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hornplayer said:

Why are my readings fluctuating and what sort of numbers are good numbers?? - I'm currently taking 2 Metformin tablets a day.

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Readings will fluctuate within ranges:

For Type 2 diabetes, the ranges are 4 to 7 mmol/L before meals and under 8.5 mmol/L 2 hours after meals. Have a look at this page: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care ... anges.html

What I don't understand is why you have been told to test randomly. If you test randomly, you cannot see any sort of pattern. You can at least see that your low carbing is getting things under control but many people here test 7 or 8 times per day to start with. They like to see what they are first thing in the morning and just before they go to bed, and then before every meal and 2 hours after every meal to see what effect that meal has had on them. That way, over time, they learn about what foods work for them and which ones are likely to give them problems.

To begin with you get lots of odds readings anyway but after a little time, things settle down and patterns emerge.

Ask for more strips and if they won't give them to you, just buy them. It's expensive to begin with but it is worth it because you will learn about suitable foods. Now that I know what is going on and now that I understand my patterns better, I tend to test first thing in the morning, have breakfast, test again 2 hours after lunch and then test 2 hours after dinner. If my morning reading is OK my main interest is how lunch and dinner have affected me. They are just checks. But, they are only good as checks because I have learned what foods do and do not work for me. That does require more testing.

hornplayer said:

Thanks Yorksman, that's really helpful. Will go get more strips today. - it didn't make much sense to me either. Maybe they're trying to save on strips? I did tell them I was happy to buy my own.

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Hornplayer, If they are like a lot of HCPs I have dealt with, they are so immersed in dogma that they cannot concieve of a patient prepared to do what is required to try and understand/control diabetes. :shock:

Roy Taylor, Professor of Medicine and Metabolism at Newcastle Univeristy commented on the way our health professionals approach diabetes in Practical Diabetes:

"It must be recorded that many individuals expressed frustration at the routine manner in which their doctor, nurse or dietitian regarded the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. This conflicted with the cataclysmic blow which they personally felt. They were told that the diagnosis was clear and therefore the guidelines will be rolled out. Lose some weight and take this metformin. Get used to it."

"Well, it's official. You've got diabetes" is how I was told. He wanted to put me onto Metformin and I said no, I wanted to see if I could control it by diet. It was quite clear that he was thinking 'yeah right, if I had a pound for every time I heard that one'.

It's meant to be personalised healthcare but it isn't. It's just tick box healthcare.

hornplayer said:

Had an unhelpful encounter with the pharmacist in Boots

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Same here. Didn't know the difference between lancets and test strips. And this was someone from the pharmacy counter, after the sales assistant said that she's get me someone who 'knew what they were doing'.

I tend to test in the evening once a day, about 2 to 3 hours after my evening meal. My rational is that I want to go to bed with my BGL within normal limits if possible, so I do not sleep at night with high levels.

If it is high I exercise by walking around the house perhaps, up and down stairs, and I then retest to make sure my levels have dropped. Doing this for some time I know how long to walk for to drop by one Point and can therefore judge how long to walk for to come into range. Note I always test at same time and after evening meal.

If I am below 6 I do not have to do any exercise. Which is the next target, reduce carbs for last meal of day to achieve this.


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