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Newly Diagnosed type 2 - Amount of bg tests ? I also have ADHD - and anxiety issues

Bulks

Bulks

Active Member
Messages
32
Location
Bracknell
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
My ADHD
I am newly diagnosed type 2 from Dec last year, been lurking for a while! I was also diagnosed with Adult ADHD with anxiety as a bi-product of this. So quite a hat trick!
My bg levels were 29.8 when discovered, by total accident at work on a health awareness day, needless to say I was sent straight to my GP. A week or so later my fasting test came back as 8.4, I was plonked onto 500mg Metformin and cut most sugar out of my diet and in the first 4 weeks I managed to loose around 13-15 lbs., I have since been self-educating myself on carbs and think I am doing quite well. My morning bg levels vary between 6.0 and 7.4, its 2 hours after eating that I seem to be higher, generally 9.5-11.
I do walk as much as possible as a form of exercise and have joined the gym at work. IM 6ft 3 and 18st dead on right now, BMI is 32.5 - so I know I need to shed more.
I have been provided a Wavesense Jazz meter and test strips on script and my exemption form has been posted off.
My first question is around how many times I SHOULD be testing my bg levels?

1. My anxiety tells me as often as possible
2. My head tells me 2 hours after every meal
3. My GP tells me whenever I need to for self-education.
4. My Diabetic nurse tells me about twice a week.
5. My ADHD tells me that I need to know if my hyperactivity and attendtion deficit is due to my ADHD or my bg levels

Due to my nurse telling me that I should only test 2 times a week, Im not being allowed more than 1 box of test strips every 3 months! When i thought that access to strips should (under NICE guidelines) be assessed on an individual basis.

Am I being OTT with wanting to test more than 2 times a week?

As I said earlier I also have ADHD and need to know sometimes if I need to take my ADHD medication or not, and having Type 2 has just complicated this decision.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome !

Thanks !
Richard
 
Welcome to the forum Richard. Testing twice a week is not really going to provide a lot of useful information. However, some T2's are not given any strips at all ! You've already made some good progress with your diet so well done for that. You can always go back to your doctor or nurse and put a case forward for a few more strips, at least in the early stages so you can see how your body reacts to certain foods. Ideally, you should test prior to eating and a couple of hours after. This will tell you how certain foods affect your levels. Lastly, keep a food diary and keep records of your blood glucose levels.
 
Hi Richard

Welcome

If you've been lurking you will probably have read the welcome message from Daisy, lot of helpful info there

I would suggest that you test on waking before you eat or drink

Then test before meals and 2 hours after meals and keep some notes.
You will soon see what food raise you blood sugars and what keeps them in line.

When you have the hang of it you can reduce the number of times you check

If you want to share some of your meals we can give some pointers onto what raises your sugar

Great stuff on the weight loss an exercise. I can tell you it helps from experience

You may need to but your own strips as the NHS are tight! If you go down this road it may be cheaper to buy an SD Code Free Meter as the strips are one third of the price of those most other meters

Please ask any more questions if we can help we will


Cara
 
Cara, Yes seen the post from Daisy, thanks. I going back in just over a week now to see how the metformin SR is going in comparisson to the normal metformin, 5 days in it seems to be giving me less of a stomach upset.... ehem...

mo, thanks for the kind words, no idea how I mamaged to loose a stone is 3 weeks, but not complaining, weight does seem to have hit a plateaue though mo. Sorry couldnt resist..... I will put forward a case when I go back nesty week, I'd be happy with 100 a month, the wavesense strips are £13.99 for 50, so half that of the AccuChek
 
Bulks said:
Cara, Yes seen the post from Daisy, thanks. I going back in just over a week now to see how the metformin SR is going in comparisson to the normal metformin, 5 days in it seems to be giving me less of a stomach upset.... ehem...
<snip>
Click to expand...

Hi Richard and welcome to the forum:) Glad you have seen the information.
Ask all the questions you need to and someone will help.
 
Hiya Richard and welcome.

I have a chronic anxiety disorder and have been low carbing for just a month to try to bring down my blood glucose level. An unexpected and welcome side effect of this is that my anxiety has decreased. I am sleeping much sounder and I am generally more chilled about things that would usually freak me out.

I am guessing that I am calmer because my blood glucose is more stable now. Every cloud.....

All the best :)
 
So - I've been on Ritalin for a week, its immediate release methylphenidate and I'm beginning to realise something.

Both the metformin and the Ritalin are apatite suppressants and I can go all day without eating, I don't like breakfast and by the time lunch comes around I'm honestly NOT hungry. I force what I can down and when I get home I have a full evening meal. During the day my heart starts pounding and I get incredibly jittery and quite talkative. My blood sugars during the day for a type2 are sub 5.0 quite a lot and 2 hours after eating 6.0-6.2 REGARDLESS of what I eat!!?? I've lost well over a stone since the new year.

I haven't spoken to my doctor yet as I've had so much time off work recently for one reason or another, and have a raft of appointments coming up for both conditions anyway.

So;
  1. Could Ritalin be lowering my bg levels?
  2. Does anyone know anyone else that both Diabetic and ADHD?

Ta !
Richard
 
Hi Richard May I say you sound a lot like me when I was a youngster,rushing about and not eating properly.
Do see your Gp because you may not need to take metformin at all at this time.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD
 
Thanks, that's what I planned on doing - until my bg levels tonight shot up I excess of 9 2 hours after eating - crazy !
 
Hiya I have a son who has adhd he's now 21 and ritalin can be a supresant however you should not need to check when you take your ritalin by checking your bs..you should take it first thing in morning I'm asuming its long acting.you are fortunate to get it at your age..my son is now of it as past 17 they don't often prescribe it..you ritalin should be took same time each day ..I also work helping parents of children with adhd or asd cope with family life. Well done on weight loss
 
ADHD in adults has been recognised as a condition by NICE since 2008. One in three people with ADHD as a child will progress into adulthood with the condition still present and symptoms of ADHD will prevail.

I wasn't diagnosed until I was 39. I have struggled with depression and anxiety all my life and the psychiatrist who I eventually saw after two years of battling picked up on the ADHD symptoms and said that the anxiety and depression were both bi-products of adult ADHD another assessment was made by a further psychiatrist and the diagnosis was finally made.

Since being on Ritalin my life is starting to improve, my focus is better than it's been my entire life. I am mainly ADHD inattentive which means that I suffer with attention deficit more than I do hyperactivity.

Thanks for the advice it's much appreciated !
 
Richard I know its been reconised lol but I'm sure your aware not all dr's agree with one another therefor an adult aquiring ritalin or concerta often struggles unless they can go private..I'm glad its helping you and that your dr reconised it :-) .I hope you continue to feel better
 
Okay - veering slightly off topic but there is a major difference between ADHD in children and ADHD in adults, not everybody is aware that adult ADHD even exists or is medically recognised unfortunately.
 
Bulks I'm well aware of this I umm do know my onions when it comes to adhd shall we say be it child or adult..I will help familys .hower as I say I have a 21 year old son who has adhd and has had since the moment he was born. I'm confused as to your point but I do think you have done well in weight loss and getting yourself sorted its fab
 
My point is that if your son is 21 and has adult ADHD and continues to show symptoms either inattentiveness or hyperactivity then he is entitled to medication through the nice guidelines via the NHS.

I'm not trying to start a spat with you, far from it, I was just trying to point out that if his doctor isn't willing to prescribe, you could point out that the nice guidelines suggest that they should, just ask for referral to your local NHS trust for an adult ADHD diagnosis if needed.

I initially went private and was covered by my medical insurance but that just reinforced my position to make the NHS provide a positive diagnosis.

With all of your experience with ADHD i'm sure that you know that people can Hyperfocus and "perhaps" become somewhat opinionated, so I do apologise if I came across a little heavy-handed - it was not intentional.
 
Hi I didn't think you wanted a spat far from it to be fair..my son to clarify most certainly has adhd however he uses it to his advantage now and has learned to put his hyperactivity into his work with youths and keeping them of the streets with sports and such.and he also has a job at game which pays his wages and is a dream job for him as he is able to put his ability to remember details into force and they have been fab employers..thank you though for the info
 
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