Annoyed by my Diabetes

I have a headache. A lousy one today. My sugars are up because of it. There are a few things that come to mind that annoy me because of the headache and recent events. Fair warning. Today is a venting day and I am going to speak out of the moment, or more specifically, the last week. But first, let me set the stage.

Annoyed at my endocrinologist

I saw my endocrinologist last week. Great guy, great doctor, very helpful. I’m not annoyed with him, just the situation. He has my most recent lab results in front of him. Not in front of me. Him. On his big a** screen.

He wasn’t displeased but he was cautious and concerned about my latest A1C. Since we had never talked about what my target should be, I asked. Generally, he wants me <7 mmols. I thought, ok, then my A1C must be high. I do the ask. I am currently sitting at, wait for it...omg! 7.1! AND I was up from the previous one which was 7! Now admittedly, it’s higher than it should be. He appeared quite concerned. This was my first annoyance. I understand that he’s a specialist and wants tight control, I get that. But seriously? We move on:

“Am I doing anything different?” No.
“Any change in my health?” No.
“Do I test in the morning?” Yes.
“What are my morning sugars?” Usually in the 7’s.

Annoyed at medication expenses and waste

“How do you feel about increasing the Trulicity?” That’s my injectable, once a week medicine. The negotiation begins. (I’m not annoyed at this at all. I should be a part of my own plan). Ummm. Not really wanting to do that. I’ve had very few side effects from it, I really don’t want to mess with that by doubling the dose. If the lower dose stings like heck, the higher dose will likely sting even worse. I’d rather avoid this option. I am willing to try the metformin again but I’ll only get about 3 months of use before the drug will create issues for my stomach even with titrating the dose up.

“No. Let’s talk about other meds.” He suggests another class of drugs, but it puts on weight. No thanks. Another class causes hypoglycaemia. No thanks. He now notices I’m on the lowest dose of Jardiance.

“Let’s put the Jardiance dose up to 25mg.” SOLD! But I just got a brand new box of 10 mg. That’s a 3 month supply. Can I just take 20 mg? “No. The full dose is better.” My second annoyance. Yes I have a drug plan. In my job though, I work with folks who can’t always afford to put food on the table let alone to afford expensive medication. I have had more med changes in the last year and each one has meant not only that my drug plan has paid for them but that I am having to waste them with each change. There is no outlet for giving those meds to people who can’t afford them. Philosophically, I really struggle with that! There has to be a better way but at the moment there’s no solution.

“Do I test any other times in the day?” Yes, and I offer, usually about 4 times on average a day.
“Do I have a drug plan?” Yes.
“Have I heard about (Freestyle) Libre?” Yes.
“Would I like to try one?” Sure.
“They’re not available in pharmacies yet.” Ok.

Annoyed at lack of coverage and hope

I sign the consent form that he sends in with his recommendation. The rest is taken care of for me as ‘they’ contact my benefits/insurance plan. A couple of days later I get a call from the Abbott company or their contractor so this can move forward. At the present moment, only one pharmacy has the ability/rights to distribute the Libre. Why? Apparently not all the final approvals have been given by Health Canada so there is limited distribution. This pharmacy in Toronto will contact my benefits plan and we will move forward. It’s all looking good. The next day, I get an email from the Toronto pharmacy saying my benefit plan rejected it. I call the benefit plan and am told quite pointedly that they don’t cover this under any of their plans. I state that I don’t see why as it’s cheaper for them to cover it. It’s not about cost, it’s about efficacy. And there it is. The excuse. And my third annoyance. I will try a call to my husband’s benefit plan but I doubt I’ll get much further there either because they’re even stickier than mine. I had a lot of hope that I could decrease the number of pokes, sore fingers, get rid of test strips etc. but apparently not. My hope is down the drain.

I don’t usually dwell on the negative but sometimes situations just annoy the heck out of me. When my headache leaves, the annoyance will leave, I will accept what I can’t change. But today, I live annoyed. Diabetes sucks.