Fasting blood test of 7.5mmol should I be worried?

[pollensa]

It would seem that whoever sets these number guidelines is possibly in league with big pharma? If you move the goal posts and make patients out of more well people = more profit. Call me an old cynic but I believe that is the case these days; create patients to take the medication that they don't need [and in the case of diabetes won't cure them either] and you have guaranteed profit.
I think in particular of statins when they lowered the threshold of the Qrisk overnight from 20% to 10% with no real explanation.

Excellent valid shared comments, my same thoughts to, we may be the minority thinking this I an afraid, I have come to the conclusion Diabetes is here to stay, unfortunately, the experts do not want to hear success stories, i.e. all of us who have given great efforts to lower reduce and control, who may no longer need meds or controlled without it, that would mean loss of business to the "system", so I am a person with regret to say, once upon a time did not, now do, have become most skeptical and suspicious, and my thinking is, right or wrong, just an inner gut feeling reading between all the changing of goal posts "finally its not the doctors who diagnose us, but the pharmas"??? Thank you for sharing your views, which I totally support the same too, cut offs have gone from 140mg/dl fasting, down to 120mg/dl, then to 110mg/dl still in Spain, but now some places 100mg/dl.
In short, these changing of goals, create a situation, ones results regularly one month 2,3,a year are within the range of normal good control, then whoever sets changes, the so called experts committees and I might add are all arbitrary set goals, yet we need a cut off to guide and aim for, but, arbitrary no thank you! so yesterday your normal range, happy content pleased with ones efforts struggles, and today, suddenly overnight, you fall under umbrella of say pre diabetic or diabetic due to changes, resulting in possibly anxiety, worry, stress and down for the fact your efforts need more efforts, just to now aim for a lowered goal, why more people dont raise this to attention, or speak more opening, query and or press that this situation changes, I am bewildered, but then thats just my opinion.

Your so right in your views in my opinion anyway.

 

[gardengnome42]

Why don't you just start testing before and after, keep the food diary, and look for patterns. The meals that are sending you up to the 8s, 9s and 10s (and more than 2mmol/l above your starting level) need amending. Ideally you need to be under 7.8 at all times, and when you aren't, it is the food doing it. Only you can work out which foods by testing and recording.

Sounds like very good advice Bluetit, I know I just HAVE to be much more resolute and get in control. When told I had hypertension I did absolutely everything I should [and could ] before going on meds but that had no effect at all. The dr told me then that it wouldn't and later when I saw my notes and the HbA1c at 41mmol/L: he said then that the numbers would rise and when they reached close to 50 he'd have me on Metformin. How is that for encouragement? Reading some of the stories here though I think it was pretty much par for the course with a lot of drs.

I did a fasting test this morning again and was happier with 6.2, not the best but better than 7.5. However I forgot to test before a meal last night but did test 2 hrs later and was horrified to see a reading of 10, then at bedtime it was 9.5. I had eaten Spanish eggs [roasted red peppers in olive oil with baked eggs and grated cheese], some French baguette and strawberries and Greek yogurt. Nothing dramatic there I wouldn't have thought except the bread, yet it still gave me a reading of 10 at 2 hrs.

 

[Jenny15]

I think we who self-manage with serious food changes and who post on this forum about it are in the minority who have the awareness it can be done and the willingness to do it. Even with the awareness it can be done, a lot of people are unable to do it, because it is not as simple as it seems.

Yes, if the only major illness you have is T2 diabetes, and you don't have major urgent stressors going on, and you don't have any emotional issues, often stemming from childhood and later bullying by spouses, family or others, then it is straightforward to get healthy blood sugars without meds or with just Metformin.

Maybe I'm mellowing in my middle age but I've come to recognise what other barriers people may have and to cut them some slack, while trying to gently steer them towards better choices if its possible.

 

[Jenny15]

Your numbers are good overall (I'm referring to pre-meal BG of 6.2). But you may find you can't have bread at all if you want to keep post meal spikes under 2.0. When I doing serious low carbing I don't eat any bread. It does make some meals tricky to plan but I find bread so potent at spiking my BG it's easier to just avoid it.

In the UK I've read that Lidl does protein rolls so that might be something to try. (There's nothing like that available in NZ. Maybe one day, fingers crossed.)

 

[Rachox]

In the UK I've read that Lidl does protein rolls so that might be something to try. (There's nothing like that available in NZ. Maybe one day, fingers crossed.)

Just so you know, unfortunately Lidl have stopped making the high protein rolls

 

[Jenny15]

Just so you know, unfortunately Lidl have stopped making the high protein rolls

That's a shame then. Thanks for letting me know, I'll stop suggesting them. I don't suppose there are any alternatives available elsewhere?

 

[Rachox]

That's a shame then. Thanks for letting me know, I'll stop suggesting them. I don't suppose there are any alternatives available elsewhere?

There are a few high protein sliced loaves but no rolls to my knowledge.
Sorry for derailing your thread @gardengnome42

 

[Bluetit1802]

@gardengnome42 nothing drastic in that meal APART FROM the baguette. That is what put you up to 10 I'm afraid. I can't eat bread without spiking, so I stick to Burgen low carb bread and only have half a slice at any one time. I would love a piece of baguette, but they are now reserved for an odd treat, maybe twice a year. I do know how hard it is, but all we can do is try.

 

[gardengnome42]

There are a few high protein sliced loaves but no rolls to my knowledge.
Sorry for derailing your thread @gardengnome42

Not at all Rachox, it's so interesting reading what others do to keep this at bay. I have an awful lot to learn but so far I'm still finding my way through everything and not really getting very far very fast.

Good on you for posting here and taking a closer look at your BGs.

After 9 years I have learned that it's better to spend a little bit of time watching and adjusting things to manage my diabetes-related issues than to be a zealot for 3 months a year and completely let myself go for the rest of the year because I don't want to think about it.

An HbA1c of 43 is terrific but if you do nothing it will likely creep up over time. I was curious about your age so had a look at your profile and see you are 75, and I noticed this and smiled a bit:

Dislikes: diabetes and dieting

I couldn't agree more! Dieting is horrible. Fortunately with an A1c of 43, in my opinion you don't need to "diet" as such... you only need to make very small changes. This is the key. Don't make it so difficult that you want to give up.

If your next A1c is 42 or 41, that will be a sign that everything is working just fine. It it's 36 or something then, even better!

In case you haven't seen this website, here is a link. I found the information very reassuring and it helped me get my mindset in balance. No more beating myself up or ignoring my BGs. I hope you find it helpful:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/18217337.php

 

[gardengnome42]

Good on you for posting here and taking a closer look at your BGs.

After 9 years I have learned that it's better to spend a little bit of time watching and adjusting things to manage my diabetes-related issues than to be a zealot for 3 months a year and completely let myself go for the rest of the year because I don't want to think about it.

An HbA1c of 43 is terrific but if you do nothing it will likely creep up over time. I was curious about your age so had a look at your profile and see you are 75, and I noticed this and smiled a bit:

Dislikes: diabetes and dieting

I couldn't agree more! Dieting is horrible. Fortunately with an A1c of 43, in my opinion you don't need to "diet" as such... you only need to make very small changes. This is the key. Don't make it so difficult that you want to give up.

If your next A1c is 42 or 41, that will be a sign that everything is working just fine. It it's 36 or something then, even better!

In case you haven't seen this website, here is a link. I found the information very reassuring and it helped me get my mindset in balance. No more beating myself up or ignoring my BGs. I hope you find it helpful:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/18217337.php

I've read bits of this before but perhaps now is the time to read it ALL through several times and then some more. It does seem extremely helpful and comprehensive.
I do wish the Americans didn't use the different measurements to the UK and New Zealand, to have to refer to the chart constantly is tedious.

 

[Jenny15]

I've read bits of this before but perhaps now is the time to read it ALL through several times and then some more. It does seem extremely helpful and comprehensive.
I do wish the Americans didn't use the different measurements to the UK and New Zealand, to have to refer to the chart constantly is tedious.

I agree about the measurement differences. I use a laptop not a phone and I can open a new tab in chrome and type "convert blood glucose..." and it autocompletes with a conversion tool for just about anything. I think my app has learned to put this one at the top of the list, it's great.

I also have a rough enough idea in my head of what is low, medium and high in both systems. If I want to be more precise I convert it. I have family living in the US and I'm always having to convert miles, pounds, inches, feet etc. They say they are proud not to be metric, LOL.

 

[gardengnome42]

@gardengnome42 nothing drastic in that meal APART FROM the baguette. That is what put you up to 10 I'm afraid. I can't eat bread without spiking, so I stick to Burgen low carb bread and only have half a slice at any one time. I would love a piece of baguette, but they are now reserved for an odd treat, maybe twice a year. I do know how hard it is, but all we can do is try.

I'm afraid you're right about the bread, sadly. It's pretty obvious isn't it. Mostly if eating bread at all - normally a slice at breakfast - I tend to eat the quality stuff, not supermarket sliced. However there seems to be more stuff I can't eat than I can eat. What I can eat on the face of it seems pretty restrictive and quite depressing really. No grapefruit for breakfast and no toast with my boiled eggs. Oh dear! There we are told that fruit juice is bad and to eat the whole fruit now that is a no-no as well.

 

[Jenny15]

I'm afraid you're right about the bread, sadly. It's pretty obvious isn't it. Mostly if eating bread at all - normally a slice at breakfast - I tend to eat the quality stuff, not supermarket sliced. However there seems to be more stuff I can't eat than I can eat. What I can eat on the face of it seems pretty restrictive and quite depressing really. No grapefruit for breakfast and no toast with my boiled eggs. Oh dear! There we are told that fruit juice is bad and to eat the whole fruit now that is a no-no as well.

You could always try halving the amount of grapefruit and toast and see what effect it has, through testing.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I'm afraid you're right about the bread, sadly. It's pretty obvious isn't it. Mostly if eating bread at all - normally a slice at breakfast - I tend to eat the quality stuff, not supermarket sliced. However there seems to be more stuff I can't eat than I can eat. What I can eat on the face of it seems pretty restrictive and quite depressing really. No grapefruit for breakfast and no toast with my boiled eggs. Oh dear! There we are told that fruit juice is bad and to eat the whole fruit now that is a no-no as well.

I do know what you mean, but I find my eating plan is very enjoyable. Of course I miss certain things, but I can now eat bacon and eggs, sausage (high meat content), mushrooms fried in butter and a tomato without feeling guilty. I know it is no longer a heart attack on a plate, which is what I was brainwashed into thinking before diabetes. I can put butter on my veggies instead of gravy - and they taste much nicer! And for breakfast all I need now is a decaff coffee with cream, then a cup of tea mid morning, and I'm not at all hungry. I would never have believed that at one time. We just need to change our mind set. Try a Burgen loaf (Sainsburys sell them), one slice or half a slice toasted, with butter and eaten with any meal is rather nice, and if eaten for breakfast with a soft boiled egg you can get some lovely soldiers out of it.

 

[gardengnome42]

I do know what you mean, but I find my eating plan is very enjoyable. Of course I miss certain things, but I can now eat bacon and eggs, sausage (high meat content), mushrooms fried in butter and a tomato without feeling guilty. I know it is no longer a heart attack on a plate, which is what I was brainwashed into thinking before diabetes. I can put butter on my veggies instead of gravy - and they taste much nicer! And for breakfast all I need now is a decaff coffee with cream, then a cup of tea mid morning, and I'm not at all hungry. I would never have believed that at one time. We just need to change our mind set. Try a Burgen loaf (Sainsburys sell them), one slice or half a slice toasted, with butter and eaten with any meal is rather nice, and if eaten for breakfast with a soft boiled egg you can get some lovely soldiers out of it.

I'll try the Burgen load, have to say I've never heard of it but if you say it's good then it's worth a try. I have always felt that a good breakfast was the way to start the day. Before hypertension it was cereal and milk but now it's eggs and of course the grapefruit. I think I've eaten half of one of those since I was a teenager! I do use canderel, I know it has a bad press but it's surely better than sugar and has no after taste. Eggs for breakfast keep me full until lunch.

 

[rab5]

You could always try halving the amount of grapefruit and toast and see what effect it has, through testing.

Do not half it. Just don’t eat it. It’s full of carbs and they are the devil. If you were an alcoholic I’m sure to say well just have half a pint would not help

Just saying

 

[MikeyU]

Just so you know, unfortunately Lidl have stopped making the high protein rolls

As I've already mentioned in my other post(s), excess protein is a problem too. Here in Switzerland we have quite a few high protein breads to choose from, pretty much all big supermarket chains sell some. I was so thrilled when I discovered the protein bread, only 3g of carbs per slice! Ate two slices for breakfast, and my BG stayed elevated for hours, pretty much till lunch. Only in the early afternoon it dropped below 6 (if at all). Excess protein will elevate BG too, not as much as carbs but mean BG would most likely be close to some carbs which will have an impact on HbA1C results for sure. Since couple of weeks I switched to Wasa whole grain crispbread, slightly more carbs but overall my average daily BG seems to be lower... I also reduced protein intake in the evening, less meat, more fat. This seems to reduce my FBG too.

 

[Bluetit1802]

As I've already mentioned in my other post(s), excess protein is a problem too. Here in Switzerland we have quite a few high protein breads to choose from, pretty much all big supermarket chains sell some. I was so thrilled when I discovered the protein bread, only 3g of carbs per slice! Ate two slices for breakfast, and my BG stayed elevated for hours, pretty much till lunch. Only in the early afternoon it dropped below 6 (if at all). Excess protein will elevate BG too, not as much as carbs but mean BG would most likely be close to some carbs which will have an impact on HbA1C results for sure. Since couple of weeks I switched to Wasa whole grain crispbread, slightly more carbs but overall my average daily BG seems to be lower... I also reduced protein intake in the evening, less meat, more fat. This seems to reduce my FBG too.

Protein has zero effect on my blood sugars, and I eat quite a lot of it. I have certainly never restricted it in any way.