3 questions for the price of 1?

[Scoob57]

Hi,

I have some questions (sorry for being piggy with 'em :lol: ) Firstly, am I supposed to do my first morning (fasting) test before I take my metformin or after? Up to now I've always tested before taking any of my morning meds (meds for heart, blood pressure omeprazole for stomach protection, thyroxin and metformin 850mg).

Secondly, I split my time between Spain and England, but I was diagnosed diabetic in Spain 12 months ago, and it's here that I get my 'support' treatment. I can convert my cholesterol from English readings mmol/L into Spanish (and, it seems the rest of the bloody world except the Uk!) mg/dl, and my bg levels, but can anyone tell me what the English parameters are for triglycerides? My last test was in march and my trigs results were 444 and the parameters are 35-135. These are also (I've just noticed :roll measured in mg/dl!. How do I convert them back from mg/dl into mmol/L?

Thirdly, I'm concerned about my mother, who at aged 78 was diagnosed T1 last year. She's on insulin, but I've no idea what she's on or the amounts. What concerns me is that she's told me that the DN's have told her that her bg should be between 7 & 9. She seems to be keeping within those numbers fairly consistently, and the DN's are happy with that. Does anyone know if the figures tend to be higher for elderly diabetics? I thought that being consistently above 7.5 is considered to be dangerous. She is on a lot of medication for various health problems, so maybe that's a consideration for the 7-9 levels?

I apologise again for loading this up (I just thought I'd get it all down in one session :lol: )
so I thank you all in advance

 

[deadwood2]

(fasting)

No expert, but I'd have said "fasting" included "not taking meds". It's supposed to be what your body does after 8 or so hours left to its own devices, as I understand it.

 

[hanadr]

BG of 7 - 9 is on the high side, but it's what the medics usually say.
Being cold blooded about it though, your mother is older and generally complications take years or even decades to develop. So your Mum's age is protecting her to some extent.
In addition, should she have a hypo and fall, she could be very badly hurt.
There has to be a balance of risks.
Is your Mum still sufficiently flexible mentally to cope with very major changes in her lifestyle?( I know my Mum wouldn't consider making any big changes to the way she's always done things.)
Perhaps the medics have decided that 7 - 9 is something she can handle.
Is there a chance you could talk it through with your Mum and possibly even attend a clinic with her, if that wouldn't offend her and would put your mind at rest.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Scoob,

Q.1 First test of the day should be before you have eaten or drunk anything.

Q.2 To convert mmol to mg/dl multiply the mmol figure by 18. To convert mg/dl to mmol just divide by 18. And yes, the rest of the world is out of step!!

Q.3 I think Hana said it all!

 

[graham64]

Hi Scoob,
An easy way to convert your BS readings.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

Graham

 

[Chanah]

Canada measures in millimoles, too. Rest of the world = too much culture shock and much division and multiplication by 18 in my head.

 

[Cameraman]

The medics like to keep your blood sugars up for some reason, probably like Hana said. My experinace was (I'm 49 btw) whilst in hosp was put on a glucose drip while under general aneshtetic to bring mine up. I was tested every few hours and had my Hb1ac done before (5.7) because I was low to them on the testings often 4.9 to 5.5 they wanted to bring me up. After much explaining they finally allowed me to stay to my normal rather than theirs. I expect its a safety thing to cover their ass as these days everybodys ready to sue someone for something. I hope you work it all out anyway

 

[phoenix]

Don't try to use 18 as a factor for trigs and cholesterol!

to convert mmol/l of total cholesterol, HDL or LDL cholesterol to mg/dl, multiply by 39
to convert mg/dl of total cholesterol, HDL or LDL cholesterol to mmol/l, divide by 39
to convert mmol/l of triglycerides to mg/dl, multiply by 89
to convert mg/dl of triglycerides to mmol/l, divide by 89

 

[Zana]

My husband was told that his triglycerides should be below 1.7.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Zana,

That's correct - it should be below 1.7mmol/l (in UK and Canada), which is the same as below 150mg/dl in the rest of the world.

 

[Dennis]

Phoenix,
Thanks for the correction.

Scoob,
I hadn't read your post thoroughly enough to notice that you were talking about cholesterol, not blood sugar. The conversion factor of 18 only applies to converting BS to/from mmol and mg/dl, not to cholesterol. Sorry.

 

[Scoob57]

Muchas gracias everybody for your replies .

Hana - thanks for that, I feel less worried now. My mother isn't too bad at allowing changes, understanding them is another matter! :roll: Mind you, I've had problems understanding diabetes, and I've got 27 years on her! Unfortunately I can't go to the clinic with her at the moment as I'm in Spain, but she seems quite happy with her levels and if she's happy and her DNs are happy, then that's ok as long as she's not in danger. But she is being well monitored, so I really just needed some reassurance from a 'real life, been there' expert, rather than a medical 'expert' if you get my drift!

it should be below 1.7mmol/l (in UK and Canada), which is the same as below 150mg/dl in the rest of the world.

Strangely enough Dennis, in Spain the parameters for trigs are between 35 and 135 mg/dl, 135 mg/dl being 1.5.mmol/L. (Thanks Phoenix - and you're forgiven Dennis, there was a lot of typing to read :wink: ). BG anything over 120 (6.6) is classed as being diabetic, which it's just as well I was in Spain when I was diagnosed, as for months they'd been telling me that I was borderline diabetic, and my GP in the Uk kept saying, "no, your sugar's just fine". It annoys me to think that if I'd had the correct info when I was borderline, could I possibly have prevented full blown T2? Low fat, high carbs. What a load of bs!

Thanks to everyone else for their input - it's all helped to clear a few things up!

Oh, BTW, when I asked my GP why our readings were different from the rest of Europe and America, he said that ours was the new way of measuring, the theirs was the old. :?

 

[Dennis]

Muchas gracias everybody for your replies .

Oh, BTW, when I asked my GP why our readings were different from the rest of Europe and America, he said that ours was the new way of measuring, the theirs was the old. :?

Scoob,

He may not be that far off the truth. Spain was never renowned for the quality of its medical care, but in the last few years some of the best research into diabetes has come from Spain

Esperamos verle pronto por aqui.
Hasta luego mi amigo! :wink:

 

[graham64]

Scoob,
I hadn't read your post thoroughly enough to notice that you were talking about cholesterol, not blood sugar. The conversion factor of 18 only applies to converting BS to/from mmol and mg/dl, not to cholesterol. Sorry.

Hi Scoob,
Apologies from me too a senior moment I'm afraid. Anyway below is a link to an online cholesterol converter.

http://www.onlineconversion.com/cholesterol.htm

Cheers Graham