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Blood test ranges

atko

atko

Member
Messages
7
Location
Peak District, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Good evening.

This is my second posting after joining yesterday

Im not sure where to look for the answer to this question and I'm sure it's been asked hundreds if times!
Had my bloods done at Dr's surgery yesterday, roughly 3 hours after my breakfast, reading was 27mmol. Picked up my testing pack tonight and decided to just take a random sample & it came up with 12mmol, roughly 5 hours after lunch. Now I know the timescales aren't alike, but can the figures swing between these numbers?
 
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Hi @atko,

The home testing kits are not pieces of scientific equipment, although the tolerance range is a lot smaller than the differences you've indicated.

There are a lot of variables, the food you ate, ( how many carbs, and type of carbs), activity levels, how clean your hands are, the timings will also have made a difference.

We usually suggest that the optimum time for testing is 90mins to 2hrs after eating. Try to get this consistent and look for trends rather than relying on single readings.

What had you eaten for the 2 meals you've described?
 
Meals were breakfast small glass orange juice, fruit with yoghurt and a slice of buttered toast. Lunch was chicken and stuffing salad sandwich on brown.
 
Check the sugar content of your OJ. Some of us can use it to correct a hypo' , it might go some way to explaining why you were so high after breakfast. Not all fruit is innocent, bananas and apples are amongst fruits that are a bit carby. Berries are generally better for us.

Of course, your pre meal glucose level is also relevent, you might consider checking your blood glucose before and after meals until you learn what food does to you.
 
@atko,
I agree with @urbanracer on the OJ. I was horrified when I saw just how much sugar was in the stuff - check it out .... I used to drink it thinking I was being really healthy, but not touched it at all since being 'labelled'

Other suggestions;
Fruit yoghurt - check the sugar content of this too. A lot of these are advertised as 'low fat', but then are stuffed full of sugar! I now use low fat (also low in sugar) natural yoghurt and chop some strawberries into it. Some would advocate full fat yoghurt - I'm not so sure.
If you're going to have toast - go for whole meal or grannary bread - be aware this is one of the '4 dreaded carbs' that many here will steer you away from.
Good choice on sandwich with whole meal bread at lunch - but try chicken salad rather than stuffing - with plenty of salad. Again there are those who would say the bread is wrong! I don't have a sandwich every day - but do 'indulge' sometimes! - particularly if I'm going to be active or up and about in the afternoon.
 
@atko

It's important to understand how different foods affect your Blood Glucose, especially Carbohydrate.

If you haven't already read @daisy1 information post as it contains interesting information about this.

What you do with the information is up to you, but from my experience after being diagnosed 15 months ago, cutting out Carbs has helped me lose weight and significantly improve my insulin resistance.

I can now eat more carbs and get normal readings, things that were impossible when first diagnosed.

It is possible to make a significant difference to this disease, but we must all follow our own path.
 
Good morning.

Day 2, after a rather sobering wander around the supermarket last night!

The OJ has gone down the drain, the fruity yoghurt is now Greek style, with whatever fruit is in the fruit bowl (flat peaches today). 'best of both' is now wholemeal brown, maybe a smattering of lemon marmalade to make it palatable!!!

Up at 6.30, did bloods again, before anything to eat, 19.5. I know early morning spikes are normal, but I don't know what's acceptable!
 
Hi and welcome

have a look at this link for the info on blood glucose target ranges.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html

it will take you to the diabetes.co.uk main website and gives you the info you are looking for.

At this stage, it is very important that you understand it can take weeks or even months for a newly diagnosed T2 to bring their blood glucose levels down, and it can be a very steep learning curve. Don't expect it to happen overnight. Almost everything that we thought we knew about healthy eating needs reassessing (as you have discovered with the OJ), so it is a gradual step down process. :)

Have you come across the diabetes.co.uk Low Carb programme yet? it is a free 10 week course designed to help type 2 diabetics (or anyone who wants to lower carb intake) learn how to tailor their carb to suit their own body. It is spread over 10 weeks to allow people to take baby steps, read labels, gauge carb in foods, and learn the impact of those carbs. I heartily recommend it. Here is the link. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb/
 
The first time I went grocery shopping after my initial diagnosis I had determined I was going low carb and needed to buy appropriate food. To say it was an eye opener is quite an understatement. I must have spent 2 hours in there reading labels, the staff were starting to give me puzzled looks o_O I came out of the store with very little food and feeling quite defeated. It takes time but you learn. I am 11 years down this road and still discover something new I can eat every now and then. The latest discovery is creme freche. 0 carb !!!!! It's like a cross between sour cream and greek yogurt. Fantastic for cooking with. It will all fall into place and become second nature and as it does, so will your glucose levels. As Brunneria said, it takes time.
 
atko said:
Good morning.

Day 2, after a rather sobering wander around the supermarket last night!

The OJ has gone down the drain, the fruity yoghurt is now Greek style, with whatever fruit is in the fruit bowl (flat peaches today). 'best of both' is now wholemeal brown, maybe a smattering of lemon marmalade to make it palatable!!!

Up at 6.30, did bloods again, before anything to eat, 19.5. I know early morning spikes are normal, but I don't know what's acceptable!
Click to expand...
Well done @atko, sounds like you've made good moves. I hate going into supermarkets now and I find it really difficult, but scrutinising content is an education! .... something I was so terribly ignorant of before 'labelling'. See what I mean about the OJ!
I guess you can be forgiven the marmalade .... Occasionally, but just be careful!
I couldn't tell you what my BS was this morning .... I don't test! I think seeing such a reading would panic me - which is equally unhelpful! (Awaiting the 'incoming').
 
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