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Which Readings to Drop First? If any?

Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
17,701
Location
Oxford
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have been self monitoring eight times a day (on waking, pre and post each of my three meals and at bedtime) for the nine weeks since I received my meter. I have had my first review showing that my HbA1c has dropped from 70 to 45. I estimated my HbA1c from my readings as 47.8 (allowing for the 3 weeks with old sugary Hb!), so not far off. I'm reluctant to drop any testing as I want to keep my finger on the pulse so to speak, but is it excessive to continue with eight a day? Any suggestions of which readings to drop if any?
My readings yesterday, a pretty typical day, as a guide were:
On waking 5.0
Before b'fast 6.3
After b'fast 6.2
Before lunch 6.1
After lunch 5.3
Before dinner 5.7
After dinner 5.1
Before bed 5.0
TIA!
 
Those readings are all good. If it was me I would use targetted testing to test individual foods to see which cause BS spikes and therefore need to be treated with caution and which cause level pre and post food readings and are therefore fine
 
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I have been testing since April 2014 and still test several times a day even if I don't really need to. It actually motivates me, and on days when I test less frequently, say not testing a routine evening meal, I can feel the devil on my shoulder saying eat that extra potato because you aren't going to test! It takes more effort to resist the devil than it does to test. I actually think it is because I am a data freak and hate to see my averages and graph trends on the rise. If I didn't keep all these stats my motivation just might go. Having said all that, for several months now I have limited my testing to all the base level times (fasting, before meals and bedtime) and have resisted most post meal tests. I don't eat breakfast, so that means I'm currently testing 4 times most days.
 
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Once you have consistent readings - as you seem to be heading towards - and have sorted the food out you can deal with and are happy to have as the principal parts of your diet - you can test now and then to check, rather than frequently to set the pattern - you decide when you reach that point.
 
I continue to test fasting glucose regularly, but will test post meal only when I have exceptionally large carbs meal to see the post meal excursions...
 
@Rachox Only take readings which you find useful. It seems, at the moment, that you are finding them all useful, so, if your fingers and your purse will tolerate it, carry on.
Some people, eg @Bluetit1802 find testing a good discipline, getting a good or bad mark after a meal. Others, eg James and I, only do very rare sanity checks. Once it sunk in that potatoes, muesli etc really did not do us any favours, despite everything we had been told for many years, we simply stopped eating them. As we see it, there is no need to keep testing, for example, a cheese omelet, we know it's fine, because we know what we put in it.
Sally
 
I'm similar to @Bluetit1802 as I find testing motivating. I'm doing intermittent fasting quite a lot these days and continue to test at the times I would be eating meals so that I have a consistent picture of my progress. Might change in the future, but at the moment I'm not ready to give up the control I feel with regular testing.
 
I think I'm in the @Bluetit1802 , and @Goonergal camp, I don't think I'm ready to let go yet! I get great delight from seeing good results and it helps my motivation! It's useful to know for future reference that fasting and pre-meals are the important ones if I eat familiar foods and post meal are important if I try something new. I have become a bit of a number cruncher since starting testing, my iPad is awash with spreadsheets! I'm on holiday for a week next month and will be eating out a lot so will be testing 8 times a day for sure then. I think just reading all your comments, I have made up my mind, I'm going to continue eight per day until at least my next HbA1c! Thank you all for your input x
PS @sally and james my fingers and my purse are just fine!
 

I think you will be happier doing that and not fretting over what levels you are missing out on. However, holidays are for fun, relaxation and enjoyment. Don't let your testing get in the way of this. Relax and enjoy, leave your meter in a drawer during the day. Perhaps just test fasting and bedtime.

I wonder if you would benefit from splashing out on a couple of Libre sensors? I use these part time and find them invaluable, particularly on holiday. A whole new set of stats for you, too!
 
Indeed having posted about it and thought more deeply, I don't think I'm ready to reduce readings for now! Also on holiday, I won't relax running blind! I've looked at Libre sensors, wow I'd love one but my purse unfortunately won't stretch that far!
 
How do you calculate hba1c from your daily readings. Maths please
 
Hi @Rachox I am puzzled by this. My readings are consistently higher than yours, typically 6.1 before meals 7.5 after and I have never measured less than 5.7, but my HbA1c is lower at 40.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Hi @Rachox I am puzzled by this. My readings are consistently higher than yours, typically 6.1 before meals 7.5 after and I have never measured less than 5.7, but my HbA1c is lower at 40.
Click to expand...
@Rachox has only been here for a couple of months so HbA1c aren't completely reflecting her new readings..
 
keitjones said:
How do you calculate hba1c from your daily readings. Maths please
Click to expand...
I didn't know if it would work as my daily readings are just eight snapshots and I didn't know what my sugars were doing inbetween, however my calculation was fairly close.
The maths: I took eight readings a day, then each day I worked out the average (add all eight together and divide by eight). I then worked out weekly averages using the daily ones, then I calculated an overall average of the 12 weeks using the weekly averages (In my case I had three weeks missing, but converted my old HbA1c using the calculator on the page I've link below for those weeks). I then used the second part of the calculator to convert my grand average into an approximate HbA1c reading! Ta daa! Hope that makes sense, told you I'd become a number cruncher!
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html
 
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Mr_Pot said:
Hi @Rachox I am puzzled by this. My readings are consistently higher than yours, typically 6.1 before meals 7.5 after and I have never measured less than 5.7, but my HbA1c is lower at 40.
Click to expand...
bulkbiker said:
@Rachox has only been here for a couple of months so HbA1c aren't completely reflecting her new readings..
Click to expand...
Indeed as @bulkbiker says, I still had 3 weeks of old sugary red blood cells when my second HbA1c was taken, as it was done only nine weeks after the one taken at diagnosis.
 
Indeed, I had that in mind, but in my case on eight daily readings it was actually fairly close. My calculation made my HbA1c 47.8 and the actual result was 45. Love that calculator page
 
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