Diastix testing

By a dark colour, what does that suggest, according to the chart on the pot? When you say all you are eating are vegetables, what did you eat today (Sunday.)?

My experience of urine testing by Diastix is that they are pretty short lived in their usefulness. They tend to only show up very high sugars, so as you grasp control, they show no sugar, but that isn't accurate enough.

If you are newly diagnosed, I would suggest you go back to your Doc or nurse and ask them if they can explain your findings, and ask them for blood glucose finger prick testing kit. It sounds like torture, but you soon get used to it, and it doesn't hurt. You only need liberate the tiniest droplet of blood.

By using that form of testing, you get a much clearer and more consistent view of what's going on.

In the meantime,drink plenty of water, as that all helps wash everything through, and we often neglect to drink enough when we change our diets.

WheelyFun said:

Okay so to take each question at a time;

The dark brown colour means it's at the highest level of sugar (20g/l, 111mmol/l, 2000mg/dl)

Today I've eaten some porridge (skimmed milk) and had a three bean salad for lunch/dinner.

I'm in a wheelchair and have serious nerve problems, so the GP won't do anything until I see the specialists. I asked about the blood glucose meters and that was almost his exact response to me.

I understand that Diastix are fairly limited in their usefulness, but it's the only tool I have at my disposal at present. Until I have more tools to use to control this then I'm stuck with this.

I'm drinking around 3 to 4 x 1000ml bottles of no added sugar squash. Each bottle that I make up should have around 2g of sugar and it should be the only sugar in my diet. Should be being the word!

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I thought the dark colour was high sugars, so that's not ideal.

Many, many people find that porridge and pulses will push their bloods up. They may be "good" carbs, but, in my view, only good for those who don't have diabetes. All carbs convert to sugar during digestion. The "good" part is usually that they take longer to convert, but for we diabetics that doesn't always help us out.

When I was diagnosed, I just went onto meat and above the ground veg - like brocolli, cabbage, salads, cauliflower, kale, greens, and so many more (not in the same meal, obviously!). I ditch most carbs and my bloods came down pretty efficiently.

I have no idea what other health issues you might have, so would be silly to suggest too firm a course of action for you. But, can you recall what you ate on the days the Diastixs were negative? That might be a starting point.

Even if your medical advisors want to start you on medication, for T2s, the most effective weapon in out diabetes fighting armoury is simply everything we eat or drink. Unless you are on extremely strong medication, which most would ideally like to avoid, managing your diet is critical.