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Help/Advice on high blood glucose levels

dkkc said:
Stress could cause higher sugar levels. Some food may be reacting differently. Check your levies 2 hrs after every meal. It us painful and expensive - no other way of finding out.
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Not that painful, tbh, and not that expensive either unless you're changing the needle every time too.
 
dkkc said:
Try checking sugar levels 2 hrs after every meal. It is painful and costly
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It shouldn’t be painful. Adjust the lancet to the minimum depth required. Each finger may be different. Be well hydrated, have warm hands. Massage your finger from palm to tip a few times first. Only prick the sides of the fingerprint not the centre or top of finger. Don’t squeeze the tip hard - it’ll bruise. Use a different location each time.

@Rachox has some links to the more affordable options for testing.
 
Thanks for the tag @HSSS . For anyone on this thread interested investing in a blood glucose meter,
here’s some info on UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews if you use this link and select the meter plus 5 packs of strips, and then add the code dcuk (all lower case) at check out you may get money off, I’m not sure if this code is still valid.



https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:



https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively. Again I’m not sure if these codes are still valid.



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!



https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/



Discount codes for the Code Free strips, again I haven’t used them in a while.



5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833







SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular however I haven’t been able to find it on their website lately.



(Old link which doesn’t work for me now but maybe works for you, if it doesn’t try the phone number below

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793 ) or Google it and you’ll find it’s available from other outlets.



The strips are to be found here:



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



Some members have got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order, with a large order of strips they often throw the meter in for free:



Phone number 0800 8815423



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
 
Ellabella1 said:
Yes I have now but the readings make no sense as they go sky high after exercise and a healthy meal. In the morning they are 14 then rise back up to 17.7 ?
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People think exercise makes blood sugar go down but that's only cardio-type exercise, such as cycling, walking, or jogging. High-intensity exercise makes it go up. I play a sport called korfball, which is a bit like basketball, and I give two or three units before I start so that I don't go high.

I saw an interview with a football player who said he makes sure it's about 5.3 before starting a match. You'd think that would make him go low after ten minutes but it doesn't.

With this in mind, what exercise were you doing when your levels went up?
 
RobertJ said:
People think exercise makes blood sugar go down but that's only cardio-type exercise, such as cycling, walking, or jogging. High-intensity exercise makes it go up. I play a sport called korfball, which is a bit like basketball, and I give two or three units before I start so that I don't go high.
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I think it also depends upon your fitness. If you're unfit (like me), then any exercise counts as high-intensity and leads to raised blood sugar levels ;)
 
HSSS said:
It shouldn’t be painful. Adjust the lancet to the minimum depth required. Each finger may be different. Be well hydrated, have warm hands. Massage your finger from palm to tip a few times first. Only prick the sides of the fingerprint not the centre or top of finger. Don’t squeeze the tip hard - it’ll bruise. Use a different location each time.

@Rachox has some links to the more affordable options for testing.
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Hi can I ask why you don’t get the test strips and lancets free on prescription?
 
RobertJ said:
People think exercise makes blood sugar go down but that's only cardio-type exercise, such as cycling, walking, or jogging. High-intensity exercise makes it go up. I play a sport called korfball, which is a bit like basketball, and I give two or three units before I start so that I don't go high.

I saw an interview with a football player who said he makes sure it's about 5.3 before starting a match. You'd think that would make him go low after ten minutes but it doesn't.

With this in mind, what exercise were you doing when your levels went up?
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Well for me exercise was a 2 hour brisk walk !!!! Thankfully it’s now lower after a walk each day.
 
Ellabella1 said:
Hi can I ask why you don’t get the test strips and lancets free on prescription?
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The nhs usually only prescribe them for user of insulin (and other hypoglycaemic medications to avoid hypos/ for driving purposes). Very occasionally a dr/nurse will prescribe them otherwise but it’s not common.

Mostly it’s cost reduction but also lack of knowledge how to use testing in type 2. For type 1 it’s to adjust insulin doses and head off hypos. For type 2 it’s more about identifying the reaction we have to various foods and activities so we can limit or avoid the baddies.
 
Most Surgeries will not prescribe testing equipment and supplies to save money. As a type 2 the dangers to us are high blood sugars, bad long term. to a type 1 the dangers are very low sugars, or very high with high Ketone levels, both life threatening. therefore they cannot take any risks with type 1, but are quite happy to let us type 2s take the risk.
the NICE guidelines stipulate that equipment should be prescribed to type 2s for the purpose of education.
i worked out what to say to the DN to show that by educating myself as to what was SAFE for me to eat, fell within the purview of NICE guidelines. as i walked in the door her first words were "good news, your Hba1C came back as 36". Shot down in flames without uttering a word.
 
ajbod said:
Most Surgeries will not prescribe testing equipment and supplies to save money. As a type 2 the dangers to us are high blood sugars, bad long term. to a type 1 the dangers are very low sugars, or very high with high Ketone levels, both life threatening. therefore they cannot take any risks with type 1, but are quite happy to let us type 2s take the risk.
the NICE guidelines stipulate that equipment should be prescribed to type 2s for the purpose of education.
i worked out what to say to the DN to show that by educating myself as to what was SAFE for me to eat, fell within the purview of NICE guidelines. as i walked in the door her first words were "good news, your Hba1C came back as 36". Shot down in flames without uttering a word.
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Oh I see that’s why I didn’t get one 2 years ago, I only got one then as my readings were so high this time which is brilliant as I’ve managed to getting readings right down now and can now keep checking it. I thought everyone who was diabetic had one. Thanks for info. And well done on your blood test you must be so happy and your doing everything right.
 
Ellabella1 said:
Hi thanks for reply I’ve felt poorly the last month then realised it must be my diabetes ( I didn’t have a blood glucose monitor) so went to GP. Still feel as bad so don’t think I’m coming down with anything. It’s so frustrating as I’m doing all the same things. X
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Me too, levels suddenly shot up. Have you had covid?
 
Ellabella1 said:
Thank you all for advice. I’ve always eaten that sort of thing and has never been a problem for over 2 years so don’t understand why it’s gone up in the last 3 months? Doctor said it could be my thyroid ( I had thyroid cancer and it’s removed) but I will now cut down on those carbs but there is so many conflicting advice re carbs with healthy foods such as carrots and parsnips and beans and peppers. GP has told me to take gliclazide 40mg now and I’ve read that it can mess up your pancreas forever. It’s a minefield and really overwhelming. Thanks again for replys.
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Have you had CT scan of your pancreas? So they can check that out and reassure you.
 
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