Let us know how you get on with the Libre2 for the two week trial. I will definilty sign up on that but happy to be testing mannually at the moment. So your testing strategy involved morning fasts, I was doing morning, pre lunch after lunch then pre dinner and after dinner as well.I've only just finished the first 50 I got and they lasted me about a month - and that included doing tests on a few other members of my family. I've got another 100 after that and expect they will last me 3 months or so.
The only regular test I do is first thing in the morning. I've done some additional ones occasionally (the most being 4 in a single day) but given I've already decided to go down the low-carb route (50-100g a day typically) and working on getting my BMI into the "healthy" range then I'm not seeing sufficient benefit from additional data to warrant testing multiple times a day (and I'm still not keen on the process!). Having said that I did order a Libre2 sensor on their free trial, so it'll be interesting to see what that says about variations in my blood sugar during the day when I start using it.
When you start out, you test up a storm. Before a meal and two hours after the first bite can show you how certain foods affect your blood sugars. (You're aiming for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l at that point, preferably less). It takes a little while to know what foods do what, and that means using up a whole lot of strips, 6 a day if you still have 3 meals. But it does show you what is working and whether your blood sugars are dropping over all. After a while, you don't really need to test the same meal over and over again, you know whether it's good for you or now. Me, I only test when something's wonky. Flu, inflammation, feeling off, or eating something I am not too sure about. I currently have two pots which I ordered a year and a half ago and have since gone past their use-by date, which shows you how very little I test these days. But when i first started... Lots. And lots. But it wholly depends on why you're testing, really. Do you want to know how you're doing, do you want to check foods, etc etc... For me, testing in the a.m. was kind of useless, as it's the last number to come down anyway, (months) and with dawn phenomenon in the mix, it was my highest reading in the day. Far from encouraging. The food checking served me well though.Hi Guys, I seem to be running out of strips very quickly. I had a new pack of 50 which I think I used up in a week..What testing strategies are people using and for a newbie when should I be testing? Local GP facility seems usesless, they told me only test 2-3 times a week but with no explanation why.
Thank You so much for your reply, I see your profile you reversed T2. Please tell us your story, its stories liek this which are motivating meWhen you start out, you test up a storm. Before a meal and two hours after the first bite can show you how certain foods affect your blood sugars. (You're aiming for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l at that point, preferably less). It takes a little while to know what foods do what, and that means using up a whole lot of strips, 6 a day if you still have 3 meals. But it does show you what is working and whether your blood sugars are dropping over all. After a while, you don't really need to test the same meal over and over again, you know whether it's good for you or now. Me, I only test when something's wonky. Flu, inflammation, feeling off, or eating something I am not too sure about. I currently have two pots which I ordered a year and a half ago and have since gone past their use-by date, which shows you how very little I test these days. But when i first started... Lots. And lots. But it wholly depends on why you're testing, really. Do you want to know how you're doing, do you want to check foods, etc etc... For me, testing in the a.m. was kind of useless, as it's the last number to come down anyway, (months) and with dawn phenomenon in the mix, it was my highest reading in the day. Far from encouraging. The food checking served me well though.
In any case, testing 2 to 3 times a week really is a waste of strips.
If the strips are on prescription then the GP surgery could be wanting to keep costs down.Hi Guys, I seem to be running out of strips very quickly. I had a new pack of 50 which I think I used up in a week..What testing strategies are people using and for a newbie when should I be testing? Local GP facility seems usesless, they told me only test 2-3 times a week but with no explanation why.
Oh, well... I was ill. Absolutely miserable, really. I had been diagnosed with PCOS about five years earlier, which can cause insulin resistance, but all i'd been told was that I'd never easily have kids. The rest just got ignored, deemed unimportant. I was a big lass, and kept getting bigger, in spite of doing everything the hospital's dietician told me. (Which was basically, load up on carbs all day every day). I was so weak I couldn't lift a fork, my husband had to cut my meat, I didn't have the strength for it. My side ached, and that's where finally something happened...! They thought my entire liver was cancerous, but it turned out to be non alcoholic fatty liver disease. I googled what might cause that, and one of the things listed was diabetes. Well, surely, it couldn't be that, could it? So I borrowed our diabetic cat's meter and when I saw just how high I was.... Eighteen... I knew what it meant. That day I didn't top out there either, I passed 22 mmol/l. So that's when the research started!Thank You so much for your reply, I see your profile you reversed T2. Please tell us your story, its stories liek this which are motivating meI thank You in advance
Wow what a turn around and what a story. How you maintaining the HBACi now by strict diet!? Did you loose many KGs for the liver to fall in place and everything to fix?Oh, well... I was ill. Absolutely miserable, really. I had been diagnosed with PCOS about five years earlier, which can cause insulin resistance, but all i'd been told was that I'd never easily have kids. The rest just got ignored, deemed unimportant. I was a big lass, and kept getting bigger, in spite of doing everything the hospital's dietician told me. (Which was basically, load up on carbs all day every day). I was so weak I couldn't lift a fork, my husband had to cut my meat, I didn't have the strength for it. My side ached, and that's where finally something happened...! They thought my entire liver was cancerous, but it turned out to be non alcoholic fatty liver disease. I googled what might cause that, and one of the things listed was diabetes. Well, surely, it couldn't be that, could it? So I borrowed our diabetic cat's meter and when I saw just how high I was.... Eighteen... I knew what it meant. That day I didn't top out there either, I passed 22 mmol/l. So that's when the research started!
I had our little Night's meter, and I used it to figure out what was what. There was all this weird nonsense online about high fat low carb, what malarkey... But that meter said it worked. I had nothing to lose, I was basically told I was going to die soon anyway, so, why not try everything...?! I read Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code and it made sense, and my meter said it was right. I lost weight, my liver function returned to normal, my blood sugars dropped so much the mix with medication made me hypo a few times until my GP went against my specialist and took me off of them. There's been a few hiccups down the road, going through a bit of one right now (Recently lost my mom which was/is stressful, had a triple rootcanal- and jaw infection which made eating difficult), but I haven't been as bad off as I was. I walk fair distances with camera gear flung around my shoulders. Before, I could barely walk around our flat without my legs giving out. Within a few months I got my numbers back to good. And I think it's been seven years now or so since diagnosis... Still not on meds, still in the normal range, even with falling off the wagon here and there. And hey, I didn't die! Shows you how much the specialists know, haha.
I'm just one of many, here... It can be done.
Good luck!
Jo
I lost about 25 kilo's (55 pounds), probably more, because I'm not quite sure what my starting weight was: I quit weighing myself at 102 kilo's, but I know I got bigger than that. With the bulk of that gone, the fat marbling my liver went away too. Liver function was back to normal in 3 to 6 months. My HbA1c is still in the normal range, and I have tried a few diets, going from low carb to keto to carnivore for a bit (which is zero carb), but I've settled back into keto again, maintaining about 20 grams of carbs a day or less. It's quite doable, and I don't think I'll venture into other diets from here on in, unless medically required to do so. I did regain a bit of weight when peri-menopause kicked in, but, well... I'm comfortable as I am now. It's still quite a few dress sizes down from where I started, my blood sugars are fine, no diabetic complications, my energy levels are nowhere near what they were back then... I'm calling it good. I still have my sweaters from that time, and while they were very snug then, they're quite copmfortably oversized now. I'll attach two pictures, I think you can tell by my face that there was some weight lost in the one where my hair's grey.Wow what a turn around and what a story. How you maintaining the HBACi now by strict diet!? Did you loose many KGs for the liver to fall in place and everything to fix?
Amazing story and well done to you, lossing 25 Kilos is fantastic, its so weird how the liver returns to normal (fatty liver) after weight loss, diebetes gets better as well its almost like it all falls into place again.I lost about 25 kilo's (55 pounds), probably more, because I'm not quite sure what my starting weight was: I quit weighing myself at 102 kilo's, but I know I got bigger than that. With the bulk of that gone, the fat marbling my liver went away too. Liver function was back to normal in 3 to 6 months. My HbA1c is still in the normal range, and I have tried a few diets, going from low carb to keto to carnivore for a bit (which is zero carb), but I've settled back into keto again, maintaining about 20 grams of carbs a day or less. It's quite doable, and I don't think I'll venture into other diets from here on in, unless medically required to do so. I did regain a bit of weight when peri-menopause kicked in, but, well... I'm comfortable as I am now. It's still quite a few dress sizes down from where I started, my blood sugars are fine, no diabetic complications, my energy levels are nowhere near what they were back then... I'm calling it good. I still have my sweaters from that time, and while they were very snug then, they're quite copmfortably oversized now. I'll attach two pictures, I think you can tell by my face that there was some weight lost in the one where my hair's grey.
Basically I eat coconut yoghurt (with Purition for flavour and fibre) practically daily, and have taken to drinking kombucha for gut health, (Was on a lot of antibiotics lately for my jaw). Other than that it's eggs, veg, meat/poultry/fish, the usual low carb fare. When we're out I usually order eggs, a salad or something with the spuds replaced by veg, and bread or toast left off entirely. Sometimes I'll add a side of baked mushrooms or something if it's not filling enough without the carbs in. A kitchen is usually happy to accommodate if it's just leaving something off... Better than throwing a perfectly good part of a dish out. (And I'm a notoriously good tipper). I'll have a cappucchino with soy or oat milk when out and about too, which is about as carby as I'll have a drink now, but I get away with those. Milk is a problem, it makes my rheumatism flare, so I'll treat myself if soy/oat is available.
You eventually slide into a routine that works for you. Takes a little getting used to, but it can and does work. And, again, my story is just one of many.
When evaluating any result you need to consider the +/-15% accuracy of our meters.Dawn Phenomen at the finest today, yesterday got home around 7pm it was 5.4 had no dinner as I wasnt hungry got up today and tested around 6:30am 7.0. Firstly when do these numbers start getting better? and 2ndly how bad is 7.0 as a morning figure?
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