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blood glucose test

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sarahj

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hi, i have type2 diabetes & have just started metformin 500mg today. i tested my blood glucose 3 hours after a meal & the reading was 24.3. how worried should i be? :think:
 
Oh dear, that's very high. In my view you might want to phone your GP or NHS direct and ask for some advice. Do you feel well otherwise? When I was first diagnosed and was eating the wrong things I had some readings as high, they dropped over time but not recommended!

What exactly did you eat and drink?
 
Hi Sarah and welcome to the forum :) I agree with what Angeleyes said.

Just so that you know, here is some information given to new members, which gives the NICE recommendations for BG levels, and a lot of other things which you will find useful. These NICE levels are already a bit on the high side - it is better to get your levels lower than this, so you can see that yours are much too high.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 well over 30,000 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 ... rains.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 blood glucose 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.
Click to expand...
 
hi thanks so much for replying,im so scared cos i dont know a thing about diabetes and my gp is of little help,its time he retired.Anyway, id only eaten a bowl of rice crispies with a bit of that half sugar and to be honest i cudnt taste much sweetness as i was eating it cos sugar always seems to go to bottom and i always leave that,so when i tested my blood 3 hours later (first time ive tested my blood and it was a new moniter)id only drunk water so when it showed up i was 24.3 i was terrified.my hubby said the moniter must be faulty or we had done it wrong,so we tested his levels and his were 5.4 so i knew mine were high but i still dont know wether that is really dangerous.rang pharmasist and he was horrified and said i must go gp asap.He was about as animated as a dead slug!!but gave me a prescription for Gliclazide.So i got to take that with my metformin sr which makes me feel as sick as a pig and Gliclazide also give you nausea and diarrhoea :sick: my blood is now down to 15.7 but im terrifed of eating anything.What symptoms did you have? im always thirsty,headache everyday,have to get up loads in night to wee!!and am so tired never got energy so have gained too much weight and that makes me depressed.Any advice about diabetes type 2 from you or anyone would be great. thanks Angeleyes :angel: x
 
Hi Sarahj,

it is really scary when you get a high reading like that, especially when people talk about single figure readings. You don't say how long you've been diagnosed, but when I started (I've been diagnosed 5 years now), I had to keep telling myself that the diagnosis was a positive thing - I was diabetic the day before I got the news but I didn't know and so I couldn't do anything about it.

So now you know and they've started you on medication. A level in the 20's is pretty high but I had a 33 last month when I ran out of my insulin and metformin on the same weekend. I felt terrible (you really notice the difference when you're used to lower figures) but I'm still here. You do need to get your numbers down because high levels over time will damage your body but you have time to work at this and as I say the diagnosis is the first step.

It's very difficult to change your diet dramatically, but I would start by not adding sugar to anything that you've prepared. I still use it in baking, though I try to bake without it. Things will taste a bit rubbish at first but you need to train your palate to like things less sweet. For this reason I don't eat diabetic foods (like diabetic jam) - better to give up these and eat Marmite/Peanut Butter/Pate instead. Cereals are also not great .. porridge is better. I am lucky as my wife is a great cook, so I can generally avoid any processed food.

I'm afraid it all sounds daunting at first but the payback is you'll feel ten times better once you get your numbers under control.

Good luck

Simon
 
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