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Hi. There's several scales. Sounds like a HbA1c test. 48 and above and you're diagnosed diabetic. Some on here have been around 100.
42 - 48 is pre diabetic.
The HbA1c is an average over 2/3 months. It's done with blood taken from the arm
There's a convention table on the diabetes UK website. I don't have the link at the moment.
 
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Welcome to the forum Fayazur, I am Type2 also. Ask away, there's a always someone here who will be able to answer your questions. I use a Contour TS meter to test my blood glucose levels (Bgl) but there are a few here who recommend the Code free meter & testing strips, mainly because should your doctor not supply you with a meter, then you'd need to purchase one for yourself if you want to check your bgls regularly. @Northerner. I believe the test strips for that meter are fairly £ reasonable.

We here test our bgls:-
a) Upon waking
b) Before each meal
c) 2 hours after each meal
I usually test last thing at night too.
Good luck & take care
 
wirralass said:
Welcome to the forum Fayazur, I am Type2 also. Ask away, there's a always someone here who will be able to answer your questions. I use a Contour TS meter to test my blood glucose levels (Bgl) but there are a few here who recommend the Code free meter & testing strips, mainly because should your doctor not supply you with a meter, then you'd need to purchase one for yourself if you want to check your bgls regularly. @Northerner. I believe the test strips for that meter are fairly £ reasonable.

We here test our bgls:-
a) Upon waking
b) Before each meal
c) 2 hours after each meal
I usually test last thing at night too.
Good luck & take care
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thanks
 
Hannah DUK said:
Hello everyone, as Northerner has kindly mentioned, I’m here to answer any niggling questions you may have about Diabetes UK, pass on your views or thoughts and offer insight to things happening in the organisations. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all and become part of this very supportive community. 🙂:D
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Hannah DUK said:
Hello everyone, as Northerner has kindly mentioned, I’m here to answer any niggling questions you may have about Diabetes UK, pass on your views or thoughts and offer insight to things happening in the organisations. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all and become part of this very supportive community. 🙂:D
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Hi. Glad this website is here. Looks very good for relevant support.Just started metformin. Is there a best way to take it to reduce diarrhoea. Eg during or after a meal. Also, how long to try the one tablet before goes away. Many thanks. Ron.
 
Welcome to the forum, Ronald Robertson. If you introduce yourself in Newbies thread, you will get more replies. It's definitely best to take metformin with food in your stomach to lessen diarrhoea and farting. Also, reducing carbohydrate helps.
 
I have a question. Im new, so I hope its ok. Ive brought one of these new foot peels. Its milk and bamboo vinegar, you put in on then in a week your foot peels. Leaving you with lovely baby soft feet. Is this dangerous in diabetes? Any advice apreciated!
 
xoxDawniexox said:
I have a question. Im new, so I hope its ok. Ive brought one of these new foot peels. Its milk and bamboo vinegar, you put in on then in a week your foot peels. Leaving you with lovely baby soft feet. Is this dangerous in diabetes? Any advice apreciated!
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As said, best to ask a podiatrist first. I know the hard way how important diabetic foot care is; in February I suddenly (for what reason I have never found out) got blisters on my left foot, which rapidly became infected (probably because I attend hospital 3 days a week), and since then that foot.leg has been bandaged (in fact, both legs are currently bandaged). Fortunately, it seems to be healing at last...
 
@DeusXM - another problem could be the idea of supporting a prescription for both libre and a blood-glucose monitor for drivers as the libre is not acceptable for driving purposes. so why fund both?
 
Had a DUK mailshot (email) to Diabetes Voices, to ask prospective MPs to 'sign up' to DUK's Manifesto.

I was not that surprised to read that less then 50% of T2s reach targets. However I was absolutely stunned to learn that less than 18% of T1s do. Whaaat?

Then I started to realise that I'm one of the 82+% - because all sorts of things that aren't 'diabetes' are part of 'my' targets. Smoking is the first of these of course so mea culpa. However - my Cholesterol level is the next one. My diabetes consultant says that everybody - diabetic or not, regardless of what their Chol level is - needs to reduce it by 20 - 30%. He's blooming well adamant. I said - so if I was 30, and my total chol was 3.0 - you'd STILL want me to reduce it? Yes, he would.

Anyway I'm 67 and it's 5.5 - so I said find me a drug or method that doesn't have the mental health side effects I had on statins and I'll happily give them a go. He said I knew there weren't any. And I said Well - and you know I'll never willingly ever take another statin again - so why do you insist on having a go at me about it, every time I walk through that flippin door? which he declined to answer and moved on. See - if I lose my memory and can't function - like before when I was on the benited things - it won't be HIS problem, will it?

I've tried mentioning research and stuff, he just gets annoyed and says he isn't a cardiologist so absolutely refuses to engage in such debates.

I thought stuff like targets had to be discussed with patients and agreed? Never been asked if I even want a chol target - it's just been imposed upon me, same as the BG one - but of course I don't object to that.

What the hell else have I got a target for that nobody's bothered to tell me?
 
trophywench said:
Had a DUK mailshot (email) to Diabetes Voices, to ask prospective MPs to 'sign up' to DUK's Manifesto.

I was not that surprised to read that less then 50% of T2s reach targets. However I was absolutely stunned to learn that less than 18% of T1s do. Whaaat?

Then I started to realise that I'm one of the 82+% - because all sorts of things that aren't 'diabetes' are part of 'my' targets. Smoking is the first of these of course so mea culpa. However - my Cholesterol level is the next one. My diabetes consultant says that everybody - diabetic or not, regardless of what their Chol level is - needs to reduce it by 20 - 30%. He's blooming well adamant. I said - so if I was 30, and my total chol was 3.0 - you'd STILL want me to reduce it? Yes, he would.

Anyway I'm 67 and it's 5.5 - so I said find me a drug or method that doesn't have the mental health side effects I had on statins and I'll happily give them a go. He said I knew there weren't any. And I said Well - and you know I'll never willingly ever take another statin again - so why do you insist on having a go at me about it, every time I walk through that flippin door? which he declined to answer and moved on. See - if I lose my memory and can't function - like before when I was on the benited things - it won't be HIS problem, will it?

I've tried mentioning research and stuff, he just gets annoyed and says he isn't a cardiologist so absolutely refuses to engage in such debates.

I thought stuff like targets had to be discussed with patients and agreed? Never been asked if I even want a chol target - it's just been imposed upon me, same as the BG one - but of course I don't object to that.

What the hell else have I got a target for that nobody's bothered to tell me?
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Yes, I don't meet the target for Type 1 ether - on the cholesterol front. My GP is relaxed about mine, which is usually around 5.5, because my ratio is very good, but the message I originally got from the hospital was that, 'whatever it was, it could always be lower' - even though this would only be achieved by lowering my 'good' cholesterol!
 
My cholesterol levels are acceptable for someone without diabetes, so I choose not to take statins. GP is happy for them to remain unclaimed on repeat prescription list, because mg blood pressure is good and I'm pretty active. Still haven't succeeds in getting pot bellied GP to join a parkrun though
..
 
trophywench said:
Then I started to realise that I'm one of the 82+% - because all sorts of things that aren't 'diabetes' are part of 'my' targets. Smoking is the first of these of course so mea culpa. However - my Cholesterol level is the next one. My diabetes consultant says that everybody - diabetic or not, regardless of what their Chol level is - needs to reduce it by 20 - 30%. He's blooming well adamant. I said - so if I was 30, and my total chol was 3.0 - you'd STILL want me to reduce it? Yes, he would.
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My cholesterol went down to 2.4 when I was on statins - the nurse said she'd never seen it that low 😱 Since I am aware that cholesterol is essential to the life and integrity of every cell I decided it was far too low for me and stopped taking them. My last measure was about 4.6, which doesn't meet the target, but the target is crude anyway, as we all know, since it is the HDL/LDL ratio that is most important. Personally, I think it would be pushing the qualifying 'meeting criteria' to say that it shouldn't include me! 😱
 
trophywench said:
I thought stuff like targets had to be discussed with patients and agreed?
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That would be too much patient involvement. I've never had any targets at all. Nor care plan or action plan. When I tried to have an action plan from nurse at my old GP practice she got p*** at me. Last few months is the first time I've had any. And that's only after I've made a fuss and been getting on at people. Last October I practically threatened to stop taking my medication, and mentioned just sitting at home all day eating cake.
Last time I saw nurse my HbA1c was 47 (?). She gave me a target of 55 and less.
 
He also did a diatribe about QRisk scores and how important they are. Well - they may be - to him LOL Told him if he added up my QRisk scores and really believed em - then he'd know very well I ought to have been pushing up daisies for a good while !

They give people like him some of the info, as absolute Gospel truth on which to base their treatment of their patients, but not the knowledge - or skill - to answer the questions or challenges.
 
trophywench said:
I was not that surprised to read that less then 50% of T2s reach targets. However I was absolutely stunned to learn that less than 18% of T1s do. Whaaat?

...

What the hell else have I got a target for that nobody's bothered to tell me?
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Where are these targets, please?! There are several replies from people who seem to know what they are, and nobody's bothered to tell me either! All they ever say to me is "your kidneys are fantastic" (said with a look of great surprise) and "have fewer hypos" (I would if I could) 🙄
 
TheClockworkDodo said:
Where are these targets, please?! There are several replies from people who seem to know what they are, and nobody's bothered to tell me either! All they ever say to me is "your kidneys are fantastic" (said with a look of great surprise) and "have fewer hypos" (I would if I could) 🙄
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They are all contained in the NICE guidelines, but they are dotted around. Basically, it's HbA1c of 6.5 or under, BP of 135/85 or 130/80 if you have kidney problems, and Cholsterol under 4, (I think, that's the one I didn't recheck, because it's in a different section)
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17/chapter/Key-priorities-for-implementation
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17/chapter/1-Recommendations#control-of-cardiovascular-risk
Basically, the consultant listed them to me when I was first diagnosed, which is why I knew about them, but since I've been transferred back to my GP, neither she nor the nurse has ever mentioned them.
 
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Funny how they only use the guidance when it suits em to, ain't it? Pooh pooh it and stress it's ONLY guidance when they don't want to give someone test strips - and obeying them like as I said Gospel - when it means THEM getting another tick in a box.
 
here is a target chart available to users of the scottish health service (diabetes)
 
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