"Eat to the meter" contemplation

[Auto E]

I've never use test strips for continuous testing, but I have varied when I test, or done additional tests, at times when I've wanted more/extra information, and not just for food - things like medications, steroid jabs, stress, illness, (and even hot baths!), etc, all can have an impact on glucose levels too, so are worth being aware of.

But a sensor is IMO is essential for finding our more about whats going on continuously over longer periods, so has been my tool of choice.

Regarding double spikes I've seen double "bumps" when I've eaten something that's both heavy in carbs and fats. From Libre logs:

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Robbity

Thank you Robbity! Very helpful!

 

[Auto E]

I was contemplating one of those. They are great devices. Advice was that it would be overkill for those with Prediabetes but I definitely saw the merit in using one. However I am out of the prediabetes range now so not so much the need now.

It might be overkill, haha, but I am a physiology professor by trade, so the idea of experiments gets me all drooly. I was thinking how fun it would be to show my students my data and have them analyze it as a class. Buying one could be like a Christmas present for someone like me. But, alas, prescription needed first, and I haven't yet called the doc (probably because I sense the battle when she doesn't see the need and resists me).

 

[ringi]

You can do all the same experiments with a normal BG meter, it just takes a little more effort.

 

[Stephen Lewis]

You can do all the same experiments with a normal BG meter, it just takes a little more effort.

And more pain at a higher cost if you do at least 12 tests a day. I was doing 1 before and 2 after each meal, 1 before and/or after a snack and one late evening. I would have done one at wake-up for dawn phenomenon except I kept forgetting. Wish I had the meter 13 years ago when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.

 

[Cocosilk]

I'm a food-logging addict - write down everything I eat every day. Haha that's how I know pasta is my kyroptonite but for some reason the same number of carbs from dairy don't spike me.



Thank you for this great reply, Brunneria! You are a double-peaker too?! For some reason it makes me feel so much better to know I'm not alone.

All good things to think about. LOL, I am not going to attempt the nighttime hourly check, but I thought throughout the day might be worth the trouble. I have looked up the insulin phase responses in the past but I'm still chewing on ideas about what this means for me strategy-wise.

Have you been able to bring your A1C down more efficiently by using the data you get from your CGM? How much of a difference has it made for your glucose control?

Thanks again for your reply!

Have you noticed if dairy does anything to your next morning fasting levels?
I recent over-ate on cheeses when we brought a new selection home to try. My post prandial readings were fine but the next morning my fasting readings were almost 1mmol higher than some mornings.
Over eating will probably do that no matter what you eat but it was the most cheese I'd had in a while (along with smoken salmon and duck liver pate) so plenty of calories even though the carbs were fairly low.

 

[Auto E]

Have you noticed if dairy does anything to your next morning fasting levels?
I recent over-ate on cheeses when we brought a new selection home to try. My post prandial readings were fine but the next morning my fasting readings were almost 1mmol higher than some mornings.
Over eating will probably do that no matter what you eat but it was the most cheese I'd had in a while (along with smoken salmon and duck liver pate) so plenty of calories even though the carbs were fairly low.

I actually don't know if this is the case! I have dairy (yogurt and cream) every single day, and definitely I am struggling with my fasting blood glucose measurements. If I have to give up dairy though, I will seriously be mourning. It would be, emotionally, the most difficult dietary change to make for me. It's my comfort food. But your post has got me thinking about trying a dairy-free week.

 

[Auto E]

And more pain at a higher cost if you do at least 12 tests a day. I was doing 1 before and 2 after each meal, 1 before and/or after a snack and one late evening. I would have done one at wake-up for dawn phenomenon except I kept forgetting. Wish I had the meter 13 years ago when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.

I totally agree. I've been finger-pricking for years (I even did a few days of literally testing every hour all day long), and I STILL have learned far more with just one week with the Dexcom!!!! Biggest news - I have reactive hypoglycemia. Jaw-dropping shocker for me. The drops and recoveries are SO FAST that I have always missed them with the finger-pricks. I've also missed (less serious) lows that I (now know) I get while exercising. Anyway, I'm paying through the nose for this CGM but I am feeling so much more empowered in figuring out how to eat/exercise/take care of myself. Thanks for being supportive on this thread.

 

[Lamont D]

Hi again @Auto E, I spotted this thread after I replied to the thread on the RH forum.
You mentioned a double spike, this is unusual, but found in rarer cases, because of glucose dumping and initial insulin response.
When I had multiple eOGTT tests, the double spike was prominent in the graph. So was the Hypoglycaemic episodes!

 

[Alexandra100]

Have you noticed if dairy does anything to your next morning fasting levels?
I recent over-ate on cheeses when we brought a new selection home to try. My post prandial readings were fine but the next morning my fasting readings were almost 1mmol higher than some mornings.
Over eating will probably do that no matter what you eat but it was the most cheese I'd had in a while (along with smoken salmon and duck liver pate) so plenty of calories even though the carbs were fairly low.

Could the low post prandial and high am. fasting readings be down to the high fat meal's taking a long time to digest, rather than the dairy in particular? Also, as a cheese addict myself, I am aware that cheese varies enormously in its carb content.

 

[Alexandra100]

I had been low carbing for years beforehand, but the Libre helped me bring my HbA1c down by about 7 points. From around 42 to around 35

That is fascinating! Could you tell more about what you found out and what you altered to get such a wonderful result?

 

[Joepubli]

Incidentally, I spent some time last week with some other people all eating the same things and same portions as me, and also wearing Libres.
What a revelation!!!
We each had quite different digestive times for the same foods. And we each had different peaks (duration, height of peak)

Brunneria - I find this really interesting. Dio you by chance have any data showing the variations? How lon did this exercise go for?
Thanks

 

[Tannith]

I had been low carbing for years beforehand, but the Libre helped me bring my HbA1c down by about 7 points. From around 42 to around 35 which delighted me, considering my ongoing insulin resistance.
But honestly, that was minor in comparison to the other things it gave me.

I had always had a nagging feeling that I was missing important peaks with my prick testing. There was an ongoing guilt that I should be trying harder, doing better, being stricter... my occasional ‘discrepencies’ were horrific crimes dooming me to failure... you know the kind of head games? All blown out of proportion by an active imagination. Lol.

By getting the Libre, I actually saw what was really going on. I saw that my ‘crimes’ for what they were (occasional glitches of very minor impact overall), and I learned how my personal endocrine and digestive system deal with foods. I spotted the interaction/connection between my occasional wild dream life and my nightly bg fluctuations. And my dawn phenomenon was less dawn than ‘foot on floor’.

Incidentally, I spent some time last week with some other people all eating the same things and same portions as me, and also wearing Libres.
What a revelation!!!
We each had quite different digestive times for the same foods. And we each had different peaks (duration, height of peak)

The Libre was the reason I rarely prick test any more. I would rather spend £200 a year on 4 Libre sensors, and not test the other 10 months, than pay £7 a week on 50 prick tests (£364 a year) using my glucometer.

I get more useful info that way.

Then I spend the other 10 months doing what seems to work.

Where do you get 50 prick sticks for £7? And what brand meter/sticks? I am paying about twice that for aviva accu check strips online.

 

[bulkbiker]

Where do you get 50 prick sticks for £7? And what brand meter/sticks? I am paying about twice that for aviva accu check strips online.

Nearer £8 than £7 but ...

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/tee2
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

 

[Goonergal]

Where do you get 50 prick sticks for £7? And what brand meter/sticks? I am paying about twice that for aviva accu check strips online.

Nearer £8 than £7 but ...

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/tee2
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

Similarly, https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/products/copy-of-tee2-test-strips

 

[Tannith]

Nearer £8 than £7 but ...

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/tee2
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

Thank you. And to @Goonergal. Do these strips work with accu check meter or do I have to get the matching meter?

 

[Goonergal]

Thank you. And to @Goonergal. Do these strips work with accu check meter or do I have to get the matching meter?

You’d need to get the matching meter. If you phone to order strips and order a decent quantity (5 to 10 boxes) both of these suppliers will often throw the meter in for free - certainly worked for me with the Tee2 and Spirit Healthcare.

 

[Alexandra100]

Where do you get 50 prick sticks for £7? And what brand meter/sticks? I am paying about twice that for aviva accu check strips online.

I think Home Health's Navii strips are even cheaper than their Codefree ones. All strips work only with their designated meter, so you would have to buy a Navii one, (starter kit £9.99) or, if you have the nerve, ring up and blag a free one. Lots of people have done this, it is quite easy, as most of the money these firms make comes from the repeat orders of strips. They are highly motivated to get us hooked on their particular brand. There is a good discount on Navii strips if you buy 5 or 10 tubs at once. @Rachox gave this useful info. "There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively (these are printed on a business card supplied with the meter)."
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/
I used to use the TEE2 and then the Codefree, but I find the Navii very similar in results, perhaps a little kinder, which I like.

 

[DanW13]

I definitely embrace this approach. I like to test specific meals and test at first bite, then at 30 min, 60 min, 90, 120, even up to 3 hours. I notice that most of you just do 2 hours postprandial. That would sure save me a lot of strips but I like the idea of catching my spike, which is often at about 90 min (not 2 hours). Also, and I know this might be atypical, but I often have TWO peaks - one at 90 min and then it goes about 15 points DOWN and then back up again (but not usually as high) at 2 hours. My unique pancreas fingerprint, apparently.

Later this week I've decided to do an every hour test all day - since I don't (yet) have a CGM, it seemed a fun way to graph a whole (typical) day's blood glucose. Has anyone else done that? I eat pretty much the same things every weekday, and have the same exercise and general schedule, so it's a bit of a snapshot. I thought I could average the numbers and get my own daily average. Maybe do this once a month for three months.

What experiments are others of you doing these days?

I get a 2nd spike also at about the 2 hour mark, albeit generally much smaller than the initial one, I assume it’s just the body breaking down more complex carbs into sugar, so a delayed response of sorts. I notice it with most meals although sometimes it’s so small it’s barely noticeable.

Going forwards I’ll just be using a Libre on a quarterly basis to monitor & tweak diet. Currently my Hba1c is 37 (as at end of Oct20) down from 43 in mid Sept. The latest Libre saw me averaging 5.7 over the 2 weeks which translates to 34 Hba1c, so happy no indication yet of a return to pre diabetes levels. My quarterly review will hopefully enable me to maintain the improvement.