Fancy numbers

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Alphonso

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Type 2
I have looked at one of the threads saying I woke up an my number was so and so, somebody in the thread says good game. What are they talking about, brandishing numbers about. I've been diagnosed diabetic coming up three years in May and I have not been told anything about numbers. I have not got a clue about mmol and all that because I've never been told. I don't use internet information as you can't believe anything on it too many people trying to scam for money by telling you a load of nonsense. So far all I've seen is a magazine from diabetic UK, still no information. I'm not a stupid person I have a degree in Mechanical engineering.
Sorry folks that isy gripe for the day.
 
I think you are probably talking about the thread where people post their morning blood glucose level which they take either form their home testing monitor or from their continuous glucose monitor or more recently a thread with before dinner readings. These reading are in mmol/l and people use their monitors to check the effect of food/meals on their blood glucose or to keep a track of progress day to day or week to week or for those taking insulin to make adjustments to their dose.
The other measurement people talk about is their HbA1C which is the test used to diagnose diabetes and is in mmol/mol. It does not distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2, below 42mmol/mol is normal, between 42mmol/mol and 47mmol/mol is at risk or prediabetes and 48mmol/mol and above is diabetic. The test reflects the average blood glucose over the previous 3 months and once diagnosed the test is normally every year after that at an annual review together with other blood tests and foot and eye checks.
I'm afraid there days often the information from GPs is lacking and people have to become their own expert.
You could do well to look around this forum and the Diabetes UK website for reliable information.
Although there are different opinions, the forum is moderated and spammers are usually picked up pronto.
 
Alphonso said:
What are they talking about, brandishing numbers about. I've been diagnosed diabetic coming up three years in May and I have not been told anything about numbers.
Click to expand...
Commonly people with T2 aren't recommended (or supported) in testing. Some (those using medications that can cause low blood glucose) are but otherwise the view from up above is that it's not worth it. (Though the latest Cochrane review suggests it might be worth it for about a year.)

Some people do find it worthwhile, for example to help discover which foods particularly alter blood glucose for them, or what kinds of activity change BG significantly (or not). (That's the speculated reason in Cochrane for the benefit of testing short-term.)

There's some descriptions on how people use testing in the links from here:
forum.diabetes.org.uk

Useful links for people new to diabetes

These links provide useful information, particularly to those newly-diagnosed. You can also browse the Recommended Books and Links sections for further information :) Contents: Type 1 Section Insulin Pumps Section Type 2 Section General Help and Information Section You may also find this...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

Many people here find that home testing is an invaluable means of giving them the information to manage their diabetes well. It allows them to see their diabetes in numerical form if you like on a day by day and meal by meal basis and many Type 2 diabetics here use that information to help make informed decisions about their diet.
Sadly many health care professionals do not understand how beneficial home testing can be and discourage people who are not using medication like insulin from self testing as a result although there are a few enlightened GPs who actively encourage it. Most Type 2s who are not on insulin or medication which stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin, have to self fund their home testing, but I think the majority feel that is it a very worthwhile investment in their health. BG test kits are sometimes given away by manufacturers as they make their money on selling the test strips, but even purchasing them a reliable basic meter is about £15, but you then need to buy extra test strips (which are not universal) so finding a meter with low cast test strips is key when you are self testing. I imagine as someone who has a background in engineering, the value of measuring stuff and getting results that you can analyse will appeal to you so it is certainly worth considering. If you need suggestions re reliable and economical test kits to purchase or perhaps how to get one free, please ask.
 
Hi Alphonso and welcome to the forum. I've got the odd technical degree and when I had to start to get to grips with my diabetes I naturally turned to the numbers and tried to understand them and what you could draw from them. Too many years doing technical support for production plants taught me that conflicting opinions were easy to get on any particular issue and the best way of sorting out what was which was by going back to the basic numbers.

There are two numbers of interest to somebody wanting to control their glucose levels.

First is the amount of glucose in the blood at any particular time. Measured in mmol/l it is an essential number for T1 diabetics since it cuts down on the guesswork used to adjust insulin doses and as such is life preserving.

For T2's its main uses are two fold.

First you can get an idea of where you are at. It can answer the simple question of whether your basic blood glucose levels are near normal, higher than normal, quite a bit above normal or time to get into panic mode above normal.

Second, you can use it to sort out what foods cause what increases in blood glucose for you. For example, some people are of the opinion that porridge is a bad thing whilst others say it isn't. Measuring your blood glucose before and after eating porridge will tell you whether it is an OK thing or a bad thing for you. Far better than listening to other peoples opinions.

The second number is the HbA1c. Lots of confusion over this number. It is measured in mmol/mol (in the UK and much of the civilised world) and is related to your average blood glucose over the preceding three months. Its main use is for diagnosis. If its over 48 then you get diagnosed with diabetes. The secondary use is to judge how big your particular problem is. If it is over 100 then alarm bells should be ringing in your GPs surgery and if it is up around 150 then you may get shoved off to A&E a bit smartish.

Those are the basics, which I suspect you know anyway.
 
Alphonso said:
I have looked at one of the threads saying I woke up an my number was so and so, somebody in the thread says good game. What are they talking about, brandishing numbers about. I've been diagnosed diabetic coming up three years in May and I have not been told anything about numbers. I have not got a clue about mmol and all that because I've never been told. I don't use internet information as you can't believe anything on it too many people trying to scam for money by telling you a load of nonsense. So far all I've seen is a magazine from diabetic UK, still no information. I'm not a stupid person I have a degree in Mechanical engineering.
Sorry folks that isy gripe for the day.
Click to expand...

Welcome @Alphonso 🙂 Not all Type 2s test their blood sugar at home but many (most?) here do. This gives them an idea of how they’re doing and shows whether certain meals work for them. If your HbA1C is low (the blood test the GP does) then you might not need to test at home, but if it’s higher than desirable, then testing at home can give you really helpful information and help you improve things.

These are the targets:

If you have type 2 diabetes​

  • before meals: 4 to 7mmol/l
  • two hours after meals: less than 8.5mmol/l
 
Alphonso said:
I have looked at one of the threads saying I woke up an my number was so and so, somebody in the thread says good game. What are they talking about, brandishing numbers about. I've been diagnosed diabetic coming up three years in May and I have not been told anything about numbers. I have not got a clue about mmol and all that because I've never been told. I don't use internet information as you can't believe anything on it too many people trying to scam for money by telling you a load of nonsense. So far all I've seen is a magazine from diabetic UK, still no information. I'm not a stupid person I have a degree in Mechanical engineering.
Sorry folks that isy gripe for the day.
Click to expand...
If you love data about yourself and like to take control of your own health then get yourself a blood glucose monitor and start recording.

When first diagnosed I did a reading when I got up. Pee. weigh and then Fasting blood glucose (still do this most days).

Then take a reading right before and 1 and 2 hours after eating to see the effect that the meal had on my sugar levels.
I could then see what foods to avoid which helped to get me into remission about 4 months after diagnosis by dietary changes alone.

I used various self funded meters but found that the Tee2 from Spirit Healthcare was the besy in terms of accuracy and running costs.

TEE2+ – Spirit Healthcare

shop.spirit-health.co.uk shop.spirit-health.co.uk

If you like me are a lover of data then what have you got to lose?
 
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I would just like to add also (as I think everything I might say on the benefits of testing blood glucose levels has been covered) that you absolutely do not  have to test to join in the morning/general chat thread! It's fine to just chat with us about how your day was yesterday/how you're feeling/what you're planning to do today without any numbers
 
There's a 2017 position statement from Diabetes UK intended for healthcare professionals which covers self-monitoring in people with T2 diabetes here which you might find interesting @Alphonso


Are you intrigued by the idea of self-monitoring? Do you think it is something you might find helpful, informative or interesting?

As @42istheanswer says, there's no need to self monitor if you don't want to, but folks here can help you to structure and interpret your results if you'd like them to.
 
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