Help with testing please?

[Mismax]

I have been "pre-diabetic" with PCOS for over 10 years and have been on Metformin.
I recently got a monitor and started self testing and have some high readings. Useless info / support from GP. Previous dietician appointment told me to increase carbs and eat more "whole grains" years ago so not bothering there either!
I am familiar with LCHF although following a stressful few months have fallen off the wagon :-( I'm ready to dive into managing this with diet/exercise/fasting but I'm unclear when to test.

My reading first thing in the morning can often be higher than later in the day which I find confusing. I have read I should test 4 times a day and that I should allow the monitor to tell me about my own reaction to particular foods but when should I test to find this out?

Also any recommendations for lancet devices? I think mine is a fairly decent one but owww!! ;-)

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi and welcome,

You need to use your meter to test out your foods. By testing immediately before your first bite and 2 hours later you will discover what that meal has done to your levels. Keep a food diary including basic portion sizes and record your levels alongside. Patterns will emerge enabling you to trace and eliminate certain foods, or at the very least reduce the portions. If, for example, you have 4 new potatoes (not a good idea, but just an example) and you don't like what your levels have done, you can try again with 3, then 2, then eliminate them completely.

The before and 2 hour test is important initially and later on you can try testing after an hour, or after 3 hours. Most people also test first thing in the morning (FBG), but quite honestly there are so many outside factors that come in play with this that I take very little notice of what my fasting levels are. You seem to be experiencing this already. Have a read about Dawn Phenomenon or liver dump. The search box will reveal thousands of threads about this. You can also test at bedtime, too. It really is up to you, but the before and after meals are the necessary tests.

As for a lancet. I find the Accu-Chek Fastclix the very best. It contains a drum of 6 lancets that you don't see at all, just press it down on your finger and click. When the drum is finished, just throw it in the household rubbish.

 

[Mismax]

Thank you, I'm cross with myself that I have let food out of control again as I have known low carb was the way for me for years.
I haven't gained any weight over the past few stressful months which is amazing for me as I gain easily and rapidly but the one thing I managed to keep up was skipping breakfast and eating for the first time around 1pm so I think that has helped a little bit.

I tested this morning at 5.9 (it's been much higher in the past!), didn't eat anything until 2.30pm and I didn't test beforehand but tested just now at 2 hrs after and my levels were 5.0. Should I skip the morning test and test before I eat for the first time then?

What about before and after exercise, is that worth testing?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Bluetit1802]

You can test as often as you like. You do need to test before a meal or you have no idea where you started from before you ate.

A level of 5 at 2 hours is brilliant! I'm envious.

Testing before and after exercise can be useful at times.

 

[Phoenix55]

You haven't fallen so far off the wagon with those numbers. You can do this.

 

[Mismax]

They are lower than I had been getting. Probably the Metformin which I went back on having given up. I thought I was only taking it for my PCOS symptoms but then got scared when I saw the high readings, went back on it and haven't dared test since!

I guess the aim is to get those numbers without metformin?

 

[chalup]

Metformin has many good qualities aside from lowering blood glucose which it does not do very well. It is safe and very well studied. If it is not causing side effects, I have never understood why people are racing to ditch it. I do not particularly like taking medications but for me the benefits are worth it and I will continue to take metformin. I also test at 1 hour PP with new or previously untested foods as well as 2 because I want to see the spike. I have had a spike of 11 at 1 hour then been back to 5.8 where I started at 2 hours. To me this is an unacceptably high spike that I would have missed if I only tested at 2 hours. I would have assumed that food was fine and continued to eat it.

 

[Mismax]

Thank you, that makes sense about testing at 1 and 2 hrs with new foods.

Once a food is tested a few times is it safe to assume the same reaction or is it very unpredictable e.g. connected with stress, hormones etc?

The thing with metformin that I heard negative about it was that it masks the blood sugar issue by pushing it into the liver rather than in the blood and that over time this damages the liver and it will eventually be unable to cope and therefore insulin and other meds will be required.

That wasn't my reasoning though, I just felt it was doing nothing for me and therefore wasn't worth the gastro stuff but possibly it was helping in ways I didn't see until I got the meter.

 

[chalup]

After you have tested a particular food and feel it is fine for you then you don't need to test it all the time unless something about it changes. Metformin works in the liver by reducing the amount of glucose the liver produces. It does not push sugar into the liver. It also can help reduce appetite and has protective properties for heart and kidneys and apparently helps in the gut too.