What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

[dunelm]

From your experience how do you think the patches would hold up to my Mountain Biking Activity? I do this activity in an aerobic manner, throwing myself down rocky trails, jumps and all quite quickly so a lot of twisting and turning of upper body and core and of course perspiring heavily and getting very muddy and wet at this time of year.

I have looked at them seriously and thought I would probably average using 2.5 patches a month and its that expense that is holding me back, any advise from your experience and anyone else's much appreciated.

I know from personal experience (clumsiness) that it is easy to dislodge a sensor. I have managed it twice. I now use a waterproof transparent adhesive wound dressing of the breathable type over the top.
If what you are already doing is working for you and you would like a little more control then why not just do pre and post meal testing and see how you get on. I guess that I already know what I can and cannot eat but I like the comfort blanket.

 

[gennepher]

@gennepher amazing progress with bg control - except all the effort and dedication you have shown makes it less amazing and more justice. Good on you for having a well founded plan and executing that plan.

Thank you @ianpspurs
It is a lot of effort, but more than worth it. After time, that effort is more and incorporated into my every day life. And I become stronger with it.

 

[alf_Josiah]

Good Morening Ladies and Gentlemen and all perplexed by diabetes, but not politicians, still somebody has to be etc, etc etc.

A very interesting discussion this morning about methods of testing, continuous or the prick test. Cost is a factor if you are paying for it yourself. Here's my thoughts on it......
All information is useful and if you can correctly interpret it then that's the route to follow, in the very long term the Libre must pay for itself. The Libre is the way I would go, but existing medical conditions prevent me.

Well folks from a wet Tilehurst a 5.0 was my reward for intimidating my meter. Yes my hammer is still next to meter, but Mrs J is getting slightly annoyed.....

I have no idea what your plans are, but mine set in stone until Mrs J gets out of her pit / lair.
Have a good day, stay dry if you can and above all else try to make a stranger smile.

 

[PenguinMum]

Morning All. 5.7 its dark and chucking it down inside but I am glowing in sunlight seeing my old friend 5 back in my life. I feel more together today so think I may have had a virus this week. @gennepher your post was so interesting and I take my hat off to you for what you have achieved and continue to achieve. I would struggle to eat so low but I really agree with using the info to suit personal needs. We sure are all individuals. Thank you for inspiring and lovely to read posts. @OldButBold sorry you are still suffering but glad the bedtime routine helped. Take great care.. @karen8967 wish I had that chimp’s teeth after an eyewatering quote to straighten my teeth lol.
Have a great Friday everyone. Dont go out in this rain unless you have to (looking at you @OldButBold ) drive carefully. Stay/get well, take care.

 

[gennepher]

Interesting observations @gennepher. I do eat to my meter and find that if my fasting reading is a bit high then a small snack of something like a bit of cheese helps to calm it down. I usually don’t eat though until about 12 noon and later if I’m not hungry. Dinner is best for me at about 1800 and maybe then a couple of home made flax crackers with cheese spread later on if I get peckish.
It is eating to my meter that persuaded me to go with the libre system - I too am self funding and although the libre system is quite expensive I do think, for me, it works very well.

Have a great day if you can, koffy calls - how decadent.

Thank you @dunelm
And thank you for that information on how you eat. I do think we need to eat to the meter. At least I do. As long as my fingers will accept the multi pricks a day to test I will continue testing that way. But I am interested in, and follow all you and others say about the libre.

I still need to figure out how to make flaxseed crackers! I miss crunching through that kind of stuff! I tried once in the microwave (I don’t have an oven) months ago when all of you were posting recipes, and didn’t get round to trying again!

 

[UserABC2021]

@OldButBold sorry you are still suffering but glad the bedtime routine helped. Take great care..

Thanks, @PenguinMum I get this every year and I know it can take 2-4 weeks, but knowing that doesn't alleviate the misery. My COPD means my lungs (currently) run at around 60% efficiency, which is ok in the general scheme of things. However, a chest infection can reduce it dramatically and leave me shuffling around and sounding like Darth Vader. Back with doc next week, that you for your concern, appreciated

 

[gennepher]

@gennepher you have come such a long way since you first found your way to this thread, it's good to see that you are finding what is right for you to control your T2.

Thank you very much @trick60

 

[ianpspurs]

Hm. We certainly know that there are some things that we do not know but at the same time we need to think about what we do know - lot’s of people do not know what they know. We do have to think about what we are thinking about.
I know that if I eat too much protein then I may as well be eating carbs - it’s like eating the contents of a tin of sweet corn - just cut the corner and chuck the contents down the loo. I also know that I have a reading of say 4.3 then I can eat a bit more than if it reads 5.1.
The beauty of the Libre is that you get a graph of eight hours previous to your reading and that graph enables me to extrapolate, in some small way, to what will happen if I choose wrongly (ingredients and portion size).
If there is no practical solution - i.e. if I get a nasty upward trend then I fall back on what worked the last time - usually a bit of cheese or a few nuts and fluids - plain water or lots of tea and then walk.

Thanks for the reply @dunelm. Seems to me that CGM may help me clarify where there could be any tweaks to when or how much of the limited foodstuffs I am now prepared to eat. The infamous macros I now see are no longer by design just the result of shuffling the pack of food I will eat. It is actually much easier to just not eat at all until I run out of energy.

 

[gennepher]

@gennepher I admire your tenacity and thank you for such interesting observations. Well done on achieving a better understanding on how to control this awful Type2, brilliant.

I am still learning such a lot and still baffled by much of what my pet Dracula tells me. At the moment I find long fasts raise my readings but like @dunelm and I suspect others a snack on cheese or nuts before sleep helps to lower them. Too much protein can raise them significantly.

Thank you @Muddy Cyclist

Long/er fasts helped me earlier this year trying to take more control of my diabetes journey (when I broke off my relationship with my dietician who was aggressively promoting the eat-die plate). But my journey has developed since, or morphed into something different.

I still want to experiment again with fasting, but not yet by a long chalk. It is my next half-forming idea when I have even better control of these blood sugars. Unless I find something better in the meantime.

Have a good day. It’s very wet and muddy here!

 

[gennepher]

You are doing brilliantly. The testing is the only way we can find out what really works for us - as you have so clearly shown by getting your numbers down into the 5s during the night. It is a huge achievement as your numbers were so high before.

Thank you @Krystyna23040
Yes, testing is the only way forward. It was confusing initially, to me, how to get away from those double figures. But I kept a handwritten spreadsheet at that time recording everything from food and amounts and time eaten, to moods, to stress, to testing results day and night. It wasn’t easy, but was my only way forward at that point of time. Trial and error (and despair at times), and I did makes errors, brought me to where I am now.
Thank you for the compliment.

 

[gennepher]

@gennepher your post was so interesting and I take my hat off to you for what you have achieved and continue to achieve. I would struggle to eat so low but I really agree with using the info to suit personal needs. We sure are all individuals. Thank you for inspiring and lovely to read posts.
Have a great Friday everyone. Dont go out in this rain unless you have to (looking at you @OldButBold ) drive carefully. Stay/get well, take care.

Thanks @PenguinMum

I want to keep my eyes (for lipreading and independence) and feet and all the other bits and pieces in my body - and these are all the main driving forces for me to achieve this control of T2. I am not a person who likes sharing my living space, and the thought of living in a retirement home where you are surrounded by people and other people make life ‘easier’ for you is an anathema to me. It would be a living hell.

Those are the thoughts that create my determination, and put me on the straight and narrow with this diabetic journey. My grandmother was totally independent and lived in her own cottage with coal fires, cooking every day on a black leaded range, and walked 5 miles every day. She was intent on making her 100th birthday because she wanted that telegram from the Queen. Unfortunately she died a few days short of her 100th.

So that is my 30 year plan - independence. But you can miss out the coal fires, and blackleading that range every week. I can’t do the 5 mile walk because of my arthritis, but I can sit and swing with my feet on my thatched swing and admire my garden!!!

 

[alf_Josiah]

It is actually much easier to just not eat at all until I run out of energy.

If I followed your way of eating it would put me straight back in hospital, I hope you are not causing yourself long term damage.
I am not medically qualified, but running your body at exhaustion levels is in opinion weakening your immune system leaving yourself open to infections.
Good luck Alf

 

[mojo37]

6.7 running up and down with these 6's shouldn't really mind seeing as a couple of months ago I was in the 8's with the odd 9 thrown in .

 

[SaskiaKC]

7.3 this morning, an hour after being woken by the lovely orange Hunter's Moon. I'm watching The Avengers.

 

[ianpspurs]

If I followed your way of eating it would put me straight back in hospital, I hope you are not causing yourself long term damage.
I am not medically qualified, but running your body at exhaustion levels is in opinion weakening your immune system leaving yourself open to infections.
Good luck Alf

Thanks @alf_Josiah. I think I have been extensively monitored over 3 months and Drs seem happy with bloods, heart rhythm etc. I analyse my intake daily for carbs, cals, nutes and vits. What it comes down to is normally tea until 13.00 hrs then a salad with avocado, egg or mackerel fillets for choice then try to cover as many of the gaps as I can with anything LC I will tolerate - short list. Not exhaustion levels just flagging/bored by 13,00 hrs when often waking by 4.30.

 

[Cumberland]

6.6 yesterday
10.3 this morning

Have a good day

 

[SaskiaKC]

@gennepher I agree that sometimes it seems like a living hell. Other times, though, I am very grateful for having a roof over my head, with heat and AC and water that are included in my rent so I don't have to worry about paying utility bills. I don't have to worry about break-ins because we have good building security. If the heat goes out, or the air-conditioning, I don't have to scrabble around for money to pay to repair it. I don't have to pay the grounds crew.

Here I pretty much keep myself to myself. I have neighbors but rarely see them and -- thank goodness -- rarely hear them, unless the couple next door has their grandchildren to visit when their apartment turns into the gym from hell. There are free exercise classes and movies and other activities I could participate in if I wanted to -- and sometimes I have. I am as independent as anyone can be without a car, and if I could afford a car I would have one. As it is, I can walk to the grocery store. And if I want more exercise I can use the equipment in the fitness center 24/7, or walk the corridors any time day or night regardless of the weather. And -- unlike at my house -- I've only seen one spider since I've been here, and he was already dead!

Right now I am sitting here enjoying a second cup of coffee. If the stove had gone out I could have called downstairs to the front desk and they would have sent a maintenance man up to repair it and it would not have cost me a cent, just as the new fridge didn't cost me a cent when the old one broke down 2 years ago.

 

[ianpspurs]

6.6 yesterday
10.3 this morning

Have a good day

Plenty of variation there @Cumberland. Hope you are staying as dry as possible. Take care.

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

I know from personal experience (clumsiness) that it is easy to dislodge a sensor. I have managed it twice. I now use a waterproof transparent adhesive wound dressing of the breathable type over the top.
If what you are already doing is working for you and you would like a little more control then why not just do pre and post meal testing and see how you get on. I guess that I already know what I can and cannot eat but I like the comfort blanket.

Thanks @dunelm I am doing the pre and post meal testing and sort of getting a picture it's what goes on in between that worries me as on occasion I have tested early and got higher readings than I would like. Finger pricking is also causing me some problems with my instrument playing.
I think you and @ianpspurs have given me some good advise and it's still early days since my diagnosis so I will see what the next few HbA1c tests show and think again then.

 

[gennepher]

@gennepher I agree that sometimes it seems like a living hell. Other times, though, I am very grateful for having a roof over my head, with heat and AC and water that are included in my rent so I don't have to worry about paying utility bills. I don't have to worry about break-ins because we have good building security. If the heat goes out, or the air-conditioning, I don't have to scrabble around for money to pay to repair it. I don't have to pay the grounds crew.

Here I pretty much keep myself to myself. I have neighbors but rarely see them and -- thank goodness -- rarely hear them, unless the couple next door has their grandchildren to visit when their apartment turns into the gym from hell. There are free exercise classes and movies and other activities I could participate in if I wanted to -- and sometimes I have. I am as independent as anyone can be without a car, and if I could afford a car I would have one. As it is, I can walk to the grocery store. And if I want more exercise I can use the equipment in the fitness center 24/7, or walk the corridors any time day or night regardless of the weather. And -- unlike at my house -- I've only seen one spider since I've been here, and he was already dead!

Right now I am sitting here enjoying a second cup of coffee. If the stove had gone out I could have called downstairs to the front desk and they would have sent a maintenance man up to repair it and it would not have cost me a cent, just as the new fridge didn't cost me a cent when the old one broke down 2 years ago.

Hi @SaskiaKC

I have explored what is available here or near here. There is very little. I have been round a couple of places. Not because I was considering it, but because my daughter from Oz insisted I should be thinking of it. I showed her the details and locations and facilities and prices. And then she understood why I said No.

My daughter from Oz explained there were a lot of purpose built retirement homes in australia and she was initially assuming there would be the same here. We then realised Australia (and America too for that matter) has vast wide open spaces. Whereas in the U.K. building space is at a premium, and it is not possible or easy to build retirement homes or complexes in the way you can in a country with more land.

The few that are built near here are out of reach of my pocket. I couldn’t remotely afford them. The few that are around, are exclusive with exclusive prices. And you still have to pay all your utility bills! It is not economically viable for me.

So, batty old lady will live in her falling down bungalow for the rest of her days in her overgrown garden...

But things change. Different governments, new policies (but it needs governments to implement those policies not just say they are looking into it), and there is always the lottery ticket...