Another Newbie

How often to test? Establish how many test strips your GP is willing to dispense and demand twice that Seriously, my test strips come in boxes of fifty which isn't quite enough for twice a day testing, and, so far, they've fulfilled my "inbetween big prescription top-up requests" without problems. I test first thing every morning and then later in the day. Later again if I feel that the wasn't sufficient change between the first two tests. (I'm on max dose gliclazide, by the way)

It's important to remember that each blood glucose test is a snapshot of what your blood was like at the moment your blood made contact with the testing strip. Testing once a week, as your nurse suggests is the equivalent of having a school photo done every year, when what you need is a home movie!

My testing spreadsheet notes conditions before the test: a Thursday morning test might say "meal with S&L last night" (liable to wine and calorie laden), while a Thursday afternoon test might simply note "after dogwalk" (brisk walk in the hills). It's only by noting what you were doing/eating before the test that you can make sense of the results.

My view is that frequent testing allows you to build up a picture of what suits you and what works for you in keeping your BG within the magical 4 - 7 mark. It also allows you to build up a picture of how you feel when your blood sugar goes outside those boundaries. I'm sure my recent adventure in Snowdonia (I think it's under "Things NOT to do" in General Chat) might hve turned out differently had I not been aware I was going hypo and that keeping the driver of the car calm, focussed and on the fastest road back to our village was our (and my!) best bet. By the time we got home my BG was under 2.0, but it would have been a lot worse had I allowed the driver to dither...

So test, test, and test some more: it's all about learning to hear what your body's telling you.

One question to those diagnosed more than two years: when does irritability as a symptom of uncontrolled diabetes disappear? There's an entire village in Wales dying to know... ;-)

Steve

Hi Curvy Pixel

Welcome to the forum

Have a good look around here, especially the Success Stories thread, there is so much information in here it will take some time to wade through and pick out the best bits that appeal to you and put together your own package in order to reduce you bg to non-diabetic level and keep it there. Remember to be flexible though, if you find that your choices dont have the desired effect you just go and try something else, you will eventually find something that works for you.

It is all a bit trial and error at first and you should really be testing a lot, you need to find out how your body responds to the different foods that you are eating.

Get hold of Dr Bernsteins book The Diabetes Solution and Dr Charles Clark The Diabetes Revolution, I really think that you will find these books most helpful.

Dont be shy to ask lots of questions, everyone in here is incredibly supportive and caring and over time have become real experts at managing their diabetes.

All the best

Karen x

Eat healthily, test once a week. That's the usual advice and it's useless.
You have a right to blood testing supplies at least while you are learning what works for you. After that, it can be difficult to get them unless you fund them yourself as a few of us do.

Eat Healthily
What does that mean?
For a diabetic, and most others probably, it means cutting out sugar and restricting your carbs in some way. You can do some research to find what suits you. Atkins or GI? Eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, grean leafy veg. FAts are not your enemy. Healthy wholegrains aren't
As to testing. Im the initial stages of learning, you need to test first thing in the morning, before meals, 2 hours after meals, after exercise, if you feel off colour or are really ill. Your target blood glucodse should be below 7 as above that, complications may start to develop.
You should also have HBa1c test done and a retina check.
My favourite book in the subjet idd Dr. Bernstein's diabetes Solution. TRy the library firdt. it'd not cheap. And Collins Little Gem Calorie guide ( will give you carb values) this one is veery cheap and small enough for a pocket.
Any questions
Just ask. someone will have the answer. Good luck!

One question to those diagnosed more than two years: when does irritability as a symptom of uncontrolled diabetes disappear? There's an entire village in Wales dying to know

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Some things you can blame on diabetes ,Steve,some things you can't.Maybe you're just naturally grumpy!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Steve
Going hypo was caused by Gliclazide. A newbie on diet only isn't going to experience that.
I came off that stuff, because it made me put on even more weight.

Hi CurvyPixel and welcome to the forum. Like the name by the way!

Well, you're off to a flier because you're quite right about testing. You can only get proper control of your blood sugar if you know the effect that the food you eat has upon it. And you can only know that if you test, test, test. Testing once a week will tell you absolutely nothing!

Ideally, to begin with at least, you should test before eating, then at 1 and 2 hours afterwards. The peaks in blood sugar levels will tell you the foods to avoid (at a wild guess, pasta, potatoes, rice, sugars and anything made with white flour!)

I hope that diet and excercise alone will work for you. It will depend on the diet of course. Take a look at the Success Stories thread if you fancy a short cut around the sort of misinformation and wooly logic that we've all faced in our time.

All the best,

fergus

sugarless sue said:

One question to those diagnosed more than two years: when does irritability as a symptom of uncontrolled diabetes disappear? There's an entire village in Wales dying to know

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Some things you can blame on diabetes ,Steve,some things you can't.Maybe you're just naturally grumpy!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

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What would YOU know!!!??? ;-)

Oh,just a rough guess!!! :lol: :lol:

hanadr said:

Steve
Going hypo was caused by Gliclazide. A newbie on diet only isn't going to experience that.
I came off that stuff, because it made me put on even more weight.

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Hi Hanadr

I know: I hadn't expected to be out in the wilds at all, let alone for so long, otherwise I'd have had a carton of fruit juice (Del Monte Tropical/Exotic or whatever it's called) with me. Next diabetic appointment I want to explore alternatives to gliclazide: I think it's a peculiarly sick joke (even sicker than I could manage) to prescribe a drug to control BG that actually gives you the munchies!

Steve

hey

Welcome

Becca