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Older test strips

G

Ginnyhen

Member
Messages
9
Hi all
I have recently had a health check at the GP and told my H1BAC level is 47. A couple of years ago my level was 46 and reduced my carbs, but with lockdown things lapsed. I purchased a TEE2 blood glucose monitor back then and have been using the test strips over the last week to test the effect of different foods. Mostly my levels have been in the region of 5.5 to 6.5 mmol/l. I ran out of test strips and now the last 2 tests are 7.4 and 7.8, and that's without eating any carbs so now in a bit of a panic. Can older test strips become defective over time? Not really sure where to start now and feeling quite down about it.
 
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Ginnyhen said:
Can older test strips become defective over time?
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They can. There should be an expiry date on either the tub or the box the strips came in.

Ginnyhen said:
Mostly my levels have been in the region of 5.5 to 6.5 mmol/l. I ran out of test strips and now the last 2 tests are 7.4 and 7.8, and that's without eating any carbs
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An HbA1c of 47 roughly equates to an average blood glucose reading of 7.7 (see this calculator), so those readings don’t look out of range.

For what it’s worth, if I’ve wandered off track - and I don’t mean anything inherently high carb, but more of things that are low carb but I try not to eat too much of (nuts etc), it can take a few days for levels to drop back into their normal range.

When you say you’re not eating ‘any’ carbs, what does that look like?
 
Ginnyhen said:
Hi, I have been recording here, the last 2 readings were with the new test strips....

View attachment 50112
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Quite a lot of carbs in those meals.. ryvita, bread, rice porridge, juice, cous cous. fajitas all have carbs and you seem to sometimes eat them on their own which is probably giving you greater spikes.
Meat, fish, eggs and green veg/salad would probably bring your levels down quite dramatically, maybe try that for a month and you'll probably see some decent results.
 
Hi @Ginnyhen, I realise your post was specifically about the 2 days when you didn't eat carbs (apart from the tomato juice) but your diet is high in carbs overall. It must seem weird to you because your diet is also a perfect example of a varied, very healthy menu and was very similar to mine prior to diagnosis. I did not eat sweets or cakes or the zillion other items that we all recognise as garbage for anyone. The problem is as I soon found out, the amount of carbs in those meals was way too high for my body to cope with, for example an apple has 3/4 teaspoons of sugar in it, so does the bread whether white or wholemeal, so do the beans and the couscous, etc. If I eat this now I have to use much higher amounts of insulin to combat it, YOUR body is also making its own insulin to combat what you eat and if you are a type 2 (generally speaking) your body may be resistant to insulin so it's not getting through and those carbs are raising your glucose levels.

Also I find that what I eat one day, if it is higher in carbs, has a cumulative effect over 2/3 days, so if I carb up on a Monday but have no/low carbs on the Tue & Wed, my fasting levels will stay slightly raised on the Tue & Wed because of what I ate on the Monday! I know our bodies work differently across all types of diabetes but essentially it's all about the carbs. If we eat them to an extent where we cannot cope with the aftermath, whether by the use of insulin or not, then we all have to adjust I guess and what may seem a healthy diet on paper for a non diabetic (debatable) it's not a healthy one for us. As for the test strips, well they do have a use by date but I don't think they go off the very next day so how old are yours?

Your numbers aren't bad at all and your body seems to be coping with your meals but the problem is that your hb1ac may continue to rise because your body has an issue processing carbs. x
 
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Ginnyhen said:
Can older test strips become defective over time?
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As well as checking the expiry date as @Goonergal suggested, strips should generally only be used over a fixed period after opening the pot, this varies from brand to brand but this too will be marked on the pot or box.
 
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Hi, I am very confused about which foods are OK to eat. I have a book that shows GI and GL values for different foods but the info in that sometimes seems to contradict what people are saying here, For example, apples are showing low GI and low GL, small portion of wholemeal brown bread ( 1 thin slice ) showing low GL, most beans low GI and low GL, I am so confused and feel I can't eat anything !
 
Grant_Vicat said:
Hi @Ginnyhen I notice you mention tomato juice. Even that has carbs in! They exist in more foods than most people imagine.
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It says on the box that the carb content is 3.4g/100ml, ie 3.4%, I read somewhere else about trying to limit to 5%, is that wrong? What can I drink other than water?
 
Ginnyhen said:
It says on the box that the carb content is 3.4g/100ml, ie 3.4%, I read somewhere else about trying to limit to 5%, is that wrong? What can I drink other than water?
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Sorry, I didn't mean to cause alarm, but what I am trying to say is that anyone with diabetes needs to be aware of what foods contain carbs and to take account of how many are being consumed (often unwittingly at a time. It doesn't mean that you can't have any, but more measured. By the way, a glass of tomato juice of 300 ml would be 10.2 g of carbohydrate, which is one sixth of an old fashioned suggested allowance for lunch. I used to be on 240g a day which now is considered way over the top. @KK123 has made some very valid points above. I hope you get sorted quickly. Good luck
 
Thanks, what is the recommended allowance per day?
 

Hi there, this is not a scientific explanation but low GI foods are said to prevent a person from spiking quickly and the rises are more drawn out, and with the higher GI foods, the spike is quicker. Take your bread for example, white bread may send a person's levels soaring immediately or very quickly but wholemeal bread may take longer to raise glucose levels and over a longer period of time. Essentially though carbs are carbs. Of course many people get on perfectly fine with some carbs and are able to tolerate them but you really need to test, test, test which you are doing. Your figures following your food seem fine to me but if you are not satisfied with the 7s (as you mentioned) then you may want to review some food choices. I do hope you don't see this as critical in any way, but many people choose low/lower carb foods to help manage their diabetes so dependent on what you are looking to achieve it may just be a case of keeping an eye on your numbers. In response to your question to Grant, there is no set limit as such as it depends on what you wish to eat or the approach you are taking. A low carb diet for example is 130 carbs per day or less but that can prove too much for some people so they have fewer, right down to 50 or even lower (keto). x
 
Hi @Ginnyhen

Completely agree with @KK123 and @Grant_Vicat but in addition wanted to comment that we all react differently to different foods. As you say, the carb content of tomatoes is low, but for me personally, they push my blood glucose higher than I’d like and taste very sweet. It could be that consuming them in liquid form, where they’ll be digested faster is what caused the issue with your blood glucose and if you were to eat them whole and raw in a salad, the outcome may be very different. It’s all a case of trial and error and finding a way that works for you - and one that you feel you can sustain.
 
Thanks for all the info. It's only the last two readings that were using the new test strips ( hence the original question ) - was happy with the readings before that, but I now suspect they are invalid because of the increase in readings on the new strips. Its odd though, because I checked one of the old test strips with the calibration solution, and it was in range for the solution, as was the new one - but when I had 2 high readings with the new strips I checked one of the old strips and that read 4.4 as opposed to 7.4 on the new strips so am thoroughly confused
 
By the way, what I would like to do, if possible, is to reduce my H1BAC so that it is below the prediabetic range to try and avoid diabetes ( its in my family ), with the levels of blood sugar I am at, I am not sure how hard I should push myself with carb intake to lower this...
 

I think you are doing great and it looks as if your diet may well be around 130 carbs a day anyway, dependent upon portion size of course. This may well work fine for you as your day to day levels seem absolutely fine so should be reflected in your next hb1ac. Some people do find that they need to go even lower carb so it really is trial and error as to how low to go to see the numbers (lower hb1ac) you want. May I ask, how many carbs would you say you consumed on a daily basis before? If your next hb1ac is still too high for you or your daily testing shows your levels are rising then you can keep on lowering your carbs until you find a happy medium. x
 
@KK123 thanks. I don't have a sweet tooth so carbs before were from homemade bread, pasta, rice etc, nothing sweet. I've removed even more carbs from diet now but still getting high readings, had pre-breakfast reading of 9.7 this morning (!) and all I had last night was a home made burger ( no roll or breadcrumbs in the burger ), salad, coleslaw, I don't know how to get it down further and quite worried about it. What effect does drinking wine have ?
 
@KK123 these are recent readings and meals would appreciate your thoughts. The coloured numbers are pre-meal readings, the black are 2 hours post meal. Phew just taken reading 2 hours after breakfast and its back down to 5.9. The fasting levels always seem to be high.
 
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Hi Ginny, well those post meal tests are well within the 'target' which shows you are coping with your meals just fine. I am no expert on insulin resistance if you are the so called typical type 2 but many have said that fasting levels are the last to come down. I would say keep on going but I know that sounds a bit obvious so hopefully others will comment more specifically on fasting levels.
 
I found that GI and GL are totally irrelevant, all that 'counts' is the carbohydrate content.
 
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