Finger prick tests, are they a waste of time?

[Sharron1]

Oh nothing fancy, just a simple monitor. As a T2 I don't see the need for me to continually check on my BG. I just like to keep an eye on things.

 

[MrsAA]

I test when I get up, after breakfast, before lunch, 2 hours after, before dinner and 2 hours after and before bed..I log the readings in MySugr app and the estimated HbA1C is usually pretty accurate..my most recent HbA1C on Monday came back at 62, the app said 63…I find if I don’t test I fall into bad habits again which then sends my HbA1C up again..my DN gives me 50 strips a month on prescription, she also gave me a monitor even though I told her I already had one of a different make, so I use the monitor and strips she gives me and when I run out I use my own monitor and strips I get from Amazon..

Our son who has recently been diagnosed, they thought type 1, then type 2 but an antibody test has shown he’s actually type 1.5 has been using a CGM but they are so expensive and he can’t get them on prescription because he’s not type 1 so suspect he will be using an ordinary monitor and testing strips before too long.

 

[JITR]

I test myself daily ... I started with a HbA1c of 88 ...
View attachment 34308
I lost 10kg in the first 6 weeks, and a further 5kg since ... I do feel better for it.

@saz9961
Have you heard of Prof Roy Taylor and his team's work at Newcastle University over the last 20 years? In 2008 they proved that Type 2 diabetes can be put into remission by losing weight to eliminate excess fat from the liver and the pancreas. The overweight need to lose 15kg or more to do that. The success rate is near 100% for prediabetics, say 90-95% for newly diagnosed T2Ds, down to around 50% after 10 years, and roughly 25% after 20-25 years.

Your blue graph looks like the one Professor Taylor and his colleagues presented when they reported their results from their 2008 of trials with a very low calorie diet. This graph showed 'responders' BG fell to normal levels after 7 days. Their livers had lost 30% of their fat in a week and become sensitive to insulin again. Professor Taylor tells the story of this Eureka moment in this video of his 2023 PHC conference talk. He shows the famous graph in results section stating at 6:10 minutes.

After 8-13 weeks their pancreas's beta cells were started to produce more insulin again. Full recovery to near normal levels of insulin secretion took 12 months or more. 'Non responders' beta cells did not recover.

At diagnosis HbA1c was 104 and BG 17mmol/l. After finding and downloading Roy Taylor's 'Life without T2D' I decided to leave Metformin in its packet and follow a real food VLCD to see what happened. A week later my first and last finger prick showed 5.8 mmol/l. I was a responder so I carried on. Three months later HbaA1c was 39.

Looking at your graph, hope yours will be lower.