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Very high H1ac levels practical help
- Thread starter Berksps
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Leadinglights
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- Type 2
In that case you are aiming at 4-7mmol/l fasting and before meals.
A way to go yet, but keep it up and it will come down.
Have you got a home testing monitor as that will help you keep a track and check your meals out.
general question on the fingerprick tests. i am still having problems getting a decent test in that it comes up with an error 3 which suggests low volume ie not enough blood. have read the blurb so wondered if anyone else had issues. warm the hands up,keep them low then elevate them etc
Leadinglights
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Why are you elevating your hand, keep low.
The strip only needs 0.5 microlitres of blood that is the size of a full stop. I wonder if you are trying to apply it to the top of the strip instead of allowing it to run into the reservoir at the end of the strip.
Massage your finger towards the end then prick and take the strip to your finger and just touch on the drop.
Lucyr
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- Type 1
I’d recommend watching some YouTube videos for your meter to check your technique for slurping up the blood too.
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Has your fingerpricking device got a depth variation dial? Might be worth going one deeper? Not so that it is painful or sore, but just so that you get a chance of a decent sample
Lucyr
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This is what mine looks like. Type the name of your meter into YouTube and watch some videos on how to use it
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Lucyr
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That sounds very high if that’s your lancet depth, you want to set it to the lowest that will get enough blood. You can adjust it once you’ve got the hang of testing.
bit of an update had a good meeting last week at the diabetic clinic who gave some good information on testing,education and also a diet. so i have started fingerprick testing a lot more regularly fasting and before main meals. my current fasting number seems to be between 7-9 mmol and through the day 8-10. remember my last HB1ac was 107 so am hoping the next one will be a fair amount less. i have tried to more more low carb cutting out a fair amount of white bread and potatoes & eating more chiicken and eggs. need to find out when my next proper blood test will be. am interested what my newer numbers might mean it seems i am slowly improving things/
Drummer
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- Type 2
I use a Spirit Healthcare Tee 2 + meter.
The display shows what to do, and it peeps and purrs to prompt and indicate it is happy.
It shows dash dash dash at start up, then a cartoon of 'put the blood on' dash dash dash peep to show it is properly blooded, dash dash dash and the result.
Once you use it a few times the routine becomes habit.
I found that the 8mmol/l after eating limit was the key and once I was seeing that everything went on improving even though I did not change what I ate any further.
These days I see numbers in the 6's but still stay at the top end of normal Hba1c - I will try to get a test in August to see how things are going as I've not had anything checked for so long now.
The size of sample required does vary between device but none need a Tony Hancock "armfull", for those old enough! 😉
The key thing to remember is that blood is drawn into the test strip by capillary action. So you want to gently lower the strip into the blood so it just touches. Don't push the strip against the finger as that will block it.
yes getting better at doing the sample tests. was just trying to understand the numbers a little bit. when i first did it came out at 13.0 and the nurse said that wasnt the worst result. i now get between 7 and 10 so happy i am going in the right direction.
so i now have a proper HB1AC blood test booked in 3 weeks which will show if the things i have been doing have been having effect on my long term health. I have a follow up at the diabetic clinic in September where they will want to see a history of my daily finger prick numbers. We did talk a little about glicalizide and revisiting that, I am a little nervous bearing in mind my previous reaction so am interested in peoples views on that and other peoples journey's,
hi there all feel i have made quiet but steady process during my own personal journey in trying to move from high levels of BG 107 at my last HB1ac reading in May. Since then i have modified my diet to much lower carbs and avoiding the sweet things i do naturally gravitate towards. My next full blood test is Aug 11 so lets see what that has done to my levels over all. I now regularly test and am around 7-9 fasting and 9-11 at the end of the day. my question is how to move those levels a little better. one thing i am not great is exercise. if i improved on that how might that improve my numbers. weight wise i am over what i should be but not by too much.
Leadinglights
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- Type 2
Exercise will make a difference but probably not as much as diet will.
You are likely still having more carbs than you are able to tolerate but you have not been doing this for long so don't get too disheartened.
Maybe look at your most carby meal and test before you eat that and after 2 hours and if you can keep the increase to less than 2-3mmol/l then you should see some improvement. You really want a 2 hour post meal to be no more than 8-8.5mmol/l so at 9-11 you have a way to go, so it maybe what you are having for dinner that is a problem.
Do you want to post some examples of the meals you are having and maybe there will be some suggestions for some savings on carbs you could make.
pinkjude
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- Type 2
I joined the low carb programme which cost 70.00 for 12 months but it has been worth it. They do 2 zoom meet ups a week from 6 until 7 led by a health coach and you get help and advice with diet/ exercise etc and can ask questions. There is a food diary where you can log your daily intake of drinks and foods and it shows you how many carbs etc you are eating. I found that very helpful as it showed me which foods I needed to cut down on. There are hundreds of recipes, exercise videos and tips, a discussion page where health coaches answer your questions and lots of articles on diet/ exercise/ which veg are low carb ditto fruits/ and a lot more. Low carb is anything from consuming 30 g a day to 150g and they always say remember low carb not no carb but keep portions small and dont consume all the time.
leading lights thanks for your help i will do that. not too down as you say its only been 6-7 weeks that i have embraced this change. and this weekend i was away so wasnt entirely disciplined all the time. a big weakness is bread so trying to cut down or have wraps instead. potatoes as well so its small changes.
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