pharmacy listened to him, but because the local news networks caught wind of the story and started circulating it, forcing the pharmacy to change their opinion and their approach.

This is not an isolated story, and the pharmacy involved is a huge national pharmacy.  If you have diabetes and are being charged state tax for any of your supplies, check with your state’s Department of Revenue to make sure whether or not you should be exempt. 

It is hard enough to deal with an ongoing disease such as diabetes without having to spend extra money on necessary supplies due to pharmacies that do not understand or will not uphold the law.

Type 1 Diabetes – often called juvenile diabetes – usually strikes young people and continues lifelong in most cases.  It can bring along with it a parade of side effects and other serious health issues that can worsen as time goes on.

For years, parents and their children sometimes struggle with Type 1 Diabetes and its other health issues for years – even a lifetime.  According to reports from Web MD and other sources, it is thought that studies have found hope.   Their research has revealed that is very possible that there may be a way to delay or even prevent Type 1 Diabetes.

Because Type 1 Diabetes usually begins when a person is extremely young, it happens when part of the immune system is still growing and getting stronger.  The way this happens in Type 1 Diabetes is that the
T-lymphocyte part of a child or young person’s immune system actually attacks the beta cells which are located in the pancreas.  The major problem with this is that the beta cells create insulin, and as a result, if the T-lymphocytes are attacking and/or destroying the beta cells, there will always be a lack of insulin. more…

Diabetes comes with a long list of side effects – some extremely serious, such as kidney problems, possible blindness, cardiovascular issues, and more.  Some of the side effects are not as severe, however, they are often painful and extremely difficult to deal with.

Peripheral Neuropathy is one of the issues that many individuals with diabetes have to deal with on a daily basis.  Peripheral Neuropathy is nerve pain associated with diabetes.

There are many ways to deal with Peripheral Neuropathy.  The first and most important part of dealing with Peripheral Neuropathy is to be sure you are checking and controlling your blood glucose levels, taking your insulin and other medication and making sure that you are doing all you can to control your diabetes.

Peripheral Neuropathy can take many forms – from mild tingling of legs, hands and feet to burning of the legs, hands and feet or outright pain in those main areas.  These symptoms range from irritating to downright painful and debilitating.  There are, however, ways to cope with the symptoms.

Most of the over the counter medications for pain can help mild neuropathy, however, a person with diabetes needs to be quite careful using medicines such as Aleve, Motrin and Advil because these can affect the kidneys and many people with diabetes have either sensitivity with their kidneys or other kidney problems.

There is also Tylenol, which can help with the pain.  The Tylenol will not affect the kidneys in a negative way, however it is not as effective against pain as the other medications mentioned, so the situation becomes a catch-22.

There are creams available to help with the pain.  If the pain is relatively mild, creams such as Capsaicin. Capzasin-P and Zostrix (capsaicin), made of crushed chili peppers, the pain can be minimized – at least to a degree.  Other creams, such as Ben-Gay and Aspercreme are not effective against Peripheral Neuropathy.

There are various types of prescription medications available that can help with the pain.  Some are very effective.  Some of the prescription strength medicines such as Motrin, Aleve and Advil may help the pain, but also are harsh on the kidneys – harsher than the over-the-counter strength.

There are numerous effective prescription pain relievers that do not have the same ingredients (NSAIDs).  Some of these are antidepressants, which is surprising to many.  Medications such as Paxil, Prozac, Cymbalta and others help stop the pain.  There are also specific pain medications from morphine on down to lower levels and doses of prescription medications that address pain but are not as strong, and often not narcotic.

When making decisions about how to deal with Peripheral Neuropathy it is important to discuss your specific situation and pain issues with your doctor, healthcare provider or pain specialist.  There are ways for them to help you control or possibly eliminate your pain.

These are trying times throughout the world.  Every time you turn on the TV, there is some sort of news bulletin of wars, bombs, fighting and destruction whether in far away counties or in local neighborhoods.  Add to that natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and earthquakes and it is impossible to escape some sort of emergency at the most unexpected time.  In fact, even if such an emergency happens to you or your family once in a lifetime, it is more than enough.

Most of us think it will happen to someone else and not us, and most of us are right most of the time.  However, if an emergency does happen to us, it is essential that we are prepared.

I can speak from experience.  I live in an area that rarely gets snow.  I happen to have high blood pressure that is usually controlled by medication.  With the right medication, my blood pressure stays stable.  Enter the unusual snow storm that left everyone surprised.  It was lovely and wonderful and happened during the holidays.  My problem: I didn’t have an emergency kit.  I ran out of medication and had to get through Christmas Eve, Christmas and two more days of snow and ended up in the hospital with blood pressure of 205/118.  Normal is about 120/80.  They were afraid I was going to have a stroke.  With an I V and the right medication my blood pressure went down.  As soon as I felt better I put a week’s amount of blood pressure medication in my emergency kit which also has written medical information, insurance papers and other important information in it.  It is set up so that I can grab it in an emergency and walk out the door.

My emergency is not unique.  My mother battled with diabetes for years, taking several shots of insulin every day.  She loved to travel, and on one trip overseas she brought enough insulin and syringes for the exact amount of days she would be gone, plus one.  It was good thinking to take a little extra with her, except she got stuck overseas for four extra days due to a flight mishap.  She ended up going to the hospital in a country where she didn’t speak the language and was finally able to get the medication and supplies she needed.

The moral of the story it that we never know what type of emergency could come our way so it is important to get copies of important paperwork, sentimental or other valuable items and at least a week’s supply of medication and put them in a duffel bag or container that will be easy to grab if you need to get to it suddenly.

There’s a saying that if you plan for an emergency it probably won’t come.  By gathering what you need in advance you might never need to use your supply and you just might be avoiding an emergency.

Diabetes has become an epidemic throughout the world with about 24 million individuals battling the disease in the United States alone.  Diabetes has been on the rise for decades and more recently researchers have been discovering ways to control symptoms and help individuals who have not gotten the disease – many who are pre-diabetic – avoid ending up with diabetes at all.

One of the most serious and consistent issues regarding diabetes is that most individuals who end up with the disease are obese, often morbidly obese.  Sometimes it is a case of which came first…

I had two aunts with diabetes.  One aunt was slim, trim and active and you would never have known she had diabetes unless she told you so.  No matter what she did, she could not control it without insulin.  Even though she watched her diet and got regular exercise, she had to work hard to control her symptoms.  She lived a long and active life. more…

There are a lot of things that are connected to diabetes.  Everything from imbalanced diet to lack of exercise is blamed for causing or increasing diabetes.  Under the diet category, researchers are now calling attention to Vitamin D deficiency as a contributor to diabetes.

Vitamin D is linked to sunlight.  One of the issues that helps create vitamin D deficiency is, logically, not getting outside enough or not drinking enough milk or eating enough foods that contain high levels of vitamin D.  Researchers have determined that many people who are deficient in vitamin D live in areas such as Main or Seattle where the weather keeps people inside most of the year. 

Vitamin D deficiency has increased to the point where the medical community is calling this deficiency an epidemic.  Since Vitamin D helps keep the immune system healthy and since we don’t produce vitamin D in our skin between the months of November to March, our levels drop and we need to build them up during the other months of the year.
The average fair-skinned person used to get the equivalent of 10,000 IU (international units) by spending 10 to 15 minutes outdoors a few times a week. This takes a good bit of work. Some climates have less sunlight than others and people either don’t spend enough time outdoors or wear sunscreen when they do, which prevents synthesis of vitamin D.
As a result, the American Academy of Pediatrics has doubled its recommended minimum daily intake of vitamin D for infants, children and teens from 200 IU to 400 IU.  For adults, the government recommends 200 IU of vitamin D each day up to age 50, 400 IU at 60 and 600 IU at 70.  Many researchers feel that those levels are much too low and that food sources, such as milk and salmon, do not provide enough vitamin D.
If you have pre diabetes or type 2 diabetes, be sure not to forget your vitamin D.  It will help your immune system stay that much stronger and help you feel better, despite diabetes or other ailments you have to deal with.

We are entering the New Year and it is a time for looking forward.  Normally, the information contained here is original; however, the following information about a teenage girl named Laura gives positive insight into the life of a young person with diabetes.  Laura’s answers and ideas are honest and full of grace.  I hope they will bring information and hope to you, even if only a little. Here is the reprint of the article/interview: 

Laura is one of my good friends. I really admire her. She has diabetes but still lives the life of a normal teenager. She has to deal with all the struggles of diabetes along with those of life.

What exactly is diabetes?
There are two types of diabetes. I have type one. My body attacked my pancreas and it stopped producing ¬insulin.

What does insulin do?
Insulin allows sugars from food into the cells. If there is no insulin, there is too much sugar in the blood.

How does diabetes affect your diet?
At first, I had to eat foods that were sugar free. Then, I got a new doctor and he put me on an insulin pump. This ¬allows me to eat a wider range of foods but in moderation.

How does diabetes affect your physical activities?
When my blood sugar is good, it doesn’t affect me at all. When it is too high, I get very distracted, tired, and thirsty. When my blood sugar is low, I either get really tired or hyper.

Is diabetes hard to regulate?
Some days it is easy; some days it’s hard. It depends on my surroundings. My mood, the weather, anything I eat, and when I am sick are just a few things that determine if it will be hard to regulate that day.

What happens if your blood sugar gets way too high or way too low?
Luckily, I have never been too high. When it gets too high, you go into a ¬coma. When it’s too low, you have seizures. That has happened to me six or seven times. I am told that I clamp my teeth really tight. I don’t really ¬remember what happens. When I wake up there are usually paramedics surrounding me. I have also blacked out three or four times because my levels have been too low.

Who can get diabetes?
It is mostly genetic. Type 2 ¬diabetes usually affects people who are overweight or are older.

How does diabetes affect your ¬overall life?
It affects me every day because I have to go through stresses and irritations that come with it. When I work hard and control my blood sugar, it isn’t bad at all.

Is diabetes curable?
There are many cures being tested. They are ¬getting very close to a cure. But right now, there are just ways to treat the disease.

How will diabetes affect you in the future?
My college life will probably be ¬different. I will not be able to drink ¬alcohol. I will have to adopt a respon¬sible lifestyle.

As a diabetic, are there extra ¬precautions you must take?
Yes, everywhere I go I have to bring my testing supplies. I also have to make sure I have some kind of food with me. I test myself before driving or doing something that requires my full attention.

How old were you when you were diagnosed and how did you find out?
I was eight years old. For about a week I felt sick and I would have cravings for pop and sugary foods. I would always sleep. As soon as I tried to eat, I had no appetite. So, my mom scheduled a doctor’s appointment for me.

What happened the first time your blood sugar got too low?
My sister and I were playing hangman outside. I kept telling her I felt dizzy. She didn’t think anything of it. My sister told me to guess a letter so I said, “I guess H.” She said it was wrong. For some reason I didn’t care. I kept repeating “I guess H.” When we went inside the house my mom had ¬dinner ready. I threw the food on the floor and started running around the house screaming “I guess H!” When I came to, I couldn’t even remember playing hangman.

Have you ever felt embarrassed about your diabetes?
I usually don’t get embarrassed about it. There was, though, one time in sixth grade. My mom decided it would be a good idea to educate my peers about ¬diabetes. We went from class to class and I sat on a stool in the front of the room. My mom would point to me and say, “This is Laura. She has diabetes.” Some classes weren’t too bad; the kids seemed uninterested. The most embarrassing time was when kids asked questions at the end. I will always remember one kid asking, “What should I do if Laura runs out into the street?” It was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life.

This piece has also been published in Teen Ink’s monthly magazine.