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Hi Rhiuka,

I believe most test right before they start eating and normally 2hrs later. I sit down to my meal then test then start to eat (but thats me) and my meter has an alarm set for 2hrs later.

Others will be along shortly to give you further information, just hope we don't confuse you.

Hugs,
 
Hi Rhiuka, I agree with Dee-licious. I test just before I eat and again two hours after finishing my meal. The reason behind this is to see what effect the food has had on your blood sugars. We all get a spike after eating, but this should settle around two hours. If it is
 
Hi Rhiuka, I agree with Dee-licious. I test just before I eat and again two hours after finishing my meal. The reason behind this is to see what effect the food has had on your blood sugars. We all get a spike after eating, but this should settle around two hours. If it is a lot higher after two hours then you will need to reconsider either the carb content of the meal or perhaps reduce the portion size. You are in a good place here, there are lots of people who can help you. Sorry just realised my post was incomplete :oops:
 
rhiuka said:
I was not asked to test after eating, I suppose because the current focus is on the meds to check they are doing their job at bringing the level down
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That's correct Rhiuka. Looking at post meal blood glucose is another activity that they may suggest to you once your pre meal measures are good and stable.
 
I've also read that about squeezing the blood out as it also forces out other things that can distort readings. Try this - Wash your hands immediately before in hot water and hold your hands downwards until you have finished testing. Gently massage the finger from the hand upwards towards the tip, not downwards. Try a larger size lancet if your kit can do this, avoid your thumb. Little fingers usually produce the most blood.
 
rhiuka said:
Although I understand that glucose levels can vary quite a lot, I was taken aback by the reading before my tea today.

Since starting on Friday my evening readings have been 8.7, 10.6, 12.3, then today's was 5.7 mmol/L.

I hardly ate anything between breakfast and tea on Friday, being paranoid over when I should eat, whilst I had a sandwich on Saturday and snacked on something that I have already forgotten on Sunday.

Today though I had not eaten anything so in the afternoon I had a packet of baked crisp-like things. But then felt like I wanted something sweet so finished off half a packet of fizzy strawberry straws, sour chewy fake-liquorice things, and a little bit of chocolate as they were to hand.

Because of that I was expecting a high reading so now I worry that a normal one may mean it was too low earlier.

I am not a particularly sweet-toothed person and prefer savoury things, so it was unusual to feel a wanting for them. Though I would not go so far as to call it a craving. As I said in another thread my diagnosis reminded me of a few isolated incidents several years ago when I felt dizzy and craved sugar and it was not like that.

Can someone reassure me that the level varying so much is normal and nothing to worry about?
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Hi Rhiuka


Firstly welcome along to the form.


Have read through the answers to the posts and lots of great advice. I note that when you were given the meter you were asked to test before tea (evening meal) and what is known as a fasting test in the morning. May I suggest your diabetic professional is trying to build a picture of how you bloods fluctuate at these times. Our body’s have major hormonal changes over night & mid afternoon, insulin is a hormone.


When one is newly diagnosed its a challenging time not knowing how diabetes & the new medication will affect us, our family’s, jobs, driving, am I high, am I going go low and going make an **** of myself and more that is individual to us & our lives. This is normal and I think I can say with some confidence that most people on here have gone through this to some degree.


Firstly the concern regarding new medication is real and people suffer hypo's to different degrees and we have all seen a diabetic somewhere being taken care of by passers by or an ambulance crew however this is much more likely to be a type 1 using insulin. I now use insulin but spent fifteen years using tablet medication only, I did have hypo's the worst was very sweaty and the 'I really have to eat' feeling that everyone has at some point in life when they haven't eaten all day. Carry some glucose with you, know your prepared.


In a reply you posted to Jack you said 'I have saved it (a link) for later when the focus inevitably shifts to diet' In my experience the only thing that helped my diabetes was an in depth look at my diet and diets in general. Take a look at portion size and look for carb in everything its hidden in nearly all processed food in more names than I can list here but corn starch is one. For myself its small portions of whole grain basmati rice & home made wholemeal pitta breads work but they are very filling, wholegrain takes more energy to breakdown you feel full and the body is using energy (sugar) to digest it..


As your newly diagnosed don't let it rule your life or drive you mad with worry. If you get a high result it's not a worry! Look at what you ate, was it a large portion? You may find yourself getting tins and packets out the bin to look at the nutrition label and their you find the carb which is why your reading is high. Maybe try a smaller portion next time and then roll along. I noted doing this I just could not eat wholemeal pasta, and that the (what I thought) health herring rollmops was full of sugar. But nothing puts sugar levels through the roof like stress & worry I feel.


I have loved learning about food and what is in our food and how to cook in a different way and I feel better eating this way, when people say a diabetic diet they mean a really healthy diet. We all need naughty treats , I bake cakes and biscuits use sweetener & whole flour.


All the best, eat well


Stu

A great link
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5707/2
 
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When you say normal bread do you mean normal white sliced bread? If you do that could be the reason for the crash, if I eat
A lot of white bread then my blood sugar sky rockets fast then it drops fast as well causing me to go hypo


Type 2 diagnosed 24/01/2013.
Novomix 30, Victoza, Simvistatin.
 
Sorry to read your going through this, how much and what med's are you now taking?
 
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Hi Rhiuka, firstly it's great that you recognise you may not be thinking clearly and if you drive be very careful at this time.

As the doctor is closed don't forget there will be an out of hours service and 111.

If you are eating well & regularly it maybe that your increase in med's has been to great, did you slowly introduce both meds or just the Metformin? There will be no disgrace when you see your GP or nurse if you have to say that you followed their directions regarding medication increase, suffered multiple hypo's and then back tracked. They do not want people going hypo.

My personal experience having started on 40mg of Gliclazide 2x daily and then subsequently increasing it as directed over the years is that it builds up over days, unlike Metformin with responds on the day of an increased dose. The two meds work differently Gliclazide stimulates the prancers to produce insulin where as Metformin suppresses the release of sugar by the liver.


Best regards


Stu
 
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