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Monitoring Help

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Neil G M

Newbie
I was diagnosed during COVID as being a type 2 diabetic and since then my Hab1c level has come down and gone back up.
Over the time I have tried to learn what I should and shouldn't eat, how I should or shouldn't live and still find in confusing.
Rightly or wrongly, I have never had anyone delve into what and how I eat, but had people tell me contradicting information on what I should or shouldn't eat.
I would like to know if I am alone in feeling this way, I would also like to know if there are any devices I could use at home rather than wait for a blood test every 3 months, also I am looking for an app to use to log my food, show my carb intake and other stats, but is totally free and no subscription.
 
NHS dietary advice for T2 is patchy, appalling or nonexistent in my experience. No, you're not alone, and your experience sounds absolutely typical.

When I was diagnosed and prescribed Gliclazide, which can cause hypos, the doctor said I needed to eat every 12 hours to take the meds, without enquiring as to what I was eating. (I had already been low carbing for years, and some of my meals especially breakfast are zero carb). No advice to up my carbs with the medication, because she hadn't bothered asking a single question about my diet.

Rightly or wrongly, we have to become the experts in managing our condition, and fortunately you've come to the right place for excellent information on all aspects of diabetes :happy:

There are two excellent guides to eating with diabetes, I'm afraid I can't remember where they are exactly on the forum, but one of them is called Freshwell.

With T2 it's unlikely you'll get a glucose monitor on the NHS but there's information about the two main types of glucose monitor (fingerprick testing and CGMs) on the forum. I just log my results and food diary in a spreadsheet but I am old-school and a bit nerdy. If you want an app I'm sure others here will help.

Best of luck!
 
The official NHS dietary advice for everyone, diabetics included, is still the "Eatwell Plate" which recommends basing all meals around starchy carbohydrates. It also says no sugar (OK) and little fat (not OK, IMO). I have had success (five years on now) on a very low carb "keto" diet of around 20-25g carb/day. This has meant no bread, pasta, rice, cereals, potatoes, sugar, fruit etc. all of which are high in carb and also usually eaten in some quantities.

My T2 course was notable for the friction between the diabetic nurse who was pushing carbs to us via the eatwell plate, and the dietitian, who was telling us that carbs were totally unnecessary and a low-carb diet was preferable for diabetics, plus good natural fats were not a problem. There was, not surprisingly, a lot of confusion.

You are therefore far from being alone. Fortunately there is a much bigger awareness these days of the problems carbs and processed food in general are causing, and a wider range of sources of advice who are happy to contradict the official line on diet.

On home testing - are you using a fingerprick glucometer? I think these are essential if you want to understand more about how various foods affect your blood glucose. You can pay for additional HbA1c tests over and above the ones the NHS carry out, but I have never seen the need for this. The NHS won't take any notice of them anyway and they are not much help in adjusting and managing your diet.

I've never used an app, so can't really recommend one from personal experience. There are several around.

Best of luck. This forum was an essential resource for me in my early days. You'll see that there's never only one answer to a question. Thing is to find what works for you.
 
Neil G M said:
Thanks for the response and advice given, it is such a minefield to know what is best to do.
Click to expand...
My timeline is similar to yours, given tests results by phone on lock down day 2020. No help from nhs initially (and even though I'm on their radar now not finding much support still)
Best thing I did was find this forum which got me testing. Your body won't lie to you and it was only by rigorous finger pricking (now cgm) that I could quickly see what certain foods were doing to my body which took out a lot of the contradictions one can read about. It's such a relief to be able to see for oneself what is happening in one's body, no one elses.

Initially I thought the advice and low carb was extreme and didn't think I'd ever manage to adapt, but led by my meter I changed what I ate, lost weight , reduced bg and now try to maintain it for life. Motivation ebbs and flows which is why I stick around .

I used Carb Maanger (free version)to track my foods. Preface items with Tesco to make sure you get UK measurements and values. I don't track any more because I know what's bad for me... it's just the will power I need now. Some people just use a spreadsheet

I'm tagging @Rachox for her list of UK bg monitors for you
 
Thanks for the tag @MrsA2 . @Neil G M , here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793



The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)



If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus follow this link:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott



Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom one + here

The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom
 
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