How much testing should I do ?

bluecurlylegend

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Good Evening everyone,

I've just had the results for my first HBA1c test, 5.6% or 37mmol/mol , and my Fasting Blood Glucose was 5.55mmol/l .
I had my blood tested in February this year which showed a reading of 6.44mmol/l for fasting and I was then considered prediabetique. I was recommended to lose some weight and take more exercise but no more than that.
Since then, with the help of these forums, I've learned a lot about diabetes......but there is so much more to learn !
I eventually bought a Codefree glucose monitor and have been using it regularly since June this year. I've also adopted the LCHF regime and am currently practising Intermittent Fasting i.e. I usually only have one meal a day between 5pm and 7pm.
So I've lost over 20 kilos of weight, my blood pressure is 106 over 72, my Ulcerative Colitis seems to have totally calmed down and I'm feeling better than I did 15 years ago, if not 20 years ago.
With the glucose meter I'm managing to keep the glucose spikes to a good bit less than 2mmol/l 2 hours after I've eaten. But my morning readings started off averaging 6.5 mmol/l and over the last 5 months haven't changed a bit...??
My Total Cholesterol has gone from 6.57mmol/l to 9.52mmol/l.....quite a rise !
Triglycerides were 1.42mmol/l and are now 1.38mmol/ l....more or less the same.
HDL was 1.44mmol/l and is now 1.66mmol/l.....not that much of a rise ?
But my LDL has risen significantly, was 4.53mmol/l and is now 7.24mmol....even highlighted in red on the form.
I've read enough on the forums and elsewhere to be not particularly alarmed by this, but I am paying attention to it. I've noted it but I'm not panicking.
I intend to carry on with the LCHF regime and the Intermittent Fasting as I feel fine with it and I've still a few kilos to lose.
But my question is, how much testing should I do ? I know that what I'm eating now won't spike my glucose levels so I'm inclined to only test when I try something different or unusual. But is it worth while testing every morning ?
I'll appreciate any comments.

Many thanks.
 

Grateful

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1,398
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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But my question is, how much testing should I do?

I'm in America, where your HbA1c of 5.6% would be "normal," not pre-diabetic. Mind you, eight years ago I was about the same as you (5.5%) and here I am now, squarely diabetic as of February of this year, having been given no warning eight years ago and being blissfully unaware of "HbA1c" at the time even though I had been tested for it.

I cannot answer your question about testing but I can recount my experience. When diagnosed with T2D nine months ago I decided to eschew testing and just adopt a low-carb diet, as recommended by my doctor. Six months later my A1C was lower than yours, at 4.9% (30). Now this is not to say you shouldn't test, but I do think people should put the "no testing" option on their list.

It is partly a personality thing. I get anxious about things quite easily. Your post is an example of the kind of things that could easily gallop through my mind if I were testing daily. I'd rather not, unless my numbers eventually worsen without apparent cause.

The advantage of testing is that it makes it much easier to fine-tune your food/drink intake for your particular body, since we are all different. But for me it was easier just to adopt a pretty extreme diet and stick to it. I am fairly sure that my approach would work for a lot of people who are now testing, but that does not mean it would be the right approach for them.

Well done for losing so much weight, and for working to take things under control.
 
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Guzzler

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Fasting blood glucose levels are the last and hardest to get a handle on. To lower the impact of Dawn Phenomena you could tweak the time at which you have your evening meal the night before and see if that makes a difference.
As to testing your foods, I think you are right to test new foods but would still keep an eye occasionally on your 'safe' foods, too. As to your lipid panel, remember that while you are actively losing weight your cholesterol levels may be skewed upwards but as weight loss slows down the levels tend to come down again after a while. Great job on the weight loss btw. Other members can help more with the HDL x Trigs ratio (I would help but I don't do maths!). Well done on your efforts in controlling your T2.
 
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Alison Campbell

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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
When you gave blood for lab testing did you test your fasting on your own meter for comparison? Does it seem that Codefree is reading higher than your lab test results?
 

bluecurlylegend

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Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
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Films with Nicholas Cage !
When you gave blood for lab testing did you test your fasting on your own meter for comparison? Does it seem that Codefree is reading higher than your lab test results?

I sure did. Within 5 minutes I tested myself using my Codefree meter and got a result of 6.3mmol/l. I repeated the test an hour later and got 6.1mmol/l. So perhaps my Codefree is reading at least 0.5mmol/l higher than actual ?
 

Alison Campbell

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1,443
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
I would trust the lab fasting test over the codefree. 6.4 to 5.5 showing an improvement to normal levels. Your lab fasting result is falling even if that is not reflected by the codefree.

Saying that I would expect my lab fasting day to be higher than a normal day with the stress of driving into the city hospital, during rush hour, without coffee, struggling to find a parking spot, the right change for the parking meter etc.
 

bluecurlylegend

Well-Known Member
Messages
91
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Films with Nicholas Cage !
I would trust the lab fasting test over the codefree. 6.4 to 5.5 showing an improvement to normal levels. Your lab fasting result is falling even if that is not reflected by the codefree.

Saying that I would expect my lab fasting day to be higher than a normal day with the stress of driving into the city hospital, during rush hour, without coffee, struggling to find a parking spot, the right change for the parking meter etc.


Where I live in France it's pretty stress free, Alison. The doctor gives me a prescription and I just turn up at the local laboratory (after fasting for at least 12 hours, of course, so that usually means me being there at 7.30am ) after a 15 minute drive with almost no traffic on the road. I just park in the supermarket car park across the road and I'm in and out within 20 minutes. My results are emailed to me usually just after lunch time. Pretty slick compared to the two week wait and frequently lost results I used to get in Glasgow !