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Hello

Ian Robinson said:
These machines for checking your blood, how important are they? no one has told me to get one.

Just been told to change my diet, exercise as much as my disability allows and we will see you in three months
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Although HCPs in general are rather dismissive of self-testing when people aren't on glucose-lowering medication, and hence will not usually provide the kits, most of us find that self-testing is useful for keeping track of how we're managing our BG and, especially after diagnosis, sorting out our diets.

Random testing doesn't tell you anything meaningful and is best avoided. Testing on waking is a fasting test, and by testing just before eating and then again 2 hours later you can see what effect that meal had on your BG. Then, based on the results, you can make adjustments, eg reduce portion size if you got too big a rise.

If you do decide to go that route by self-funding, as many of us do (including me) then the thing to remember is that the meter is a one-off cost but the test strips are a running cost.

Hope this helps.
 
How much would I be looking at for the machine and the strips.

#I've had a look on line and they want you to sign up for free trials all the time
 
I got a BG machine because I didnt like not knowing what my BG was. The strips can be expensive so many of the machines suggested on here have more moderately priced strips. You can test first thing to gather whether your bg is reducing. I test when I try something new. You test before you eat then two hours after you start eating and want it to rise no more than 3. Eg 4 - 7 then no more than 8. I decided pasta raised my bg too much so now use an alternative. Remember all carbohydrates turn to sugar. Eggs meat fish above ground veg and berries fine other things smaller portions or cut.
 
Hi @Ian Robinson and a warm welcome from me 🙂 . The blood glucose monitors are really helpful to see what's happening with your blood sugar levels after eating; certain foods can make the levels rise more than others. You just need to do a simple finger prick with device and add a small amount of blood to a test strip. I'm sure there are some members here that have recommendations about which ones to get, some testing strips are very pricey. Let us know how you're getting on and ask as many questions as you like 🙂
 
The three meters that are well tried and tested by forum members for reliability and economy of use for those self funding are the Contour Plus Blue, the Gluco Navii and the Spirit Healthcare Tee2. You are probably looking at about £15-£20 for a meter with lancing device and usually 10 test strips and 10 lancets included in with the meter and then additional £10ish for each pot of 50 test strips after that. You tend to go through quite a lot of test strips in the early weeks and months of testing but once you establish a repertoire of meals that work well for you, then people tend to ease back on testing and just test new foods/meals and/or do a waking reading just to keep an eye on things.
 
Thanks for the help you are all very helpful on here 🙂

When I said it was like a wake up call when the nurse told me I was going on meds, I also feel like it is a dirty secret that I should keep to myself. I told a mate today and he said if you had taken it seriously when you was pre diabetic you wouldn't be on meds now, a bit taken back by that
 
I don't think that is the sort of mate I would want. We all make mistakes or ignore warning signs at different times of our lives for a variety of reasons. A friend is someone who supports you when you need it, not criticise you for past mistakes. I think his comment reflects more on him than you, so try not to take it to heart. No one wants to get diabetes and it is really tough to change your lifestyle especially when there is so much unhealthy food pushed at us from all sides.

I think that was the thing that shocked me most when I changed my diet. I suddenly became acutely aware of all the advertising for fast food and sweet stuff wherever I went. On the TV in every ad break as well as cooking programs, in the supermarket, shop window displays, social events and even bill boards that I had probably driven past hundreds of times and didn't even notice until I was actively trying to resist temptation and then it was jumping out at me!! Thankfully that phase didn't last too long.... maybe a couple of months and by then I was settled into a low carb way of eating and starting to enjoy new things, plus the cravings had eased, so it became progressively easier to ignore the temptation and avoid certain aisles of the supermarket and not watch TV ads etc.
 
Life has been a struggle for me ever since the stroke 20 years ago. Having a stroke means you can't exercise like you could before, as a result you put on weight, got medically retired from full time job, put on more weight, part time work till the pain got the better of me and retired at 57, put on more weight, Three years later and you are now three stone heavier and well done you are now diabetic, can't win
 
Nobody knows what life has in store for them. My brother in law had a stroke several years ago and like you he had to give up his job. It's been an ongoing battle since living with limited mobility and has affected his health and well being.
Your friend should not be so quick to judge. I empathise with anyone trying to manage more than one long term health issue. It takes up so much head space . Be kind to yourself. Do as much as you feel you can reasonably do. Use the forum to vent if you need to or share any worries. Nobody will judge you.
 
JITR said:
Hello @Ian Robinson

Do you have your most recent blood result (HbA1c) and how does it compare with previous ones over the years? Could you do to lose some weight? In any case, diet is the key followed by whatever exercise you can manage. Your aim would be to see if you get your HbA1c down to less than 48-53 mmol/mol in say 6 months

In case it helps, I think good starting points are Dr David Unwin's successful diet sheet and Dr Kim Andrews' simple meal planner and red, amber, green food lists from Freshwell.

I followed the Newcastle Diet (real food < 800 cal) after my diagnosis. Designed for clinical trials and studies, that was a bit extreme. The good news from the study is that all participants who lost weight and reduced glucose levels also reduced their risk of serious complications. This applied both those with T2D for 10-25 years as wells the newly diagnosed.
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Which study ?
 
The trial showed that people who gained remission (Normal blood sugar levels) also showed an associated improvements with lipids and blood pressure, all of which reduce risk of future complications.
 
Burylancs said:
Which study ?
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There was a typo, 'the study' should have been 'the studies', now corrected in the post:
JITR said:
I followed the Newcastle Diet (real food < 800 cal) after my diagnosis. Designed for clinical trials and studies, that was a bit extreme. The good news from the studies is that all participants who lost weight and reduced glucose levels also reduced their risk of serious complications. This applied both those with T2D for 10-25 years as well as the newly diagnosed.
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The main study in question is DiRECT which followed on from Counterpoint.
 
JITR said:
There was a typo, 'the study' should have been 'the studies', now corrected in the post:


The main study in question is DiRECT which followed on from Counterpoint.
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The DiRECT 'study' was restricted to T2s under 6 years, it couldn't have shown benefits for 10 and 25 year duration T2s. In addition DiRECT specifically made no record of complications even over its 5 year reporting period - an egregious error since the impact of any management system on T2 complications is one of the most basic things we want to know. Lean and Taylor quoted the UKPDS and weakly assumed any improvement in control would lead to reduction in the risk of complications. Of course the UKPDS has been exposed as an example of classic 'bad science' by Ben Goldacre in his book Bad Science.
 
Another question. Is it alright to take vitamins with Dapagliflozin? I take Glucosamine with vitamin C for my joints and Multivitamins with iron
 
Ian Robinson said:
Another question. Is it alright to take vitamins with Dapagliflozin? I take Glucosamine with vitamin C for my joints and Multivitamins with iron
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Asking a pharmacist would be your best bet.
I found my joints improved following a low carb diet.... I am guessing there was inflammation which was aggravated by diet and reduced when I stopped eating the sugars and processed carbs.
 
I have been very tired since the stroke I sleep for hours, I normally take a nap during the day but since I've been on this pill I don't feel the least bit tired, Sunday night I stayed up till one in the morning watching the masters and was wide awake at eight. Can't remember when I last felt like this
 
Yes, I saw that.

The book by Goldacre that mentions this study was Bad Pharma, not Bad Science. And its criticisms were mainly about the scrutiny required on large trials to ensure the conclusions are good, so the comment above is very misleading as 'Bad Science' is about quacks who sell vitamin supplements and homeopathy.

The study was highly influential and is still cited by the ADA, NICE, and WHO. And it was the study that led to the use of Metformin as a first line treatment.
 
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