Advice please-High Blood Glucose and no clue why?

[irish-colt]

@irish-colt

Hello Colum and welcome to the forum As mentioned above, here is the basic information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It contains advice on carbs and levels etc. and contains a link to the Low Carb Program which you could join. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 220,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Thank you. Plenty of information here to get my head around. Also very nice to get such a response from the community here.
Colum

 

[irish-colt]

Hi folks. Started my diet after New Year's Day. Down 6kg from 102kg Got my monitor last week and started taking my fasting blood sugars, normally before 9:00am with nothing to eat from 7:00pm. First reading was 13.4 mmol. Over the week it has averaged 12 mmol's. Am I doing something wrong ? I know it's only been a week but thought with dieting (14 days) I thought it might be around the 8 - 9 level. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Are you only testing your fasting levels? These won't help you that much, at least not at the beginning. Fasting levels are notoriously unpredictable and subject to various issues we have little control over, sleepless nights, stress, what you do between leaving your bed and testing, and your liver. Our livers like to look after us and when they think we need extra energy to help us start the day they push glucose in our blood stream. They can do this at other times as well as mornings.

If I were you I would test before and 2 hours after eating to sort out a suitable and sustainable way of eating, and pay more attention to your pre-evening meal level as that is the best indicator of how well you are doing. You could also test at bedtime so you can see how much you rise over night.

Thanks for the advice Blue. I have done as you, and several others have advised. Took readings 2 hours after my lunch and dinner and got 9.9 and 9.1 respectively. Looks like I shouldn't worry so much about my fasting bloods in the morning until I get things properly under control.
Colum

 

[Bluetit1802]

Thanks for the advice Blue. I have done as you, and several others have advised. Took readings 2 hours after my lunch and dinner and got 9.9 and 9.1 respectively. Looks like I shouldn't worry so much about my fasting bloods in the morning until I get things properly under control.
Colum

If you are short of strips or only want to test a few times, personally I would leave the fasting morning test alone for now and concentrate on meal times. Also, in addition to testing 2 hours after eating, you can't learn much unless you also test immediately before eating. So 2 tests for each meal you decide to test, and the best test to reveal how you are doing in general is the one before evening meal.

I also see your doctor had no idea why your bowels were so bad ...... he really should have known it was the Metformin! It is a very common side effect and listed as one in the leaflets.

 

[irish-colt]

@irish-colt - Hello and Welcome to the Forum .
A lot of Forum Members follow the LCHF Diet (Low Carb High Fat) this helps them to loose weight and lower their Blood Glucose and also their HBA1C. Take a look at the:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

Thanks for the links Liam. Took a quick look and I now have them saved as book marks.
Colum

 

[irish-colt]

If you are short of strips or only want to test a few times, personally I would leave the fasting morning test alone for now and concentrate on meal times. Also, in addition to testing 2 hours after eating, you can't learn much unless you also test immediately before eating. So 2 tests for each meal you decide to test, and the best test to reveal how you are doing in general is the one before evening meal.

I also see your doctor had no idea why your bowels were so bad ...... he really should have known it was the Metformin! It is a very common side effect and listed as one in the leaflets.

Never even mentioned it. We tried changing diets, changing sweeteners and changing the other tablets that I was on to control the effects of diabetes. I will try as you suggest regarding the testing, but not until I get an idea of my bloods from this 3 a day testing that I've started on.
Colum

 

[SWUSA_]

Thanks for starting the thread. It has given me some idea of what could be going on. I'm basically doing the old Atkins Diet as regards to carb counting. Following advice I also took me readings 2 hours after lunch (omelette and bacon) and 2 hours after dinner (salad with cheese, hard boiled eggs, raw onion and a thin pork loin chop). The readings are 9.9 and 9.1. Still high, but it is a lot lower than my pre breakfast readings. Wondering if a fasting reading is not the best one to fret over. Going to continue this, as I said, for the next week. After that I will have a better idea of what my readings are doing.
I have, with advice received here, arranged an appointment to talk it over with my Doctor. Typical, can't get an appoint until the end of the month. Going up to see the Practice Nurse the week before to get a blood work up so hopefully I will be able to see an improvement.
Thanks again,
Colum

The 9's already sound a little better. I am glad you are going to get blood work up and consult your doctor. I would not worry too much about fasting numbers but a 13 is still pretty high at anytime of the day or night. I think you are right to be concerned and take steps to lower it. Sounds like you are eating the right stuff to get lower blood glucose, sometimes it takes more than just diet and exercise as we get older but diet and exercise are always the right first steps. For people with type 2 the after meal or PPD number is the one that is most important and that is the one that you are measuring 2 hours after your meal. daisy1's post above has the numbers in it that we are aiming for after meals. You are getting pretty close now. If you measure before you eat and then at the two hours after the meal mark then you will know just how much that meal (with the food that you ate in just that amount ) affects your blood glucose. Your moving in the right direction-keep going!

 

[Nidge247]

Try not to expect too much too soon. At diagnosis I was off the meter (30+), and it was over a month before I was regularly in single figures - and that was with using direct injection insulin to force it down.

Also when low carbing, the weight (for me) comes off in stages; you might lose several pounds over several days, then reach a plateau where nothing much happens for up to 3 weeks as your body adjusts, then some more comes off again. I've put a stone on in just 10 days over Christmas (eating around 20g extra daily carbs) which is disappointing, but will get it back off with LCHF and increased exercise.

 

[irish-colt]

Morning folks. Early start today, 7 am, so as to look after the grand-daughter who is off school today. Best morning reading so far
9.1 at 7:20am. Yayyyyy

 

[SWUSA_]

Morning folks. Early start today, 7 am, so as to look after the grand-daughter who is off school today. Best morning reading so far
9.1 at 7:20am. Yayyyyy

The grand-daughter routine agrees with you! Good job.

 

[AnnJohnston]

I also had problems with metformin when I first startedz. As someone else mentioned it's really common so it's worrying that your gp wasn't aware of it. There's a slow release version of metformin which doesn't cause the same bowel problems which my dsn changed me onto the minute I said I had sickness and bowel problems.