unsure readings

[cugila]

carlos.

The best time to test depends on what you want to know and how tightly you need to control your BG levels.
The usual thing is to test in the morning when you surface as a start to your day. Then I normally test 2hrs after meals.

If I am trying something new in my diet, I test before meal, then at 1, 2, and 3 hr intervals so that I know exactly what effect it has on my BG. Dependent on the result - I can add or subtract that meal from my list.
Certainly some of the levels you quote are low. You need to perhaps have a snack before bed and during the day to bring things to more acceptable levels.

Current NICE targets : Fasting BG. No more than 7mmol/l
Before meals. Between 4 - 7 mmol/l
2 Hrs after meals. No more than 8.5 mmol/l

Hope this helps.
Ken

 

[Dennis]

Hi Carlos,

The recommended test times are usually before a meal, then 1 hour after, then 2 hours after. The theory is that:
- the before test gives you your benchmark to compare the other tests against
- at 1 hour the food you have eaten will have pushed your BS to about it's highest level
- at 2 hours your BS will be showing a distinct drop back toward the start point.
If you want to do a further test then at 3 hours you should be back to where you started.

That's the theory, and it is a good general guide, but it's only an approximation and can be thrown out by several things. If the carbs in your meal were mostly high GI then your BS will have peaked in much less than an hour, if they were very low GI they could still be being converted into glucose 2 hours after eating. Fat also slows down the rate of conversion into glucose and absorbtion into the blood stream, so a meal containing a high fat content can make even a high GI food act more like a low GI food.

This is why you can sometimes get unexpected results from the tests - after a lowish 1 hour test you might think "that food didn't have as bad an effect as I thought it might" - but that could be simply because it hasn't finished converting into sugar after 1 hour. Similarly you could be surprised at a high 2 hour test, when what you are seeing is something that has only just peaked at 2 hours.

 

[carlos]

thanks ken and dennis that helps me understand it a bit more

 

[carlos]

hi everbody just comebck from docs and hsblc come downto 8.6 still not brill but better than 13.5 also told to space my meterformin sr tablets out rather than taking two at night take 1 in morning as this is possibely overdosing my body even though they are sr and one at night have been told to go and see another doctor who specialises in diabeates next week to see why they are going low but maybe spreading the tabs out may work asked if want to change tabs but told leave alone at moment as i feel meterformin are the least potant is this the case told everything else was okay kidneys liver collesral etc but also asked when i last did a protein test in my urine(never)but done this test what does this mean thanks

 

[cugila]

Hi Carlos.

A FULL explanation of a Protein Test is at the end of this link:

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understan ... /test.html

are they arranging it for you ?

Ken

 

[carlos]

yes ken have already done it they have sent it off do you know how long it takes to come back thanks

 

[cugila]

Been a while since my last one - that took no more than a week as it wasn't urgent.

As for Metformin' after Diet and Lifestyle it is just the first step in Diabetes treatment. Hopefully you will be able to stop or slow progression with what you have learned on here.

Ken

 

[carlos]

yes true she just said i shouldnt have been taking them at the same time and it sounded like i was taking to much at once so will see what happens when spread it out just the protein test slightly worried about as never done this before she said everything was okay though and just asked if my old doctors had ever done one witch they haddnt will keep an eye on my bs for a week and if they dont dip as low will cancel my appointment for doc next week

 

[cugila]

carlos wrote:
yes true she just said i shouldnt have been taking them at the same time and it sounded like i was taking to much at once .



As she is responsible for any instructions as to when and how many to take that's a bit rich. :?

As for your Dr's appointment - why cancel. You can ask about any results from the test/s and just confirm to her the readings are now better, hopefully. Just think what you are not sure about and ask - you can always come back here for more advice.

Cheers
Ken

 

[Dennis]

Hi Carlos,

I see you mentioned that your metformin are SR. These remain active for 12 hours so if you take one with breakfast and one with evening meal, then you are getting 24 hour coverage. If you take them both at night then they will be working away through the night (when you don't eat anything) but not the next day, so they wouldn't help your breakfast or lunch.

 

[hanadr]

WEll done Carlos
I've been on Metformin for 6 years and take 2 of the normal 500s. One in morning and one in the evening.

 

[carlos]

yes this seems to be working at mo i think the only thing she was getting at with changing tabs might be the fact am only 65.5kg but eh was down to 62kg in january so at least in some respect weight has stabalisedand tabs and new diet seem to be working so why change at the mo its hard trying to put weight on and low carb could do with some suggestions as to what foods will boost my body weight if there are any

 

[cugila]

Carlos.

You could try upping the carbs and/or calories a bit as you appear to be gaining control of Bg readings.

Ken

 

[carlos]

yes thanks again ken will try this and see what happens had results bck from protein everything was normal so thats a releif thanks for info other day

 

[carlos]

could i ask again does anybody seem to get high bs in the morning after eating ie something u eat about 1 0r 2 oclock witch has little effect on bs shoots it up in the morning ive been finding this is the only time of day when it shoots up after a hour but within 2 t0 3 hours bck down to norm does anyone know why this is gonna have to start looking at alternatives for brekfast

 

[cugila]

Hi carlos.

Can you tell us just what exactly do you have for breakfast when this happens ?
It might help to pin this one down.

Also what is your Bg before breakfast, 1 hr and 2 hrs after as well.

cheers

Ken

 

[carlos]

roughly always seems to be between 5.1 5.7 when wake up then about 1 hour after eating it shoots up to roughly bout 8.7 9.1 then bck down to 5.7 bout 1hr l8tr roughly cereal bars but theese are only say 15 carbs or 11 carbs and hardly no sugar also tried hot crosss buns also tried some rice cakes and some cheese and some chicken this morn something dif and that had same effect this only seems to happen in the morn am thinking of just trying something totally light like a couple of scrambbled eggss in the morn as really have never been a great eater first thing but try to eat reguarly now

 

[cugila]

carlos.

Not sure if I have given you this site to look ar before ? It shows foods/snacks as a list with carbs and GI levels. It may be that although what you are eating is low in carbs it may be high GI. You can compare what you eat with the lists.

Link: http://glycaemicindex.com/

I know from my own experience I have to avoid cereal bars , rice cakes and definitely Hot Cross Buns !! :wink: I get spikes with ALL of them.

Take a look, you can print the lists out for quick reference.

Ken

 

[Trinkwasser]

More breakfast ideas here

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/ ... fasts.html

I favour mainly fish (or meat) with salad, and a maximum of two oatcakes (15g carbs or less), some people can't handle much in the way of carbs at all at that time of day when insulin resistance is highest. By evening I can handle 30 - 50g carbs without spiking, many people have even more of a slope during the day.

 

[carlos]

yes thankyou all for your advice this hasa helped me a lot just got bck from seeing the diabetic doctor and he has told me to take the tabs at night as they are slow release and if they go low to start taking 1 instead of two but maybe this is to much to soon at mo he also did recomend self testing and even prescribed me the test strips wow he has told me to keep taking two with the option of knocking it down to one goes low and to do another hsblc in may if this is under seven he recomended taking one ot taking one 750 tab a day from then on and seeing how i go just cant belive how one doc will prescribe the test strips and one wont just hoping that can carry on the good work thanks for all the info