Just diagnosed - a little frustrated!!

[Mark T]

Hi Blythespirit/Mark,

Many thanks for your comments. The doctor actually said he didn't know what type I was - it was the diabetic nurse who advised. As he didn't ask me any questions, I presume he made an assumption.

My Dad has Type 2 so I guess I'm the same, but as neither the doctor or the nurse asked, they weren't aware of the family history...

Type 2 can have strong genetic connections, my father is diabetic (type 2 we think, but he is insulin dependent), my uncle is type 2 and my grandfather was diabetic (type unknown, he died in the 1960's). I have suspicions about my great grandparents as well, but that can't be proven.

 

[donnarob]

Hi Evilcat,

I wasn't surprised to hear your story as the medical profession seem to be failing miserably at good diet advice.

You sound as if you're on the ball and you were right to counter argue the reasons for getting test strips and a meter. It's all down to cost and the sooner the doctors and nurses stop treating us like inferior beings, the better. I think you'll find that by testing, you'll learn to avoid certain carbs like the plague. In my case, porridge, baked potatoes, rice will all spike me.

In my personal opinion, I think we should all be given test strips and meters. How else are we to know how are levels are doing on a daily basis? Getting checked every 3 months and following a healthy diet is so stupid, especially when you're advised to eat tinned fruit in juice. By the way, fruit juices are notoriously high in hidden sugars as are low fat versions of mayonnaise. Like me, you live and learn, but by joining this site, you'll get far better advice than you're getting from your blundering doctor.

Welcome aboard.

Donna 🙂🙂🙂

 

[rubik101]

Testing time

My Doctor here in Thailand gets me to test 3 hrs after a meal. I am only testing about twice a week now as my numbers seem to be good and stable. (here we use the US system so my numbers of 85-110 won't mean much to you!) The reason he suggests 3 hrs is that after just 1 hour the numbers might be high and so cause alarm. As we spend more of our time more than 1 hour away from a meal I tend to agree with him, the 3 hour number is a better reflection of the conditions in my body.
Any opinions?

 

[Copepod]

Example of a conversion chart between blood glucose units (UK mmol/L; US mg/dl) here: http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes/74-blood-glucose-conversion-chart.html

Many people find they have to test fairly often when newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, then not so often, if their levels become stable like rubik101. Opinions about the significance of "spikes" (high readings 1 hour after meals) varies.

 

[Northerner]

My Doctor here in Thailand gets me to test 3 hrs after a meal. I am only testing about twice a week now as my numbers seem to be good and stable. (here we use the US system so my numbers of 85-110 won't mean much to you!) The reason he suggests 3 hrs is that after just 1 hour the numbers might be high and so cause alarm. As we spend more of our time more than 1 hour away from a meal I tend to agree with him, the 3 hour number is a better reflection of the conditions in my body.
Any opinions?

What needs to be borne in mind is that a non-diabetic person will generally maintain fairly stable levels after eating, with no 'spikes' or extremes, and this is the ideal we are aiming for by selecting food that we know, through testing, does not elevate our levels too much. Ignoring the fact that you might be high an hour after eating doesn't mean it doesn't matter - you need to know so that you can modify your diet appropriately. There's little point to testing if you only do it when you know that the reading is likely to be in range, so I'd have to disagree with your doctor's logic.

 

[mcdonagh47]

My Doctor here in Thailand gets me to test 3 hrs after a meal. I am only testing about twice a week now as my numbers seem to be good and stable. (here we use the US system so my numbers of 85-110 won't mean much to you!) The reason he suggests 3 hrs is that after just 1 hour the numbers might be high and so cause alarm. As we spend more of our time more than 1 hour away from a meal I tend to agree with him, the 3 hour number is a better reflection of the conditions in my body.
Any opinions?

Hi Rubik,

There is a great deal of evidence that post prandial spikes in glucose are just as damaging as high A1cs. So its the levels at 1 hour and 2 hours you need to know about in order to correct - if you weren't at 85-110 (4.7 - 6.0) 3 hours after a meal you would be in a pickle !

Here are some links on the matter ....
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/54/1/1.short

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/23/12/1830.short

You might also be interested Alan S's Test Review Adjust page ...
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html