Newly diagnosed

[davd]

Hi everybody
I have this week been diagnosed with T2 and been prescribed Glimepiride 1mg a day .
My GP surgery have also given me a GlucoRX meter to use .
Not started tablets until tomorrow, but checked my levels on machine just to get used to it , I did it on general about 4 hours after eating, result was 13.7 which I thought was high.
When I went for my blood tests at GPS 6 days ago the tests came back from lab as 9.00 .
I don’t know if they do the readings the same as a home test , so I was wondering if 13.7 is a big increase in short time or do they measure different and do I need to be worried.

 

[Goonergal]

Hi @davd and welcome

It is likely that the result of 9 at your GP surgery was your HbA1c, which roughly equates to an average finger prick reading of 11.8. However the two measure different things - the HbA1c is an average of your blood glucose levels over 8-12 weeks. The readings from your meter are a snapshot of your levels at the time you took the test.

Testing randomly a few hours after eating won’t tell you much. You need to know what your reading was immediately before eating and then test again after 2 hours. Generally you’re looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmols.

Have a read of these links which explain more, and come back with any questions.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-testing-faqs.html

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome,

You have found the best place in the world for diabetics to find information and support.

Read the links that @Goonergal provided as that will give you some information quickly

As you have already been told you really need to test before a meal and two hours after. If the number goes up by more than 2 then the meal you ate did not suit your body. I like many here have found that what I need to do is dramatically reduce the carbs I eat- not just sugar- all carbs. But as you are on medication you should reduce them slowly and test very frequently try at first. If you go too low too quickly it may result ion a hypo so you need to be careful. There are many ion here who have been on that medication who will give you much better advice than me as I haven't been on anything other than metformin.

This site will give you hope. Many of the health profession think type 2 is a progressive illness with nothing that can be done to slow the progression. Many here have proved that wrong.

Welcome- stick around, read lots of the threads- you will get information but also realise what amazing people are on this site. They have made so much difference to my life. Ask questions- it can feel very overwhelming at first but I promise with the help of this site you can learn quickly and if you need informatio, advice or just to vent we are all here.

Welcome.

 

[davd]

Thanks for welcome.
Bit of a shock to me getting told I am diabetic and need for me to change my lifestyle so the help I get from here is very welcome.
Reached 62 and lived a certain way for most of those years and now wondering if I can manage without certain foods ( I love spicy curry) and alcohol.
Need to get back to surgery to increase prescription of test strips as they have only given 50 for 2 months supply not enough for 2 tests a day.

 

[Resurgam]

If you eat your curry with low carb veges rather than rice you should be find. I have chopped cauliflower with mine. There isn't much problem with alcohol, as long as it is not mixed with something high in carbs - as long as it doesn't react badly with the tablets.

 

[Goonergal]

Reached 62 and lived a certain way for most of those years and now wondering if I can manage without certain foods ( I love spicy curry) and alcohol.

Both of those will still be possible with some tweaks. I don’t like spicy food and don’t drink so am not the best person to advise, but check out dietdoctor.com for recipes (a simple switch is cauliflower rice for actual rice) and there are a few threads on here that will give you ideas too. The What Have You Eaten Today thread in the low carb section of the forum is a good starting point. Definitely a few on there who could help with curry and alcohol choices.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi everybody
I have this week been diagnosed with T2 and been prescribed Glimepiride 1mg a day .
My GP surgery have also given me a GlucoRX meter to use .
Not started tablets until tomorrow, but checked my levels on machine just to get used to it , I did it on general about 4 hours after eating, result was 13.7 which I thought was high.
When I went for my blood tests at GPS 6 days ago the tests came back from lab as 9.00 .
I don’t know if they do the readings the same as a home test , so I was wondering if 13.7 is a big increase in short time or do they measure different and do I need to be worried.

Hi @davd , and welcome,

If you're at 13,7 after four hours, then you were a lot higher in the hours before... And everything above 8,5 mmol/l will cause damage to your body, basically. You'll want to tackle that, but how is up to you. Better to test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite. (And yes, that's a lot of testing, and no, you'll probably not be funded for that amount of strips, sorry. The bulk of us self-fund). You're looking for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l between those two measuring points. You could accomplish that with a low carb diet, or you can tackle it with the Glimepiride; mixing those two options is not advisable, as you could well get hypo's. Perk of a low carb diet: diabetes is a progressive condition unless you change your diet. You could achieve normal bloodsugars and likely reverse any damage already done. Drawback, you might miss out on certain foods. Perks of medication: you can eat what you like. Drawback, the T2 will be progressive and you'll need ever more medication, probably culminating in resorting to insulin injections, eventually. There's people who mix a diet and medication, but usually that's not done with what you're having, due to hypo risks (Things like metformin are suitable to use alongside a low-ish carb diet though. But with a whole list of side effects, it might not be an option if you're susceptible to those.).

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- this might help a little, but if you're up for a read that isn't the readers digest version I've cobbled together, try Dr. Jason Fung's the Diabetes Code.

Good luck!
Jo
PS: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/alcohol <--alcohol's not out! And as others stated, curry's fine if you start using cauliflower rice. That stuff's versatile like you wouldn't believe.

 

[Lehany73]

I'm the same davd, I Love a spicy Curry! Turns out that the Curry is actually OK with my BG levels. It's the rice, bread and the mango chutney that will cause the massive rise in BG. As mentioned above I now have cauliflower rice with my Curry and cut the other sides out. I can now still enjoy a nice Curry without worry.

Hope this is the same for you!