How to test at home? - frustrated finding basic info....

[johnthomas]

If you’re getting neuropathy symptoms do speak to someone. There can be many causes apart from diabetes, even something as ‘trivial’ as a vitamin deficiency.

thanks @Inka. Mostly I try to do everything myself as I like to be self sufficient and a bit arrogant ...doesn't always work out well for me though

 

[pm133]

yes - thanks @pm133 , @Docb and the other contributors. I have indeed learnt quite a bit - seems I wasn't quite right about the carbohydrate definition and also hadn't appreciated the blood sugar lowering effects of alcohol.

as from where I go from here....well - after a couple of days of zero carb (just to settle my system down a bit) I bought new testing sticks and tested at 4.8 on waking the following morning, 5.5 2 hours after a large (with carbs) meal, and 5.0 the next morning (after drinking just over a bottle of wine the night before). I know this isn't proof, but I'm minded to take it as a very encouraging sign that the odd neuropathy symptoms I've been seeing are not actually diabetes related.

cheers!

I wonder if alcohol could be causing your problem. A quick google search says it's the 2nd most common cause after diabetes.

 

[Inka]

thanks @Inka. Mostly I try to do everything myself as I like to be self sufficient and a bit arrogant ...doesn't always work out well for me though

Nothing wrong with being self-sufficient But sometimes outside input is needed. You can then still retain control of that info gained from ‘outside’ and still choose what, if any, course is needed in response to it.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @johnthomas

Just catching up on this thread which I hope you have found helpful.

If you would like to be sure, I would encourage you to get an HbA1c. Drinking heavily isn’t great for your health - either mental or physical (from what you have posted, I think you know that). And it may be that this is part of the reason you are wanting to avoid going to the Docs so that you won’t get a thorough nagging.

However an HbA1c doesn't have an opinion or an agenda - it’s just a piece of information. Glucose that has been in your blood stream over the past 120ish days will have had an opportunity to ‘stick to’ the red blood cells - the more glucose that was in your blood stream... the more will have ‘stuck’. Importantly there is strong evidence that above a certain level, a raised HbA1c is firmly associated with significant health problems - however that glucose has got there.

So knowing what your HbA1c is can really help you understand your risks.