Why test before eating?

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lucy123

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I am sure someone has already explained this but I have jsut had a brain freeze whilst testing.

Why do we have to test before eating and what level are we looking for?

Also am I right in thinking we are aiming for below 8.5 post meal.

May as well go the whole way - what are we aiming for fasting?

Its all just left my head at the moment!
 
I could explain my reasons, but as a T1 I dont know if it applies.......
 
For Type 2's the usual fasting target is between 4-7 but it may vary slightly.
 
I am sure fasting level is between 4-7

I test in the morning before my brekkie to see what my levels did overnight hopefully looking for no higher then 8 then after a meal i test to see the diffirences if any.
 
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If you are not on insulin, there's probably less of a reason to test before every meal (on insulin you need to know if you need to add in an adjustment along with your meal). As others have said, fasting levels should normally be between 4 and 7 mmol/l. If you are trying something new you might want to test before and after, since that is the only way you can know how much the food has raised your levels by e.g. if you are 8 before and rise to 10, you can see that the meal only raised you by two mmol, but if you didn't test before and your post meal was 10 you might think that it had 'spiked' you 😱

8.5 post meal is the normal guideline 🙂
 
For Type 2s, at least in the early days after diagnosis, it's important to know how certain foods affect you. So, if you have an elightened PCT you may by allowed the fixings to test your bloods up to 10 times a day, or even more.

01: Fasting BG
02: 1 hour after breakfast
03: 2 hours after breakfast
04: Before lunch
05: 1 hour after
06: 2 hours after
07: Before dinner
08: 1 hour after
09: 2 hours after
10: Before bed

And possibly, before and after exercise to see what happens then.

Once you know what food and exercise do to you, you can plan your meals and exercise regime to try and keep your bloods within the suggested tolerances and may only need to test if you feel unwell.

When first diagnosed I was told I was Type 2 and encouraged to test and keep a diary of my results, what I was eating and how much exercise I was getting. It was invaluable. I still test at least twice a day morning and night because I can go hypo at night, I also test occasionally during the day if I start to feel unwell.
 
If your not on insulin as a type 2 and you test your blood and it has risen from say 6 before dinner to 10 after.........

What can you do about it?
 
novorapidboi26 said:
If your not on insulin as a type 2 and you test your blood and it has risen from say 6 before dinner to 10 after.........

What can you do about it?
Click to expand...

Avoid eating that meal in future or find some way of reducing the glycaemic load so it digests more slowly.
 
Northerner said:
Avoid eating that meal in future or find some way of reducing the glycaemic load so it digests more slowly.
Click to expand...

God that must be so bad.............atkins diet all the way........

I have a new respect for type 2 diabetics.........
 
Thanks all.

So I am trying to cut down on the strips as not prescribed any.
My fasting is now very rarely over 7
My before meals are always between 4 and 7 now
Its my after meal that tends to go high.

Would you all agree that I now should only really need to test after meals?

Then hopefully I can move on to only testing when I have something new to eat?

Even if I was unwell - what would be the point of me testing -as I am presuming my BS would be higher - but there wouldn't be anything i could do would there?

This is all so helpful - thanks very much.
 
I haven't noticed if you said, but are you on any meds? If you're on something like Sitagliptin or Gliclazide you could be at risk of hypos, which is another reason for testing.

Oh, and I get my strips off eBay, usually around half price.
 
Hi

I am not on any meds - jsut d/e.
 
OK, so you'd only really need to test to see how foods affect you.
 
Brilliant - that is going to save me a fortune.
I think my strictish diet and exercise has done a lot of good already looking at my figures now compared to June.

I am going to test once a week in the morning and after each meal daily for now.

Thanks all

p.s Hope this helps other T2's who are denied strips. I originally thought I would be spending about ?150 a month. I have now reduced to 22 strips a week - still costly but I aim to reduce more the more control I get.
 
novorapidboi26 said:
If your not on insulin as a type 2 and you test your blood and it has risen from say 6 before dinner to 10 after.........

What can you do about it?
Click to expand...

The answer for me would be to go for a brisk walk.

It happened to me a few times and the reading dropped quite significantly after the exercise (e.g. from 11.1 to 7.7 after a 1hr walk and 10.2 to 5.3 after a 30min walk plus 2.5hrs).

Andy 🙂
 
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