first ever blood test

Its your life and its your Destiny... they dont pay anything when it shows that most diabetic don´t have enough control over their blood glucose...
I will always forever have control too

bigjim19 said:

hi bought myself a codefree meter after negitive GP or nurse telling me i didnt need one well i decided if i have to try and control things i need one so i got one just done a pre food test and was delighted with a 5.2 will try a post food test later and see what happens watch this space

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Hi and Welcome

I too bought the Codefree and I'm pretty sure (from memory) it was when I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I progressed to T2 . In hindsight I didn't do enough to try to prevent the progression. But, a year since my T2 diagnosis I'm still DIET controlled. I do test but not daily and it's usually when I feel a bit "high" or to test the effect something may have on my blood sugar.

I know that pizza will spike me to around 10 ish about 2 hours after eating but I did eat a large ish one and I was on holiday at the time!

I like my Codefree and as far as I know, the test strips are some of the cheapest on the market

bigjim19 said:

well i tested again approx 2 hours later after food i was 9.0 so just about on the mark i suppose
i had frozen mc cains chips, harry ramsdens battered cod and garden peas so for a first test im pleased
although looking to do better

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bigjim19,

9 is on the high side. See this link for details.

Have you considered low carb to try and control your BG levels?

Less that 8.5 is the figure to aim for. Don't forget meters are not 100 percent accurate. Jim has only done two readings. He hasn't said whether he has just started medication ..... etc.

asparagusp said:

Less that 8.5 is the figure to aim for. Don't forget meters are not 100 percent accurate. Jim has only done two readings. He hasn't said whether he has just started medication ..... etc.

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Less than 7 would be better 2 hours after eating. Although with such a high carb meal a high reading isn't so surprising. Meters may well not be accurate but I think even with a margin of error this shows that carbs are not good for Type 2's. Whether you believe it or not most of us have found that by avoiding carbohydrates in our food we can get much better control. It could well work for @bigjim19 too so it would be well worth him trying it.
Your scepticism is fine for you but please don't impose it on others.

bigjim19 said:

hi guys no fighting now ive been on metformin for a couple off months but with bad side effects started of on
2 x500 daily then went on to 1x 1g of the sr daily but more side effects so now been put on 1 x500 sr daily for a while
yes it was a little bit of a heavy meal but was just done out of quickness as we had our 6 year old grandson all day and i had pretty well starved all day trying to keep away from the bad stuff the meal was also a bit bigger than the normal portion i have .
i think though for the first time of using the meter its not to bad but now that ive got it i can try and keep control with testing the foods that i eat and keep the readings down
i was 6.7 this morning at 7.05am

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I agree that was not a bad BG level considering the meal you had and as you say it was a pretty large one bet you enjoyed it though. We are all very different so no one can say what you should or should not eat we all have to experiment to find what suits us personally which I am sure you will do

For a first test/experiment I think you probably learnt quite a lot, and that's what matters at this stage.

You had a rise of about 4mmol for that meal - any idea what the actual carb count was?

"Your scepticism is fine for you but please don't impose it on others." I have said the LCHF diet has reaped benefits for many but it's not necessarily suitable for everyone. LCHF is the one being rammed down our throats here. As already stated by me in another thread, the medical profession are all for lowering carbohydrates unlike the NHS guidelines.

bigjim19 said:

not tryng to put anybodies nose out off place as you said not everthing is suited to everyone
but i'm new to this and just getting started will take advice as well as give it if i think is right
not everyone has to listen or get involved you do your own thing if it works

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Wow! I just read this thread and am appalled you had to go through that with your first testing. I am going to tag a moderator for you with balanced information. Good job of speaking up and taking care of yourself. @daisy1

@bigjim19 I love my fish and chips too. Rather than cut them out of my diet I have tried a number of techniques to mitigate the rise in BG.

These days I tend not to eat the batter (well a little bit) and not all the chips, but I either have a large portion of fish (I'll take a guess its haddock for you) or I have 2 standard. In the summer I tend to eat it on the beach, and take a stroll afterwards. On these dark, cold evenings I tend to spend 10 mins on an exercise bike, or going up and down the stairs.

Following a segment of a BBC program by Dr Michael Mosely I also take a swig of apple cider vinegar before any high carb meal, and it seems to dent the spike for me

@bigjim19

Hello Jim and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. This includes advice on carbs and a link to the Low Carb Program which you might like to try. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to answer.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 210,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

The forum is usually a very a very pleasant place to be. There are games and lots of information posted in the blog threads. Your grandson is adorable by the way.

bigjim19 said:

Thanks people are intitled to there opinions( maybe they should open there own thread) so they can blow off steam and not be critical of others trying to do the right things .

Thank you his name is nathan and he was 6 last week we had him for a few days so we could spoil him.

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Funny, he doesn't look spoiled-just well taken care of and loved.