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Erratic readings

paulins

paulins

Well-Known Member
Messages
351
Location
Edinburgh
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Feeling I can never eat anything sweet again or anything with carbs. But thought of diabetes complications scares me more so it is a no brainer!
I am trying very hard to lose weight and eat very carefully. But my levels are still inexplicable. Before meal - 6.2, one hour after, 5.8, 2hours after 6.00. How can this be? I ate and drank nothing in the hour between testing.
 
Not all the glucose in your body is directly related to what you eat - the body has its own regulation systems and can create its own glucose in the liver, plus insulin is released to counteract - it's a never ending juggling act. The changes you're talking about are minimal anyway and meters have a certain level of inaccuracy and are not the precision instruments we would like them to be.
 
Indy is correct, there is up to a 20% margin of error in BG meters. Also, depending on what you ate, those readings are not too out of the ordinary. If you are concerned, keep a diary for a week or so detailing BG readings, food eaten and meds ( if any ) taken.
 
Thank you for these replies. I know that my readings are actually reasonable, but I am doing the Newcastle diet and am determined to reverse the diabetes. I have been absolutely strict about what I eat and have lost 30lbs. So it is quite depressing that with so little food going in (despite what my body is doing by itself!) I still see readings over 6, and that they aren't 5 or 4 more often. However, one benefit of losing weight is that my blood pressure has returned to normal, and tomorrow I am going to tell my doctor that I am stopping the statins to see what I can do by myself. If I could find a cheap meter to do my HbA1c readings and another measure glucose I would get them as I'd prefer to monitor my own levels.
 
By the way, I had three shakes during the day and green vegetables for dinner. These readings were before and after the food.
 
If you want a cheap meter/strips try the SD Codefree, Meter is about a tenor and strips about £8 you can buy on ebay/amazon. Well done with your weight loss, just don't get disheartened
 
Lesley, they are cheaper than that but buy them from their website:
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

I love my SD Codefree meter, I even bought the communication cable to download the readings onto my computer (scroll to the bottom of the page/link to order that).

As for erratic readings, I get those all the time but the only thing that worries me is that when I first started testing my morning readings were 4 and 5 but now they are in the 7's :-(

Hugs to everyone
 
I looked at the Codefree meter but it seems that the readings use the US system and you have to convert the number to the UK system. Is this right?
Doctor today - good results. She is happy.
HbA1C - 6.5 (down from 9.1)
Cholesterol - 4.5
Trigs - down from 3.1 to 1.9Now lost 32 lbs. Only 20lbs to go!
 
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