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To Test or not To Test

D

Dr Diesel

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Hello,

My name is Paul and I have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I've been trawling through this forum and I just know this is going to give me a great deal of help for the future.

I have a question though. I asked my nurse if I need to be testing my blood and she said it isn't necessary yet awhile. I feel a bit as if I'm stabbing in the dark at the moment I am changing my diet and following the advice given but have no idea if things are improving or not, my uneducated view is that a monitor would help me in this area.

So my question is, should I be testing my blood with a glucose monitor at this stage not.

Many thanks

Paul
 
I debated this too having only recently been diagnosed and came to the conclusion that, if I test it can help me eat more sensibly and cut out the foods that raise my levels. Good avice on testing and diet is available on here, although opinion on diet does vary. I've done my first tests today and asking questions about the results and taking advice can only help.

Good luck to you either way, cheapest tester I saw was in Sainsburys :roll:
 
Only by testing, can you find out what different foods do to your blood glucose.
It's harder still if (as is only too common) you are given a prescription and no further advice.
"Eat a healthy diet" is not useful, since there isn't a concensus on what that is. Drop sugar is a good start.
Funding your own meter, at least for a couple of months isn't too costly. Try ringing one of the supply companiess, you may well get a meter free with a few test strips. My Meter is a Freestyle mini, supplied by Abbot diabetes care. It's easy to use and has a good instruction booklet.
 
Definitely test, its the only way to find out whats sending your levels up. AFAIK getting strips and lancets on prescription shouldn't be a problem because type 2's are supposed to test test test for the 1st couple of months.

I got a freestyle lite monitor out of boots for £6.50 which comes with 10 strips.
 
hya and welcome,
i would definately say to test as then you can find what foods cause a rise in your blood sugar and then decide what to do about it,any more questions plz ask :D
 
Many thanks for the replies

I have bought my tester, you were right Sainsburys look like the cheapest at the moment.

Once again thanks

Paul
 
Sage advice indeed (especially loved Eddie's post)

I've only been diagnosed for 2.5 months but I am already needing to test less as I am getting a better understanding of which foods work for me and which don't ... I am waiting to be told I won't get any more strips and when that happens I will simply fund it myself ... right now I'm making the most of my prescriptions and stockpiling slightly :)

Best of luck and there are lots of smart and kind people here who can offer advice and help you to feel less scared :)

J/x
 
The NHS state that health care teams don't have to provide free testing monitors (which is daft I know) but they should always provide free testing strips. See below for more info.

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-dia ... treatment/

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-dia ... m_the_NHS/

PS my best friends mum has Type 2 diabetes and because she wasn't provided with a tester she decided it wasn't important to test. She has had recent problems with retinopathy and they tested her fasting blood glucose which was very high - she has now been provided with a monitor and her eyesight is improving. However - it shouldn't have to get to that stage. Both Type 1's and Type 2's should be shown how to test and the importance of this in order to maintain optimum health and stable blood glucose levels.
 
Go and obliterate the nurse's speedometer with black paint. Ask her if she's happy with that.

I don't test much *now* but that's because I tested a LOT in the beginning

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

it really is essential to find out your own specific responses to different things at different times of day.

Now I know what I can and can't eat I run a testing day every so often where I test a lot, to see if my responses have changed since the last time. Other than that I mainly only test when I'm eating or exerting outside of my normal flight envelope. I could NOT do this flying blind.
 
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