Another newbie

[Kath Newman]

Hi, glad to be signposted to this forum, it’s very helpful.
I was diagnosed type 2 a few weeks ago and started on metformin 1 daily 5 days ago . I was also diagnosed as being b12 and folate deficient and so on injections and medication for that as well.
I was a bit shocked with the diagnosis as thought my symptoms were menopause related.
I have a very healthy diet and walk regularly but as advised am keeping a food diary.
I have a half hour appt with the diabetic nurse tomorrow and obviously have lots of questions. I’ve been seeing her for my b12 injections and was surprised when she said I wouldn’t need to monitor my glucose, I feel as if I want to, mainly to understand why I feel so shaky and jittery at certain times (am I low or high??)

I’m lucky that I have a good friend who
Is type 2 also and he has been incredibly helpful, both to me and helping my husband understand what I’m going through.

I have started the learning zone modules and just wonder if there is anything else I should be doing?

thank you and apologies for the rather rambling post - it reflects how my mind is at the moment

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Kath Newman 🙂 You didn’t ramble at all🙂 It’s good to get a picture of new member’s situations.

Many Type 2s do test their blood sugar because they find it helps them choose their foods and meals more easily as they can see the effect on their blood sugar. As you say, you can also test if you’re feeling ‘off’ in any way.

If your blood sugar has been high for a while, then bringing it down a little can make you feel shaky even though your blood sugar isn’t low. This is because your body has got used to high levels as ‘normal’. This feeling will gradually reduce as your body re-adjusts.

 

[Kath Newman]

Welcome @Kath Newman 🙂 You didn’t ramble at all🙂 It’s good to get a picture of new member’s situations.

Many Type 2s do test their blood sugar because they find it helps them choose their foods and meals more easily as they can see the effect on their blood sugar. As you say, you can also test if you’re feeling ‘off’ in any way.

If your blood sugar has been high for a while, then bringing it down a little can make you feel shaky even though your blood sugar isn’t low. This is because your body has got used to high levels as ‘normal’. This feeling will gradually reduce as your body re-adjusts.

Hi, thanks for that. Am just looking at glucose monitors - my hba1c was reported as 7.7 and my finger prick glucose as 13, should I order an mmol/L or my/dl machine? It’s a bit of a minefield!
thank you

 

[Leadinglights]

In the UK we use mmol/l. Also you should not need to pay VAT. A couple of inexpensive reliable monitors and more importantly inexpensive strips are the GlucoNavil or Spirit TEE2 available on line Amazon/e-bay. About £15 for monitor and £13 per 100 for strips.

 

[Inka]

Hi, thanks for that. Am just looking at glucose monitors - my hba1c was reported as 7.7 and my finger prick glucose as 13, should I order an mmol/L or my/dl machine? It’s a bit of a minefield!
thank you

As said above, we use mmol/l. Your HbA1C of 7.7 is in old units. In new units it would be around 61. You’ll see people mention their HbA1C here in the new units so you can compare. Anything over 48 counts as diabetes, so you’re well into the diabetic range but not horribly so 🙂

 

[helli]

@Kath Newman to expand on what @Inka just mentioned, your HbA1C and finger prick readings are, confusingly, in different units. The HbA1C gives you an indication of the average of your blood sugars over the last 3 months but they vary quite a lot. Your finger prick reading showed you what it was at the moment you pricked your finger.
The HbA1C requires a lab so we can't test this at home. But, we can prick out finger and test.
As you have found, there are lots of choices of meters on the market. To sell them in the Uk they all have to comply with an accuracy standard so they are all accurate enough - price doesn't mean more accurate.
The most expensive part of the finger pricking is the test strips which are used once per prick. Meter manufacturers make their money out of the strips rather than the meters. @Leadinglights mentioned the two cheaper overall meters when you take into consideration the cost of the strips.
And, as Inka mentioned, in the UK we use mmol/l for finger pricks.

Sorry ... I wittered for longer than I intended and I have just realised I haven't welcomed you to the forum.
Welcome and ask any question you want - nothing is stupid. We have all been where you are at some point.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @Kath Newman
Glad that you have found the forum

A lot of people on here find that testing their Blood Glucose (BG) day by day helps them to work out how best manage their Diabetes, through making different choices of foods and/or reducing the portion sizes.

Do fire away with any questions that arise. Nothing is considered silly on here and there is plenty of experience to tap into.

 

[Felinia]

Hi and welcome.
I see you are sensibly keeping a food diary. One of the ways you can help yourself is by reducing your carb intake. I'm guessing when you look at your diary you will be surprised at your carb intake. Breakfast cereals, bread, potato, rice, pasta, some fruits, processed food are surprisingly high. I found breakfast the hardest to change. A typical breakfast of 2 shredded wheat with milk, followed by a couple of slices of toast and marmalade could easily reach 100gm carbs. Now I have a poached egg with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes (no bread), or 80gm frozen fruit with Greek yogurt. DUK recommends less than 130gm carbs a day but we each have to find out what suits us best. Some manage on 50gm a day, I personally am happy with 90gm. I have an app which does all the hard work of calculating and recording my carbs. Best wishes

 

[adrian1der]

Hi @Kath Newman and welcome from me as well. Please ask as many questions as you like and someone will try and answer them.

 

[Christy]

One member recently posted that she phoned Spirit Healthcare and they threw in the meter for free when purchasing strops. I've found them very helpful.

 

[helli]

meter for free when purchasing strops.

I think my diabetes gives me the "strops" for free some times

(I hope you don't mind my humour and I have not offended you.)

 

[Christy]

Not offended in the least! I even changed the spelling. That autocorrect!! Glad it gave you a laugh

 

[Kath Newman]

Hi, thanks for that. Am just looking at glucose monitors - my hba1c was reported as 7.7 and my finger prick glucose as 13, should I order an mmol/L or my/dl machine? It’s a bit of a minefield!
thank you

 

[Kath Newman]

Thank you everybody for your welcome and comments.

I just wanted to say I have had a really brilliant 40 minute appt with the Diabetic specialist nurse today, she explained everything thoroughly and made me feel that we were working together which was much appreciated. She also gave me a glucose monitor and prescribed (as a one off) additional strips.

just one more question - how long after starting metformin and making the lifestyle changes should I expect to see a difference in my glucose readings.

thank you all again

Katherine

 

[adrian1der]

Everyone is different @Kath Newman

Here is my weekly average. Horizontal axis is weeks after diagnosis

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you everybody for your welcome and comments.

I just wanted to say I have had a really brilliant 40 minute appt with the Diabetic specialist nurse today, she explained everything thoroughly and made me feel that we were working together which was much appreciated. She also gave me a glucose monitor and prescribed (as a one off) additional strips.

just one more question - how long after starting metformin and making the lifestyle changes should I expect to see a difference in my glucose readings.

thank you all again

Katherine

Not being on medication myself I'm not sure but I did see a difference quite quickly as I made a significant reduction in the carbs I was having.
I would say use you monitor and strips wisely and have a sensible testing regime which will give you useful information so before and 2 hours after a meal to see if you can tolerate that amount of carbs. Hope for no more than 2mmol/l increase.
Monitors prescribed by the G P tend to have quite expensive strips if you then want to buy yourself so be aware of that. People often then find it more economical in the long run to buy a monitor with cheaper strips.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Kath Newman

Glad you have been finding the forum helpful, and great news that you are building a supportive relationship with your diabetes nurse, and that you‘ve been given a meter - your nurse sounds like a keeper!