Hello :)

[Taz78]

Hi ya

I was diagnosed with type 2 just before Christmas. My Hba1c was 66.
I was advised to have 150g of carbs and to lose weight and to take medication.

I am confused on how i am meant to monitor my sugar levels with a tester. Is that normal? Do I just have to wait until my next blood test to see if it has gone down???

 

[ianf0ster]

Which medication was prescribed?
In the UK, it is normal for Health Care professionals not to suggest that a Type 2 monitor their Blood Glucose unless they are on a medication which directly reduces BG (such as Insulin of gliclazide).
Many of us in this forum think this is wrong because Blood Glucose is mostly influenced by the amount of carbohydrates we eat and the standard GP tests of HbA1C are roughly a 3 month average and so can't tell you if you overdid it with a particular meal until you have repeated that mistake many, many times over. perhaps over 90 times if the meal was breakfast!

We are all different (level of insulin resistance, genome, gut biome) and so we vary as to how much and of which carbohydrates we can tolerate (note that all carbohydrates digest into glucose). Tthat suggestion of 150gms of carbs per day is just a starting point, if you can do it then it's much better to 'eat to your BG meter' i.e. test different meals and try to only (or at least mainly) eat ones which don't spike your Blood Glucose.

Here is link to a blog entry which set me on the path to T2D remission 4yrs ago:

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...

josekalsbeek.blogspot.com

 

[Martin.A]

I am confused on how i am meant to monitor my sugar levels with a tester. Is that normal? Do I just have to wait until my next blood test to see if it has gone down???

HI, and welcome.

I'm still testing daily, almost 5 years after diagnosis, so that I pick up any signs that my BG is trending upwards rather than get a nasty surprise at my next HbA1c. In the early days I was looking for signs that it was trending downwards, as otherwise I would have had no idea whether my strategy for bringing it down was working.

Having said that you won't get any useful info from random testing. The usual regime is to test on waking (fasting test), just before a meal (pre-prandial) and 2 hours later (post-prandial). The target ranges are to be between 4 and 7 fasting and pre-prandial and no more than 8.5 post-prandial, with the rise from pre-prandial being no more than 2 or 3. More than 3 suggests too many carbs. You would need a few weeks results to be able to pick up any trend.

Testing after meals has also enabled me to build up a food diary which now contains a list of 125 meal choices that don't take me out of range and keep me below 130g carbs per day.

 

[Leadinglights]

Many find that getting a home blood glucose monitor pus them in control or their condition. I suspect the medication is metformin which is usually the first thing that is prescribed but without the dietary changes you will be fighting a losing battle. The suggested carbs is no more than 130g per day as a good starting point to include all meals, snacks and drinks.
This link may help you with some ideas for modifying your diet, it is a low carb approach which many find successful at losing weight and reducing blood glucose. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Monitors can be bought on line and as it is the strips which are the expensive part then checking the price of those is a good idea, some are 4x the price of others.

 

[Taz78]

Which medication was prescribed?
In the UK, it is normal for Health Care professionals not to suggest that a Type 2 monitor their Blood Glucose unless they are on a medication which directly reduces BG (such as Insulin of gliclazide).
Many of us in this forum think this is wrong because Blood Glucose is mostly influenced by the amount of carbohydrates we eat and the standard GP tests of HbA1C are roughly a 3 month average and so can't tell you if you overdid it with a particular meal until you have repeated that mistake many, many times over. perhaps over 90 times if the meal was breakfast!

We are all different (level of insulin resistance, genome, gut biome) and so we vary as to how much and of which carbohydrates we can tolerate (note that all carbohydrates digest into glucose). Tthat suggestion of 150gms of carbs per day is just a starting point, if you can do it then it's much better to 'eat to your BG meter' i.e. test different meals and try to only (or at least mainly) eat ones which don't spike your Blood Glucose.

Here is link to a blog entry which set me on the path to T2D remission 4yrs ago:

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...

josekalsbeek.blogspot.com

Thank you for your reply. I have been prescribed Synjardy which I believe is a mix of metformin and empagliflozin.
On Christmas Day, I literally fell asleep after every meal and I thought I had made better choices. I queried it as it scared me and was told my carbs were too high.

I have managed to loose about 9lb in 3 weeks but a long road to get to my 'ideal' weight.

Thank you for the link, i will look into this.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Well done on the weight loss @Taz78

High glucose levels can be exhausting, but it can also be tricky to know if any physical symptoms are associated with a particular glucose level without having the means to check your BGs at home. For what it’s worth, I was pretty dozy and napped a fair bit over Christmas too, but it wasn’t glucose related for me, just good old-fashioned tiredness from having a very busy run-up, and then the chance to relax.

Many Drs will only offer meters to people who are at risk of hypos because of the meds they are on, (and because some research suggests that some people with T2 find checking and seeing out of range numbers depressing) but so many forum find those very same numbers provide a great motivation to experiment with meals, and look for options that suit them better as individuals - rather than sticking with the diet sheet they were given that didn’t suit them.

The Spirit Tee2, and Contour Blue are a couple of meters which members here have found offer a good balance between solid performance and affordable strips.

Good luck, and keep asking questions!