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Very confusing.

T

TuTusweet

Well-Known Member
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I did my weekly BG test this morning--it was 5.4. This evening I had a totally delicious treat of an Indian meal. Tested three hours after it was 8.4.
And why would it not be ??? Two dishes had a thick sauce and I ate a quarter of an onion naan plus two poppadoms with various pickles.. I feel sure I have sinned. But why should I?
The desirable BG level seems to vary a lot and seems to get moved to increase the number of people classed as diabetic and increase pill and test strip sales.
It really seems to me the diabetics industry WANT to get everyone in the country classed as diabetic for some reason I can't fathom out. Money? Jobs?
Maybe those two readings are MY normal. I can't see how BG can avoid rising after a rich meal. I keep thinking so what? It will come down again. It always does.
I'm waiting for the December scare articles planted in the press and TV News with vile photos of rotting toes of a rough sleeping alcoholic to keep me scared shirtless.
A neighbour aged 76 told me in conversation he takes three diabetic pills, two blood pressure pills and a cholesterol pill per day. After a breakfast of a bowl of cereal (any sort--sugar puffs that morning) two slices of white toast with marmalade he sometimes hits readings of 15 or 16 just before his mid-morning snack of ,maybe, a toasted teacake with jam.
Then lunch, snack, then evening meal and bedtime snack give him plenty of chances to "get his carbs".
His diabetes nurse is very pleased with him and he seems quite happy. I don't know why and I don't think he knows why he tests his BG levels because he seems to make no response to what they tell him.
We went to visit a woman in hospital who handled her diabetes well with insulin. The doctors changed every thing and she kept having hypos. They brought her lunch which included a hefty slice of treacle tart with custard. As she said " they are clearly trying to kill me--probably to save money"
This is Alice in Wonderland territory. As time goes by I get more and more suspicious of the motives and agendas and intelligence of the operators in this strange confused growth industry.
 
Hi @Tu Tusweet,
Interesting post, and I think you will get a big response.
You mention weekly test, don't you test more often?
My thoughts, are that you are possibly newly Diagnosed type 2,( You have no info included.)
You are still producing insulin, and this is helping control your Glucose levels, so you are able to indulge in high carb meals without to much effect.
Regrettably I don't think this will continue indefinably, your BG will increase over time, and then damage will starts to happen. I'm inclined to say, if you feel it is not causing you harm go for it.
I would be interested to see what your HbA1c reading is as this gives a better idea of control over the 3 months

I agree that there is a huge industry "supporting" diabetes, and making money, but there are also responsible elements as well
Be interested to see what others say
 

Taking your argument to its logical conclusion, are you saying that there should not be any target glucose levels for diabetes.

Why stop at 8,4?

Why not interpret any reading as possibly being someone's normal level?

Perhaps you are right and there is no such thing as diabetes. Perhaps we have all been conned into paying for medication and monitors and strips.

Somehow, I do not believe you are right though.

When was the last time a three hour post prandial reading of 8,4 was considered non diabetic and when where the guidelines changed to make such a reading unacceptable.

Even if you do not agree with their current dietary recommendation, which many of us do not, you can not be so dismissive of an entire profession and of years of research.

Maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism is not a bad thing but I believe your post takes this too far. To me you are not being skeptical you are being in denial and that is a dangerous state to be in.

Pavlos
 
My view is that NHS blood glucose guidelines are not stringent enough.

The NHS considers that diabetes is a degenerative disease and uses drugs and very basic outdated guidelines on diet to try to slow the patient's decline.

There is now (in my opinion) enough evidence to show that by actively using dietary control (carb restriction) and proactive, highly tailored drug use, the 'inevitable' decline can usually be halted, or very much slowed. Plus exercise, where possible.
Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution and the website www.bloodsugar101.com show numerous studies and cases of how this can be achieved.

Regarding eating a rich curry and accepting the inevitable blood glucose spike - it is all about making conscious dietary choices.

The last curry I had was Chicken Shashlik with a rich vegetable sauce, onions and peppers. Saag paneer and brinjal bhaji. Water to drink. Coffee and a mint. No rice, poppadom, naan or carby content. It was a fabulously enjoyable meal, and my blood glucose went from 5.7 pre meal, to 6.4 at 2 hours and 6.6 at 4 hours. My fasting reading the following morning was exactly where is usually is. I have learned that if I eat the rice or bread, I will spike to over 9 within 2 hours.
 
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I also had an Indian meal last night, as it happens. I had some vegetable curry, some prawn madras and an aubergine dish, whose name escapes me. I did not have any rice or bread but I did have 2 popadoms. Even after also having a small mandarin as desert, I found myself at 6,1 two hours post prandial. My fasting level this morning was a very typical 5,0.

I knew that I would probably be ok with the meal I had because I had similar meals before and testing my glucose then showed similar results. By testing, I also knew that if I had had any rice or bread I would have spiked considerably, probably into double figures, so I knew to avoid these.

So by frequent testing, before and after meals, I have taught myself how to keep my numbers in the non diabetic range. Does that mean that I am not diabetic or that I was wrongly diagnosed. No, it just means that I am a well controlled diabetic.

And what makes me well controlled is that I have accepted the reality of my diabetes, accept the limitations it places on me, and I am willing to go beyond what the Nhs currently advises in respect to diet to ensure that I hopefully remain healthy.

But I do not decide what I will do blindly, I educate myself about this disease as much as I can and I arm myself with feedback from my glucose meter and my periodic laboratory blood analysis. And I do discuss matters with my doctor.

I do not think I would be able to manage my diabetes if I just denied its existence or blindly rejected any input from the medical profession as being motivated by monetary gain.

Pavlos
 
Interesting opinion, although as someone who has been diabetic for the last 17 years I know with 100% certainty that although the recommendation for total cholesterol has dropped from 7 to 6 to 5 to 4, the recommended BG limits haven't changed. No conspiracy there I'm afraid, nobody making loads of money.
I'm concerned that you should feel that the suggested numbers for good BG control are contrived to make money when in fact they're to keep us healthy. Sounds like being in denial. An Indian meal might not be so bad, but you seem to be concentrating on the fat content rather than the carb content. It's the rice, popadoms and naan bread etc that you should be more worried about.
Look after yourself.
 
Have you had an HbA1c test at all? If so what was the result? I would be concerned with a figure of 8.4, 3 hours after a meal. It's been said that any spike over 7.8 can cause damage and this damage builds up in time. I spent a few years taking 6 drugs and now am down to 1 a day. There are foods I miss, but a dear friend lost a leg through diabetes, I am sure she would have loved the chance to low carb if she had known about it how effective it is in combatting the problems caused by diabetes.. Too late for her now, but it's not too late for me.....or you.

As the previous poster said......look after yourself.
 
I enjoy an Indian meal , either out or at home, but naan and rice are off the menu. Last meal out I had a poppadum and pickles, onion bajhia , lamb dopiaza and saag paneer. At 2hrs I was under 7 and would have been lower if I'd only had one onion bajhia which is what I usually do.
While I suspect that the shifts on cholesterol levels have been in part due to wanting everyone on statins, until they start dispensing drugs fir ever lowering prediabetic ranges, I'll continue to trust that the levels set are realistic and appropriate guidance for me to monitor my diabetes. My great gran died of type2 in a coma following a stroke. They did not have the range of medications available to is but she was carb counting. Only she chose to think that a little or a lot of what she fancied wouldn't matter. It did and still does. Everyone makes their own choices but we need to accept that they have consequences. An occasional 8.4 at 3 hrs may not be end of world, but running in those levels consistently may well be.
 
OK people have asked. My last blood test was two weeks ago. It showed BG of 5.4. A1c of 6. A1cIFFC 42 (whatever that is).
A year ago a "normal" morning BG would be between 7.8 and 8.8. and A1c 7.4 and A1cIFFC 57

I have watched it slowly improve to the present day.. I have seen the rise in BG after meals get less and less and I know that it subsides more quickly. I have also lost 2.5 stones. There is more to lose yet. My new diet is normal now but thinking about it since I wrote my post I have decided to tighten it up a bit more. My one spoon full of rice with a curry or 6 french fries with a steak will be deleted.
Thank you for your responses.
 
The a1c reading is in old units.
The a1cIFFC is in new units - but the test is the same.
So 5.4 = 42

Nice numbers by the way! Right on the upper edge of normal, and bottom edge of prediabetic

And congrats on the weight loss. I am envious.
 

I'm 1 1/2 years into this and it seems to me this disease manifest itself differently in each individual for a variety of reasons.

Of course being a T-2 is immensely more problematic trying to eliminate daily spikes between 60ml to 300 and following Dr.Bernstein protocol along with reduced caloric intake is essential.

In my experience if you keep your BG in the lower normal range and eliminate spiking over the years you can heal and prevent lots of the damage that high blood sugar causes.

And that means reducing the amounts of total food that you eat and specifically high density carbs especially processes ones.

I'm lucky when I was diagnosed I was put on over 37 units of insulin daily and now I range between 0 to 6 units a day. Diet ( highly restrictive carbs ) and exercise play a huge part and following Dr. Bernstein's law of low numbers I can be more aggressive with the insulin minimizing my risk of a hypo.

As for Indian food, I try and calculate the carbs and dose with insulin accordingly. For me I can eat a little naan with butter but my favorite Dahl is off limits along with rice.
 
Brunneria said:
The a1c reading is in old units.
The a1cIFFC is in new units - but the test is the same.
So 5.4 = 42

Nice numbers by the way! Right on the upper edge of normal, and bottom edge of prediabetic

And congrats on the weight loss. I am envious.
Click to expand...
Hi @Brunneria

I believe you may have mistyped one of the numbers as a1c of 6% (not 5,4%) = 42 mmol,

You are absolutely correct that these are good numbers though, right at the boundary between non diabetic and pre diabetic range.

Pavlos
 
pavlosn said:
Hi @Brunneria

I believe you may have mistyped one of the numbers as a1c of 6% (not 5,4%) = 42 mmol,

You are absolutely correct that these are good numbers though, right at the boundary between non diabetic and pre diabetic range.

Pavlos
Click to expand...

Oops, yes I did! Thanks for pointing that out!
 
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