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Just started home testing

Ali58

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Just started using a Blood Glucose Meter, read 10.8, after only a few sips of tea. Should I be concerned. It was 11.6 last night after a couple of hours after a meal.
 
Hi and welcome.

Yes, that is a little concerning. Definitely see your GP in the Happy New Year.
 
One random test after food or drink is a bit meaningless really, did you test before your few sips of tea? Did you have milk in it? Was there sugar? I suspect your number probably wouldn’t have been much lower before the tea even if it did have milk.

As your new to testing the advice is to test right before first bite of a meal then 2 hrs after first bite to see what that meal has done to your BG. Forgetting for a moment what your starting number is, though ideally you are looking for something below 7. What you are testing for is the 2hr rise between the two numbers. If it’s 2 or less then that meal was probably ok for you. If it’s more than 2 then you either need to reduce the carbs or cut them all together.

Looking at your other post your just on the cusp of diabetes at 49 so if you reduce your carbs in your meals (not just sugar, all carbs turn to sugar) so things like potato,rice,pasta,bread, flour products you should begin to see a reduction in your numbers

A good testing regime in the beginning to establish what your body can cope with is fasting test - so first thing as soon as you rise then test at first bite and 2 hrs after first bite. Try not to snack and stick to 2 or 3 meals a day, drinks are fine but be aware if you do have milk it does have carbs so although minimal they can add up if you drink a lot of hot drinks.

Hopefully if you reduce your carbs you will start to see your numbers come down
 
One random test after food or drink is a bit meaningless really, did you test before your few sips of tea? Did you have milk in it? Was there sugar? I suspect your number probably wouldn’t have been much lower before the tea even if it did have milk.

As your new to testing the advice is to test right before first bite of a meal then 2 hrs after first bite to see what that meal has done to your BG. Forgetting for a moment what your starting number is, though ideally you are looking for something below 7. What you are testing for is the 2hr rise between the two numbers. If it’s 2 or less then that meal was probably ok for you. If it’s more than 2 then you either need to reduce the carbs or cut them all together.

Looking at your other post your just on the cusp of diabetes at 49 so if you reduce your carbs in your meals (not just sugar, all carbs turn to sugar) so things like potato,rice,pasta,bread, flour products you should begin to see a reduction in your numbers

A good testing regime in the beginning to establish what your body can cope with is fasting test - so first thing as soon as you rise then test at first bite and 2 hrs after first bite. Try not to snack and stick to 2 or 3 meals a day, drinks are fine but be aware if you do have milk it does have carbs so although minimal they can add up if you drink a lot of hot drinks.

Hopefully if you reduce your carbs you will start to see your numbers come down

It now reads 12.9, 2 hours after first bite. Is that ok?
 
No that's high! Should be between 7-9 ideally. I tried 100g of chip shop chips and haddock and 2hours later it went o 12.2 but then if I have a sandwich made out of Danish bread it can be as low as 7.1 after 2 hours. It really is the carbs that effect the reading. So chips are an absolute treat now!
 
No that's high! Should be between 7-9 ideally. I tried 100g of chip shop chips and haddock and 2hours later it went o 12.2 but then if I have a sandwich made out of Danish bread it can be as low as 7.1 after 2 hours. It really is the carbs that effect the reading. So chips are an absolute treat now!
Please be aware that OP is new to testing and diagnosis so their numbers will still be higher than liked until they get into the way of things, they are very much in the learning stage
 
It now reads 12.9, 2 hours after first bite. Is that ok?
What did you have to eat? Did you test before you ate? If you did what was that number? If your rise was less than 2 then that meal would seem to be ok, if that’s the case you now have to work on getting your before numbers down. Try not to stress as that can very easily affect numbers too. It’s a marathon not a race and you’ll get there don’t worry. Have you read one of our members @JoKalsbeek blog which has some great info in it, I have tagged her just in case you haven’t seen it yet.
 
Just started using a Blood Glucose Meter, read 10.8, after only a few sips of tea. Should I be concerned. It was 11.6 last night after a couple of hours after a meal.
Hi @Ali58 ,

It's a tad high, but as you're only recently diagnosed, I wouldn't expect your numbers to be in the normal range already. My "normal" was over 18 at the time of diagnosis. It didn't come down overnight, but down it came, after a little bit. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help some in getting your blood sugars under control, but all in all... You're testing. That is going to make a world of difference in all this, I promise you. You'll be okay, and you're off to a good start. Don't panic if you're seeing numbers higher than what you "should" have... The thing is to get a grip on the numbers after your meals. If you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite, you're aiming for a rise of no more, and preferably less, than 2.0 mmol/l. Right now, it doesn't really matter if your numbers were 15 something before a meal, as long as they don't rise more than 2.0mmol/l after those two hours, your numbers will go down over a matter of weeks. Then, once you have your blood sugars under control, you can start looking at what numbers you should hit, ideally.... But at this moment, it's more important to make steady progress rather than asking the impossible of yourself by expecting lower numbers than you're seeing now. Thing is, your body is used to a certain amount of glucose floating around. And a body'll always try to go for some equilibrium, holding on to the status quo. Your liver'll start dumping glucose to keep you as high as it *thinks* you should be, most likely. And that's not something you can do a whole lot about. But you can so something about what you eat, gradually drop your over all numbers that way, and then your liver'll learn what the new normal is, and that it is a perfectly fine new normal to boot.

You're tackling this just fine. Hang in there!
Jo
 
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