Type 2 T2 and not understand

[Vanmaninessex]

My name is kelly,I’m 39 and I’m Type II and have been for two years. The doctors don’t really help me and I’m really confused. I was given a Contour next one monitor which the doctor said I don’t need to take my readings regular. Is this correct? I’m always tired ,headaches , high blood pressure,shaking and I have really bad anxiety. I’m over weight and doing my best best.
Sorry for all the questions but I’m fed up feeling ill.
Should I be taking my readings daily ? How many times per day ? What times ? What should my reading be ?
I took it today before eating and it was amber 8.6 .
If anyone could help I will be very grateful.

 

[NicoleC1971]

My name is kelly,I’m 39 and I’m Type II and have been for two years. The doctors don’t really help me and I’m really confused. I was given a Contour next one monitor which the doctor said I don’t need to take my readings regular. Is this correct? I’m always tired ,headaches , high blood pressure,shaking and I have really bad anxiety. I’m over weight and doing my best best.
Sorry for all the questions but I’m fed up feeling ill.
Should I be taking my readings daily ? How many times per day ? What times ? What should my reading be ?
I took it today before eating and it was amber 8.6 .
If anyone could help I will be very grateful.

Hi and welcome to the forum! I am sorry you are not getting much help from your doctor. You will always get some help here and I am sure some type 2s will be along soon to share their experience of starting from where you are and then feeling better through some simple changes.
I think having a blood glucose monitor is really useful but you need to know how and when to test to get the benefit or you may just get anxious about the results!
It is just a tool to let you know how your body is coping with what you are eating so I'd advise sticking to your normal eating routine but testing for a couple of typical week and weekend days e.g. a fasting bg (first thing before breakfast) then at 2 hours after a meal/snack.
You didn't mention how you are being treated and what your most recent 3 month (hba1c) is as this would give you some useful info too.
Your aim should be eating/exercising in a way that keeps your blood glucose in a normal range before a meal and at 2 hours afterwards.
If you are still eating in the way that caused you to be diagnosed as type 2 then it is likely that your diabetes will progress and the medications will only reduce the symptoms you have e.g. high blood sugar, gaining fat easily and high blood pressure. \these are all symptoms of carbohydrate intolerance leading to high insulin levels.
The good news is that you can reverse out of that metabolic situation by reducing carbs but do take some advice from this forum on how to achieve that consistently and safely e.g. if taking blood pressure meds, you may find you need to take a cautious approach so as to avoid symptoms of low blood pressure.
I hope that makes some sense but keep asking questions as they occur to you and then decide if you want to make changes.

 

[Member496333]

Is this correct?

No. It's rubbish. As is tradition.

Test whenever you want to know your blood glucose. Before and two hours after eating is common, and many also test fasted first thing in the morning. It's a personal thing but, generally speaking, random tests from time-to-time tell you nothing. It's the patterns and trends you should be monitoring, so test as often you're able or feel comfortable with. The upper limit is constrained only by strip availability and the soreness of your digits

No need to get hung up on numbers just now. The important thing is that you see your numbers trending down. And remember there will be a few excursions. That's the point of frequent testing - so you can begin to understand what causes them. Lots of helpful information in my signature courtesy of @JoKalsbeek. Read read read. Test test test.

 

[Vanmaninessex]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I am sorry you are not getting much help from your doctor. You will always get some help here and I am sure some type 2s will be along soon to share their experience of starting from where you are and then feeling better through some simple changes.
I think having a blood glucose monitor is really useful but you need to know how and when to test to get the benefit or you may just get anxious about the results!
It is just a tool to let you know how your body is coping with what you are eating so I'd advise sticking to your normal eating routine but testing for a couple of typical week and weekend days e.g. a fasting bg (first thing before breakfast) then at 2 hours after a meal/snack.
You didn't mention how you are being treated and what your most recent 3 month (hba1c) is as this would give you some useful info too.
Your aim should be eating/exercising in a way that keeps your blood glucose in a normal range before a meal and at 2 hours afterwards.
If you are still eating in the way that caused you to be diagnosed as type 2 then it is likely that your diabetes will progress and the medications will only reduce the symptoms you have e.g. high blood sugar, gaining fat easily and high blood pressure. \these are all symptoms of carbohydrate intolerance leading to high insulin levels.
The good news is that you can reverse out of that metabolic situation by reducing carbs but do take some advice from this forum on how to achieve that consistently and safely e.g. if taking blood pressure meds, you may find you need to take a cautious approach so as to avoid symptoms of low blood pressure.
I hope that makes some sense but keep asking questions as they occur to you and then decide if you want to make changes.

Thank you , I have been on here for a while and I have received help but I just can’t get my head around it .
What does habc1 been . It doesn’t help I’m dyslexic so I find it difficult to understand things I’m better shown etc .

 

[Vanmaninessex]

No. It's rubbish. As is tradition.

Test whenever you want to know your blood glucose. Before and two hours after eating is common, and many also test fasted first thing in the morning. It's a personal thing but, generally speaking, random tests from time-to-time tell you nothing. It's the patterns and trends you should be monitoring, so test as often you're able or feel comfortable with. The upper limit is constrained only by strip availability and the soreness of your digits

No need to get hung up on numbers just now. The important thing is that you see your numbers trending down. And remember there will be a few excursions. That's the point of frequent testing - so you can begin to understand what causes them. Lots of helpful information in my signature courtesy of @JoKalsbeek. Read read read. Test test test.

Thank you for your reply. Where and how do I find @JoKalsbeek , I would love to read more . ? Understanding what to do i find Hard I’m better shown due to being dyslexic.
Should I Monitor daily?

 

[NicoleC1971]

Thank you , I have been on here for a while and I have received help but I just can’t get my head around it .
What does habc1 been . It doesn’t help I’m dyslexic so I find it difficult to understand things I’m better shown etc .

Hi . If you prefer to be shown/listen then I find Jason Fung really useful . Look him up on YouTube or Diet Doctor.
I used to call Hba1c, HSBC for years btw! It is just records how much sugar has got stuck to your red blood cells over their 12 week life so it is a proxy for how sugary you've been during that time on average.

 

[Member496333]

Jason Fung has a great audiobook of The Diabetes Code. The Obesity Code is also supposed to be good but I haven't read it myself and I'm not sure if it's available in audiobook format.

No, you don't have to necessarily monitor daily, but on the days that you do, you should at least test at the same times/intervals, otherwise your data is random and largely meaningless. The frequency of testing may naturally fall once you're accustomed to how your food patterns affect your glucose.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thank you for your reply. Where and how do I find @JoKalsbeek , I would love to read more . ? Understanding what to do i find Hard I’m better shown due to being dyslexic.
Should I Monitor daily?

Hello @Vanmaninessex ,

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html is the link our charming @Jim Lahey is referring to. If you're on the app, you can't see signatures, and I suppose being dyslexic doesn't help. (My husband is too; smart as a whip, but if he has to read something he's hopeless.). The link does give information as simply as I could put it while still giving as much information as possible, but I have to agree with @NicoleC1971 . If reading isn't going to help you, go for Jason Fung's youtube video's. https://www.dietdoctor.com/the-perfect-treatment-for-diabetes-and-weight-loss is a place to start, and Dr. Fung's book, the Diabetes Code, is also available as an audio book. It's an excellent read as wel as an excellent listen.

For now, your HbA1c is the average of your blood glucose over three months, expressed in mmol/mol. The blood pricks you do at home would be in mmol/l, which is a different measurement.

Good news: It sounds as if your blood sugars are high all the time. What with the symptoms you mention. That means there is room for improvement! I know my anxiety/depression's a lot better with my blood sugars down. (That, and a lot else). Cut the carbs, test often. Before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite. You want a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l or less.

Cut the carbs. That's what we can't process. Aside from the obvious sugars, no starches either. No spuds, bread, pasta, rice, cereal, corn, underground veggies and most fruits. Do that and you'll feel wreched for a week maybe, and then... Things should clear up.

Good luck, and feel free to get in touch if you need any help. You do that either by putting an @ in front of my name (tagging me), or by clicking on my profile and sending me a private message.

All the best,
Jo

PS: While you're making changes you could monitor daily. That's a lot of strips, I know, but after a while you'll know how your body responds to your usual meals and you can taper off.

 

[Member496333]

...our charming @Jim Lahey

I've been called a lot of things, but charming is a new one