Finger prick readings , new to this

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Thank you very much for such a kind and helpful reply

I really don't think this regular home testing is good for my mental health at all as I have been in hospital under section twice before and any stress makes me very ill , very quickly

I interpret and make catastrophic conclusions more than most and worrying about these results is not going to do me any favours at all

I assume before these home tests the hba1c results were the main way of keeping an eye on things ? If that's the case and my readings have dropped from 80 plus to 51 and since the last hba1c test my diet have cut out the carbs and rubbish even more then surely my next result in March will be even better ?

I took two tests before breakfast this morning and my last meal was 8pm yesterday .....the readings were 9.9 and 11.8 !

That makes absolutely no sense to me .....I ate a piece of chicken , lightly pan fried with mushrooms and a side veg of boiled cabbage , sprouts and baby green beans

That's low carb ....unless I am doing something wrong

The portions are not excessive

I don't really see this is helping me at all really and the nurse herself didn't feel regular monitoring was necessary given my reducing hba1c
 
Hi @Taffyboyslim. If you go back to the nice guidelines for providing monitoring kit it says - and I paraphrase - that monitors should not be supplied routinely because some people will not be able to cope with self monitoring because they will find it difficult to interpret the results and that might raise anxiety levels in anybody who gets anxious easily. The up shot is self monitoring is not for everybody.

Many on the forum recommend the rapid feedback you get from self monitoring to guide diet changes as a means of reducing blood glucose levels. It is good advice but does not apply to all because not everybody has a scientific background or has the experience in data analysis and interpretation needed to get the best from self monitoring.

My thought for you is that if monitoring is not doing you any favours at all, then put your monitor to one side for a while and keep on doing what you did to get your HbA1c down to 51 from 80 plus, and see what your next HbA1c is. In changing your diet you have found something that works. Keep going with that, and I will put a small wager on your HbA1c going down further.
 
I started off at HbA1c of 91, at the first retest it was 47 and then at 6 months it was 41 and after 7 years (!!!) it is 43. By keeping carbs to under 50gm a day at the start, remission was not difficult at all.
It does take time for reserves to empty - my weight now is 90lb below my highest recorded weight. If things are headed in the right direction then that is fine - the important readings are after meals.
I have never bothered to check my glucose levels fist thing in the morning as there is nothing I could do to make any difference then. By checking what I ate I could then go on eating the same, if a good result, or not have that same meal again if bad. I found that gave me peace of mind, and it worked really well. One oddity was that beans or peas put up my blood glucose more than they should do. It is as though they contain almost double the carbs listed. Several other people have noted the same thing so it is perhaps something genetic . I just watch the amounts I eat, having a half portion of the usual suspects to keep my blood glucose from spiking.
 
Drummer said:
I started off at HbA1c of 91, at the first retest it was 47 and then at 6 months it was 41 and after 7 years (!!!) it is 43. By keeping carbs to under 50gm a day at the start, remission was not difficult at all.
It does take time for reserves to empty - my weight now is 90lb below my highest recorded weight. If things are headed in the right direction then that is fine - the important readings are after meals.
I have never bothered to check my glucose levels fist thing in the morning as there is nothing I could do to make any difference then. By checking what I ate I could then go on eating the same, if a good result, or not have that same meal again if bad. I found that gave me peace of mind, and it worked really well. One oddity was that beans or peas put up my blood glucose more than they should do. It is as though they contain almost double the carbs listed. Several other people have noted the same thing so it is perhaps something genetic . I just watch the amounts I eat, having a half portion of the usual suspects to keep my blood glucose from spiking.
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I agree with you there about testing first thing in the morning as I was never convinced that what I ate the night before made much difference and it was those before and after reading that gave the most guidance on what was a sensible amount of carbs or combination of food to have for meals. So that gave a good basis for making changes.
 
I went from an 80 to a 55 A1c. And had a 57 only the other week. And yet the past few weeks my finger prick results have been up as far as 18.9. I would suggest not giving up and try to find out what is the driver that is pushing your readings up. It is most likely several. Exercise works like magic for me but to keep the readings consistently low I have had to get extremely serious with a low carb diet. Good luck.
 
Docb said:
Hi @Taffyboyslim. If you go back to the nice guidelines for providing monitoring kit it says - and I paraphrase - that monitors should not be supplied routinely because some people will not be able to cope with self monitoring because they will find it difficult to interpret the results and that might raise anxiety levels in anybody who gets anxious easily. The up shot is self monitoring is not for everybody.

Many on the forum recommend the rapid feedback you get from self monitoring to guide diet changes as a means of reducing blood glucose levels. It is good advice but does not apply to all because not everybody has a scientific background or has the experience in data analysis and interpretation needed to get the best from self monitoring.

My thought for you is that if monitoring is not doing you any favours at all, then put your monitor to one side for a while and keep on doing what you did to get your HbA1c down to 51 from 80 plus, and see what your next HbA1c is. In changing your diet you have found something that works. Keep going with that, and I will put a small wager on your HbA1c going down further.
Click to expand...

I think that's very sage advice

Cheers
 
Drummer said:
I started off at HbA1c of 91, at the first retest it was 47 and then at 6 months it was 41 and after 7 years (!!!) it is 43. By keeping carbs to under 50gm a day at the start, remission was not difficult at all.
It does take time for reserves to empty - my weight now is 90lb below my highest recorded weight. If things are headed in the right direction then that is fine - the important readings are after meals.
I have never bothered to check my glucose levels fist thing in the morning as there is nothing I could do to make any difference then. By checking what I ate I could then go on eating the same, if a good result, or not have that same meal again if bad. I found that gave me peace of mind, and it worked really well. One oddity was that beans or peas put up my blood glucose more than they should do. It is as though they contain almost double the carbs listed. Several other people have noted the same thing so it is perhaps something genetic . I just watch the amounts I eat, having a half portion of the usual suspects to keep my blood glucose from spiking.
Click to expand...

It's very demoralising to be stripping carbs and having these high readings so I am going to persevere with my eating plan and await the next hba1c
 
RichardsUsername said:
I went from an 80 to a 55 A1c. And had a 57 only the other week. And yet the past few weeks my finger prick results have been up as far as 18.9. I would suggest not giving up and try to find out what is the driver that is pushing your readings up. It is most likely several. Exercise works like magic for me but to keep the readings consistently low I have had to get extremely serious with a low carb diet. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I think my reserve of carbs .....mentioned by another poster ....May still be high ? I really have ate extremely badly for several years and that's got me into trouble .....so maybe it will take more than a few months to reduce these readings
 
I have finally had enough of this silly finger prick testing

This morning at 8am I took a reading before eating anything and it was 10.0

No food since 9pm last night

It's now 10 am and it's 13.0 , before I eat my breakfast

It goes against everything I am doing and my hbac1 is down to around 50 from 87 so either the machines they are giving me are broken or I am absolutely around the clock full of glucose .....which is surely not possible as I have cut out virtually all carbs and sugar and last night at 8 pm I ate my usual evening meal .....pre fast testing at 8 am .....of lightly fried chicken .....or beef ....or pork ...or fish ......with a small side of cabbage , mushrooms and a small onion .....all very lightly fried

I could understand these huge readings if I had a high hba1c , had spent the last few months eating chips and white bread sandwiches and every night was having fried rice and sweet and sour from my local Chinese

But I am doing everything right

Maybe the medication needs a change because I can't think of anything else

One things for sure I am not spending the next 3 months till my scheduled hba1c in march messing about like this , it's making me ill with anxiety every day

Can you pay privately for a hba1c ?

Because if I get one and my results are high I will demand an appointment to get on medication that is going to reduce this ridiculously high finger prick results

Or get another sodding machine !
 
Your blood sugars will rise through the morning even if you don't eat. Its the dawn effect...your body preparing you for the day. As a t1 i just take some insulin. Fot t2 there will be other strategies to deal with it that, no doubt, a t2 will share.

I know its frustrating, but the fact you are frustrated shows you are commited to dealing with this, and you WILL see the results of your hard work. Its a learning curve, but the fact you are asking these questions means you are going up that curve.
Be kind to yourself
 
Taffyboyslim said:
Can you pay privately for a hba1c ?
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Yes, but I think it involves you taking your own blood sample at home and sending it off.

Superdrug, for example, sell kits for testing HbA1c, trigs and cholesterol but how accurate or reliable these are I don't know, and they don't come cheap. There may be members who've gone down that route and will be able to advise.
 
Taffyboyslim said:
Diagnosed July 2022 , nurse has recently provided me with a finger prick monitor

She's pleased with hbac1 at 51 and reducing

Took first home test today , before breakfast , 10.4 ?

I was surprised and thought it would be a lot less than that

How does a high but not really high hbac1 match in with my finger prick level of 10.4 ?

And what can I do about it , apart from the obvious dietary changes I am doing ?

A change of medication ?
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While the reading is a bit high, I wouldn't be overly concerned. Better to take a series of fasting tests to look for a pattern. It may be simply insufficient hydration or eating too close to bedtime, or even something you ate early evening that spiked your bloods.

If you find all your bfg's over a week are in the 10s then maybe flag it with your nurse, but in the meantime try to enjoy your day
 
Taffyboyslim said:
I think my reserve of carbs .....mentioned by another poster ....May still be high ? I really have ate extremely badly for several years and that's got me into trouble .....so maybe it will take more than a few months to reduce these readings
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No. What you have eaten in the past is irrelevant.

The body does store glucose (As Glycogen) but not a huge amount of it, and during fasting periods it also makes it.
People with T2D tends to have low stores as the insulin hasn't been working well, and it's insulin that pushes the glucose into muscles and the liver. People with T2D also overproduce glucose, even though there is enough in the blood already, which just raises levels higher.

Your level has actually come down to a decent place - yes, it's still in the diabetic area, but it's pretty close to 48 and at a level where the risks are side effects are far lower. It may be elevated in the morning, but it may have gone down by afternoon, and seeing readings of 8+ with a hba1c of around 50 seems about right.

High morning levels you are seeing are a difficult one, as none of the existing drugs really seems effective and a lot of people with T2D suffer from it. (Over 50%, I believe.) It can make a difference to hba1c as well.

If I were you, I would stop finger pricking. You don't *have* to do it, and stress is one of the reasons cited for T2s not doing it. I'd stick to the low carb diet and wait to see what happens with the next hba1c.

I'd keep doing what you are doing and see how things progress. It may be less stressful.
 
Taffyboyslim said:
No food since 9pm last night

It's now 10 am and it's 13.0 , before I eat my breakfast
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As others have said, the rise in the morning is due to your liver glucose dump to give you energy to start the day. If you don’t eat anything, your liver will continue to dump glucose because it thinks you are starving and your BG will cont to rise. Once you break your fast (eat something … even something small), your liver will get the message that you are no longer starving and stop the glucose dump.
Unfortunately, for some of us, this glucose dump will start in the early hours whilst we are asleep to give us the energy to wake up and start the day. Fir others, they will see a more pronounced rise when they get up and put their “Foot on the Floor”. The rise whilst you are sleeping is likely to be the last thing that stops as you bring your BG down.
 
@Taffyboyslim -that is exactly what I was seeing, I need to eat early, just a few grams of something with carbs along with the protein and fat and the rise is halted.
I eat at 12 hour intervals as that is what keeps my blood glucose levels steady.
 
Welshman1952 said:
While the reading is a bit high, I wouldn't be overly concerned. Better to take a series of fasting tests to look for a pattern. It may be simply insufficient hydration or eating too close to bedtime, or even something you ate early evening that spiked your bloods.

If you find all your bfg's over a week are in the 10s then maybe flag it with your nurse, but in the meantime try to enjoy your day
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Another one tonight

Ate at 730 pm

1 breast chicken lightly fried with mushrooms

Small portion of spinach

13.8 !
 
helli said:
As others have said, the rise in the morning is due to your liver glucose dump to give you energy to start the day. If you don’t eat anything, your liver will continue to dump glucose because it thinks you are starving and your BG will cont to rise. Once you break your fast (eat something … even something small), your liver will get the message that you are no longer starving and stop the glucose dump.
Unfortunately, for some of us, this glucose dump will start in the early hours whilst we are asleep to give us the energy to wake up and start the day. Fir others, they will see a more pronounced rise when they get up and put their “Foot on the Floor”. The rise whilst you are sleeping is likely to be the last thing that stops as you bring your BG down.
Click to expand...

All too confusing for me but I do appreciate your kindness in trying to explain

X
 
Drummer said:
@Taffyboyslim -that is exactly what I was seeing, I need to eat early, just a few grams of something with carbs along with the protein and fat and the rise is halted.
I eat at 12 hour intervals as that is what keeps my blood glucose levels steady.
Click to expand...

Well if I am following the right path in cutting out the utter garbage I have eaten for the last ten years .....chips , Chinese, pot noodles , bags of crisps , bread , pies , sausage rolls , chocolate .....yep all of this in big quantities .....which got me to 17 and a half stone

And I am and have been for several months taking medication in military fashion , as prescribed......and now eat lots of low carb veg , eggs , fish , chicken , beef , pork etc

And my home blood levels are all over the place then I really don't know what else I should be doing and unless people think I should definitely go and see the doctor as i could be damaging my organs then I am going to knock this testing nonsense on the head and have a break from everything as I have had a gutsfull of all this crap
 
Docb said:
Hi @Taffyboyslim. If you go back to the nice guidelines for providing monitoring kit it says - and I paraphrase - that monitors should not be supplied routinely because some people will not be able to cope with self monitoring because they will find it difficult to interpret the results and that might raise anxiety levels in anybody who gets anxious easily. The up shot is self monitoring is not for everybody.

Many on the forum recommend the rapid feedback you get from self monitoring to guide diet changes as a means of reducing blood glucose levels. It is good advice but does not apply to all because not everybody has a scientific background or has the experience in data analysis and interpretation needed to get the best from self monitoring.

My thought for you is that if monitoring is not doing you any favours at all, then put your monitor to one side for a while and keep on doing what you did to get your HbA1c down to 51 from 80 plus, and see what your next HbA1c is. In changing your diet you have found something that works. Keep going with that, and I will put a small wager on your HbA1c going down further.
Click to expand...
I agree with the Docb if it does not help you do not do it. I was told a different topic but with my first baby put him down and let him cry to sleep. Son was severely autistic and slept 10 minutes in two hours it was never going to work for me or the neighbours if I let him cry and I adapted life to my way of coping. So I am saying do the same it is great that your sugar is down to the 50s from the 80s and well done. Keep going. If a monitor makes you anxious it might make another able to see. To be fair if low you can take something but if it is going high and consistently I see someone as what your body is doing is not helping itself. I am not of the mind that diet, exercise, and fluids will always lower your blood sugar or why some need more medication, etc. To summarise it is your life and your body and you do what's best for you.
 
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