First visit to Diabetic Nurse - positive!

[Billy Ruffian]

Well, a bit of a surprise really. After reading some posts, I expected tut-tutting and didacticism. Not at all. Firstly, lots of advice on where to go and what to do - things I'd not thought of. I'll be registered for eye tests and so on. I have a number to book the X-pert classes.

She gave the usual and expected dietary advice but was quite happy about getting most carbs from vegetables and implied that if LCHF worked for me within a balanced and controlled framework, then why not? She warned about trans-fats though. She'll check in about 5 weeks.

Perhaps more surprisingly after looking at others' experiences she gave me a meter (freestyle) and a prescription for 50 test strips. She could see that I seemed to benefit from regular testing (i had charts and graphs) but suggested that if I was eating appropriately it would be more important to check fasting, and pre-prandial levels at different times but only a couple of times a day, log food and see what, if anything, causes spikes in these readings.

I'm going to compare the new meter against the one I bought earlier (accuchek aviva) and for which I bought test strips from ebay at less than half the retail price.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Well done on getting the meter, but I can't for the life of me see how testing fasting and pre-meal levels can tell you if you spiked! Surely she meant post meal as well?

 

[Billy Ruffian]

Well done on getting the meter, but I can't for the life of me see how testing fasting and pre-meal levels can tell you if you spiked! Surely she meant post meal as well?

I queried this too. I think she means that if I'm too high before I eat then I need to see what I had at the last meal. I can also eat less at the forthcoming meal. Like you, I'm not fully convinced though.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I queried this too. I think she means that if I'm too high before I eat then I need to see what I had at the last meal. I can also eat less at the forthcoming meal. Like you, I'm not fully convinced though.

I'm glad you aren't convinced. If you are too high before you eat this could well be for a reason not connected with what you last ate, and there are several possibilities. It would be a shame to blame your last meal if it was caused by something else! I think your nurse, as understanding as she may have been, is trying to convince you to use as few strips as possible to save her Practice money!