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mariner4222

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Hello all, When I found I had type 2 in Nov 07. I was told by my diabetes nurse, don't need a meter and bg should be around the 6 mark. Now in the past year having blood test due to numerous abcesses the bg has shown around the 10/ 11 mark. The remark being it's a bit up.
Having been given a meter from the diabetes group called x-pert. I decided to use it after getting that gritty feeling in ones eyes. So I tested my self over 2 weeks and got results of 11 before breakfast up to 17, 2 hrs after. The highest was 20, 2 hrs after a meal. Most of the time ranging from 14 to 17. the lowest it came down to was 10.
I then got an hba1c only to be told by doctor it was a mess. Told to see diabetes nurse, the same one . Only for her to say I don't believe in type 2s testing and the figures mean nothing. I'll go on the results from a hba1c in 3 months time. What does one do?
 
One changes surgery's immediately. Those are very high numbers, and your health care team should take notice and act quickly.
 
What you do is get as much information as you can about your Diabetes, then empower yourself to do something about it. What the Nurse has told you is abysmal and frankly is not doing anything for YOUR health. Maybe you should think about changing GP's/Nurse/ Practice as the advice is way off the mark and not what one would expect from HCP's.

Have a read of this advice we routinely hand out to newly diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic's and see if it has things which may be of use in helping you get to grips with this. We find that the advice works for most people.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Ken/Sue.
Click to expand...
 
Being a stroppy individual, I'd ask your nurse, "If you were in this position, would you test regualrly?"
He/She doesn't seem to know much and is following the penny pinching of the local PCT.
I would also ask the PCT what proportion of their patients hit the diabetes targets. Odds are it's fewere than half. If they don't want to give you the data, ask unde "Freedom of Information"
Hana
 
Thank you for the replies and info. I'll give this food diary a go and see what results show up.
Have been through 3 diet types since being diagnosed The practice one. Told by diabetes nurse from a hospital in a different region, eat normally but avoid salt and fat foods. And now on the x-pert low carb diet. Unfortunately for the other two I was'nt testing. Thanks again.

Nige
 
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