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A Quick question please

P

Paul_m

Newbie
Messages
3
Hello,

I have recently been told I have type 2 diabetes.

I have no symtoms at all except my reading at the nurse was 7.6 after fasting.
I can not remember the other letters but I know the reading should have been max 42% and mine was 66%..I think it started with a H but could be wrong

I am over weight so I was expecting this to happen as my Dad was type 2

My questions are
1. When doing a fasting test how long do you need to fast for a blood test...I was doing at least 12 to 15 hrs?

2. The nurse has asked me to test my urine twice a day twice a week.She has given me Diastixto do the tests. The first test needs to be a fasting one. I read on the leaflet she gave me that I need to empty my bladder and then pee again at least 30 mins later but this is before breakfast.
I do pee when I get up but never want to go again for a few hours so can I just use the 1st of the day?

The 2nd test is to be done 2hrs after main meal which will be dinner for me around 6pm

I work away from home through the week and stop in different hotels so managing my diet is difficult so I am trying a low carb diet....keeping away from all bread,rice,pastry,potatoes chips and anything else and I am eating 3 poached eggs with 2 rashers of bacon for breakfast, eating oily fish like sardines and mackeral in sunflower oil for lunch and eating steak for dinner with some vegtables.

I am hoping that eating like this will help my levels and help me lose weight.
I know it can not eat like this all the time but once the weight is off I will look at better ways to helps lose it and maintain it so I don't put it back on.

I have started going for a walk after dinner as well which is some thing I have not done before and whenhome I take the dog out for walks.When the weather gets better I will start using my bike again.

I have always been over weight and get my blood tests done every year so all tests before this one have been fine.

I did stop smoking a year gone January and I did put more weight on then which seems to have pushedme over the edge on the sugar level...It used to be 5.6 when doing test in the past so this years was well up on that.

Thank you for reading this...sorry to have rambled on :D
 
The questions are....just the rest makes it look long.

The questions were as I think they got lost

1.How long do you need to fast for before a blood test?

2. Can I use the 1st pee of the day as the fasting one?....But on reading I don't think I can as it says the urine doesn't want to be in the bladder more than 1 hour...so it look like I will have to get up earlier
 
Hi Paul, Welcome! :)

HbA1C is probably the test you are referring to, it shows an average 3 month blood glucose level!

Losing some weight and reducing your carb intake is a great way to start!

Using your first pee of the day to test may give a different reading, as it tends to be more concentrated that during the day! It may work if you sample 'midstream', ie start, then stop, start again and test! Good pelvic floor muscle exercise, I'm told? Obviously, no use if the sample needs to be fresh though!

There will be others along shortly with lots of good info!

:)

Bob
 
What I was wondering was...if I use the 1st pee of the day and the level is low....would that mean if I did it 1 hr later that that is going to be as low or could it be higher...as in is there likely to be more sugar in the 1st pee or less?
 
HI. Yes, it would be the HBa1C blood test. The readings you give are in fact using the latest units of mmol i.e. you were told to aim for 42 and had 66. In old money this would be 6.0% and 8.2%. A figure of 8.2% is quite high but not unusual at diagnosis. The diastix are a fairly crude way of detecting high blood sugar as the kidneys dump sugar into the urine after a fasting reading of, say, 11. Most of us would recommend you get hold of a glucose meter which will give you an accurate view of blood sugar. The NHS doesn't rush to offer these as the test strips are expensive. The idea is to test 2 hours after a typical meal to find out the effects of different foods. Ref Fasting tests, the general rule is between 10 and 12 hours. After 12 there is more of risk of liver glucose dumps which can confuse your results. Fasting tests are of limited use but the HBa1C and meter results are reliable for what they do. Yes, going low-carb is the right start point. You should find your urine sticks show all clear soon.
 
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