How would you know

hya ,
i wear a sos bracelet,some dont like them but i like jewellery so i dont mind,just make sure you carry some form of glucose,did u check your bs? to see if hypo,
totsy

Candyrel

You really really really need to start testing, regardless of whether your self-styled diabetic nurse thinks you don't need to.

Without testing, you have no way of knowing the effect of the foods you eat or the exercise you take on your blood glucose? Are you on medication to lower your blood glucose? If so, it is postively dangerous not to encourage you to test - a combination of the drugs and exercise could make you hypo which you have to be in a position to treat and how can you do that unless you know that you are low.

I'd encourage you to look at the excellent advice here (particularly look at "Jennifer's Advice" and the stuff about what to do if, for some reason, you nurse/GP won't prescribe test strips (the National Institute of Clinical Excellence recommends that everyone with T2 should be given strips to test with): http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/testing.html

Good luck!

The reason that your DN has told you not to test is that these days many PCTs put a lot of pressure on GPs and clinics not to prescribe strips for T2s, because they are expensive. The ostensible reason is that a study has been recently published that claim to show that testing makes no difference to the chances of T2s developing complications. However, this study was deeply flawed because the patients weren't taught how to interpret the results and weren't encouraged to act upon them. In short it showed that if you test and ignore the results of the testing, then you don't get any benefit. This is what we call blindingly obvious! The real reason that you are being told not to test is to save your PCT money - and this economy is putting your health at risk. It makes me very cross :evil: :evil: :evil:

To answer your question, how would you know if you are going hypo? - you test. That is the only way you can be certain. If you are then it is easy to fix (you test before exercise and eat if necessary), if you aren't then there must be some other explanation for your symptoms. Either way this is useful information.

There are many other good reasons to test. It is the only way to monitor your condition on a day to day basis. Otherwise, you won't know whether or not you have it under control until your six-monthly or annual review - and if you haven't then that much damage will have been done. Testing is the only way you can learn how foods and exercise really affect you (remember everyone is different, without testing you can only generalise and approximate). Knowledge is the absolute key to controlling diabetes - and testing is the only way you can personalise that knowledge. Testing is the only way you can fine tune your diet. What level of carbohydrate is optimum for you? 40g per day? 60g per day? 100g per day? 150g per day? - everyone is different and testing can let you find this out.

Your DN is, no doubt, applying a standardised policy - and may well not realise its ramifications (so called "specialist" nurses, don't always know that much about diabetes - I have seen some of the books used to train them, and it is scary!). This policy is not in your interest. Unfortunately it probably means that you won't be able to get strips on prescription (although some people have some success in fighting for them, most don't). However, you should really should consider funding the testing yourself - it is a small price to pay when it is your health on the line. The meters are cheap or free (phone the manufacturers, they will often send you one). If you try eBay or contact the manufacturers directly, you can often get strips for around about half of the price in high street pharmacies. If you don't know how or when to test, or how to interpret the results then post on here - there are lots of people who will be happy to advise you.

Hello candyrel,

You need to be careful using Citalopram with other meds or supplements that
thin your blood (like aspirin and garlic).

Vitamin B3(niacin) has been shown to raise blood sugar levels and may also boost
the action of blood thinning drugs.

Regards,
timo.

if you are on Incapacity Benefit, why were you at the gym?

I had a hip replacement 3 years ago, and had to fight tooth and nail for IB and also to get registered disabled (before the op I couldn't walk)

Hi Candyrel!
I agree with the geek, you need a meter. If you go very low at the gym, you could be hurt. then you'd cost your PCT much more. I find Abbot diabetes care give me superb service on equipment
As to warning "labels"
I wear a bracelet with the red star and Aaron's staff on it. It cost about £10, is in stainless steel and has my name,Diabetic Type 2 on one side and my husband's mobile phone number on the other.
I got the bracelet on the web, but found the site from a leaflet in my local pharmacy.

Candyrel
A few suggestions on getting the food bill under control
Eat vegetables in season. If you have a market, shop there towards the end of the day. You'll get good deals. As to fish, meat and cheese. Again try a market, try Lidl and Aldi and sometimes canned and frozen are cheaper than fresh. Watch out for sneakily added carbs. Read he panels.
Since you won't be needing junky snacks, You can put all those funds to the good stuff. Are you shopping for 1 or a family?
Family would mean, that you could Make snacks for children instead of buying and get better quality too. If shopping for one, do you have a friend in a similar position, so that you could get together and both save.

mk5 said:

if you are on Incapacity Benefit, why were you at the gym?

I had a hip replacement 3 years ago, and had to fight tooth and nail for IB and also to get registered disabled (before the op I couldn't walk)

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Are people on IB not allowed in gym's? News to me! :x

the clue is in the word "Incapacity" - meaning you're unable to work because you're "incapacitated", usually due to poor health or injury, meaning that a gymnasium may not be the best place to be.

And of course the incapacity has to be physical! Or would that be being presumptious?

candyrel said:

I am on IB as I had a complete mental breakdown after walking out of severly abusive relationship. It was supposedly so bad I was hospitalised as I was ready to walk into the sea as my ex has turned my daughter against me and I now get abusive emails from her (I have kept them) she even says that type 2 is nothing to worry about and you only get it if you are old and fat. In fact I have been in hospital twice due to the mental breakdown and also in a womans refuge.

The exercise programme is about getting you sorted both mentally and physically to get you back into work. Hence me grabbing at it with both hands. Exercise has already got my blood pressure down. I also have more stamina now and can do several things that I couldnt do before, my self confidence has also been given a boost which I can tell you I needed more than anything.

I am sorry MK5 to hear that you had problems and hope they are all sorted now.

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Well done you! You have made a difference to your life. I have been there (mentally and in a very abusive relationship) and its not easy. To get yourself back into a position where you are exercising and starting to feel good about yourself is fantastic. You go girl, you will get there in the end.

Mental illness can be as debilitating as physical illness. Just because it is not apparant when you look at someone does not mean that they are not severely ill!