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Does the apprehension pass?

res1492

res1492

Active Member
Im new to this and for some reason, i get really apprehensive taking my blood sugar...like REALLY apprehensive, to the point of thinking about not doing it at all in case it's high and i panic....please tell me this passes.

EDIT
ok from 16.8 at dinner today its gone down to 9.9, is it meant to drop that much ?...god its nerve racking
 
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I was DX in Dec 18, and whilst not happy about all the "Faff" I know I must do it. What I have found useful is the phone app with my meter so that I can see how I am trending and so far always good news! Try to find a positive to focus on and use that as your "carrot" to entice yourself!
 
Calm down and relax, I know, easy for me to say. First of all, some people will become obsessed with readings. I was!
The trick is to treat it as a puzzle. Why are your numbers so high? Keep a record of your numbers as well as the food you ear. You will eventually spot what foods are making you spike with the high numbers.

If you are a full blown diabetic, you are in for the long haul. You will learn to manage your blood glucose levels with what you eat and any medications. We are here to support and encourage you. We have all been where you are now.

So sit down, have a cuppa (no biscuit), read around the forum and the sucess stories. You seem to be on the start of your journey. Take it easy, Rome wasn't built in a day. It is a lot to get your head round. Don't try to do it all at once. I was bewildered at first, but eventually the penny drops.

Ask lots of quesitons.
 
I didn't come to terms with it until i had it for a couple of years ...but i kept a diary and tested my sugar 3/4 times a day ..this is a good start as i was type 1 and it went into remission
 
It gets easier , I was like you very scared because i had high numbers at the start of November been type 2 for 2 years now , but relapsed .

I was really panicking when i took my sugar back then , but its getting better and i don't feel so apprehensive .

I am getting high numbers right now cos I am tired and not getting out to walk , plus some stress also, so that is causing me a bit of anxiety but not much .

I fully get it that you feel apprehensive cos I have and are like that still at times .
 
To get back to the OP. Yes, for the majority of people the anxiety fades as your blood glucose levels improve.
Diagnosis is a rough time and we can go through every emotion known before things settle on 'Ok, I've got this, I can manage this and I can manage it very well'. You'll get there.
 
res1492 said:
Im new to this and for some reason, i get really apprehensive taking my blood sugar...like REALLY apprehensive, to the point of thinking about not doing it at all in case it's high and i panic....please tell me this passes.

EDIT
ok from 16.8 at dinner today its gone down to 9.9, is it meant to drop that much ?...god its nerve racking
Click to expand...

16.8 is very high. 9.9 is higher than you would like but a lot, lot better. So yes, it is meant to drop like that if you are lucky. If you can keep it down around there after a bit that would be a great step forward.

As others have said DON'T PANIC!!!

Everything is scary at first but you will learn to adjust. Taking BG readings is a very powerful thing. It lets you know how your control is improving. You haven't been bad if there is a high reading, it is just part of learning. Whatever you did to get the high reading, you can think about it then plan how to avoid it.

Assume it will take from 3 months to 2 years to really get your head around diet, medication and BG control. Everybody finds it hard at first. It gets better.
 
Can I ask please, do you know your HbA1c number? If not, find out, you need to know your starting point. I found it highly motivating to enter my numbers and food into the mySugr app. After a few days of data it will give you an estimated HbA1c reading.

Can I ask you to tell us everything that you ate yesterday.

Are you testing immediately before eating and two hours after the first bite?
 
xfieldok said:
Can I ask please, do you know your HbA1c number? If not, find out, you need to know your starting point. I found it highly motivating to enter my numbers and food into the mySugr app. After a few days of data it will give you an estimated HbA1c reading.

Can I ask you to tell us everything that you ate yesterday?

Are you testing immediately before eating and two hours after the first bite?
Click to expand...

I would love to give you that info but I was only diagnosed yesterday...the doctor definitely said the blood test came back and there was 10% sugar in my blood...again bear in mind I don't have a clue what I'm talking about so that might not mean anything
I only started taking my tablets yesterday, I'm in to see the diabetic nurse on the 25th she will have longer to answer my questions, I only got 15 min with my doctor.
As for what I ate, this is what I've had today along with reading taken before eating.

At 9 am my blood sugar was 17.1(took my tablets at the same time)......at about 1 pm it was 12.7 ...at 7:30 pm it's 7.8

I've not had tea yet but I had 5 mouthsful of bran flakes for breakfast ...5 rashes of bacon and 1 scrambled egg and a lo-cal jelly pot for dinner and for tea ill be having roast chicken breast and a huge pile of broccoli and green beans.

My one vice I haven't admitted to yet is the can of Stella larger I have EVERY night....I'm a pisshead

As far as testing times go...no, not really but if you're telling me thats the best/correct way to test then ill do it like that from now on...thank you!!
 
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The best way to test is the way you can learn from it.

Test immediately before you eat.
Test again 2 hours after first bite.
Look at the difference between the before and after reading. This should not be more than 2mmol/l and preferably a lot less.
Keep a food diary and record your levels alongside the food. Patterns will soon emerge, and you will be able to tweak your food choices accordingly.

I would also test before your Stella and again 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours after. Beer is known in these circles as liquid bread. Very high in sugar and carbohydrate. How about changing to a very low sugar beer, or better still red wine or spirits with a sugar free mixer?
 
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