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How long to bring BG down?

O

ollyb

Member
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Hi all

After an extensive period (months) of taking my 4 metformin tablets per day but doing absolutely no diet management, in fact, having a terrible diet, I'm really pleased that I've managed to get back on course.

I'm just wondering how long it should take for my BG readings to get down to where they should be. Should it be 24 or 48hrs, or even longer? I just got the contour usb (having not been testing for ages) and yesterday morning's fasting was 9.3. Today's was 8.2. I'm just wondering if I'm seeing the tail end of my terrible management. I've been on a much better diet for a week now, so I'm hoping those numbers will come down to 6 or so.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Cheers
 
When I was first diagnosed, with a fasting of 9 and an HbA1c of 6.5, I went straight back on to my Modified Atkins Diet (a sticky thread), and was fasting of 6.4 and an HbA1c of 5.6, 3 months later.

If you cut your carbs down, even to about 100g a day, you should see an improvement in your BG readings in a few weeks. Don't pay too much attention to your fasting BG to begin with - you could be getting Dawn Phenomenon which may last for a while. Aim to get your pre-meal readings (lunch and dinner) in the 5s, and to get the readings 2 hours after eating to about the same as they were before.

The answer lies in managing your carbohydrates. There's no need to go extremely low - Grazer manages his BG control very nicely on 100g to 150g of carb per day. Make sure, though, that it's slower-acting carb - Low GI. Keep a food diary, and test after every meal to see what foods spike you.

Lots of good advice and support on here! :D

Viv 8)
 
Agree 100% with Viv. Forget fasting BGs for now and concentrate on finding out what you can eat. Initially I aimed at the NICE guidelines of 8.5 two hours after eating, then less than 7.8 which is the top level of a normal non-diabetic two hours after eating, then slowly set lower targets. Don't worry if it takes a little while to get these lower figures. Takes time and practice
 
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