# Diabetes Care in NZ



## walshdon

Hi

I am a type 1 Diabetic and live in the UK, the removal truck is outside as I type and we fly with residency visa on 8th July soooooo excited. 

The only medicine I take is Insulin and my doctor is going to give me lots of supplies to take while I get settled. 

Has anyone had experience of diabetic care in NZ they could share with me?

Thanks


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## Song_Si

Hi
I have a family member who is involved with Diabetes NZ, they were v helpful when he first found out he had diabetes, and are throughout the country

main website here Diabetes NZ and also 

Local Diabetes Societies There are 39 diabetes societies around New Zealand - there will be a group near you who can provide you with support and information.

Noted that it says now 208,000 people in NZ have diabetes, so you'll definitely not be alone!

Best wishes for your move.


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## ohdearydear

walshdon said:


> Hi
> 
> I am a type 1 Diabetic and live in the UK, the removal truck is outside as I type and we fly with residency visa on 8th July soooooo excited.
> 
> The only medicine I take is Insulin and my doctor is going to give me lots of supplies to take while I get settled.
> 
> Has anyone had experience of diabetic care in NZ they could share with me?
> 
> Thanks


I hope I'm not too late in replying to this - my first post but I had to reply!

I moved here in January and brought enough Humalog to last me for at least five months (unfortunately not enough Lantus!). I have been a T1 for 20 years in the UK. I would also recommend keeping at least three months supply in your fridge at all times - I don't know where you'll be based but I've heard horror stories from people in Chch about how they struggled to get more insulin when they'd run out. 

One thing that is worth pointing out is that you will have to pay for your medication here - unlike the UK where it's all free - I knew that I'd have to pay but I never appreciated how much bearing in mind how much we use it!

I registered with my local doctor when I arrived to ensure that I could get new prescriptions when needed - I would advise that you do this as soon as possible after settling in. At my appointment the nurse told me that I wouldn't be referred to the hospital and that instead it would be dealt with in-house. This is incorrect. I have since been referred (due to pregnancy but thankfully all the same!). Make sure that you are referred to your endocrinologist instead of having it dealt with my gp's. I'm sure they are very good at their jobs but they know a little piece of lots of things rather than a lot of things about a little piece! Just my opinion though....

I don't know if I've been unlucky with the endo that I've seen but she pretty much told me that I knew what I was doing (having been through pregnancy and 20 years of diabetes before). I found this a little worrying to say the least. Listening to other people in the waiting rooms weekly though this clearly isn`t the case for everyone. I'm hoping that after pregnancy it'll be different - otherwise I'll be taking back what I say about the GP!!!

They use a different tester here to the UK. I used One Touch Ultra Easy in the UK but they don't prescribe those test strips. You end up having to BUY a new tester and the strips aren't included so you have to buy those too. 

Someone told me that I would be eligible for a community card but this is only the case if you are on a low income and unfortunately my husband is not (I'm a housewife). 

I`ve been here for 5 months now and have only got a prescription once because a friend is sending me test strips occasionally from the UK (phew!) and had enough insulin to last a while longer. 

My biggest recommendation to you is to bring enough insulin to last you longer than you imagine. Also get LOTS of test strips and anything else that you use along the way. I have a couple of spare pens and testers incase something goes wrong with my current ones. 

I hope this helps - I wish that someone had told me this before I left - I would've brought a lot more than I did!


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## walshdon

Hi 

Thanks for that information. My doctors have given me a three month supply but I was going to still order on repeat prescription and get my mum to ship my pens and strips to me. I will of course register straight away, thanks for the info on the referral. 

I haven't got children yet I am thirty and want to settle into NZ first but what has your experience been like as my sugars are not perfect last hba1c at 9%. 

Thanks.


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## ohdearydear

My GP knew that we were leaving so he just gave me a repeat of everything on my prescription monthly for about 3 months before we left (the last prescription I collected the day before we flew) - it gave me enough to keep me going in the UK and also here for, like I say, 5 months when we arrived. I would advise that you do the same - get as much as possible and bring in your hand luggage with a letter from your endo/GP saying that you are allowed to fly with medication - I'm sure you've been there before and have a letter handy! It's the sort of thing that we learn from a very early point of being diagnosed...

In relation to diabetes and pregnancy. I had one baby back home which was very strict and I'm now 20 weeks pregnant with our second. They don't advise getting pregnant until your HBA1C is below 7% and I really struggled with this in the UK. The only way I could do it was to get below 6mmol an hour after meals but in order to do this I would then by hypo 2 hours after a meal - I was pretty much hypo most of my first pregnancy. Over here they advise to be below 7mmol 2 hours after a meal but my HBA1C hasn't been below 7% yet - it's usually around 7.5% - they would like it lower but I'm not sure how this is possible given how strict I was first time round and how it was only ever as low as 6.6% - I don't live on sugary foods and have them occasionally as a treat with my daughter. I'm not happy to live in a permanent hypo when I've got another little person to care for and they seem happy with my reasoning which is good. 

Life as a type 1 diabetic is hard enough but when you're pregnant too it's even harder (can I assume that you're female to want to know about pregnancy?). I found a really good website in the UK called diabetessupport (no competition for here so I'm sure I can post?) which was wonderful when we were trying and also great support for during pregnancy. I still check in now for help with things from people that know rather than people that read books and think they know!

How long is your visa for NZ? Obviously your Mum won't be able to send you insulin in the post so you will have no choice but to get that on prescription from your doctor but having the strips sent over will be a Godsend. My DSN (British strangely enough!) said that she recommends having test strips sent over - the hospital seem to hate the test strips and meters - so bring as much as you can and have as much as you can sent over. I asked her about putting a prescription in for myself in the UK and having it sent over by family and the words 'benefit fraud' came up (fair enough too!)....so I've got a friend sending for me rather than getting them in my name (she`s a t2 and said that she doesn`t test so doesn`t mind me getting hers - thankfully!). Just a thought to leave you with....

Also you can't get Robinsons sugar free squash here unless you look in the International aisle in certain supermarkets and it's pretty pricey!!! The equivalents are, imo, pretty rank so we get it shipped down from a shop in Auckland  - I live on it during pregnancy as cups of tea are limited to 2 a day. You might not drink it anyway so it may not be an issue for you though!

Where abouts are you moving to in NZ?


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## walshdon

I did respond some time ago on my phone app but doesn't look like it registered so sorry for delay. I am moving to Auckland on a full residency visa so I think I have to pay for my prescriptions for my insulin and pay fully for my test strips so no problems there as not as bad as America if you don't have health insurance. Only realised how big a cost insulin is reading posts on here. 

I don't have a job over there my partner has but I will sure to be looking at the fact that it may be included in the package of a job when I apply. 

Thanks


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## lisaann

Hi 
Great posts loads of useful information. Just wanted to ask my husband is diabetic, did anyone have problems with their medical for a visa? Also did you use an agent to sort visa? If so were they good and who was it?
Thanks
Lisa


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## walshdon

Hi, I thought I would have problems as had type 1 for 10 years my hba1c was at 10% when I had my medical. I also have background retinopathy which needs no action and had problems with neuropathy but non now. I declared everything on my medical truthfully an I think that is the only way to go the immigration I'm NZ did not ask any further questions. 

We used an agent a lady called Rosie from immigration partners it was quicker than expected start to finish around nine months.


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