Okay I am borderline diabetica nd my BIGGEST fear is pricking my finger to get a sample of blood for that test you ahve to do daily!!!!!!!

I LITERALLY feel nauseous just typing this and thinking about it...I saw a lady do it the other day in a restaurant and I almost FAINTED!!!!!!

So my question is this....Is there any other machine that you can take a sample of blood without pricking your fingers...?

Thanks

Martha

You have to ***** somewhere to test your blood sugar. And finger is gonna be the most accurate and easiest.

Honestly, my advice may sound a tad harsh, but keep in mine I've been doing this 8 times a day for 7 years. Just do it. Seriously, if you've ever gotten a finger stick done in a doctor's office or hospital, it's nothing like that. It's way easier. Little kids do it ;)

Get the Multiclix lancing device. You never need to see the lancet and it's the most painless finger-sticker I've ever used. The needles are teeeeny.

Will it hurt? Yeah...at first. I used to have to count, "1-2-3-go!" everytime I did it. Now I barely think about it.

Make yourself do it at first, then you'll just be in a habit and before you know, you'll be like, "That was no big deal!" And the information you get will be valuabe. So *gasp* you may even appreciate it before you know it.

It gets so much easier to do after a week or so. And, there are machines that are calibrated to be done on your forearm and fingers, so you don't have to use your fingers all the time- I'm so used to using my fingers, I don't even think about it.

Use the side of the end of your fingers- fewer nerve endings. And get any lancing device- a long pencil like thng with a spring in it that you put the lancet in, and just push a button- no thinking about actually poking your finger- once you push the button, it's over before you know it, or can chicken out !!

Having a meter that only uses a tiny sample helps, also.

Seriously- testing now, and keeping results within the range your doc wants will prevent a lot of hassles later- My A1C went from 10.2 at diagnosis in 1995 to 5.1 last week. And I never had to take meds- ever. I did it all with testing and diet control. I was lucky. I know that in the future, I may have to use insulin (especially with my other health issues), but it won't be because I have't kept my blood sugar in range. :)

Many of the lancet devices have a dial near the tip that regulates the depth of penetration. Start with the lightest depth, and dial up until you get to the lowest depth of penetration that will still give you a drop of blood. The new meters use an extremely tiny drop of blood, so you don't have to go too deep with the lancet, unlike the older meters of the late '80's and early '90's, which needed a much larger drop of blood.

As the previous poster pointed out, use the SIDES of the tips of the fingers...as opposed to the middle of the tips. That way it doesn't hurt as much because there are fewer nerve receptors there plus we don't use the sides for much anyway, since we usually grasp things with the tips.

My feeling is that if little kids can do it themselves (and I know kids as young as three who do the finger stick themselves), then anyone can do it. You just need to get beyond the fear and do it a bunch of times, and soon it will be routine. And, if worse comes to worse and you can't get over this fear, consider going to a hypnotist about it.

Ruth