Oral glucose tests using Lucozade?

[Gardengnome]

I read somewhere that if one is worried about a diagnosis of diabetes it is possible to do a test at home with a glucose meter using Lucozade without going to the drs and having 'DM T2' forever on one's notes. I'm sure this wouldn't be accurate but would give one an idea and a chance to do something before it all blew up in my face. Does anyone know how to go about it and is Lucozade the best stuff to use or should it be glucose [powder or syrup?] mixed with water?

 

[Enclave]

When I had my Lucozade test at the Dr,s I had to nil by mouth from the night before .. In the morning they took blood .. Then I had to drink 425mil of original Lucozade .. Be inactive for 2 hrs after then I had another blood test

I would advise against doing this at home .. As if your sugar is dangerously high .. And you drink this amount of sugar, it could give you big problems.

If you have a meter .. Why not just keep a check on your before and after meals readings .. My readings are now within the DB readings and my wife who is not DB has much lower reading when testing at the same time as me.

The numbers you need are I think on the home page in this site

 

[Bluetit1802]

I do believe that you also have to eat higher carbs for a few days before this test. If you are on a low carb diet you would have to break this temporarily.

 

[Enclave]

@Bluetit1802
How interesting .. I was not told to avoid any diet before this test. !!! Only nil by mouth from the night before ... So my test will be showing the wrong result ?
But this is typical of my GPs a total waste of space !

 

[CollieBoy]

@Bluetit1802
How interesting .. I was not told to avoid any diet before this test. !!! Only nil by mouth from the night before ... So my test will be showing the wrong result ?
But this is typical of my GPs a total waste of space !

I too was only told NBM but knew to take my 120g carbs for a few days! woke with my usual fasting of low 5's but by the time I had taken the multiple bus journeys and walks to hospital I had "liver dumped" to 6.9 came out at 5.0.
Again HCPs blindly following a procedure!

 

[AndBreathe]

I too was only told NBM but knew to take my 1120g carbs for a few days! woke with my usual fasting of low 5's but by the time I had taken the multiple bus journeys and walks to hospital I had "liver dumped" to 6.9 came out at 5.0.
Again HCPs blindly following a procedure!

Is that 1120g a typo, surely?

 

[CollieBoy]

Is that 1120g a typo, surely?

Fixed , Not even NHS/Dieticians would recommend that much carbs

 

[Gardengnome]

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I want to do this as I was told I was prediabetic and I would like to have some idea whether what I am doing is so far working. My A1c in January was only just in the prediabetic level and even that's debateable. I'm not due to have it repeated until the end of the year.

So I eat normal carbs for say 3 days, then fast overnight and test first thing next morning, drink the Lucozade [it's quite a lot?] - sit around for 2 hrs - then test again. Is this right? It should give me some idea at least.

 

[AndBreathe]

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I want to do this as I was told I was prediabetic and I would like to have some idea whether what I am doing is so far working. My A1c in January was only just in the prediabetic level and even that's debateable. I'm not due to have it repeated until the end of the year.

So I eat normal carbs for say 3 days, then fast overnight and test first thing next morning, drink the Lucozade [it's quite a lot?] - sit around for 2 hrs - then test again. Is this right? It should give me some idea at least.

If you are able to afford it, you could have a private HbA1c test done. It costs around £85. There are lots of options available. That would be more gentle than a GTT. Well, gentler on your body, less gentle on your bank balance.

 

[Gardengnome]

That's good to know but I can think of better things to spend £85.00 on!! I really am just wanting to get an idea of what is happening with my blood. I have the feeling all is OK but felt that way about my hypertension and was quite wrong.
I see you were diagnosed last October with an A1c of 73 which is high but have since managed to vastly improve that down to way below what mine was in January [41]. If you are not on medication I assume you did this just with diet but doesn't that take you out of diabetes? I was under the impression that an A1c of 48 was the cut off point for T2?

 

[AndBreathe]

That's good to know but I can think of better things to spend £85.00 on!! I really am just wanting to get an idea of what is happening with my blood. I have the feeling all is OK but felt that way about my hypertension and was quite wrong.
I see you were diagnosed last October with an A1c of 73 which is high but have since managed to vastly improve that down to way below what mine was in January [41]. If you are not on medication I assume you did this just with diet but doesn't that take you out of diabetes? I was under the impression that an A1c of 48 was the cut off point for T2?

I'm not on any medication, thankfully.

My last (and only post diagnosis) HbA1Cs have been in the non-diabetic ranges. Needless to say, I am happy with that.

 

[Gardengnome]

Good luck and hope it keeps that way.

 

[AlexMBrennan]

If you want to use lucozade, make sure to use orignal which is the only flavor made with glucose syrup. To have a look at this http://www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/Down...logy-glucose-tolerance-test-cp171001-0212.pdf

As if your sugar is dangerously high .. And you drink this amount of sugar, it could give you big problems.

No it won't - the amount of glucose involved is no more dangerous than having a sandwich

 

[Gardengnome]

Thank you Alex,the link makes things quite clear.

I've bought the Lucozade - why would anyone want to drink that stuff out of choice 250ml has 43.0g of glucose!!! What does it do to anyone who drinks it regularly I hate to think

So that's my lazy Sunday morning cut out. Obviously not very scientific but will give me the gist of how things are going.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I've bought the Lucozade - why would anyone want to drink that stuff out of choice 250ml has 43.0g of glucose!!! What does it do to anyone who drinks it regularly I hate to think

I can answer that. It gives them diabetes. I drank at least a bottle a day for several months to help ward off chemo fatigue. It helped with fatigue but, along with cranberry juice to prevent UTI's, steroids, foul taste when eating requiring pouring sugar on sweet stuff and cereals and salt on savoury stuff, comfort chocolate and other such "remedies" during chemo, I was diagnosed with diabetes 4 days after my first 12 month all clear from breast cancer! I wasn't even pre-diabetic before chemo. So that's what it does!

 

[jack412]

Observed vs causation It may be the chemo, it may be the sugar, it may be anything.
I haven't seen a study where high sugar intake for 12 mths = diabetes
There are people drinking litres of real coke a day and are doing fine

 

[Brunneria]

@AlexMBrennan

Please define what you consider not 'big problems'.

My OGTT test gave me a 3 day headache, blurred vision for more than 24 hours and I felt dreadful - really dreadful - for 24 hours.

I certainly call those big enough to warn people.

The blurred vision alone meant that I was unsafe to drive, and I took a day off work. Should have taken two because I couldn't see the computer screen when I did go back to the office. And I certainly shouldn't have been driving home from the surgery after the test.

And if the average slice of bread has 15g of carbs then 43g of glucose per 250ml (and the test is to drink 410ml in a very short time), with no protein/fat sandwich filling mixed in, makes for a very different experience.

 

[jack412]

You are suppose to have over 150g of carbs a day leading up to it. 75g of glucose is less than a McDonald's meal
The over 50g a meal for a few days may get some symptoms running
IMO if your BG is this tight, it may be time to consider more meds or refuse GTT

 

[Brunneria]

Well, I certainly ate carbs before my test. I distinctly recall sitting in the car with Mr B the night before, tucking into a drive through MacDonalds meal with extra large fries and joking about how ridiculous it was to be carb-loading before a test for diabetes.

And I have recently refused to take another OGTT, and when I explained my reasons to the receptionist at the surgery, she gaumlessly chirped 'Yes, the OGTT can be brutal. I had it, and it was awful. I ended up in A&E at the hospital'. At which point the nurse took the phone off her and offered me another fasting BG test instead.

So I'm guessing that I'm not the only person who reacts in this manner.