• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Confused and upset

HappyMondays

Member
Messages
9
Location
Manchester
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have been testing myself with a meter of my own back and am confused and upset with the readings and to cap it all the advice on line contradict its self at every turn.i take 2 1000mg glucophage a day i dont and never realy did eat sugary things at all i swim every day and eat 0% Fat free yogurt and a banana for breakfast my bloods have come in at 9.6 after 2 hours of eating and i had a fasting this morning of 7.9 Am i showing type 1 symptoms ?
 
Hi HappyMondays I will tag daisy1 for you she will get in touch with help on type2 so you can understand how different foods can raise your blood glucose levels. Wish you well and lots of help from people on here ask away any questions or anything you don't understand people will help you through it. K
 
Hi @HappyMondays
No you're exhibiting the usual reaction to eating a high carbohydrate food i.e. a banana which I think contains the equivalent of 5 teaspoons of sugar. A lot of us have found that by reducing our carbohydrate intake (rather than simply sugar) we have much lower blood sugar levels and can even stop taking medication.
@daisy1 will pop along with a useful intro to low carb eating.
You could also do a lot worse than sign up for the low carb program that this site runs as well as maybe taking a peek at www.dietdoctor.com which is also a great low carb resource.
We also tend to be less afraid of fat.. but that's another thing.
Welcome to better health by the way!
 
Last edited:
Hi. HappyMondays just seen bulkbiker has tagged daisy1 for you following his advice and what daisy1 sends you wil get you started on right track to controlling your BG. Good luck. K
 
@HappyMondays

Hello HappyMondays and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope this will be useful to you. Ask more questions when you want and someone will be able to help.


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 well over 250,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
Hi, I don't know how long you have been testing, but it can take a while to understand what works for you. It took me 3 months after diagnosis before I felt more in control and sure of how I should eat. 6 years later I am still learning! I have become much less obsessive and laid back it all, including only testing every now and again to keep an eye on things. You will figure it out for sure
 
HappyMondays said:
Thank you all for your time, looks like im just going to have to work on it,
Click to expand...
Its mainly just keeping an eye on what you eat. Low carb food is really yummy so you shouldn't go hungry. there is a lot of info to take in so have a read around the other forum threads Success stories and the Low Carb diet areas would be good to start with and then come back with any questions. It's not necessarily rocket science (although it can be if that's your thing).
 

If you keep a food diary including portion sizes and record your levels alongside, you will see at a glance what that food has done to your levels, and after a period of time you will see patterns emerging that show you which your personal danger foods are.

Your 9.6 is a reaction to the banana, which is instant glucose. That's why tennis players eat them in between games (or did before glucose tablets were allowed). Fruit is generally unwise for us T2 diabetics because it is full of sugar, especially fruit juices and tropical fruits such as bananas and grapes etc. Strawberries and raspberries are the lowest sugar ones, and best eaten with cream or a full fat plain yogurt.

You are not in the least showing T1 symptoms, you are showing T2 symptoms after eating too many carbs. It is all trial and error, and a steep learning curve. The more you read, and the more questions you ask, the quicker you will get there.
 
Bananas are high on 'no no' list - I only have once in a blue moon as a treat. The riper the high in glucose they are - and I happen to love bananas.
 
hi guys question two hours after food last night i came in at 6.7 well chuffed first thing this morning 8 how come have the tooth fairys been feeding me sugar granuals in the night?
 
Hi HappyMondays (guess they are these days for us City supporters
).

Depending on what you had to eat last night your two hour reading may had actually missed the highest point of your after meal level, which may have been later. Some high fat high carb meals such as pizza are notorious for this slower conversion of carbs to glucose.

More likely though you experienced what is known as the dawn phenomenon. Our liver has stores of glucose that it releases into our bloodstream early in the morning to provide us with the energy fuel we need to meet the demands of the day. The metformin you take works primarily by limiting this action by the liver.
 
HappyMondays said:
hi guys question two hours after food last night i came in at 6.7 well chuffed first thing this morning 8 how come have the tooth fairys been feeding me sugar granuals in the night?
Click to expand...
Not so much the tooth fairy as your helpful liver making sure you can get up in the morning..don't worry it goes away eventually (took mine about a year of Low Carb)
 
bulkbiker said:
Not so much the tooth fairy as your helpful liver making sure you can get up in the morning..don't worry it goes away eventually (took mine about a year of Low Carb)
Click to expand...

Was that a slow decline or did you just wake up one morning and it was gone? And why did it happen, do you think? Is your liver no longer fatty? ( I have just thought that this forum can be a weird place, I have just asked a stranger about his fatty liver!!)
 
I just think I lost most of the liver fat and my system started to work as it should.. I still get odd days when my FBG is high but usually it's now between 5 and 5.5 which I think is pretty average.. only gets lower when on an extended fast.
And to answer your question it slowly went down over a long time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…