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Hello

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Well, I have been diagnosed for about 3 years but only came to light when I changed surgeries. The new nurse tested my blood and when the results came back she asked me if anyone had told me I had type 2 as my records showed tests from the previous surgery were positive over the preceeding four years which explained my symptoms, any how I seem to be coping at the moment with metformin
 
Sadly that lax diagnosis isn’t unusual. At least your new surgery picked up on it and you’re doing ok now.
 
Yes, thank you. I am currently in hospital for another issue and the do a finger prick test each day and I was wondering if this is something people with type 2 normally do?
 
People here on the forum find self testing is an invaluable means of managing their diabetes, particularly to help them tailor their diet to keep their levels stable.
With Type 2 diabetes, medication is only one small part of an effective treatment plan. Making dietary changes is by far the most effective strategy followed exercise and weight loss and medication if necessary. By using a BG meter and finger pricks to test before each meal and 2 hours after it, you can see what impact that food had on your levels and use that info to adjust your meals and in particular your carbohydrate intake, to a level/portion size that your body can cope with.
The once or twice a day testing in hospital is just a means of making sure things haven't gone haywire whilst you are in their care but structured testing around meals will enable you to manage your diabetes much more effectively than just taking Metformin each day.
 
Welcome to the forum @Davidjonesinchina

I am pleased that your new surgery has picked up your Diabetes and that you are now on appropriate medication. Sorry to hear that you are in hospital but glad that they are monitoring your BG levels. Often when we have some other illness the levels go a bit wobbly so it is more important to monitor the levels then.

Many people with T2 on here find that testing helps them to find out how to manage their condition successfully. You can use a BG meter, taking a reading before and 2 hrs after eating to see how food is affecting you as an individual (everyone is different, and it’s important to understand your own tolerances and ‘safe choices’). The numbers themselves don matter so much at the beginning, it is the difference between them - the ‘meal rise‘ which you want to keep as near to 2-3mmol/L as you can. If you happen to identify any carbs that seem to be spiking BG, you can experimenting with reducing amounts or swapping types (sometimes just having things at a different time of day makes a difference). If you are interested in this apporach you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S a helpful framework.

If you’d like to try this approach and have to fund your own meter, a key factor is the ongoing cost of the stips - One of the most affordaoble meters members here have found is from SD, and has been recently updated to the SD Gluco Navii which has test strips at around £8 for 50
 
Not sure what is available in China but the 2 meters most recommended here on the forum by people who self fund, which are reliable and economical are the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 and the Gluco Navii, both of which are about £15 for the meter kit with additional pots of test strips being approx£8 for a pot of 50. Both only available online. You will need quite a few test strips to start off with because the first 2-3 months require quite intensive testing until to figure out how your body responds to all your favourite meals and you adjust the portion sizes to find what fits with your body and taste buds etc. After you build up a repertoire of meals which work well for you, it is just a question of testing anything new and different and doing occasional checks to make sure you are still responding the same to the more routine meals on your menu. I would purchase at least 2 extra pots of test strips to get you started but 3 or 4 would not go amiss. You will get through them surprisingly quickly. Test strips are individual to each meter ie not universal, so choosing a meter which has reasonably priced test strips is important when you are self funding as that is where the financial cost soon mounts up and some test strips can be as much as £25 for a pot of 50 so price can vary a lot. You will also need a box of lancets for the finger pricking. They are pretty standard/universal fit.
 
Welcome to the forum @Davidjonesinchina

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate start with diabetes. Hopefully with the support of forum members you will be able to make some positive changes and begin to actively manage your diabetes now that you have been told about it.
 
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