Testing levels on your Glucose machine

[0110]

Hi Guys, I seem to be running out of strips very quickly. I had a new pack of 50 which I think I used up in a week..What testing strategies are people using and for a newbie when should I be testing? Local GP facility seems usesless, they told me only test 2-3 times a week but with no explanation why.

 

[niblue]

I've only just finished the first 50 I got and they lasted me about a month - and that included doing tests on a few other members of my family. I've got another 100 after that and expect they will last me 3 months or so.

The only regular test I do is first thing in the morning. I've done some additional ones occasionally (the most being 4 in a single day) but given I've already decided to go down the low-carb route (50-100g a day typically) and working on getting my BMI into the "healthy" range then I'm not seeing sufficient benefit from additional data to warrant testing multiple times a day (and I'm still not keen on the process!). Having said that I did order a Libre2 sensor on their free trial, so it'll be interesting to see what that says about variations in my blood sugar during the day when I start using it.

 

[0110]

I've only just finished the first 50 I got and they lasted me about a month - and that included doing tests on a few other members of my family. I've got another 100 after that and expect they will last me 3 months or so.

The only regular test I do is first thing in the morning. I've done some additional ones occasionally (the most being 4 in a single day) but given I've already decided to go down the low-carb route (50-100g a day typically) and working on getting my BMI into the "healthy" range then I'm not seeing sufficient benefit from additional data to warrant testing multiple times a day (and I'm still not keen on the process!). Having said that I did order a Libre2 sensor on their free trial, so it'll be interesting to see what that says about variations in my blood sugar during the day when I start using it.

Let us know how you get on with the Libre2 for the two week trial. I will definilty sign up on that but happy to be testing mannually at the moment. So your testing strategy involved morning fasts, I was doing morning, pre lunch after lunch then pre dinner and after dinner as well.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi Guys, I seem to be running out of strips very quickly. I had a new pack of 50 which I think I used up in a week..What testing strategies are people using and for a newbie when should I be testing? Local GP facility seems usesless, they told me only test 2-3 times a week but with no explanation why.

When you start out, you test up a storm. Before a meal and two hours after the first bite can show you how certain foods affect your blood sugars. (You're aiming for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l at that point, preferably less). It takes a little while to know what foods do what, and that means using up a whole lot of strips, 6 a day if you still have 3 meals. But it does show you what is working and whether your blood sugars are dropping over all. After a while, you don't really need to test the same meal over and over again, you know whether it's good for you or now. Me, I only test when something's wonky. Flu, inflammation, feeling off, or eating something I am not too sure about. I currently have two pots which I ordered a year and a half ago and have since gone past their use-by date, which shows you how very little I test these days. But when i first started... Lots. And lots. But it wholly depends on why you're testing, really. Do you want to know how you're doing, do you want to check foods, etc etc... For me, testing in the a.m. was kind of useless, as it's the last number to come down anyway, (months) and with dawn phenomenon in the mix, it was my highest reading in the day. Far from encouraging. The food checking served me well though.

In any case, testing 2 to 3 times a week really is a waste of strips.

 

[0110]

When you start out, you test up a storm. Before a meal and two hours after the first bite can show you how certain foods affect your blood sugars. (You're aiming for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l at that point, preferably less). It takes a little while to know what foods do what, and that means using up a whole lot of strips, 6 a day if you still have 3 meals. But it does show you what is working and whether your blood sugars are dropping over all. After a while, you don't really need to test the same meal over and over again, you know whether it's good for you or now. Me, I only test when something's wonky. Flu, inflammation, feeling off, or eating something I am not too sure about. I currently have two pots which I ordered a year and a half ago and have since gone past their use-by date, which shows you how very little I test these days. But when i first started... Lots. And lots. But it wholly depends on why you're testing, really. Do you want to know how you're doing, do you want to check foods, etc etc... For me, testing in the a.m. was kind of useless, as it's the last number to come down anyway, (months) and with dawn phenomenon in the mix, it was my highest reading in the day. Far from encouraging. The food checking served me well though.

In any case, testing 2 to 3 times a week really is a waste of strips.

Thank You so much for your reply, I see your profile you reversed T2. Please tell us your story, its stories liek this which are motivating me I thank You in advance

 

[Pipp]

Hi Guys, I seem to be running out of strips very quickly. I had a new pack of 50 which I think I used up in a week..What testing strategies are people using and for a newbie when should I be testing? Local GP facility seems usesless, they told me only test 2-3 times a week but with no explanation why.

If the strips are on prescription then the GP surgery could be wanting to keep costs down.
For someone newly diagnosed, especially if on new medication and / or change of diet, it is helpful to test on waking, before each meal, and two hours after start of each meal. Though this is only really useful if you record what you have eaten, alongside the blood glucose levels, in order to be able to determine what the various foods are doing to those levels. Then adjustments to diet can be made accordingly. Once you have established this, and tweaked diet, and meds accordingly, less frequent testing, is needed.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thank You so much for your reply, I see your profile you reversed T2. Please tell us your story, its stories liek this which are motivating me I thank You in advance

Oh, well... I was ill. Absolutely miserable, really. I had been diagnosed with PCOS about five years earlier, which can cause insulin resistance, but all i'd been told was that I'd never easily have kids. The rest just got ignored, deemed unimportant. I was a big lass, and kept getting bigger, in spite of doing everything the hospital's dietician told me. (Which was basically, load up on carbs all day every day). I was so weak I couldn't lift a fork, my husband had to cut my meat, I didn't have the strength for it. My side ached, and that's where finally something happened...! They thought my entire liver was cancerous, but it turned out to be non alcoholic fatty liver disease. I googled what might cause that, and one of the things listed was diabetes. Well, surely, it couldn't be that, could it? So I borrowed our diabetic cat's meter and when I saw just how high I was.... Eighteen... I knew what it meant. That day I didn't top out there either, I passed 22 mmol/l. So that's when the research started!

I had our little Night's meter, and I used it to figure out what was what. There was all this weird nonsense online about high fat low carb, what malarkey... But that meter said it worked. I had nothing to lose, I was basically told I was going to die soon anyway, so, why not try everything...?! I read Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code and it made sense, and my meter said it was right. I lost weight, my liver function returned to normal, my blood sugars dropped so much the mix with medication made me hypo a few times until my GP went against my specialist and took me off of them. There's been a few hiccups down the road, going through a bit of one right now (Recently lost my mom which was/is stressful, had a triple rootcanal- and jaw infection which made eating difficult), but I haven't been as bad off as I was. I walk fair distances with camera gear flung around my shoulders. Before, I could barely walk around our flat without my legs giving out. Within a few months I got my numbers back to good. And I think it's been seven years now or so since diagnosis... Still not on meds, still in the normal range, even with falling off the wagon here and there. And hey, I didn't die! Shows you how much the specialists know, haha.

I'm just one of many, here... It can be done.
Good luck!
Jo

 

[Resurgam]

I'm on a low carb list and there have been several instances of someone with PCOS joining up and sighing about their lives, and then a couple of months later there is a sudden manic message half ecstatic and half in disbelief that they have a positive pregnancy test which is good to read, but I suspect several of the older members have a little chuckle over it.

 

[0110]

Oh, well... I was ill. Absolutely miserable, really. I had been diagnosed with PCOS about five years earlier, which can cause insulin resistance, but all i'd been told was that I'd never easily have kids. The rest just got ignored, deemed unimportant. I was a big lass, and kept getting bigger, in spite of doing everything the hospital's dietician told me. (Which was basically, load up on carbs all day every day). I was so weak I couldn't lift a fork, my husband had to cut my meat, I didn't have the strength for it. My side ached, and that's where finally something happened...! They thought my entire liver was cancerous, but it turned out to be non alcoholic fatty liver disease. I googled what might cause that, and one of the things listed was diabetes. Well, surely, it couldn't be that, could it? So I borrowed our diabetic cat's meter and when I saw just how high I was.... Eighteen... I knew what it meant. That day I didn't top out there either, I passed 22 mmol/l. So that's when the research started!

I had our little Night's meter, and I used it to figure out what was what. There was all this weird nonsense online about high fat low carb, what malarkey... But that meter said it worked. I had nothing to lose, I was basically told I was going to die soon anyway, so, why not try everything...?! I read Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code and it made sense, and my meter said it was right. I lost weight, my liver function returned to normal, my blood sugars dropped so much the mix with medication made me hypo a few times until my GP went against my specialist and took me off of them. There's been a few hiccups down the road, going through a bit of one right now (Recently lost my mom which was/is stressful, had a triple rootcanal- and jaw infection which made eating difficult), but I haven't been as bad off as I was. I walk fair distances with camera gear flung around my shoulders. Before, I could barely walk around our flat without my legs giving out. Within a few months I got my numbers back to good. And I think it's been seven years now or so since diagnosis... Still not on meds, still in the normal range, even with falling off the wagon here and there. And hey, I didn't die! Shows you how much the specialists know, haha.

I'm just one of many, here... It can be done.
Good luck!
Jo

Wow what a turn around and what a story. How you maintaining the HBACi now by strict diet!? Did you loose many KGs for the liver to fall in place and everything to fix?

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Wow what a turn around and what a story. How you maintaining the HBACi now by strict diet!? Did you loose many KGs for the liver to fall in place and everything to fix?

I lost about 25 kilo's (55 pounds), probably more, because I'm not quite sure what my starting weight was: I quit weighing myself at 102 kilo's, but I know I got bigger than that. With the bulk of that gone, the fat marbling my liver went away too. Liver function was back to normal in 3 to 6 months. My HbA1c is still in the normal range, and I have tried a few diets, going from low carb to keto to carnivore for a bit (which is zero carb), but I've settled back into keto again, maintaining about 20 grams of carbs a day or less. It's quite doable, and I don't think I'll venture into other diets from here on in, unless medically required to do so. I did regain a bit of weight when peri-menopause kicked in, but, well... I'm comfortable as I am now. It's still quite a few dress sizes down from where I started, my blood sugars are fine, no diabetic complications, my energy levels are nowhere near what they were back then... I'm calling it good. I still have my sweaters from that time, and while they were very snug then, they're quite copmfortably oversized now. I'll attach two pictures, I think you can tell by my face that there was some weight lost in the one where my hair's grey.

Basically I eat coconut yoghurt (with Purition for flavour and fibre) practically daily, and have taken to drinking kombucha for gut health, (Was on a lot of antibiotics lately for my jaw). Other than that it's eggs, veg, meat/poultry/fish, the usual low carb fare. When we're out I usually order eggs, a salad or something with the spuds replaced by veg, and bread or toast left off entirely. Sometimes I'll add a side of baked mushrooms or something if it's not filling enough without the carbs in. A kitchen is usually happy to accommodate if it's just leaving something off... Better than throwing a perfectly good part of a dish out. (And I'm a notoriously good tipper). I'll have a cappucchino with soy or oat milk when out and about too, which is about as carby as I'll have a drink now, but I get away with those. Milk is a problem, it makes my rheumatism flare, so I'll treat myself if soy/oat is available.

You eventually slide into a routine that works for you. Takes a little getting used to, but it can and does work. And, again, my story is just one of many.

 

[0110]

I lost about 25 kilo's (55 pounds), probably more, because I'm not quite sure what my starting weight was: I quit weighing myself at 102 kilo's, but I know I got bigger than that. With the bulk of that gone, the fat marbling my liver went away too. Liver function was back to normal in 3 to 6 months. My HbA1c is still in the normal range, and I have tried a few diets, going from low carb to keto to carnivore for a bit (which is zero carb), but I've settled back into keto again, maintaining about 20 grams of carbs a day or less. It's quite doable, and I don't think I'll venture into other diets from here on in, unless medically required to do so. I did regain a bit of weight when peri-menopause kicked in, but, well... I'm comfortable as I am now. It's still quite a few dress sizes down from where I started, my blood sugars are fine, no diabetic complications, my energy levels are nowhere near what they were back then... I'm calling it good. I still have my sweaters from that time, and while they were very snug then, they're quite copmfortably oversized now. I'll attach two pictures, I think you can tell by my face that there was some weight lost in the one where my hair's grey.

Basically I eat coconut yoghurt (with Purition for flavour and fibre) practically daily, and have taken to drinking kombucha for gut health, (Was on a lot of antibiotics lately for my jaw). Other than that it's eggs, veg, meat/poultry/fish, the usual low carb fare. When we're out I usually order eggs, a salad or something with the spuds replaced by veg, and bread or toast left off entirely. Sometimes I'll add a side of baked mushrooms or something if it's not filling enough without the carbs in. A kitchen is usually happy to accommodate if it's just leaving something off... Better than throwing a perfectly good part of a dish out. (And I'm a notoriously good tipper). I'll have a cappucchino with soy or oat milk when out and about too, which is about as carby as I'll have a drink now, but I get away with those. Milk is a problem, it makes my rheumatism flare, so I'll treat myself if soy/oat is available.

You eventually slide into a routine that works for you. Takes a little getting used to, but it can and does work. And, again, my story is just one of many.

Amazing story and well done to you, lossing 25 Kilos is fantastic, its so weird how the liver returns to normal (fatty liver) after weight loss, diebetes gets better as well its almost like it all falls into place again.

 

[ajbod]

The fatty liver, and body fat stored away is the consequence of Insulin resistance. By restricting our carb intake, we reduce our blood sugar levels, and thereby reduce our Insulin levels. with a low enough Insulin level, this allows our bodies to burn the stored fat for fuel. We're not cured, but we are in control as much as is possible.

 

[0110]

Dawn Phenomen at the finest today, yesterday got home around 7pm it was 5.4 had no dinner as I wasnt hungry got up today and tested around 6:30am 7.0. Firstly when do these numbers start getting better? and 2ndly how bad is 7.0 as a morning figure?

 

[KennyA]

In the beginning I tested first thing in the morning along with the before and +2 hrs after meals. And whenever something new happened , just to see what was going on. I burned through strips quickly. I kept a food and significant events diary and recorded my readings alongside.

After a bit (maybe a year or so in?) I dropped testing so often (because the results didn't change) and continued with the food (particularly with new food or food combos) and first thing. The morning readings eventually came down, but were the last to drop. I get (got?) significant dawn phenom and my liver will go on dumping glucose as long as I let it. A reading of high sixes or 7 wouldn't have been unusual for me at this stage.

In the third year I largely stopped routine testing and keeping a diary. I did a bit more testing for a few weeks when I went back to playing football last year, just to see what happened. Not a lot, actually.

Now in year four and I usually test only for new foods - but I've got a good idea about most things now. Still occasionally do a week of first thing tests, just as a check, or sometimes after exercise. A tub of strips lasts forever these days.

 

[catinahat]

Dawn Phenomen at the finest today, yesterday got home around 7pm it was 5.4 had no dinner as I wasnt hungry got up today and tested around 6:30am 7.0. Firstly when do these numbers start getting better? and 2ndly how bad is 7.0 as a morning figure?

When evaluating any result you need to consider the +/-15% accuracy of our meters.
The 5.4 gives a true level of somewhere between 4.59 and 6.21
The 7.0 ". " ". " ". 5.95 and 8.24
As you can see, last night your true level could have been just over 6 and this AM just under 6,
So have you really suffered a large liver dump or is it just the limitations of the testing methods available to us that you are seeing.
It's impossible to know, as with everything concerning T2 we have to play the long game.
As your insuln resistance improves you should see your morning averages come down. If you regularly see 7's now , if that changes to 6's with the occasional 7, and then to 5's with the occasional 6, you know you are on the right track.
Trying to make conclusions about your progress or otherwise from a couple of results is pointless.

 

[niblue]

A 7.0 first thing in the morning would be pretty good for me - so far I've only had 2 readings that were lower than that (and not by much - a 6.8 and a 6.9), so I expect it's as much where you're starting from as anything else (and starting from stuff in the range of 14-20 means that getting down to 7-8 in a month seems decent progress to me!).

Anyway, in early days like this I think it's a general downwards trend that's important, so I wouldn't get down if one or two individual readings are higher than you hoped (especially as a circa 15% accuracy variance could count for some of that anyway).

 

[HSSS]

It can take many many months . But don’t be disheartened as if the rest of the day is good the hba1c will be falling still. Also it’s kind of a proxy for insulin resistance improving and that took years if not decades to get to this point. It won’t disappear in weeks. Also if you remain low carb long term you might get physiological insulin resistance aka adaptive glucose sparing that causes higher morning levels but it’s physiological (due to low carb) rather than pathological due to diabetes. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/fasting-blood-glucose-higher

 

[Robbity]

Initially I improved my glucose levels to pre-diabetic within 3 months of T2 diagnosis (HbA1c down from 60-62 to 47, and also lost around 20 kilos), simply by cutting out all the obvious high carb food from my diet, as I wasn't aware of the existence of glucose meters. I've always eaten normal (full) fat food.

Since then I've used a meter most of the time (and the original Libre sensors for a while) and my Contour meter allows me to set my own target ranges, and it fairly accurately predicts myHbA1c levels. I'm a bit of a data "freak" and I'm interested in what and how issues other than a low carb/ketogenic diet (e.g. health, illness , pain, certain medications, stress, etc ) can impact on my glucose levels. While spot checks for such issues can be useful, I don't believe that simply doing a few random checks otherwise are actually helpful.

@0110 : My liver prefers my dawn phenomenon level to be about 7.0, but it's often lower, and since it's essentially its choice not mine, I tend not to bother too much about it - my glucose levels tend to reduce during the day anyway. Something I first learned when starting to use a meter.

 

[Lobsang Tsultim]

For the first 4 or 5 months, I tested 6 or seven times a day. I found this useful for the data but also as part of the discipline required to change my eating habits. Now, I tend just to test fasting levels in the morning, knowing that they are typically the highest of the day. This allows me to keep track of what's happening and gives a warning if the numbers start to creep up. Now and again (like every 2 or 3 months), I'll do a week of full testing again, just for my own peace of mind - but I'm only one year after diagnosis. In five years, I can see myself maybe testing fully for a week once a year, if that.

 

[0110]

Hi Guys, i have a question, so for pre lunch and pre dinner my levels seem to be around 5.5 - 6.0 range. So after food lunch/dinner 2 hours after is a 2 MMol rise acceptable so lets say 7.5 - 8 range? I will be testing that on the long weekend. If it does hit 8, 2hrs after a meal is that pre-diabetic levels or diebetic? In essense what is acceptable after 2hours, how much rise?