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- Thread starter AndyH72
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rebrascora
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- Type 1
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Hi and welcome.
Great that you have a BG meter to test at home. Whilst 17 is higher than you would like, it is not what we would consider needed emergency treatment. Hight 20s or 30s and not coming down would be the time to seek urgent medical help.
Are you on any medication and what if any dietary changes have you made?
When did you take these readings.... ie before food or after and if after how long after and what did you eat?
The best thing that you can do to bring them down is to go for a walk if you are able or other steady (not exertive) exercise and drink plenty of water as your kidneys will help to remove glucose from your blood at that level via your urine, so if you drink plenty of water that will help to flush it out of your system.
After that, depending upon the medication you have been given, reducing the amount of glucose you put into your blood will help to prevent it going that high in the first place. That doesn't mean just cutting down on sugar but all carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals and potatoes etc as well as the obvious cakes and biscuits and sweets. Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are just chains of glucose molecules and the body breaks them down in your digestive system into glucose, which is absorbed into the blood stream to provide energy for the cells of the body, but being diabetic means that your cells can't access that glucose as efficiently as it used to, so it builds up in the blood stream and creates problems. Reducing the amount of glucose by eating less carbs enables your body to cope with the backlogin your blood and exercise like walking will mean that the cells in your muscles will be using up their stores and will suck some of that excess out of your blood. That is a very simplified version but I think of it a bit like a production line where the product is coming along a conveyor and into the packing area, but there are staff shortages due to illness so the product starts piling up in the packing area and the more that comes off the conveyor the more difficult it is for the packers to do their job as they have no space to work and are tripping over it. If you slow the production line down (less carbs in your diet) and allow the delivery staff to help out with the packing (ie exercising your muscles so that they help to remove some) the system can get back to working more smoothly.
Hope my silly analogy helps makes a bit sense of the problem.
Great that you have a BG meter to test at home. Whilst 17 is higher than you would like, it is not what we would consider needed emergency treatment. Hight 20s or 30s and not coming down would be the time to seek urgent medical help.
Are you on any medication and what if any dietary changes have you made?
When did you take these readings.... ie before food or after and if after how long after and what did you eat?
The best thing that you can do to bring them down is to go for a walk if you are able or other steady (not exertive) exercise and drink plenty of water as your kidneys will help to remove glucose from your blood at that level via your urine, so if you drink plenty of water that will help to flush it out of your system.
After that, depending upon the medication you have been given, reducing the amount of glucose you put into your blood will help to prevent it going that high in the first place. That doesn't mean just cutting down on sugar but all carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals and potatoes etc as well as the obvious cakes and biscuits and sweets. Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are just chains of glucose molecules and the body breaks them down in your digestive system into glucose, which is absorbed into the blood stream to provide energy for the cells of the body, but being diabetic means that your cells can't access that glucose as efficiently as it used to, so it builds up in the blood stream and creates problems. Reducing the amount of glucose by eating less carbs enables your body to cope with the backlogin your blood and exercise like walking will mean that the cells in your muscles will be using up their stores and will suck some of that excess out of your blood. That is a very simplified version but I think of it a bit like a production line where the product is coming along a conveyor and into the packing area, but there are staff shortages due to illness so the product starts piling up in the packing area and the more that comes off the conveyor the more difficult it is for the packers to do their job as they have no space to work and are tripping over it. If you slow the production line down (less carbs in your diet) and allow the delivery staff to help out with the packing (ie exercising your muscles so that they help to remove some) the system can get back to working more smoothly.
Hope my silly analogy helps makes a bit sense of the problem.
T
That makes sense. I take Metformin. Today I have felt lousy and wasn't aware 17 is not excessive
Thank you.Hi and welcome.
Great that you have a BG meter to test at home. Whilst 17 is higher than you would like, it is not what we would consider needed emergency treatment. Hight 20s or 30s and not coming down would be the time to seek urgent medical help.
Are you on any medication and what if any dietary changes have you made?
When did you take these readings.... ie before food or after and if after how long after and what did you eat?
The best thing that you can do to bring them down is to go for a walk if you are able or other steady (not exertive) exercise and drink plenty of water as your kidneys will help to remove glucose from your blood at that level via your urine, so if you drink plenty of water that will help to flush it out of your system.
After that, depending upon the medication you have been given, reducing the amount of glucose you put into your blood will help to prevent it going that high in the first place. That doesn't mean just cutting down on sugar but all carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals and potatoes etc as well as the obvious cakes and biscuits and sweets. Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are just chains of glucose molecules and the body breaks them down in your digestive system into glucose, which is absorbed into the blood stream to provide energy for the cells of the body, but being diabetic means that your cells can't access that glucose as efficiently as it used to, so it builds up in the blood stream and creates problems. Reducing the amount of glucose by eating less carbs enables your body to cope with the backlogin your blood and exercise like walking will mean that the cells in your muscles will be using up their stores and will suck some of that excess out of your blood. That is a very simplified version but I think of it a bit like a production line where the product is coming along a conveyor and into the packing area, but there are staff shortages due to illness so the product starts piling up in the packing area and the more that comes off the conveyor the more difficult it is for the packers to do their job as they have no space to work and are tripping over it. If you slow the production line down (less carbs in your diet) and allow the delivery staff to help out with the packing (ie exercising your muscles so that they help to remove some) the system can get back to working more smoothly.
Hope my silly analogy helps makes a bit sense of the problem.
That makes sense. I take Metformin. Today I have felt lousy and wasn't aware 17 is not excessive
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
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- Type 1
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- She/Her
What sort of readings do you normally get?
17 would make me feel lousy but that is because my levels are usually within range these days. If your body has been running at high levels for a while it gets used to them and you actually feel rough (false hypo) if you try to lower them too quickly.
If you are just on Metformin, then making dietary changes will be an important and actually more powerful factor in lowering your BG levels. Don't expect the tablets to work like they might with some other illness or condition. Changing your lifestyle is an important part of Type 2 diabetes management and can lead to remission if you get it right.
What did you eat today to get those readings and have your levels come back down a bit tonight?
17 would make me feel lousy but that is because my levels are usually within range these days. If your body has been running at high levels for a while it gets used to them and you actually feel rough (false hypo) if you try to lower them too quickly.
If you are just on Metformin, then making dietary changes will be an important and actually more powerful factor in lowering your BG levels. Don't expect the tablets to work like they might with some other illness or condition. Changing your lifestyle is an important part of Type 2 diabetes management and can lead to remission if you get it right.
What did you eat today to get those readings and have your levels come back down a bit tonight?
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Yeah I think it was more that it wasn’t a “go to A&E immediately” situation. 17 is certainly at the higher end of readings you’d ever want to see, and is likely to make you feel pretty sluggish / irritable / fatigued. And as the kidneys get working on it you’d probably start to feel thirsty and need the loo more too.
For future reference, the guideline levels for T2 are 4-7 before meals, and no higher than 8.5 by 2hrs after meals.
So your 17 is twice the recommended limit.
Though as has been said, people do go higher than that at times.
Have you started making any changes to your menu to try to reduce your levels? It is the total carbohydrate content of meals and snacks (not just ‘of which sugars’) which will give the clearest indication of the meal’s potential to raise your BG levels. Many members find that gently moderating their carb intake by reducing portion sizes and making some lower carb swaps can help manage their BG levels very effectively.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on. Keep an eye on those numbers, and perhaps contact NHS111 if they remain so high?
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