Carol, I'm amazed that you've been told you can only have two packs of strips per year, that is preposterous - for me that would mean I could only test once every 3 days which is ridiculous. I don't test frequently or sometimes even regularly, but when you change your diet or introduce exercise or are ill or any other major change it is vital to know how your blood sugars are affected. I would ask your doctor to explain this random decision - it's not like that all over the country, I can order as many strips as I need. You could also complain to your local Primary Care Trust.
Also, you shouldn't go straight from Metformin to insulin without trying Victoza first, the national guidelines for diabetes are for Victoza to be tried before insulin for type twos. I was referred to the local hospital Specialist Diabetes Nurse Service and was initially prescribed it there, I now get it on repeat from the GP. It's a hormone so it needs to be injected like insulin, but just once a day. A lot of people also have a huge weight loss with Victoza as one of the side effects is that it suppresses appetite
- unfortunately that didn't last more than a month for me
. However, after the first three months of taking it my HbA1c dropped from 9.7 to 6.5, and has been stable ever since. I have never felt better since diagnosis - no more mood swings (well okay, not many and certainly not related to my sugar levels!!)
I actually never see my GP about my diabetes, there is a diabetes nurse within my practice so I see her or the Specialist Diabetes Nurses, and I have to say they all know much more than my GP does!