"Eat to your meter"

[sharlie]

I have seen a lot of people mention about eating to their meter. Can anyone explain what exactly this is? I have very poor control at the moment with massive spikes. I have just got out of hospital after having DKA. I am beginning to develop numb hands and really need to begin to control my diabetes.

 

[cyclist]

What this means is test before and after meals and work out what foods you can tolerate (or in your case what insulin requirements you may have for the food you are eating)

Have you read the advice from @daisy1 ?

 

[diamondnostril]

Hi sharlie,

You and/or your health care professional(s) will know the blood-sugar range that you are aiming for. Your meter shows what your blood-sugar level actually is.

Simply, the idea is to stick to the foods which keep you closer to your target range, and try to avoid those foods that take you further away from it.

At first this requires a bit of time and effort.

The first phase of "Eat to your meter" means taking time to test your levels before eating, note what (and how much) you eat, and then test your levels in the hours after eating. If you can put some time into this task for a couple of weeks, you will soon get an idea of the foods that your body tolerates and does not tolerate, with regard to your blood-sugar level. This knowledge soon builds up and pretty soon you get to know the foods that will and will not cause problems for you.

Regards
Antony

 

[sharlie]

Thanks for the explanations. I need to start from square one again I think and relearn my diabetes.

 

[noblehead]

Thanks for the explanations. I need to start from square one again I think and relearn my diabetes.

Notice your on a pump Sharlie, I would suggest you get yourself the book Pumping Insulin to go back to the basics, also another book called Think Like a Pancreas is a good read as it has lots of useful advice which includes a section on reducing postprandial spikes, the author wrote the following article called Strike the Spike which talks about bolusing ahead of your food to reduce spikes in bg levels:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.c...blood-glucose-management/strike-the-spike-ii/

 

[LucySW]

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/22229807.php