Sorry for the length of this, it is all relevent...
I felt paticularly unwell the other day, and having gone without food for over 12 hours I tested my blood. My mmol/L was 12.0, which is high (for me).
I was preparing my lunch at the time and wondered if I should still eat my main meal with this high reading, or not? My thinking being - if my reading is already high then eating could raise it even more.
So, before cooking, I thought I'd ring "111" and ask their opinion (as it was a Bank Holiday and my options were limited).
I talked with a very nice lady on the phone. She checked with her superior and came back to me to say it was OK to still eat it. She said a doctor would call me back within the next couple of hours, but if I felt worse to ring 111 again.
Sometime later, after having cooked and eaten, I got a call from another lady saying the doctor was busy but would still call me back at some point. No problem I thought.
When the doctor eventually did call me he asked some routine questions but then launched into a lecture on blood testing!
He insisted I SHOULD NOT BE TESTING at all, as I was on Metformin. According to him, nobody on Metformin should be testing as it interferes with doing so (?!).
I tried to explain I have always tested once a day, originally on my G.P.s instruction (and whilst taking Metformin). I told him the doctor stopped issuing test strips about a year ago (£££), however I have been buying them to continue testing myself (normally only once a day).
I also pointed out to him if I didn't test my blood HOW was I supposed to know whether my diabetes was "under control" or not?
I had only tested twice on this occasion as I felt so unwell. Without testing I wouldn't have known my blood sugar level was the (probable) cause of me feeling ill.
The doctor grew increasingly stroppy saying I was making up my readings, as what I had told him wasn't possible!
WHY would I do such a thing? I even agreed with him that, the longer I went without food, I would have expected my reading to get lower, not higher.
For information my reading(s) that day were:
On waking (my normal testing time) my reading was 7.4
I don't eat breakfast, as a rule.
At 1215 (before eating) and after 12 hours + without food it was 12.0
(Lunch was eaten about 1300)
At 1410 it had reduced to 8.1
At 1515 it was 5.8
I ate again at teatime.
But at 2355 it was back up at 10.4 and I was feeling quite ill again. This time I didn't phone 111, as my previous dealings with their doctor had scared me off doing so!
I live alone, and I went to bed wondering if it would go higher in my sleep and (perhaps) never wake up.
Anyway, if you are still awake after reading all this...
Has ANYONE else been told NOT to take blood glucose readings whilst using Metformin? It's the first time since being diagnosed Type 2, in 2008, that I've ever heard of it.
How the hell is a sufferer supposed to take control of their diabetes WITHOUT knowing what their blood glucose is?
Puzzled.
Hi 999Sugarbabe,
I have recently been diagnosed with type two diabetes, it came about after receiving another rather shocking diagnoses for something else, but before this all my blood tests never read high or even pre diabetic, but I have to say it cam e as a real shock and has take a few months to get my head round and I ma still struggling, but I will get to the point, as I see your results are much like mine, so hopefully what i have learned may help you.
firstly, from what i have heard of the diabetic nurse, dr, internet and books, all information is contradictory and conflicting, this makes it really hard for us to know what the hell to do for the best, like you when I was told I was high and diabetic, ( i still think shock and uspest can cause high blood sugar readings, but the docs never seem to take this in to account...) but when they told me, like you, I thought logically, if I am high, I must not eat, and it will go down, but it got higher! I was terrified! When they told me, they just told me to loose weight, and take metformin.
I asked her if i lost weight, would it go, she said, no, it was for life, I did not fancy having to be on tablets forever, I know many people are, but I wanted to try and lower it myself via diet and exercise. Luckily , my husband i type one diabetic, so I have some knowledge of the subject, although slightly different form type two, but he had a spare blood testing kit, which is how i knew exactly how high my levels were, as the nurse would not give out any blood testing kits/strips, and said to just take the metformin.
After loosing all faith in the NHS from an earlier experience, and with the guidance of my husband who said you still need to eat, even if high, it what you eat that makes the difference.
I cut out all sugar, any sugar....these tone in most packaged food, so read the labels, I was and am veagn, so always thought my diet was pretty good, lots of fresh veggies and rice , pasta etc...but very low on protein, the diets the docs tell you are good, actually make your blood sugar higher, rice, pasta, potatoes, all the things we were let to believe were good, they are good, but less so if you are diabetic as they turn in to sugar once you eat them, so as lots of the diabetics now say, low carb high protein works best, but its all about testing your levels, before and after meals, to see what make you go high and for how long, and actually some foods will lower it, like protein. Also exercise, but i have found light exercise like walking is better if I am high, as anything rigorous, makes it go high too, its really hard to explain, and the dcs never believe me, but like you, I, am getting to the point, If I dont eat, I go high, if I exercise too much, I go high.
I dont know your history, but have you ever had, still have issues with food and not eating? as since I was diagnosed, I now eat more, more regularly, and more food in general, and have lost weight. I have cut out lots of carbs, by way of bread and pasta,and rice, potatoes, but still eat them about once a week and a small bit, but have upped my protein a lot, I eat lots of tofu, almond nuts fake meats, all high protein, so if you not veggie, then meat and dairy would do it.
But the protein helps balance the blood sugar, that was a revelation, and from bloody 'this morning' not from the drs!
they were saying that the juicing diets were not that great as many were high sugar from the fruit, and no protein, needed to regulate blood sugar! and a bell went off on my head!
From doing lots of tests, and keeping a food diary of everything I ate, it may have been a bit excessive to start with, but it really helped me understand my body and food, and its affect, I still tend to wake up with higher bloods, say, 6-8, but one I have breakfast, avacardo, tomato and seed or pate, soya and linseed toast, after 2-4 hours my blood sugar goes down to 5-6, if I am just working, but if I go for a walk, it goes lower and quicker, but if I go too long with out food, it will go up again, so after 2-4 hours I nibble on almonds, I used to leave 10 12 hours between meals, (and my husband says, again not scientifically proven, but seems to work for me) as I used to go with out food for so long, my body would compensate and when I had not eaten, it would release stored sugar from my liver to make up for it, the longer I go with out food, the higher it would go. But once i started eating little and often, which I hated to start with as its a pain in the ****! but my bloods regulated, and the weight started to fall off. my only problem was at night, my fasting bloods, as it would be 10-12 hours without eating, and I would wake up high, but on the nights I woke up at 3-5 am , and tested, I was at a good 5-6, but by morning, 7-8 am, it would be rising to 7-8.
I did try keeping a snack by the bed, a oat biscuit, or soya yogurt, ( I have found soya, but am sure any other no sugar ones would do the same, but if I am a little high, a yogurt helps lower it)
So now I try to eat late, again,which is again all the rules, but seems to work for me, so I have dinner about 8-10 pm, keep it lightish, you may also not feel so hungry after eating through the day anyway, and again, snack on almonds about midnight, this seems to keep me going through the night, as my body does not panic about not getting food and shoot out more sugar.
On the occasion that I cant control my food so well, on a meal out, I make sure I get walk in before and after, just to burn off any extra blood sugar.
Other things that make it high, is my period, and stress, illness, which can t be helped.
Again trying to get to my point, after getting reasonably good control via diet and exercise, I asked my Dr for test strips, as I had been buying them myself, he said i did not need to test! he also said if i lost more weight it would go away! more contradictory advice!
With out testing I would have no idea what my bloods were, or what make them go up and down, he also said to have just three small meals a day and no snacking, which I know actually makes me high, and gain weight! as I get the liver panic, no food, sugar dump!
So please if you can afford it, keep testing regularly , after foods, 2-3 hours, when you wake and before bed, and see what works for you.
xxx