New to testing and confused

Maggie75 said:

Do these readings seem correct?

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Are you on any medication?

Hi. It's sounding pretty good so far.
I would try slightly down the sides of your fingers. Change the settings to see how deep you need to go. Alternate the fingers in sequence. Make sure your hands are clean and dry. It is recommended to test before eating and then two hours afters to see what that range is. From your morning test you can see the carbs in the bix were still present in your blood. With time you will identify what you can eat without causing too much of a rise and what you probably should stay away from.
Hope this helps. Don't go away and please let us know how you are going.
Good luck.

Maggie75 said:

Hi everyone,

I just started testing my glucose levels with new meter today and I'm slightly confused with results. First one was 9.5 2 hours after eating 2 weetabix with skimmed milk (probably should have expected that).

Had 2 scrambled eggs for lunch and reading 2 hours after that was 4 which seemed like quite a big drop. Had a low carb dinner of chicken breast stuffed with light Philadelphia and herbs wrapped in prosciutto with salad with mozzarella and toasted walnuts followed by raspberries and blueberries. Next reading 2 hours after dinner was 4.4 which seems super low, I had to use 5 test strips to get that reading, first one was 1.9 which I knew was wrong.

Do these readings seem correct? I'm so confused as to whether I'm doing this right, meter is glucose navii from spirit healthcare. Also any advice on reducing pain of finger pricking? Took me 4 attempts with test after dinner, I was nearly in tears! Guess I'll have to get used to it. Thanks for any advice about this.

Maggie x

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Sounds pretty decent so far, actually. The Weetabix with skimmed milk wasn't the best choice, but you knew that and the meter confirmed it. The rest... Perfect meals.

If you're pricking right in the middle of your fingertips, you're hitting the spot where the most nerves are located. You want to be off to the side, that hurts less. And don't set it too deep, a little bit should be enough, unless you have very calloused fingers.

All in all, what you consider super-low readings, well... They would pretty much fit with what you ate. Those are normal readings. Excellent ones, even. Granted, the 1,9 was off, but you knew you weren't really hypo and tested again. (And again, and again.... Your poor fingers!).

Take it easy, alternate fingers if one gets sore, and don't use the middle of your finger pad. It's where my old GP used to do a way too deep prick, and I'd be unable to type with that finger for a day after, and I wondered back then how diabetics did it. Well, not on the pad, as it turns out!

After a while you get used to it, by the way. my hair used to stand on end, now I don't quite care.
Good luck, and congrats on the good readings! (Also... With readings like that, I doubt you actually need the metformin. But that's just me).
Jo

satsumas are high carbs as is any chocolate except 90% dark. So the food more than the meter. Plus if you ate with fingers and then didn't wash before testing.
Don't worry, its a steep learning curve

Maggie75 said:

Thanks so much for your replies, and the advice about testing, hopefully I'll get used to it, phobic about needless but that's life I guess!?

Tested again tonight before going to bed, I had a little bit of chocolate and a satsuma, wasn't 2 hours after eating, more like an hour and tested 9.2! So either I've eaten way too many carbs with that or not waited long enough to test? Or it's a duff meter...

Feeling like I'll never get a handle on this.

Maggie x

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Saying you didn't wait long enough to test is like saying oops, you forgot to turn a blind eye. Satsuma's are high in sugar. There's not a whole lot of fruit we can eat without seeing the results you discovered on your meter. Berries, (preferably with cream or clotted cream to slow down the spike), avocado's, starfruit, we usually can get away with. The rest of it all... Not so much. As for the chocolate, it wholly depends on how much sugar was in there. I started off with Lindt 85%, which is an extra dark chocolate, but these days I prefer the 99% or the new 100% kind. I'll make an exception for the very dark Peruvian my favourite chocolatier carries, and some chocolatiers have sugar free praline's, though they do have certain side effects. (The sweeteners used are excellent far as taste goes, but usually they are also a laxative if taken in anything but moderation).

You will get a handle on this, it just is a LOT of information to take in, in one go. That's why I wrote The Nutritional Thingy, hoping to condense a lot of it in relatively simple, easy to remember/look up terms. When you're just starting out, a book like Dr. Fung's The Diabetes Code is wonderful, but after the shock of diagnosis, not a lot of it'll stick to the brain. I know I've had to read it more than once to get a bit of a grip on it. (After all, a trauma like a diagnosis messes with your ability to concentrate and your short term memory.). None of us got it right in one go. We all started out just like you are feeling now. Well, speaking for myself, I was lost, confused, and scared out of my mind. Turns out, after a bit of practice, -and it did take a few months to get it right,-diabetes is the most manageable condition I currently have. You'll get there, don't worry. Give yourself some time.

And aside from some extraordinary individuals, none of us enjoyed getting used to the finger pricking. You're not alone there either.

MrsA2 said:

as is any chocolate except 90% dark.

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Not strictly true, there are quite low 85%'s and also higher % than 90%

Maggie75 said:

Thanks again for the replies everyone, didn't know that about satsuma so I'll be staying away from them now as well I guess? So berries are about it then fruit wise? I saw an article saying pears, grapefruit and cherries were good?

Anyway back to my crazy meter, I think this thing is trying to take the proverbial with me, I tested first thing this morning and got a 9.0 on right finger, tested again immediately on opposite hand and got 7.7. No breakfast, decided on a lie in today and tested again after 12 and got 7.2! Doesn't make sense to me, how it could be so low yesterday and then be so high when I've been fasting since half 9 last night. I'm going to be scared to eat anything at this rate. Sorry if it sounds like I'm moaning about this, I'm just freaking out a bit here, think I should have invested in a better meter...any suggestions on this would be great.

Maggie x

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The high(er) morning readings are known as the dawn phenomenon or foot to the floor syndrome, your body pumps out stored glucose from you liver to prepare yourself for the mornings exertions, you fasting BG is usually the last one to come down, don't panic this is a marathon not a sprint, and no 2 people are the same, and even your own body will have different results to exactly the same food depending on many other things - stress levels, when you eat it, what you eat it with, for us ladies where you are in your cycle.

Your blood sugar meter is a random number generator that centres vaguely on your actual blood sugar level. Check the documentation, but it's not uncommon for a 15% overread or underread to be considered valid, so if you're actually at 6.0, that could legitimately read anywhere between 5.1 and 6.9.

I'm in the process of switching from GlucoRx-Q to Tee2+ and seeing very different readings across both meters, with the Tee2+ consistently reading 1-2 mmol/L higher than the Gluco-Rx-Q. In theory, the Tee2+ is newer technology and more accurate, however the averages I'm getting from the Q are more consistent with the HbA1c result I got a few days ago, which would put my average blood sugar at around 6.5 mmol/l.

I'm finding the lancet that came with the Tee2+ is a lot more forgiving than the one that came with the GlucoRx-Q, in spite of being equally effective at drawing blood. While both eject and instantly recoil the needle on a spring, the GlucoRx-Q one seems to do it a lot more forcefully than the Tee2+ one. As some others, I find the sides of my fingers (as close as I can get to the side of the nail, without the droplet running onto the nail) is the least painful option. If your meter offers AST, then you can test from other parts of your body, too. This is good for routine testing, though fingers tend to give the most accurate results if your levels are rapidly increasing or decreasing.

Maggie75 said:

Thanks to everyone for your replies, it helps to know that there's support and help when and if I need it.

Tested again today after lunch which was (wait for it) bacon sandwich on wholemeal bread, I know not the best but I need to know what carbs are going to spike my blood sugar, 2 hours later reading was 7.5 so not that bad I think. I'm cutting carbs a lot but really don't want to give them up completely so it really will be a learning curve with this I think.

I've seen those freestyle libre's being advertised as an alternative to finger prick tests, they are very expensive though, does anyone have any experience with these, are they worth it?

Maggie x

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I've been using a Libre CGM since last July and have found that the information it provides has enabled me to make a vast improvement in my BG control. I can see very easily how meals (and in my case insulin) impact on BG. I had given serious consideration to self funding but luckily am funded by our brilliant NHS service.
There's a UK Libre Users Facebook group that may provide you with useful info.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukusersfreestylelibre

miahara said:

I've been using a Libre CGM since last July and have found that the information it provides has enabled me to make a vast improvement in my BG control. I can see very easily how meals (and in my case insulin) impact on BG. I had given serious consideration to self funding but luckily am funded by our brilliant NHS service.
There's a UK Libre Users Facebook group that may provide you with useful info.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukusersfreestylelibre

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I've been funding my own Libre (impossible to get on the NHS as a T2 as I understand.) Currently on my 4th sensor (or 5th, if you count the first faulty one, that they replaced) so I'm in this to the tune of £200 so far.

Flash Glucose Monitoring does teach you a lot, but (as I was cautioned by others) the absolute numbers from Libre are not to be relied on, and it's really the trends that are interesting. It's curious to see how certain foods can cause little to no issues in the short term (perhaps a sub 0.5 mmol/L spike from 'before meal' to '2 hours after meal', but at the same time, lead to an increase in overall levels for the next 12 hours or more.

Libre is addictive, and it's certainly nice just being able to eat normally, rather than avoid everything for 2 hours after a meal, just so you can get a sensible PC reading by blood. But ultimately, unless you're financially comfortable to the point of genuinely not missing £100 a month, It's a very expensive habit if you have to self-fund.

@Maggie75 if you really can't go without bread (and you're not gluten intolerant) then look at the Keto King bread recipe on YouTube. It makes perfectly good sandwich bread, though it doesn't toast or soak up sauces and gravy as nicely as 'real' bread. You need a bread maker, but Aldi are currently doing one for £50. It's a sound investment if you still want a bacon butty from time to time, but don't want the huge carb intake that goes with (even wholemeal) wheat bread.

As a rule, anything promoted as 'keto' is fine for us (the keto diet cuts out carbs, but for other reasons.) If you really enjoy something that's usually high carb, then Google to see if there's a keto version you can make.

I got a waffle maker to make 'chaffles' - cheese and egg waffles.
It is now destined to make bacon 'chaffys' - they are seriously good, but you certainly know when you have eaten one - there is such a thing as too much bacon - I was surprised too.

Maggie75 said:

Thanks again for the replies everyone, didn't know that about satsuma so I'll be staying away from them now as well I guess? So berries are about it then fruit wise? I saw an article saying pears, grapefruit and cherries were good?

Anyway back to my crazy meter, I think this thing is trying to take the proverbial with me, I tested first thing this morning and got a 9.0 on right finger, tested again immediately on opposite hand and got 7.7. No breakfast, decided on a lie in today and tested again after 12 and got 7.2! Doesn't make sense to me, how it could be so low yesterday and then be so high when I've been fasting since half 9 last night. I'm going to be scared to eat anything at this rate. Sorry if it sounds like I'm moaning about this, I'm just freaking out a bit here, think I should have invested in a better meter...any suggestions on this would be great.

Maggie x

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https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/fruits <-- that should help with the fruit. But yeah... Basically it's just berries. The meter giving high glucose readings in the morning would indeed be Dawn Phenomenon, your liver helping out by dumping stored glucose (in a way a good thing, because you want to get rid of that particular stuff!) to help you start the day, and the sandwich.... That's a bit tricky. With bacon, you added a lot of fat to the meal, meaning it slows down the spike you would've seen if it'd just been the bread. That does usually mean your blood glucose might not spike as high, but it will remain on the higher side longer than normal, which isn't exactly desirable either. If you eat something very carby with fats, try testing again at the 3 hour mark as well, and see whether you've gone up, down or remained the same, and whether those numbers are acceptable to you. There's people who can have a pizza and be wonderful at the 2 hour mark, because the fats slow down the uptake of the carbs... Then at 4 or even 5 hours they get a spike; the fats are gone but the glucose isn't, yet. It's called the Pizza Effect.

I know, it's all a bit... Much. You'll get it though. Like I said, give yourself some time.

Resurgam said:

I got a waffle maker to make 'chaffles' - cheese and egg waffles.
It is now destined to make bacon 'chaffys' - they are seriously good, but you certainly know when you have eaten one - there is such a thing as too much bacon - I was surprised too.

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Hi @Resurgam , a bit of a delayed reply at over 3 years later but I didn't want to derail this thread at the time.
Do you remember how to make those bacon chaffys? I think I need them in my life...

Antje77 said:

Hi @Resurgam , a bit of a delayed reply at over 3 years later but I didn't want to derail this thread at the time.
Do you remember how to make those bacon chaffys? I think I need them in my life...

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I think everyone may need those in their lives.

Antje77 said:

Hi @Resurgam , a bit of a delayed reply at over 3 years later but I didn't want to derail this thread at the time.
Do you remember how to make those bacon chaffys? I think I need them in my life...

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I seem to remember that it involved cooking a pack of bacon and placing it in the halogen oven to keep warm. Preheat the waffle maker and beat together a couple of eggs with shredded or grated cheese - I used mozzarella or red leicester or cream cheese depending on what I had in the fridge and them added a tablespoon of almond or coconut or psyllium flour - it is just to make the result more bread-like.
Cook a couple of chaffys, not hurrying the process as getting them a bit crispy is good. The first one can be put on top of the bacon to keep warm.
When the second one is done put as much bacon as possible, plus sauce if liked, in between them or layer bacon, mushrooms and then more bacon. If you have a third egg, you can fry it in the pan used for the bacon and add it to the layers, or some might make a mushroom omelette in an effort to reduce layer slippage. Do not wear your best shirt or most expensive knitwear if about to indulge in one of these.