Sugar checks

[catherine J]

I was diagnosed in sept type 2 . I’m on metformin take 1,000mg daily . Everyone talks about checking sugar levels and meters etc . I spoke to my nurse and she said no need as I’m on metformin . Bit confused as very new to this how do I control my sugars if not being checked . I’m in Scotland

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I was diagnosed in sept type 2 . I’m on metformin take 1,000mg daily . Everyone talks about checking sugar levels and meters etc . I spoke to my nurse and she said no need as I’m on metformin . Bit confused as very new to this how do I control my sugars if not being checked . I’m in Scotland

"How do I control blood sugars if not being checked". Well, that's the thing, isn't it? You don't, you can't, not properly. It's just a guess, and no more than that. But the NHS can't hand out meters and strips left and right to T2's, there's just too many of us, we'd bankrupt them. So no, we don't have to test.... But yes, we should.

So... The bulk of us self-fund. @Rachox has some excellent information on meters, and that should help you in your decision on which one to go for, if you want to give it a go.

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html this might help some in the food department. Try not to feel too overwhelmed: this didn't come on overnight, and you don't have to fix it overnight either. And while there is no cure as yet, it can be controlled.
Hang in there. You're going to be fine, as you're asking the right questions right off the bat.

Good luck,
Jo

 

[Margarettt]

was diagnosed in sept type 2 . I’m on metformin take 1,000mg daily . Everyone talks about checking sugar levels and meters etc . I spoke to my nurse and she said no need as I’m on metformin . Bit confused as very new to this how do I control my sugars if not being checked . I’m in Scotland

Hi @catherine J and welcome aboard. I'm also in Scotland and was diagnosed in August so we'll be learning together. I was very fortunate to find this site the weekend following diagnosis and have moved forward with lots of the advice and information here. I told my nurse I was testing with a meter and shoved the numbers under her nose before she could tell me not to so all she was left with was "I'm not providing your strips" (she is actually lovely and it was all a bit tongue in cheek)
I love the security my meter gives me. I test before I eat and two hours after. All these wee 5s and 6s give me a sense of security and make me feel like I'm doing ok. Would my blood glucose numbers be the same if I wasn't testing? Maybe but when I see a (now rare) double digit number how would I know I'd eaten something that my body disapproved of? Whether necessary or not, testing is good for my physical, mental and emotional health.
I wish you luck on your journey @catherine J
Lang may yir lum reek

 

[catherine J]

I don’t mind buying a Meter that’s not the issue . It was just the nurse saying you don’t have to check your sugars your on metformin if you were to go into an additional tablet then yes you would test your sugars and we would provide meter . Just don’t get it do I check or not . They were checked in October when I was first given metformin do no checks since

 

[Rachox]

Hi @catherine J , I think diabetes nurses associate testing with type 1s who have to test to calculate insulin doses. They don’t see the value type 2s get from testing to see how different food affect us, so we eliminate or tweak meals to a point where we will only eat things that keep our blood sugars healthy.
Thanks for the tag @JoKalsbeek .

So here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793



The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)

 

[Margarettt]

Just don’t get it do I check or not

Sorry @catherine J .I should have said this in my original response, The reason many/most of us test is because (whether on metformin or not) we are trying to improve our blood glucose readings ( and thus improve our diabetes) through diet (generally through adopting a low carbohydrate diet) meters let you see you have eaten more carbs than your body tolerates. If I'm honest I don;t know what the point would be in testing if you are not learning /monitoring your intake.
Hope that helps

edited to fix typing in the dark mistakes

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I don’t mind buying a Meter that’s not the issue . It was just the nurse saying you don’t have to check your sugars your on metformin if you were to go into an additional tablet then yes you would test your sugars and we would provide meter . Just don’t get it do I check or not . They were checked in October when I was first given metformin do no checks since

With metformin, you're not usually in danger of going too low. If you were on gliclazide for instance, you run the risk of going hypo. Which is bad enough in and of itself, but should it happen in traffic, you could kill yourself and/or others, so you have to test before you drive. (5 to drive when on certain meds, but not metformin). The whole thing around "don't test" seems to be based on the likelihood of hypo's. They don't take into account that you might want to know when you're too high. Like long term damage to organs is potentially just as deadly, it just isn't as instantaneous.

You decide whether you test or not. Not us on the forum, not the nurse. You. Just weigh the pro's and cons, and decide whether it's for you. But like you said, if you don't know what's going on, you can't control your blood sugars either. A HbA1c only gives you the average of the past 3 months, so doesn't tell you whether a certain meal is best avoided for instance. Do you want that information, or not? That's entirely up to you, nobody else, especially since this is something you have to pay for yourself. After I tested around meals effectively for a while, I could quit frequent testing: i knew what bread did, I knew what eggs did, and could count on certain ranges. Right now I am testing again because I'm on steroids for a little while, and that raises my blood sugars some. But due to my diet, it hasn't gone over 8,5 as of yet. I have rather tight blood glucose control because I know which foods work for me and which don't, and I can keep an eye on things when I take steroids for a bit, or get a vaccination or something. (Both can raise blood glucose levels). I know what I'm doing, I'm not flying blind. That's a choice I've made, and it's one I pay for gladly.

The nurse has her reasons why you shouldn't test. You're not about to get a hypo, you're not going to have accidents in traffic, and the NHS has a limited budget, as well as certain rules and regulations. You have reasons you might want to test: better control of your blood sugars, the avoidance of complications in the future that can affect quality and quantity of life, for instance. Or just sheer curiosity. Reasons not to could be financial, or fear of needles (in which case a continuous glucose monitor might still be an option), you know... Pro's and cons, like I said.

In the end, it's your call.
Good luck,
Jo

 

[aylalake]

As usual, Jo, you have wrapped all this up in a brilliant post!
@JoKalsbeek

 

[KennyA]

I think testing is essential if you want to control the levels of glucose in your blood. I honestly don't see how you could begin to do it without regular testing. It's a bit like setting off on a journey to somewhere you've never been - you know where you want to go, but you've been told that you don't need to take directions or look at a map, because every six months someone else will tell you where you are.

I don't want to wait to find out I've been heading in the wrong direction - I think I'd be using the satnav and roadsigns and the map right from the start.

Here's what I did: I tested before and two hours after eating. I tested (for a while) first thing in the morning as well. I wrote the results down in a diary and recorded in the same diary what I'd eaten and if there'd been any else unusual - like being ill.

The reason for doing that was to work out what foods I could and could not deal with. We normally have only around 4 grams of glucose in our blood at any given time. The test before eating gives you a starting baseline. Then, when you test at +2 hrs, you're not testing to see how high you go. The test at +2 hours shows you how well your system cleared the excess glucose (from eating) from your blood stream. The high BG point usually happens somewhere in the first hour. This is a system that's always in motion and always changing - using a Constant Glucose Monitor will show that very clearly.

I knew already to exclude the obvious high carb items like bread, pasta, rice, pastry, potatoes, cereals, flour-based stuff, tropical fruit (including juices) and sugar. But I needed to know about the things with only a bit of carb - like sausages, or vegetables for example.

I found that I can manage some things that are techically high carb like kidney beans or butter beans particularly if I wash the starch off. Some sausages are OK, others have too much oatmeal filler for me. So the items that I couldn't/can't deal with, I didn't and don't eat. I saw some positive changes very quickly.

best of luck.

 

[Richard Rodriguez]

Think of it like this, if you gas gauge doesn't work on your car but you are pretty sure you have fuel because you put gas in every week, why bother to fix your gas gauge? Kinda doesn't make sense does it? I did that for a while when I was first diagnosed I was hovering around 89 to 96 with my foreman almost. Then I felt I didn't need to check my sugar anymore and put my meters aside for a few years and just started eating whatever the hell I felt would work as long as it didn't have sugar. Well since I wasn't checking I wasn't realizing that carbs were kicking my rear. When I did check once again here within the last month and a half I was around 400. So yeah you need to be fairly consistent.

 

[jjraak]

It's a bit like setting off on a journey to somewhere you've never been - you know where you want to go, but you've been told that you don't need to take directions or look at a map, because every six months someone else will tell you where you are.

I don't want to wait to find out I've been heading in the wrong direction - I think I'd be using the satnav and roadsigns and the map right from the start.

A perfect analogy.

 

[Solaire]

With metformin, you're not usually in danger of going too low. If you were on gliclazide for instance, you run the risk of going hypo. Which is bad enough in and of itself, but should it happen in traffic, you could kill yourself and/or others, so you have to test before you drive. (5 to drive when on certain meds, but not metformin). The whole thing around "don't test" seems to be based on the likelihood of hypo's. They don't take into account that you might want to know when you're too high. Like long term damage to organs is potentially just as deadly, it just isn't as instantaneous.

You decide whether you test or not. Not us on the forum, not the nurse. You. Just weigh the pro's and cons, and decide whether it's for you. But like you said, if you don't know what's going on, you can't control your blood sugars either. A HbA1c only gives you the average of the past 3 months, so doesn't tell you whether a certain meal is best avoided for instance. Do you want that information, or not? That's entirely up to you, nobody else, especially since this is something you have to pay for yourself. After I tested around meals effectively for a while, I could quit frequent testing: i knew what bread did, I knew what eggs did, and could count on certain ranges. Right now I am testing again because I'm on steroids for a little while, and that raises my blood sugars some. But due to my diet, it hasn't gone over 8,5 as of yet. I have rather tight blood glucose control because I know which foods work for me and which don't, and I can keep an eye on things when I take steroids for a bit, or get a vaccination or something. (Both can raise blood glucose levels). I know what I'm doing, I'm not flying blind. That's a choice I've made, and it's one I pay for gladly.

The nurse has her reasons why you shouldn't test. You're not about to get a hypo, you're not going to have accidents in traffic, and the NHS has a limited budget, as well as certain rules and regulations. You have reasons you might want to test: better control of your blood sugars, the avoidance of complications in the future that can affect quality and quantity of life, for instance. Or just sheer curiosity. Reasons not to could be financial, or fear of needles (in which case a continuous glucose monitor might still be an option), you know... Pro's and cons, like I said.

In the end, it's your call.
Good luck,
Jo

Lots there that I agree with .... my husband is the diabetic, through genetics, diagnosed type 2 well over 10 years ago if I can remember properly.... our doctors gave him a testing meter straight away, and prescription for the test strips etc ...also first put on metformin which is not good for him, but lately had the dosage lowered, plus on another med ... he is also a steroid dependent for long time, so his BS is always what most of you would gasp at, but i make a spreadsheet for when he decides to check his BS .... but he is now on small dose, long lasting insulin and we tried the free offer of the FreeStyle Libre sensors as lots of pricked fingers were just hurting him and bruising as he has cold hands .... the Libre sensors are soo much better and our doc has now put them on prescription ... so guess we are lucky .... even they are not always accurate if tested against pricking his finger for BS, and neither are 2 different finger prick machines , but it gives him a good idea if something is really bad for him .... he just doesn't spend hours wondering why, says life is too short to only eat one grape ..... and he has hypoed on metformin, when his reading was just 6.2 .... plus 12 stone when I met him 57 years ago, and has never had an ounce of fat on him ....... not everyone is the same .... but if I were worried if I had diabetes I would certainly but some sort of meter as it is good to know you can keep some sort of check ....

 

[Outlier]

You are a wonderful supportive partner, and I hope he appreciates you!

 

[Owenn01]

I was diagnosed in sept type 2 . I’m on metformin take 1,000mg daily . Everyone talks about checking sugar levels and meters etc . I spoke to my nurse and she said no need as I’m on metformin . Bit confused as very new to this how do I control my sugars if not being checked . I’m in Scotland

Catherine - to use an analogy; car manufacturers could save money and give you a car without a fuel gauge and you can 'estimate' how much fuel you have by how many miles you've driven. Yes; you could - but more likely than not you'd run out of fuel somewhere and then have the consequences to face. Even for a T2, the analogy is valid. Yes; you can 'estimate' how good your blood sugar balance is, but to make the most of both your medication and to ensure you are making good progress and not deteriorating further, then a meter is pretty much essential.
As a type 1 of many, many years I'm now on the Freestyle 2 system and the difference is transformative in terms of regulation and awareness, but even for you, a Type 2, then checking even a few times a day would make a big difference. That the meters and testing strips are no longer available on the NHS is just criminal - there is all this talk and pressure about control but then the government and NHS take the ability to achieve that away from those most in need of them and then wonder why the rates and management of T2 is not as good as they had hoped.
In your position I'd get one and give it a try - don't panic over 'high' readings at first and use it as guidance on what you are eating as much as anything; you can then present the information at your next review and ask for constructive advice on how to make your balance better - and improve you into the bargain!
Good luck and best regards.