A Bit of Help Please

[Steady]

I was diagnosed with T2 last week and have just today received my glucose monitor.
I have read that at first you need to test quite often to get an idea of the correct foods etc but how often is "often" and is between 4-7 a good figure to aim for??
It all seems so confusing at the moment despite all the reading I have been doing and this very helpful forum.

 

[Northerner]

I was diagnosed with T2 last week and have just today received my glucose monitor.
I have read that at first you need to test quite often to get an idea of the correct foods etc but how often is "often" and is between 4-7 a good figure to aim for??
It all seems so confusing at the moment despite all the reading I have been doing and this very helpful forum.

Hi Steady, the aim is to use your meter readings to determine how well you tolerate different meals. You do this by testing before, then one or two hours after (as described in Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S ). Since we tend to be creatures of habit, you eill more than likely eat some meals fairly often, and once you have determined how they affect you, and perhaps made adjustments to carb content, you won't need to test that particular meal again, except for maybe the occasional spot check. Numbers of between 4-7 before eating would be ideal, but what you are looking for at first is how much a particular meal raises your levels. So, for example, if you were at 8.0 before eating and had a sandwich, then an hour later you were 12.0, that would be quite a big rise and you might have to change the amount of bread or what you have in the sandwich. You are ideally aiming for something to raise your levels by no more than about 2-3 mmol/l. But don't be dismayed if your numbers are nothing like this to start with - it takes time and lots of information to get things right and see the patterns. Once you become confident that you know how a particular food will affect you, you won't need to test it 🙂

Hope this helps! 🙂

 

[Steady]

Thank you so much. That certainly helps.

 

[pottersusan]

Welcome to the club no one wants to join.

This forum is very heplful and supportive. So, ask away. Someone will know the answer🙂

 

[casey jones]

Hi Steady, the aim is to use your meter readings to determine how well you tolerate different meals. You do this by testing before, then one or two hours after (as described in Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S ). Since we tend to be creatures of habit, you eill more than likely eat some meals fairly often, and once you have determined how they affect you, and perhaps made adjustments to carb content, you won't need to test that particular meal again, except for maybe the occasional spot check. Numbers of between 4-7 before eating would be ideal, but what you are looking for at first is how much a particular meal raises your levels. So, for example, if you were at 8.0 before eating and had a sandwich, then an hour later you were 12.0, that would be quite a big rise and you might have to change the amount of bread or what you have in the sandwich. You are ideally aiming for something to raise your levels by no more than about 2-3 mmol/l. But don't be dismayed if your numbers are nothing like this to start with - it takes time and lots of information to get things right and see the patterns. Once you become confident that you know how a particular food will affect you, you won't need to test it 🙂

Hope this helps! 🙂

Hi Northerner,
what exactly is the fasting bg? I am guessing that it is the bg 1st thing when you get up and before breakfast?

 

[Northerner]

Hi Northerner,
what exactly is the fasting bg? I am guessing that it is the bg 1st thing when you get up and before breakfast?

Yup, that's the one! 🙂 Actually, best to do it as the very first thing rather than when you have been up and about for a bit 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Welcome to the forum, Steady. You might also want to test how exercise affects you. So, you could test before starting on an afternoon gardening, a walk, game of table tennis, bike ride, parkrun, whatever you enjoy, then 30 minutes after finishing. Have a look at Type 2 basics on Team Blood Glucose website. Once you know how you react to your favourite type(s) of exercise, you won't need to test each time you do it.

 

[onefooteight]

I find it really interesting how exercise affects the sugar levels as I thought it would make them come down, but instead they go up. I've started eating just before I exercise and they don't go up quite as much as when I eat nothing.

 

[grovesy]

It can sometimes depend on the exercise you do, and sometimes it affects act later!