Are u supposed to be testing your bloods with type 2 controlled with tablets and diet?

[Kingcooper1981]

Hi I’m new to all this and was wondering are u meant to be testing your bloods and if so what should be the levels and what do I use as I’ve not been testing my levels as I don’t have anything to test them on or check any advice or help

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome @Kingcooper1981

I do test my bloods and when I was first diagnosed tested very regularly before and after each meal. My reasoning is that the more information I had the better decisions I could make. I found out really quickly that a relatively low amount of carbs in a meal caused my levels to go higher than desired. That helped me make the decision to go very low carb. I love carbs and couldn't sustain my diet except for the evidence I have that this is what suits my body.

Lots of different types of meters. I chose one that could link with my phone and have an app to estimate my HbA1C. But that's me. I'll tag @Rachox who has some additional information about meters. It is very much though what sits you.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[jjraak]

Hi I’m new to all this and was wondering are u meant to be testing your bloods and if so what should be the levels and what do I use as I’ve not been testing my levels as I don’t have anything to test them on or check any advice or help

ABSOLUTELY*

Most are looking to be around 5-6 mmol in mornings
And around 6 or less post meal.

But BG is dynamic, so can rise or fall depending on many things .

The goal is essentially to mimic as close to possible someone who doesn't have T2D.

Too much glucose, over an extended period damages us.

So the aim is to get ourselves down from our DX levels to something closer to more normal non T2D levels.

Most test at a minimum 3 times**

Once in morning as close to waking as possible***

AND once BEFORE eating any meal.
Then 2 hours AFTER that first bite

Guidance here is to see only a rise of 2 ( mmols) AFTER eating
(Eg: 6 pre meal..8 post meal )

Don't be disheartened if your numbers both pre & post meal are higher.

It is the gap between the 2 you are looking to close, that is part of deciding just what foods affect YOU & helps to lower your blood glucose level AND bring down your HBA1c.

Over time , with the reduction to a carb level your body can cope better with, those meal BG's will lower and many find a start figure of 5/6 and a rise under 2 becomes the norm.

AND that is what helps lower your HBA1c over time.

Part of our journey is being a detective.
Identifying foods that cause issues and/or reducing the size of those meals if needed.

We begin our journey blind to how badly our bodies react to carbs we digest, the meter opens our eyes & make us aware, so we can more effectively eliminate food causing issues & manage our carb levels better.



* Those who would suffer excess anxiety over doing so, should consider the benefits v costs.

** It's best to test EACH meal, but the assumption is most will eat once a day at least
Many do skip a meal once comfortable in what their aim is, so go 2 meals a day (2MAD)
Others go one further to 1 meal a day (OMAD)
And some fast over a whole day.

*** It's our FASTING blood sugar.
So just after awakening is best.
But no need to be paranoid about
Just try to maintain a similar scenario each time .
I personally put kettle on, use loo to pee, wash hands THEN test.

Others are more "feet on floor" or whatever they fell comfortable doing as close to rising as possible.

Good luck & welcome to the forum no one ever wants to join.

THAT act of Joining.. I found was the BEST move I could make as T2D.

Here is where my journey back to better health began.

I hope it's where yours starts too.

 

[Rachox]

Hi @Kingcooper1981 , thanks for the tag @VashtiB , 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 pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

 

[Kingcooper1981]

Hi
Thanks for all the reply’s
Is my diabetic nurse supposed to give me the testing equipment as I’ve not got anything and never checked my sugars
Thanks

 

[jjraak]

If UK based, most wont fund you

I self funded, do try calling home health first though
Like printers, the money is in the ink, not the printer

I asked when I broke my old one & if you order the strips, they MIGHT throw in the meter for free
(Others may do this too.)

A toot for the navii
My prev version, (codefree) needed a bigger amount of blood or it gave an error code.

The navii needs a much smaller sample, and an error code is really rare now (wastes the strip so costs)

Listen to others, most have a preference, but they all do the same job.

It's just horses for courses.

I'm more than happy with homehealths product AND customer service ....
Am i biased ?

Absolutely.

 

[syemon]

In my opinion testing when first diagnosed is essential as you need to understand how your body reacts to diet, lifestyle and drugs you are prescribed.
I ordered my BG testing kit while I was still in hospital mid December and have tested every day since.
Once out of hospital I was getting high teens readings even though I thought my diet was the right one and I couldn't understand why.

Help here put me on the right path and now I'm on a super low carb diet and my readings now are 5.5 to 7 and getting better slowly.
I was testing before and after every meal to see which foods trigger a higher than desired rise in bg and now I have a good idea what works for me.
Now testing 3 times a day, 1st when I wake up, second before evening meal and lastly 2 to 3 hours after.
I'm happy with how it's going and losing 3-4lbs a week at present and not starving myself so quite content overall.

The initial part after being diagnosed is the most difficult part. Coming to terms with it mentally and the lifestyle changes required to manage it can take time to adjust to.
Without this forum I'd still be stumbling around without real info on what to do or try so you are in the right place to progress and get a handle on things.
The help here has been fantastic for me and plenty of others.
Good luck with your journey.

 

[ATB123]

If UK based, most wont fund you

I self funded, do try calling home health first though
Like printers, the money is in the ink, not the printer

I asked when I broke my old one & if you order the strips, they MIGHT throw in the meter for free
(Others may do this too.)

A toot for the navii
My prev version, (codefree) needed a bigger amount of blood or it gave an error code.

The navii needs a much smaller sample, and an error code is really rare now (wastes the strip so costs)

Listen to others, most have a preference, but they all do the same job.

It's just horses for courses.

I'm more than happy with homehealths product AND customer service ....
Am i biased ?

Absolutely.

I think Home Health are really good, I used the Code free then the Navii up until last year, my Navii meter stopped working so I just emailed them and they sent a replacement free of charge. Since having my diagnosis changed my GP insisted I use a meter on prescription for the DVLA log but now been given a CGM (Libre) which is great. Big shout out for Home Health though, delivery is very quick too.

 

[KennyA]

Hi I’m new to all this and was wondering are u meant to be testing your bloods and if so what should be the levels and what do I use as I’ve not been testing my levels as I don’t have anything to test them on or check any advice or help

The standard NHS advice to T2s is that blood testing isn't necessary. That means that they won't usually supply or fund meters and test strips.

My view is that blood testing is essential if you want to understand and control your condition. In the beginning I tested extensively and built up over two years worth of information in diaries on food eaten (and other things like illness, exercise, travel etc) and associated BG levels. I know that on (eg, date at random) 28 January 2021 reading at 0700 was 5.4, my pre-meal evening reading was 4.7 and after pork and vegetable stew was 5.2 at +2 hours. The idea of testing is not to see "how high you go" (the high point is usually +30 mins after eating, up to about one hour) but to see how well your system dealt with the carbohydrate in whatever you ate.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures/graphs that should help you understand what "normal" looks like as far as BG goes. These are firstly a chart of BG measurements - you need to be careful on the internet as people often don't give the units their quoted reading is in - so you'll see people saying "my glucose was 6.5" which would mean very different things depending on whether it's 6.5mmol/l or 6.5% under the DCCT system. Ignore the colours as they're not particularly helpful.

Second pic shows a graph of HbA1c glucose levels in a non-diabetic population: most non-diabetic people are in the 36 to 42 range.

Third pic is a constant glucose monitor graph from a non-diabetic person over the course of one day. This shows the expected and normal changes in blood glucose levels.

The thing is that our blood glucose isn't in a steady state - it will rise and fall all the time, as your liver adds glucose (that it makes itself) when it thinks you might need it. This is in addition to BG rises after eating carbs. The problem is that livers are slow learners and once they've got used to higher BG levels, they assume that's "normal" and will try to get you back up there. It can take months (in my case) for livers to get used to lower levels.

I was given a free machine by Gluco - the RXQ, and it's the only one I've ever used. The strips are the main cost, but the RXQ strips are not as expensive as some others.

95% of what I know about my condition I learnt on this forum. Best thing is to ask questions about anything you don't understand - there is no such thing as a poor question, only poor answers.