Blood glucose level

Flash48 said:

Hi there, new to the forum. I have T2DM and always had this reasonably controlled with metformin with blood glucose levels between 6 and 8. Due to psoriasis and psoriatic arthritic medications I am getting readings (today) of 28.2 and 28.8. My GP has prescribed gliclazide and I am terrified of the whole thing and the possibilities of hypos - i'd appreciate any advice thanks.

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Hi and welcome. How long have you been on the PA medications? I don't know that gliclazide will be able to reduce your BGs enough from such a high level, but I could be wrong. Since it is now the weekend, and it's harder to get medical advice, I'd suggest trying to eat as low carb as possible and to keep on testing, and if you feel unwell, call NHS direct on 111 for advice. There is a condition people can get if their BGs are up towards 30, that requires urgent medical attention.

Next week I suggest you see your GP about the high BGs. If you are likely to need the PA meds in an ongoing way, and your BGs are not coming down, then your doctor will need to do something about that.

I will tage @daisy1 as she has info she can post for people new to the forum, that includes info on how to reduce your BGs through reducing carbs.

Flash48 said:

Thank you I am really horrified to end up like this at this stage.

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Hugs. It may be just the PA meds doing this, and not a "progression" of diabetes. What are the meds? Are they steroids?

Flash48 said:

Humira by fortnightly injection and Naproxen tablets

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I know nothing about Humira except that it's not a steroid. According to what I have read, neither of these drugs should raise BGs. So maybe something else is causing your high BGs. Has your doctor said what he or she thinks is going on? What is your BG at the moment?

Flash48 said:

28.8 at the moment - no thoughts on why at this level only to bring them down with glicklazide - I haven't used this yet scared to start and scared not too

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I think you should call NHS direct on 111 for advice on what to do. When did you see your doctor and what was your BG level then?

Flash48 said:

I will make an appt for the gp on Monday - I only took these readings today after receiving a meter from the practice nurse - no one has these readings - I will go down the path of glicklazide and take readings again tomorrow - thanks for your help

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I think if your readings are over 25 you should call 111... you've got nothing to lose except a few minutes on the phone. Please keep an eye on your readings over the weekend and let us know what they are. Drink plenty of water, as this can help prevent things getting worse. Did your GP have some test results on which they based their decision to prescribe gliclazide?

@Flash48

Hello and welcome to the forum Here, as mentioned above, is the information we give to new members and the carb information should help you to be able to control your levels better. Let us know how you get on.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Flash48 said:

28.8 at the moment - no thoughts on why at this level only to bring them down with glicklazide - I haven't used this yet scared to start and scared not too

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Hi Flash48. When I was first diagnosed my fasting levels were around 28 and TBH I'm pretty sure they were going even higher after meals but I didn't have test strips at the time to test.

My GP only put me on metformin with did close to nothing and left me very ill (and rapidly losing my eyesight due to extreme blurry vision) for about 3 or 4 weeks. (Still very angry about how I was treated ). Anyway, when I did finally start on gliclazide my BGL responded very rapidly dropping from the mid 20's down to 10 to 12 in a day or two.

Unfortunately gliclazide only worked for about a year or so for me and eventually it was like flogging the proverbial dead horse in trying to stimulate the pancreas, and I had to move on to insulin.

Hopefully your need is only short term. BTW. Definitely take a look at the low carb diet forum here, because that has helped me enormously.