Newbie wanting advice on blood testing

[Caroline2020]

Hi all - diagnosed with Type 2 a couple of months ago - just as we went into lockdown. Been a good time for diet and exercise! Also on metaformin. Can I ask other T2s.... how often do you check your blood... and why? The results don’t alter my medication. Thanks - was given a kit at GPs but not guidance as what they want me to record.

 

[Ljc]

Hi @Caroline2020 . Welcome to the forum. It is good to hear you have been provided with a glucose meter and testing strips.
Many of us with T2 on here who self test use the meter to see how the various carbohydrates affect us as we are all different in this respect , that way we can make informed food choices .

Have a read of these two by Alan S
Test review adjust

Painless oricks
With Metformin they start us off on a low dose then usually build up to the max dose, it doesn’t @ actually lower our BG (blood glucose) levels like say insulin does, it helps make use more sensitive to our own insulin, it also helps prevent our liver in putting out too much( glucose.
Some folks on here after adapting their diet etc have managed to come off Metformin, I hope you are one of the lucky ones.

You should find this info very helpful
Though it was written in a time when fat was believed to be the enemy , now their is some evidence that this is not so.
It’s also a very long letter, so get the kettle on and make yourself a nice cuppa before you sit down to read it
Maggie Davies letter

You will the above and lots more in this forum which is at the top of the newbies section
Useful links for people new to diabetes

Feel free to ask all the questions you have about diabetes as we are very lucky in having many knowledgeable people on here.

 

[Docb]

This is what I did.....

To start with fairly often.

Always on waking and just before going to bed. Tested the effect of meals alongside a food diary, covering breakfasts, lunches and evening meals but not on the same day. Tested if I felt there was something wrong - when I initially bought my BG down, I became aware of going high again. Difficult to explain but I knew there was something wrong. Found I could often relate these episodes to specific food intake - a particularly fruity muesli, a cappuccino, things with a high proportion of white flour. That way I got some patterns, found food choices that did not spike me and used the numbers to make adjustments to my diet.

After a few months, when I thought that I had got the hang of things, I tested less often and these days test waking and retiring most days and if I have tried something new to eat or if I feel unwell to check that it is not BG related. Have also upped testing when medication has been changed to check on effects. That has been really useful.

There are no rules and in my opinion, it is best to focus on testing for a purpose. Think about why you are testing before you start. Not a good idea to get obsessive about it and fret about what all the numbers mean afterwards. I'll put my hand up and say I was guilty of that to start with!!

Hope that helps.

 

[Caroline2020]

Hi @Caroline2020 . Welcome to the forum. It is good to hear you have been provided with a glucose meter and testing strips.
Many of us with T2 on here who self test use the meter to see how the various carbohydrates affect us as we are all different in this respect , that way we can make informed food choices .

Have a read of these two by Alan S
Test review adjust

Painless oricks
With Metformin they start us off on a low dose then usually build up to the max dose, it doesn’t @ actually lower our BG (blood glucose) levels like say insulin does, it helps make use more sensitive to our own insulin, it also helps prevent our liver in putting out too much( glucose.
Some folks on here after adapting their diet etc have managed to come off Metformin, I hope you are one of the lucky ones.

You should find this info very helpful
Though it was written in a time when fat was believed to be the enemy , now their is some evidence that this is not so.
It’s also a very long letter, so get the kettle on and make yourself a nice cuppa before you sit down to read it
Maggie Davies letter

You will the above and lots more in this forum which is at the top of the newbies section
Useful links for people new to diabetes

Feel free to ask all the questions you have about diabetes as we are very lucky in having many knowledgeable people on here.

Thank you. I’ve just read the Maggie Davey letter which was helpful.

 

[Caroline2020]

This is what I did.....

To start with fairly often.

Always on waking and just before going to bed. Tested the effect of meals alongside a food diary, covering breakfasts, lunches and evening meals but not on the same day. Tested if I felt there was something wrong - when I initially bought my BG down, I became aware of going high again. Difficult to explain but I knew there was something wrong. Found I could often relate these episodes to specific food intake - a particularly fruity muesli, a cappuccino, things with a high proportion of white flour. That way I got some patterns, found food choices that did not spike me and used the numbers to make adjustments to my diet.

After a few months, when I thought that I had got the hang of things, I tested less often and these days test waking and retiring most days and if I have tried something new to eat or if I feel unwell to check that it is not BG related. Have also upped testing when medication has been changed to check on effects. That has been really useful.

There are no rules and in my opinion, it is best to focus on testing for a purpose. Think about why you are testing before you start. Not a good idea to get obsessive about it and fret about what all the numbers mean afterwards. I'll put my hand up and say I was guilty of that to start with!!

Hope that helps.

Thank you. Yes helpful and.... you are totally right about not getting obsessed!

 

[SB2015]

Hi Caroline, welcome to the forum

You have already been directed to lots of useful information.
As questions arise just keep coming back. There is plenty of help available on here.

 

[Caroline2020]

This is what I did.....

To start with fairly often.

Always on waking and just before going to bed. Tested the effect of meals alongside a food diary, covering breakfasts, lunches and evening meals but not on the same day. Tested if I felt there was something wrong - when I initially bought my BG down, I became aware of going high again. Difficult to explain but I knew there was something wrong. Found I could often relate these episodes to specific food intake - a particularly fruity muesli, a cappuccino, things with a high proportion of white flour. That way I got some patterns, found food choices that did not spike me and used the numbers to make adjustments to my diet.

After a few months, when I thought that I had got the hang of things, I tested less often and these days test waking and retiring most days and if I have tried something new to eat or if I feel unwell to check that it is not BG related. Have also upped testing when medication has been changed to check on effects. That has been really useful.

There are no rules and in my opinion, it is best to focus on testing for a purpose. Think about why you are testing before you start. Not a good idea to get obsessive about it and fret about what all the numbers mean afterwards. I'll put my hand up and say I was guilty of that to start with!!

Hope that helps.

Purpose another top tip - I’m going to start testing for Dawn Phenomenon and breakfasts!! I good place to start.

 

[Drummer]

Unless you have high carb breakfasts, I'd recommend testing after dinner.
I went low carb immediately after diagnosis and soon as I got a meter saw that my first meal was just about the same every day, and low enough even at the highest.
When I'd eaten dinner I checked, and on days when I was lowest I ate a dessert of frozen fruit, cream sugar free jelly and other low carb things.Soon I hardly needed to check as my levels were under 7mmol/l most of the time.

 

[Caroline2020]

Porridge for breakfast at the moment.... thanks - I’ll start testing one meal at a time.

 

[Drummer]

Ah - as you are eating grain for breakfast then you need to check you can cope with that. I have steak or a chop, sausages sometimes, with mushrooms, courgette, sweet pepper, only up to ten gm of carbs as that seems all I can cope with in the mornings. I don't do no carbs as that doesn't stop my liver pouring out the glucose.

 

[SB2015]

Taking things one meal at a time is a great idea @Caroline2020

Porridge effects people in different ways. I used to love a bowl of porridge. Then when I got. Libre I saw what was happening to my levels. My porridge I have now is made from quinoa flakes instead of oats and accompanied by some frozen berries from the freezer.

Take things one step at a time. Use you BG tests to inform decisions that you make.

 

[Caroline2020]

Thank you for the support. Really helpful.

 

[Ljc]

I found it helpful too keep a food diary where I could record what I had to eat or drink , amount of carbs and my before and two hrs after BG ( blood glucose ) results , I don’t t normally do this now though .

I agree taking it one meal at a time is a good idea. Have a look at Testing in a budget in the Useful links thread I gave you earlier.

 

[Toucan]

Porridge for breakfast at the moment

Hello Caroline,
As you hear often there is no 'one size fits all' on the forum, so our BG re-acts differently. Personally any oats and grains adversely effect by BG, so here are some alternatives I use for breakfast:

A bowl of full fat yoghurt (greek is nice) with a small handful of berries (blueberries or strawberries or raspberries) a sprinkle of seeds, a tiny sprinkle of chopped nuts (walnuts or almonds are good) and maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon for flavour.

Or - egg based ( poached, boiled, scrambled or lightly fried) and any mix of mushrooms, tomatoes or as Maggie Smith does add turkey rashers. Maybe add a low carb bread like Livilife or low carb crispbread.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Caroline2020

Great to hear that your surgery support your BG monitoring. Let us know how you get on and if you find a particular mealtime trickier than others.

there are lots of ideas and suggestions in the ‘what did you eat yesterday’ thread in the food section 🙂

Food/carb queries + recipes

Coming to terms with diabetes and food can be very difficult - this forum is for all your food and carbohydrate queries and a place to post your favourite recipes!

forum.diabetes.org.uk