Ordered My First Sd Codefree Kit :)

A cpl of rich tea biscuits is fine & a roast dinner is fine too as long as u didn't have too many roast potatoes lol & u will find monitoring ur be will help u keep on top of ur diabetes so u'll be fine just make sure u stick to a lchf diet & u'll soon start to feel better take care

Quirkybee said:

Hi,
I am new to this lovely forum and have received valuable help and advice over this last weekend.
Following on from that advice, I have purchased the SD Codefree testing monitor kit (mmol) UK, think it tests in the other unit too, (see you can tell how unfamiliar I am with the lingo, lol).
I also ordered 100 finger lancets
Software cable (was this worth ordering?)
Plus 5 packs - 250 test strips including the voucher code, which saved me £8+
These were £34.

£53+ in all, but it's to benefit my diabetes and hopefully, if I can do this, give me a better, healthier life and understanding of this disease.

Thank you to all who have helped me, I really appreciate it. I'm still moithered and confused, so had 2 rich tea biscuits and a cuppa tea earlier, haha, plus a nice roast chicken dinner, oh dear haha.

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You don't need nearly as many lancets as you think/assume. They same one can last quite a while.

Well done, the cable is worthwhile if statistics and trends interest you. Dont put too much store on individual readings, you will have some days where your sugars are high for whatever reason.
I would not use the same lancet twice myself

Well done in getting your sd codefree monitor. I didn't, t bother with the cable

Quirkybee said:

Hi,
I am new to this lovely forum and have received valuable help and advice over this last weekend.
Following on from that advice, I have purchased the SD Codefree testing monitor kit (mmol) UK, think it tests in the other unit too, (see you can tell how unfamiliar I am with the lingo, lol).
I also ordered 100 finger lancets
Software cable (was this worth ordering?)
Plus 5 packs - 250 test strips including the voucher code, which saved me £8+
These were £34.

£53+ in all, but it's to benefit my diabetes and hopefully, if I can do this, give me a better, healthier life and understanding of this disease.

Thank you to all who have helped me, I really appreciate it. I'm still moithered and confused, so had 2 rich tea biscuits and a cuppa tea earlier, haha, plus a nice roast chicken dinner, oh dear haha.

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When I was in your shoes Quirkybee, I quickly learned the money I invested in testing kit was some of the best money I'll ever spend. you'll soon have your own, personal and immediate feedback on whether something is OK to eat. The power of that knowledge in real time is priceless.

You'll be frustrated by it all sometimes, but never doubt how positive it is to be testing.

Good luck with it all.

I don't change my lancets very often. I change them when it becomes more difficult to draw blood, or when they start to hurt. Sometimes when I open a new pot of strips, so that makes it every 50 tests. Sometimes more frequently. It is up to you, of course, but I think you will find many of us use the same one over and over.

I dnt use the Lancets more than once & i dnt think u shd either u need t use a fresh one every time u test

1. Ask your "Dietician" to explain how eating Fat will increase your weight
2. Nothing will happen quickly. Changes in Diet will take time to show up in individual BG tests
3. Is your "Dietician" actually qualified to give you advice on your diet ?
4. The human body is designed to give you a glucose boost in the morning (via a Liver Dump) so you will likely get a higher reading despite an overnight fast, it's quite normal.
5. It might be a good idea to request some further tests to determine why you have a raised HbA1c without any obvious weight gain. You may not have a simple case of T2D.

I'm glad your meter has arrived. It's important now that you put it to good use.

Test immediately before you eat (with clean, dry hands)
Test 2 hours after your first bite.
Keep a food diary, including portion sizes
Record your before and after levels alongside the food eaten.
Look at the rise from before to after.
This rise will show you what that meal has done to your levels.
Initially, if it is more than 2mmol/l there are far too many carbs in that meal.
You can repeat that meal with smaller portions of any carbs, or eliminate some of them completely.
Keep doing this until your rise is under 2mmol/l.
Once you get started properly, aim for less than 1.5mmol/l
Eventually aim for less than 1mmol/l

Try not to get stressed at any high numbers you see. The aim now is to learn how to lower them, and the only way to do that is to cut those carbs right down. It is all trial and error. Don't expect to "get there" in a week. It is a long learning curve.

If you get a number that you feel is wrong, just test again. We all get bad strips from time to time, and sometimes our hands aren't clean.

Your numbers are quite high. The NHS guidelines advise never to go above 8.5. PLEASE don't worry about it. Using your meter and a food diary will teach you, and you will get control this way. This is a marathon rather than a sprint.

Stop worrying about increasing fats. They only make you fat if you also eat too many carbs. You don't need to go overboard with fats, just throw out all the low fat products and eat proper food that isn't full of added sugar and chemicals!

Hi @Quirkybee Good news about your meter. It will be invaluable. Call me cynical but I would hazard a guess that if your dietician had diabetes herself, she would soon change her tune about not testing and low carbing.

Would you fancy trying the low carb programme to help you focus? https://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb/

Keep going and take time to find what's right for you, and your meter will help you do this. I really don't understand why they don't recommend getting a meter at the outset for T2 as how can you improve your lot if you don't have an idea of the numbers?

Mine arrived today too and I took readings before my evening meal and two hours after. Mine was 7.2 before and 7.9 after. My evening meal is quite light as I have my main meal at lunchtime. I've cut out a lot of carbs, so that explains the fairly respectable sevens, and I've lost some weight, so delighted! I'm now going to spend the next nine days trying to get the numbers down before my next doctor's appointment when we'll discuss whether to medicate or not.

Thanks, Quirkybee. Funnily enough, I'm starving too and have a bit of a headache. I'm debating whether to eat something before I go to bed.

I guess we have to keep on experimenting till we get it right.

Quirkybee said:

That's brilliant Tabby, wish mine was like that earlier. Only had 2 smoked haddock fillets,
Tin potatoes between son and I,
Generous serving of mixed veg, carrots, sweetcorn and peas (Aldis own frozen), dessert spoon of Aldi extra light mayo

But I did have small pancake type sweet thing before I had tea as I was starving, only having a chicken salad for lunch, satsuma and a teeny pear.

I don't know where I'm going wrong.
I'm hungry now, but having can apple and fizzy water, neither of which I want and I expect an apple is quite dense, so probably the wrong thing to eat tonight

Will test when I wake in the morning.
Thanks

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Root vegetables especially potatoes (no matter how they are cooked) are very problematic , any type of grain product is also on the naughty step, satsuma is a no go.
As a general guide nearly all veg that grows above ground is OK but anything made from grain products which includes ruce, pasta, couscous, breads, sweet corn is major problem. Brealfast cereal are a veritable minefield
Fruit is also has some rough and ready guide lines, if it is berry it is Okay, if it can grow in nothern europe it is Okay in smallish portions. Tropical fruit and dried fruit is on the must avoid list.
Low fat or" lite" products including Mayo and Yoghurt as they are generally loaded extra sugar to replace the fats.

These are very rough & ready guidelines they err on the side of caution and our bodies are all different don't all react in the same way to each food so let testing be your guide. You will find yourself reading the label on every food you buy and searching the internet for dietary information much of which will be unreliable but you will get there.

This is where you went wrong in that meal. Shared tin of potatoes, carrots, sweetcorn and peas, extra light mayo, the sweet pancake and probably the satsuma.

It is very important to check all the food labels for total carb amounts.

I know it is hard to get your head round things at first, we have all been in that situation. As said above, use your meter to learn, and you will get there.

Quirkybee said:

I've received my lot today, with 250 extra strips, cable and lancets.
I've used 3 lancets for each test this evening. Just been trying to get used to this kit really, but getting there slowly.

However, my reading an hour after meal was 15.6, then hour later 13.5. Is this very high? Tested my friend who isn't diabetic and she was 6.7.
I don't want to test if it's going to make me stress more though as I've been told by the Dietitian today that I don't really need to test for a T2.

Plus she didn't really agree with the LCHF diet. So I'm. Totally confused now as to who to believe. Those on here or listen to the Dietitian. I've had very useful advice from this site though, but worried as she said if I start eating higher in fat foods, then it will certainly increase my weight.

She also couldn't understand how my hbac1 has been 40 for years, then the last 4-5 months is raised to 70 odd and then 113. She expected me to have put on a lot of weight. But she did say that stress can affect diabetes and I have a lot of stress right now, but no different to the last couple of years. I really don't know what I've done differently for my glucose to raise like it did.

How can I lower my sugar depending on the meal consumed, plus what if it is still up when I test upon waking, after fasting all night?

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I and some of my fellow diabetics at the local support group have found it is easier to plan. We tend to plan what we eat and work out all the lurid data, then stick to it. There seems to be more truth and accuracy in the fact before than the facts after. I had the dawn phenomena too and a protein snack last thing before bed helped heaps. Now that I have the BGLS where they should be (after the Newcastle diet, heaps of exercise and tootling along a mediterranean diet) my dawn phenomena has disappeared as well.
As someone has already commented, things take a while to settle down - the human body is a sneaky and uncooperative beast. Just keep at it, follow good advice from your medics and the results usually come along (even if in fits and starts).
Best of luck you will get there.

maggie59 said:

I dnt use the Lancets more than once & i dnt think u shd either u need t use a fresh one every time u test

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I think Jenny Rhule in her books reckons it's unnecessary and she has never had a problem with infections as a result of reusing them.