Come Thursday it will have been eleven months. Eleven months of all of this. And the thing that is bothering me the most right now? My fingers. They feel absolutely shot. I'm starting to form callouses on certain ones. Yes I rotate. But what I've found lately is that I can't get half my fingers to bleed. The ones that will are so UNBELIEVABLY sore. I picked up Cassie (my beautiful guitar) last night, to practice, and had to put her down after five minutes. I tried playing Lucy, one of Andrew's guitars, who has a lighter action, but couldn't even handle that. Very upsetting.What else I have come to notice, however, is that whichever fingers won't bleed when I'm lancing them for testing, will then insist on bleeding on close to everything that's in the vicinity. Now, this seems familiar, I'm sure. It's not the first time I've mentioned it. But when you look and there's now blood on your mouse, keyboard, the telephone, the light switch...the list goes on.
I'm finding that my lancing device is not my best friend at the moment. Normally, I'll do nothing but sing Bayer's praises, but this thing is really trying my patience. Even set to the deepest level, it's a real swing and a miss as to whether it will get any blood out at all. Which is why I'm alternating with using the supposedly 'comfort' single use lancets that I bought a box of online last year. I don't trust alternate site testing, since every time I've tried it, it has ended up only hurting me more. So much for 'giving your fingers a break' as it's marketed in the pamphlets I've picked up from clinic in the past.
Testing hurts. I don't like doing it. But I do it because, one, it needs to be done. And two, if I don't, I just sit and worry and end up doing it anyway. I don't think I'm the least bit obsessed, but there's no way I could cut down to testing less times than I do. Which, in case anyone is interested, is usually 7-10 times a day. I remember a particularly interesting exchange with my endo where he told me I could just get away with testing twice a day. Needless to say, I told him I wouldn't be comfortable with that, and it wouldn't be happening.
But please fingers...get it together? Before it's not just my ability to bleed that slips away, but the last vestiges of my sanity as well?
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I know this sounds mocking, and I don't mean it to, but can't you use somewhere else? Like your toes?
:( I don't think I could do it :|
Theres a new lancet from one touch you can order seperately called the one touch comfort. I cant use it because you cant test on your arm but its supposed to help with sore fingers etc. If you want it let me know x
Hey Mol,
That's called 'Alternate Site Testing', and yes you can do it somewhere else. Some people use fore-arms, or the bit where your thumb goes down to join the wrist. I've never found it to be very successful, only more painful.
We had a bit of a debate over testing on toes at http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk Some people thought it would be ok. But the general advice for people with diabetes is to be REALLY careful about how you treat your feet, so there were some people falling on the side of 'don't even go there' as well.
And yes, you could do it. ^_~ xx
Lou - I'm pretty much exclusively a Bayer girl, so I don't know if I could get the scripts for the lancets, but hey anything that might help! I'll give it a shot. Will PM you my address.
Thank you lovely! xx
I swear by the Accu-Chek "pokers." I use the Softclix. I have also heard good things about the Multiclix. Their devices use a fine needle, and less of a "twisting" motion from the spring that launches the lancet. They also have more adjustment in the depth of the poke. I find that the poke hurts less and bleeds better.
I love the multiclix from accuchek. I swear it is the best poker ever.
I have the same issues Becks, have done for years and years now. Even though i started using my littlw fingers a few weeks ago theyve stopped bleeding now too. I really don't think there's any way around it :(