Living in the dark.

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curvycris

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Type 2
Oh I have been so out of touch with my diabetes control. How have I managed for the last 30+ years without killing myself. So, I've had a wake up call and my last 4 Hb1Ac have increased quite a bit. Going from 45 to 73. Okay, so the last one about 3 weeks ago actually came down to 70, but still need to do loads better.
My confusion now is regarding finger prick testing. I have been watching my carbs as well as sugar and testing regular, 4 × daily. Am I right in thinking that the results that come up on the monitor, are not the same as the Hb1Ac ? results? I.e. if my monitor fluctuates between, depending on time of day 5.6(my lowest so far) and 8.5. Does that mean that next time I have my bloods done , there's a chance that I may get a more respectable result. Help!!! I'm confused.
 
curvycris said:
Oh I have been so out of touch with my diabetes control. How have I managed for the last 30+ years without killing myself. So, I've had a wake up call and my last 4 Hb1Ac have increased quite a bit. Going from 45 to 73. Okay, so the last one about 3 weeks ago actually came down to 70, but still need to do loads better.
My confusion now is regarding finger prick testing. I have been watching my carbs as well as sugar and testing regular, 4 × daily. Am I right in thinking that the results that come up on the monitor, are not the same as the Hb1Ac ? results? I.e. if my monitor fluctuates between, depending on time of day 5.6(my lowest so far) and 8.5. Does that mean that next time I have my bloods done , there's a chance that I may get a more respectable result. Help!!! I'm confused.
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There's only a rough correlation between HbA1c and what you see from a finger prick test but the latter can give you a rough idea of where you might be, and once you have several days' results you should be able to see a trend. However, random testing won't tell you anything meaningful. The usual regime is to test immediately on waking (fasting test), just before a meal (pre-prandial) and two hours after a meal (post-prandial). The target ranges are to be between 4 and 7 fasting and pre-prandial, and less than 8.5 post-prandial with a rise of no more than 2 or 3 above your pre-prandial reading.

Hope that helps.
 
Martin.A said:
There's only a rough correlation between HbA1c and what you see from a finger prick test but the latter can give you a rough idea of where you might be, and once you have several days' results you should be able to see a trend. However, random testing won't tell you anything meaningful. The usual regime is to test immediately on waking (fasting test), just before a meal (pre-prandial) and two hours after a meal (post-prandial). The target ranges are to be between 4 and 7 fasting and pre-prandial, and less than 8.5 post-prandial with a rise of no more than 2 or 3 above your pre-prandial reading.

Hope that helps.
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Ahh, I see. Thank you for your advice.
 
Also the more consistent you are with keeping within those suggested ranges for the 3 months preceding your HbA1C test the more likely your HbA1C will be in normal range.
Regard it as a work in progress and do some strategic testing to establish what meals and foods are suitable and also those which you need to avoid or cut down on portion size of the carbohydrate component of the meal.
 
I guess I'm too impatient. I am testing at 3.30am just after getting up. Then at 9am when I get back from work. Again at 5pm, before dinner then at 9pm just before bed. I'm checking my food on nutracheck , so fingers crossed
Again, thank you.
 
Those times are likely mostly well after food spikes so you are probably only capturing your lowest readings at the moment. You need more representative testing which captures levels from post meal slikes (2 hours after eating) as well as the fasting/before meal readings. I agree that more strategic testing would be beneficial to see how you are responding to the food you eat, and then you can use that information to adjust your diet. The problem is that BG levels go up and down quite significantly throughout the day and night, particularly in response to food, exercise/activity and medication but there are something like 42 factors which impact BG levels, so testing immediately before eating a meal and then 2 hours afterwards will mostly limit the results you get to the impact that food had on your levels. If your levels rose by more than 2-3 mmols, then that meal contained more carbs than your body could cope with, so you need to examine that meal and decide where you can shed a few carbs next time you have it. Gradually you find the portion of those particular carbs your body can deal with, but all carbs are not created equal and out digestive systems can vary significantly, so what works for one person may not work for another. For instance some people swear by porridge for breakfast and it releases it's glucose slowly over several hours allowing their body to cope. For others like me, the glucose hits my blood stream in 20 mins and will be finished in an hour and a half but my levels go into orbit in that time. I also have a problem with bread and pasta and lentils surprisingly, but can get away with a small portion of potatoes occasionally. Other people find that they can manage a slice of bread but potatoes are their nemesis. Or proper artisan sourdough bread is fine for them but supermarket bread spikes them badly. Gradually, through testing, you learn which foods you can get away with and which are best avoided or kept for a very special occasion. Keeping a food diary is really helpful in these early days but gradually you will just remember how you respond to different foods.
 
I'm really limiting how many carbs I have at the moment until I have sorted out which foods do what to me. Then I will introduce small amounts of the usual suspects i.e. potatoes bread pasta etc. Would you happen to know how many grams of carbs a type 2 could aim for in a day please ?
 
curvycris said:
I'm really limiting how many carbs I have at the moment until I have sorted out which foods do what to me. Then I will introduce small amounts of the usual suspects i.e. potatoes bread pasta etc. Would you happen to know how many grams of carbs a type 2 could aim for in a day please ?
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Low carb is considered to be less than 130g per day. Most people will eat at least double that, and often more. I try and stay at no more than 130g and manage it most days.
 
curvycris said:
I'm really limiting how many carbs I have at the moment until I have sorted out which foods do what to me. Then I will introduce small amounts of the usual suspects i.e. potatoes bread pasta etc. Would you happen to know how many grams of carbs a type 2 could aim for in a day please ?
Click to expand...
It is very much an individual thing. Low carb is considered less than 130g a day but some people need to go a bit lower to manage their diabetes and some need to go considerably lower if they want to manage it through diet alone but the option is there to combine diet and medication which allows the diet to be a bit less restricted. I aim for about 70g of carbs a day but sometimes it will be more and sometimes less and I am on insulin. I found it gets easier with time as I find more low carb foods that I enjoy. In some respects being on insulin also helps me to focus because I have to decide if any given food is worth sticking a needle in me to inject insulin for it.
 
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