Advice Needed!

kerchinga

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, hope someone can help with this, I've recently been diagnosed Type 2 and have bought a monitor and strips to try to discover which foods affect me in what way.
Had a small jacket potato with home made chilli for lunch & 2 hours later the reading was 9.3. A further 2 hours after that found myself very shaky with trembling hands and an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. Out of curiosity tested my bs again and it was 3.1.
Is it normal for it to drop so low? I'm not on any medication at all at the moment.

thanks in advance :)
 

Gwilo

Active Member
Messages
28
Hi Kerchinga,

welcome to the world of blood glucose readings....
I've found that potatoes do increase levels. I've not been officially given a definitive diagnosis of T2, but it's pretty much a done deal at this point.
Not sure about your drop - that does seem quite drastic and I think would class as a hypo.
Consider your diet carefully - refined/processed starchs/simple carbs- like white bread, spuds - can be culprits.
for instance, i forget to test this morning pre-breakfast, but felt a bit odd. I ignored it and ploughed on, had white toast, then made sandwichs for lunch, which I ate about 9am.......just tested and nearly passed out - 13.3!

So.......that's the warburtons loaves knocked on the head.
 
Messages
6,107
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Gwilo said:
So.......that's the warburtons loaves knocked on the head.

Sadly there are many T2's who cannot eat bread at all and you seem to be one of them.

Kerchinga: That's an interesting one. If you drew a graph of your sugar level throughout the day it would go up some time after you eat and then go down (of course). Some foods make the graph low and long and these foods are said to have a low glycemic index. The dangerous ones produce a high thin spike, very high and soon over like your potato did. I have no idea why it went so low as it did unless you are on medication.

The strains of potatoes differ and some can be eaten safely, particularly new potatoes. Best not to eat that type again.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
kerchinga said:
Hi, hope someone can help with this, I've recently been diagnosed Type 2 and have bought a monitor and strips to try to discover which foods affect me in what way.
Had a small jacket potato with home made chilli for lunch & 2 hours later the reading was 9.3. A further 2 hours after that found myself very shaky with trembling hands and an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. Out of curiosity tested my bs again and it was 3.1.
Is it normal for it to drop so low? I'm not on any medication at all at the moment.

thanks in advance :)

Bearing in mind you are 'new', and at the risk of patronising you, there are a few basic things to double-check before you start experimenting with your food. Your meter readings should ideally be checked with every new set of strips (see instructions with meter), and your hands should be clean when taking a blood sample. Make sure you do a fasting test before breakfast every day. Also, make sure you are testing after 2 hours (not 1hr 45m etc.) as that can make a difference. Bit basic, but still important. Also, it may be sensible to test yourself pre-meal so you can understand how much your bGs jump 2 hours after. If you remain concerned then speak to your GP and/or Diabetic Nurse. :D

Re the 3.1? Many non-diabetics and diabetics get hypos and lower bG than that. There is lots of advice on how to deal with hypos :D
 

kerchinga

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks everyone for your help :)
So looks like white bread and mccains jacket potatoes are off my menu from now on then, had high readings from both of them.... Oh well.
Followed all the instructions re the monitor and washed my hands etc, and no medication whatsoever so the 3.1 remains a mystery!
Was thinking about mentioning it to the nurse on my next appointment, but as she advised me to just test urine and never mentioned blood I don't want her to think that Im not following her advice and such... :(
 

Gwilo

Active Member
Messages
28
Testing your pee is, from what I read on here, potentially not a reliable indicator of BG levels, as your body only "dumps" glucose into the urine when your body can't cope with it already. I'll let a more experienced member clarify that though.
There seems to be discrepancies between how different practices advise on testing. Personally, I'd do it regardless of what any practitioner tells me, until such time as I'm controlled, understand my condition and how what I eat relates to BG levels and feel comfortable to be able to manage and respond accordingly without the need to regularly test. NICE guidelines might be relevant here.