This post is for a friend…
How available is insulin, needles, and test strips here in Taiwan? Are they covered by the Health Card? What is the cost?
Thanks
[quote=“Steeevieboy”]This post is for a friend…
How available is insulin, needles, and test strips here in Taiwan? Are they covered by the Health Card? What is the cost?
Thanks[/quote]
Insulin is available from hospitals. The hospital will give you some free needles also, and you can also buy them and test strips from drugstores. Needles are cheap. Test strips, depending on the brand, go for about NT1000 for 50. Search this forum. We’ve discussed this before!
How much is Insilin is and how much of Diabetic supplies are covered under the health plan?? Thanks
The new IC Health Card does cover a few syringes (needles) and a FEW medicines for pill takers like me (NIDDM) . The Medicines they do cover include Metformin called Glucobaya in Taiwan (I call run for the bathroom FAST) and also Avandia and Starlix (Repaglynide). There are a few more also but they are older with more side effect and not often used any longer. Testing supplies for self-testing usually AREN’T covered. Doctor-ordered bloodwork IS covered ALWAYS. Hbg A1C IS ! The GLYCOSYLATED HEMOGLOBIN TEST SHOULD BE DONE EVERY 3 MONTHS.
As a newbie here, I'm amazed at the lack of information and available "stuff" / supplies for diabetics here and general information, both in English and Mandarin. Testing supplies like strips were always covered in the states by law in NY State... not here WOW ! better coverage in US , cannot be !
Maybe we can use this forum as a resource to help one another when we find a strip on sale or a new sweetener or clinic/doc we like and in general help on another like good campers should. I know, how naive !
NO REALLY ! Well, I for one will volunteer to go first and (as helpful) will volunteer CQ to come out and play second and see if anybody else wants to brainstorm away. 
The new IC Health Card does cover a few syringes (needles) and a FEW medicines for pill takers like me (NIDDM) . The Medicines they do cover include Metformin called Glucobaya in Taiwan (I call run for the bathroom FAST) and also Avandia and Starlix (Repaglynide). There are a few more also but they are older with more side effect and not often used any longer. Testing supplies for self-testing usually AREN’T covered. Doctor-ordered bloodwork IS covered ALWAYS. Hbg A1C IS ! The GLYCOSYLATED HEMOGLOBIN TEST SHOULD BE DONE EVERY 3 MONTHS.
As a newbie here, I'm amazed at the lack of information and available "stuff" / supplies for diabetics here and general information, both in English and Mandarin. Testing supplies like strips were always covered in the states by law in NY State... not here WOW ! better coverage in US , cannot be !
Maybe we can use this forum as a resource to help one another when we find a strip on sale or a new sweetener or clinic/doc we like and in general help on another like good campers should. I know, how naive !
NO REALLY ! Well, I for one will volunteer to go first and (as helpful) will volunteer CQ to come out and play second and see if anybody else wants to brainstorm away.
My doctor prescribes me 3 vials of insulin (2Humilin R, 1Humulin N) each trip, and about 50 needles. With my NHI card that comes to under NT$500. If you want more insulin, your doctor can prescribe it, but you must pay. I recall it’s around NT$600 a vial. I don’t take oral insulin, so I don’t know those prices. All blood work is covered by NHI.
There are several large medical supplies stores close to the Ren Ai Hospital, and that’s where I get all my other supplies. A box of 100 alcohol swabs is NT$80, 50 test strips go for NT$900, and they have the latter for many different machines, as well as the machines themselves. The machines are 3-5 thousand NT. None of these supplies is covered by the NHI plan.I’ve seen a small range of diabetic foods and sweeteners there also. Basically, you’ll find everything you need there. There’s also a small store in the basement of the hospital.
I’m keen to try Glargine insulin, which acts over a full 24 hours, but it’s apparently not available in Taiwan. Does anyone use this insulin type?
Absolutely make sure that you get a blood glucose monitoring device. They are small, don’t need a lot of blood to test but are important to controlling your diabetes.
Also, make sure you test more than the 1 time a week that is avg. for Taiwan.
[quote=“ex-isle”]The Medicines they do cover include Metformin called Glucobaya in Taiwan (I call run for the bathroom FAST) and also Avandia and Starlix (Repaglynide). There are a few more also but they are older with more side effect and not often used any longer.
Maybe we can use this forum as a resource to help one another when we find a strip on sale or a new sweetener or clinic/doc we like and in general help on another like good campers should. I know, how naive !
NO REALLY ! Well, I for one will volunteer to go first and (as helpful) will volunteer CQ to come out and play second and see if anybody else wants to brainstorm away. [/quote]
I’ll come out and play. I am type II pill popper.
I am using amaryll and it’s not working anymore, despite reasonable diet control. My Dr. told me that Avandia or Starlix merc. may be the answer to what ails me. Then he tells me that his hospital doesn’t stock it and I may have to go into the city to get it OR purchase it myself. I think that purchasing it myself would be expensive. Is it expensive???
I should probably get a blood glucose checker. Yeah, I know, I should have one, and use it to help me control my diabetes. I like to procrastinate, not a good thing to do with your health though.
Actually, what supplies should I look at having?
It’s difficult when you were diagnosed in Taiwan. They tell you very little, even in Chinese, and some doctors even lay on the guilt when you turn in a high blood sugar test. Damn, that is not helpful when you’ve been doing everything that you should do and it’s still not working. One Doctor even threatened to put me on needles if I had one more high test.
BTW, DON’T drink coffee around meal times, the caffine will send your blood sugar through the roof.
[quote=“Bassman”]I should probably get a blood glucose checker. Yeah, I know, I should have one, and use it to help me control my diabetes. I like to procrastinate, not a good thing to do with your health though.
Actually, what supplies should I look at having?
It’s difficult when you were diagnosed in Taiwan. They tell you very little, even in Chinese, and some doctors even lay on the guilt when you turn in a high blood sugar test. Damn, that is not helpful when you’ve been doing everything that you should do and it’s still not working. One Doctor even threatened to put me on needles if I had one more high test.[/quote]
Bassman, a year ago you were asking these same questions here: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … s&&start=0
And despite all the helpful replies you received, a year later you still don’t have a blood glucose meter? 
Your doctor is right to threaten you. As for lack of information on diabetes, try Dr. Google. There are literally hundreds of helpful and authoritative websites offering advice on this well-documented disease. Get in control of your disease before your doctor starts talking about diabetic foot amputations and blindness.
I don’t mean to sound as evil as my avatar, but … I am at my wits end. I like you Closet Queen and what you have to say, I hear your motivation and know what you mean, but still… this is how I feel.
[quote=“Closet Queen”][quote=“Bassman”]I should probably get a blood glucose checker. Yeah, I know, I should have one, and use it to help me control my diabetes. I like to procrastinate, not a good thing to do with your health though.
Actually, what supplies should I look at having?
It’s difficult when you were diagnosed in Taiwan. They tell you very little, even in Chinese, and some doctors even lay on the guilt when you turn in a high blood sugar test. Damn, that is not helpful when you’ve been doing everything that you should do and it’s still not working. One Doctor even threatened to put me on needles if I had one more high test.[/quote]
Bassman, a year ago you were asking these same questions here: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … s&&start=0
And despite all the helpful replies you received, a year later you still don’t have a blood glucose meter?
Your doctor is right to threaten you. As for lack of information on diabetes, try Dr. Google. There are literally hundreds of helpful and authoritative websites offering advice on this well-documented disease. Get in control of your disease before your doctor starts talking about diabetic foot amputations and blindness.[/quote]
IMO, the Doctor was an idiot. No questions about diet. Dr google is about as usless as tits on a bull when it comes to food that is available in Taiwan and medication that is available in Taiwan. Bloody hell, it’s like “it’s all your @#$#@ fault and now I am going to punish you for what this disease is doing”. The are doctors and there to help, it just upped the stress and as a result upped the sugar.
AFAIK, I am in control of my disease, or at least fighting the fight as best I can. I don’t eat stuff that I shouldn’t. Ok, I should exercise more. But, my body has slowly rejected every kind of medication that I have been given. Novonorm worked wonders in the beginning even with poor food habits, then it slowly stopped working. A switch to amaryll worked for a while and since then the dosage has been increasing till, at this stage, I am on 3 pills a day. Glucophage 3 times a day and mylanta 3 times a day. Liver medication 2 times a day.
My diet control is more agressive than it ever has been, cut out coffee at meal times, spread food quantities out throughout the day. You know, all the advice that you do get online. Yes, I google diabetes at least once a week for the latest news. That’s no reason for the Drs in Taiwan not to even have the information that I have, what should I be better informed than my health professional, and he specialises in diabetes.
Having a blood glucose checker may not change anything for me, may just increase the stress that I have from knowing that I have high blood sugar even though I am doing everything that I can do to control it, except monitoring it.
In the past year I lost 10 Kg in weight through high blood sugar. Once I really put the control on everything, including coffee, I gained 8kg back. So, now I look and feel healthy, eat well, sleep better, and take my medication religiously, but I still have really high blood sugar levels.
My meals are all supplied, apart from breakfast, and sometimes it is a hassle to order something different, if not impossible, so I try to control exactly how much I eat of any particular type of food.
And yet, the sugar readings are still really high.
I checked my eyes - nothing wrong there.
I had my body checked - nothing out of order apart from a bit of a fatty liver.
I am not one of those sneaky diabetics that binge or ignore the risk.
I know that I have lows too, yesterday I was shaking by 11:30am and dying for some food. I guess that 2 bowls of rice, half a pear, and green tea, may have pushed the blood sugar over the top. I know, one bowl of rice is enough. But to be with a sugar level of 300 at 4pm is way too much. I had not eaten anything that I shouldn’t have during the day, as far as I know, and still I was really high.
Tell me how the glucose monitor is going to do anything much besides torment me.
What I want is the magic medication to bring it under control because every other damn thing hasn’t worked as yet.
Another thing, if I were in NZ the Dr would make sure that I had a glucose monitor and a log book and ask to see it when I go for a medical check. But they don’t here, do they?
I will get a glucose monitor, but if it ends up persecuting me for doing everything right, I’ll trow the damn thing in the trash.
Hell, I’d even go on the needle if I thought that it would give me control over this bastard disease.
Ok, helpful replies from the thread of one year ago…
[quote]Bassman. Don’t know how bad your diabetes is normally but do you have your own test kit? The beauty of these bastards (and my but they are) is that you can gauge the influence of a multitude of factors on your blood sugar levels. This can include certain foods, medications, exercise and of course stress. The difficulty, from my observations (I’m not a diabetic, just an ex-nurse) is that people become really obsessed.
You posted somewere else that you were coming up for hol’s, I’m sure that is going to help considerably . . . as long as its restive!
HG[/quote]
This is good advice and the reason that I would get a test kit.
I saw one message about Avandia there, I don’t know why I didn’t follow through on that one. I am doing that now, altough it isn’t helpful when the hospital won’t stock it.
The most useful advice, and advice that, for the most part, I did take, was from Closet Queen, however when I followed it and the results were still high I didn’t know what to do.
I am starting to worry about what is going to happen when my new baby is born next year. I remember how tiring the first one was, and now, shoot, 2 kids and high sugar levels -
Yesterday I sent emails to all the hospitals in my area and nearby to try to track down the medication that I need, no answer yet, but fingers crossed.
Another thing I have heard about is misdiagnosis between type I and type II. Is it possible that this may be the case with me and the doctors don’t have a clue or what?
I am not over weight and never have been thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=503951 too.
WTF, [quote]The average length of time from diagnosis to death is about 20 years, Mr Stephenson says.[/quote]
diabetes.ca/Section_About/prevalence.asp makes me feel a little better, but which one is right?
[quote] The onset of type 2 diabetes may be prevented or delayed, through increased physical activity, healthy eating, weight loss, not smoking and stress reduction. Taking these steps now can lead to a healthier future.
?nbsp; In a large study, people at risk of type 2 diabetes were able to cut that risk 58% by exercising moderately for 30 minutes a day and by losing 5-7% of their body weight. In people over 60, the risk was cut by almost 71%. Other large studies have shown similar results in reducing risk.
[/quote]
And reduced weight saw my blood sugar at all time highs.
Conclusion:
Reduce stress - done, check
Exercise more - will do.
Misdiagnosis in Taiwan is a chronic problem. I assume they ran all the diabetes tests at the hospital. If you have not had a pancreas function test, get it done. If you are really type II, your pancreas function will a little reduce perhaps, but OK.
Obviously that
I get sugar level readings from the hospital. And the three monthly blood test that can read 3 months levels, that is always a little too high.
But yes, bian dang, and if I actually had put a kitchen in my place I’d make my own. I didn’t put a kitchen in when we decorated, we never use it.
Damn.
How does one get thier blood sugar tested here? I have had the same doctor for most of my life, so without him telling me what to do, I am lost.
Does anyone know the chinese name for glycosylated hemoglobin tests? Can ALL clinics perform these tests? Or only certain ones? How much do they costs without insurance…
[quote=“SuchAFob”]How does one get thier blood sugar tested here? I have had the same doctor for most of my life, so without him telling me what to do, I am lost.
Does anyone know the Chinese name for glycosylated hemoglobin tests? Can ALL clinics perform these tests? Or only certain ones? How much do they costs without insurance…[/quote]
Go to a clinic or hospital. Tell them you want to “Yan xue tang”. NOt all clinics do it, but 99.9% should. Erm, it’s $100NT with insurance… without 