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new to diabetes

That's ok! Expected from prediabetic or T2. If you test before and after 2 hours you will see a pattern emerge on what you eat. Keep a food diary and eat less carbs. There are plenty of alternatives!
 
Hi Paul, and welcome.

Ideally, we should be only eating enough carbs in a meal to send the blood sugar up by 2 mmol/l, or less, after two hours.

So if you start at 5.7, you should try and not go over 7.7 two hours after eating. Likewise, if you start at 8, an acceptable rise is to go up to 10.

There are NHS guidelines telling us what our ideal levels should be, but to start with, keeping to the 'no more than 2' rule is a great start.

I'm guessing that the reason you felt so bad at 4.5 three hours after food is not because your blood glucose was particularly low. Instead, I think it was because it rose quickly and then dropped quickly. Rapid rises and falls like that can make you feel dreadful. Keeping to gentle rises and falls is much more comfortable.

The answer is to try and eat fewer carbs (potato, pasta, rice, bread, sugar, cake, biscuits...). The smaller the portion, the smaller the rise. And the better you will feel.

Why not try a few meals where you eat half portions of carbs (fill up on meat and veg instead, so you don't go hungry). And measure your blood glucose before and 2 hours after. That should give you a start to understand how your body is reacting to the carbs, and what size portions work for you.

Hope that made sense! :)
 
Paul... Firstly, welcome aboard.

Have you been told about DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed)? If nobody has mentioned this course to you, talk to your doctor. You'll come away from it with a much firmer grasp of this thing.
 
Hi Paul,

I was diagnosed in September and am just getting used to how it all works.
Don't despair, it will all fall into place, honest, just takes a bit of time.
If you look at my numbers (below) you'll see that I do understand about how things can go up and down so quickly.
I can be about 11 when I wake up but up to 22 at various times in the day.... talk about erratic!

Two things,
I was told to introduce Metformin gradually, so I have been gradually increasing to 2 x 2 daily.
I'm glad you've had yours reduced at the moment as it does take time for some people's body to get used to it.
Secondly, Brunneria gave me good advice when I first came here and I think her post holds out really helpful info for you too.

Keep in touch with us.

BeeGee
 
BeeGee said:
Hi Paul,

I was diagnosed in September and am just getting used to how it all works.
Don't despair, it will all fall into place, honest, just takes a bit of time.
If you look at my numbers (below) you'll see that I do understand about how things can go up and down so quickly.
I can be about 11 when I wake up but up to 22 at various times in the day.... talk about erratic!

Two things,
I was told to introduce Metformin gradually, so I have been gradually increasing to 2 x 2 daily.
I'm glad you've had yours reduced at the moment as it does take time for some people's body to get used to it.
Secondly, Brunneria gave me good advice when I first came here and I think her post holds out really helpful info for you too.

Keep in touch with us.

BeeGee
Click to expand...

That is very sweet. Thank you. :)
 
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