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Health Tech Review: TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare

By Health, Reviews2 Comments
TEE2-glucose-meter-by-spirit-healthcare

Image of the TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare. Image From & Copyright © Spirit Healthcare.

 I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic for a decade. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with diabetes here.

I’ve used various glucose meters, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. Around 6 months ago I was switched TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare by my GP. Here are the Pros and Cons of the TEE2 Glucose Meter:

Pros

  • It’s easy to use.
  • It meets the latest coding standards.
  • No coding is required.
  • The customer support is brilliant and really responsive. You can telephone a freephone number: 0800 881 5423 or email info@spirit-healthcare.co.uk
  • The meter shows trends data.
  • Apparently the testing strips are cheaper for the NHS to buy.

Cons

  • The meter and its accessories look and feel cheap. For example the zip off the pouch came off in my hand during my first week of use.
  • It’s around the average size of other meters on the market. But my previous meter was much smaller, making it feel big to me.
  • The screen isn’t colour like my previous meter.
  • The date is set in the American-style format: Month-Date, with no option to switch to UK formatting.
  • No automatic changing of time. You have to manually change time on the meter when clocks go forwards and backwards.
  • The meter has no connectivity to smartphones. It would have been great to have Bluetooth connectivity that put meter readings into a smartphone App.
  • The desktop software just wouldn’t work on my iMac. This meant that I would have to go back to recording results using pen and paper in a logbook. No logbook was provided. This again felt like going backwards, as my previous meter did connect to my computer and download test results and trends data to my iMac.

Although the pros and cons for this meter are equal in number, overall this meter has felt like going backwards for me. The TEE2 Glucose Meter feels really limited when compared to my previous meter and other meters on the market right now.

I really wanted to like the TEE2 Glucose Meter and for it to improve my diabetic self-care. But it hasn’t done this. Instead it’s given me more to remember to do (writing results in logbook).

If you have a choice on which Glucose Meter you use, my advice would be to do your research and choose one that is more sophisticated than the TEE2 Glucose Meter. If you don’t have a choice and have been put on the TEE2 Glucose Meter by your GP or Diabetic Specialist Consultant/Nurse my advice would be not to have too high hopes or expectations for it.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Monday 1 May 2017

Hello Hypertension :(

By HealthNo Comments

I feel like the insides of my body are like those of an old man. An old man who has lived a long life of over indulgence.

Maybe six months ago, while attending my GP for a regular medication review he asked for some blood tests. The results came back and the news wasn’t good. I was diagnosed with High cholesterol (Hypercholesterolemia). He starts me on a statin. Statins are medications that reduce cholesterol.

A month ago, another medication review and my GP checks my blood pressure (BP). Not satisfied with the result, he repeats the test several times, getting similar results. It’s high. He puts it down to anxiety, although I’m not particularly anxious. He says he will check it again at my next medication review.

Fast forward to last week, my latest medication review. He checks my BP again and it’s still high. He diagnoses Hypertension (high blood pressure) and starts me on Ramipril, a medication that lowers BP.

Both statins and Ramipril are usually given to 50+ year olds, not someone who is thirty like myself. I do have diabetes (type 1) (see How I was diagnosed with diabetes) and a ‘mood disorder’ (see my life hiatus). I probably don’t eat well enough, carry a little extra weight, don’t exercise enough, I do smoke but rarely drink alcohol. I have a family history sudden cardiac death (SCD). These medications are likely to extend my life. But let’s not kid ourselves, I don’t have a pension and the odds are that I won’t need one.

So although I have to say hello to Hypertension and Hypercholesterolemia, they’re not going to stop me from living an enjoyable and happy life.

Write soon,

Antony

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Monday 13 March 2017

A decade of living with diabetes

By Health, Thinking2 Comments
diabetes-BM-reader-large

Diabetes/Health Logo Illustration. Copyright © Sye Watts/Antony Simpson, 2014.

 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a decade ago. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes here.

In the last decade not much has changed. I’m still testing my blood sugars 2-3 times a day. I’ve used various BM monitoring meters over this time, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. I’ve recently switched to the TEE2 Blood Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare Ltd which is one of a few that connects to desktop computers and produces reports on BM readings. Tracking trends and so forth. I will review this meter on my blog in due course.

I’m still injecting myself with artificial insulin 4 times a day. I’m still going for annual podiatry checks, annual retinopathy screening and annual diabetic review appointments with my GP and Practice Nurse.

Over the last decade there’s been countless reports in the media of better treatments or even potential cures for diabetes. But so far, nothing has materialised.

My hope for the future is that one day I’ll be healthy again. Let’s hope that the next decade brings better treatments and perhaps even a cure.

Write soon,

Antony

You can learn more about diabetes by visiting these external links:



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Monday 30 January 2017

#MentalHealthMonday – A list of Famous People who have experienced Mental Illness

By Health, Inspiration, ThinkingNo Comments

Below are a list of famous people who have experienced mental health illness (in alphabetical order and by condition):

Anxiety and depression often coexist. Bipolar is characterised by episodes of mania which can include anxiety and episodes of depression. So although many of these people could fit under more than one mental illness, I have placed them in the condition that I feel bet fits.

Anxiety

MI-Charles-Darwin

Charles Darwin, Naturalist & Geologist [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.
MI-Heath-Ledger

Heath Ledger, Actor [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © HeathUltimate on Tumblr.
MI-Matt-Haig

Matt Haig, Author
According to his own book Reasons to Stay Alive
Image From & Copyright © Matt Haig
MI-Vincent-van-Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, Painter [Deceased] According to Brain Pickings
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.

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Bipolar

MI-Ben-Stiller

Ben Stiller, Comedian & Actor
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Vulture.
MI-Britney-Spears

Britney Spears, Singer
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Celebmafia.
MI-Carrie-Fisher

Carrie Fisher, Advocate & Actress [Deceased] According to Hannah Parkinson at The Guardian
Image From & Copyright © The Wall Street Journal.
MI-Catherine-Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Actress
According to Express
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.
MI-Isaac-Newton

Isaac Newton, Mathematician & Physicist [Deceased] According to Famous Bipolar People
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.
MI-Russell-Brand

Russell Brand, Comedian
According to Wikipedia
Image From & Copyright © Letters Live.

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Depression

MI-Abraham-Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, Politician & Former President of the USA [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © bio.
MI-Alanis-Morissette

Alanis Morissette, Singer
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Alanis Morissette on Twitter.
MI-Anne-Rice

Anne Rice, Author
According to Your Dictionary
Image From & Copyright © The Daily Beast.
MI-Charles-Dickens

Charles Dickens, Writer [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © bio.
MI-Denise-Welch

Denise Welch, Actor & Presenter
According to Denise Welch in the Mirror
Image From & Copyright © Daily Star Sunday.
MI-Dolly-Parton

Dolly Parton, Singer
According to Dolly Parton in the Mirror
Image From & Copyright © Syedammaralavi1 on Pinterest.
MI-Drew-Barrymore

Drew Barrymore, Actress
According to Caroline Bologna on The Huffington Post
Image From & Copyright © Drew Barrymore on Twitter.
MI-Emma-Thompson

Emma Thompson, Writer & Actress
According to Roya Nikkhah at The Telegraph
Image From & Copyright © Hamilton Hodell Talent Management.
MI-George-Michael

George Michael, Singer [Deceased] According to People Music
Image From & Copyright © Lynn Allaway on The Huffington Post.
MI-Harrison-Ford

Harrison Ford, Actor & Film Producer
According to living in stigma
Image From & Copyright © QUEERTY.
MI-J.K-Rowling

J.K Rowling, Author
According to The Mighty
Image From & Copyright © MTV.
MI-Jim-Carrey

Jim Carrey, Comedian & Actor
According to Mental Health Daily Blog
Image From & Copyright © AngelicView.
MI-Kylie-Minogue

Kylie Minogue, Singer
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Mirror.
MI-Princess-Diana

Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess [Deceased] According to depression-guide.com
Image From & Copyright © Dr. Rebecca Hains.
MI-Robbie-Williams

Robbie Williams, Singer
According to The Independent
Image From & Copyright © Robbie Williams Store.
MI-Robin-Williams

Robin Williams, Comedian & Actor [Deceased] According to The Independent
Image From & Copyright © DAVID LANZILAO/REDUX on Daily Beast.
MI-Ruby-Wax

Ruby Wax, Comedian, Actress & Writer
According to herself in her autobiography How Do You Want Me? and in her two books about mental health: Sane New World & Frazzled
Image From & Copyright © MindBodySpirit.co.uk.
MI-Stephen-Fry

Stephen Fry, Presenter & Writer
According to Stephen Fry himself on his blog
Image From & Copyright © Stephen Fry.
MI-Stephen-King

Stephen King, Author
According to Stephen King himself in an interview with The Guardian
Image From & Copyright © eddymarchini on Pinterest.
MI-Trisha-Goddard

Trisha Goddard, Presenter
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Alchetron.
MI-Winston-Churchill

Winston Churchill, Politician and Former Prime Minister of the UK [Deceased] According to Paul Foley at the Black Dog Institute. Winston Churchill famously called his depression the black dog.
Image From & Copyright © ITV News.

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I know there’s loads of famous people who have experience of mental illness who are not on these lists. If you feel compelled to tell me whom I’ve missed off, please leave a comment below.

The point of this blog post is to show someone experiencing mental illness that they are not alone. That they are among the great and the good.

mental-health-focus

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts with a Mental Health Focus. You can read them here: 5 Brilliant TED Talks About Mental Health, I’ve Been One of the 1 in 4, A List of Common Conditions and Treatment & Recovery.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Monday 23 January 2017
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