DEAR DR. GOTT:
My doctor told me I have diabetes. My choice was to control it by dieting and my doctor set me up to see a dietician. I followed the diet and later asked my doctor for a prescription for a glucose meter so I could monitor my levels. She refused. I asked her again later, leaving her a message and she never called me back.
Is it standard for a doctor to refuse a prescription for a meter to activate insurance coverage when controlling diabetes by dieting?
DEAR READER:
It is true that glucose meters help people check their blood sugar levels at home or in locations outside a doctor‘s office or laboratory. As a general rule, levels stay within normal limits throughout the day, are lowest in the morning and higher after meals. Diabetics or individuals on special diets controlled through medication in tablet form generally monitor their readings once or twice a week, either before meals or about one and a half hours after eating. Not all non-insulin independent diabetics need to perform regular blood glucose checks. However, insulin-dependent diabetics require tighter control and often need to test their glucose levels several times a day.
If I can read between the lines, I conclude your sugar level was minimally high when your doctor checked it. He or she must have felt your diabetes could be controlled by diet, without medication and without outside monitoring. This is always a favorable option I definitely endorse, since all drugs have side effects.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “Living with Diabetes Mellitus”. Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed, stamped, number 10 envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 176, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
About Dr. Gott