Testing blood glucose too often?
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas...81210144946.htm
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What a load of crap. Patients testing "too" often interferes with physicians plans to put some of their patients on metformin autopilot. The sort of feedback people get from multiple day readings is empowering. It's wonderful feedback to tell a patient whether a dietary program meant to keep blood sugar in check is in fact doing so. Also a great way to expose the stupidity of the diet plans most advocated for diabetes. |
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You got that right. Learning how different foods - even low carb options - was a extremely helpful to me. I was able to craft a diet that minimized BG spikes. That resulted in less craving, longer satiety between meals, continued weight loss, and eventually regaining insulin sensitivity. To get that BG data I was pricking my finger 5 to 10 times per day doing postprandial readings in 30 minute increments after many, many meals. I did that for several months. I used every finger. At one point they all looked like pin cushions. Admittedly, I was probably a little OCD about it there for a while. I learned what I needed to know, though. It was painful at times, but it was worth it. I rarely test my BG now - 2 or 3 times per month just to make sure I'm still good. I am. I still make decisions about how I eat based on what learned from frequent BG testing. Heaven forbid that I know more about proper diabetic nutrition than the doctors do. |
My wife stopped metformin more than a month ago (on her own), and still tests daily. As her n=1, after cutting carbs ( rice ) significantly, though not completely, her reading this morning, (after eating a little bit) was 81. Gave her a fist bump. Of course her A1C dropped from 6.7 to 6.4 to the latest 6.1. Type 2 reversed.
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s93...Great news about your wife's A1c!
$17.62 for 100 strips, not using insurance. https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product...test-strips-100 If it costs the insurance company $325 that is their fault. It is becoming more common that generic drugs cost less using the store's direct price than running through our medicare drug plan. DH has a prescription skin cream and sleep aid, the Target/CVS price is cheaper than the co-pay. |
s9--- Hurray for your wife's progress!!!
Im all for testing blodd sugars. A device is on my Christmas list. It it the ONLY item listed! |
I have a Relion Meter from WalMart and their test strips are $17.88 per 100. My insurance will only pay for enough strips to test once a day and I am more comfortable checking more often.
An insulin dependent diabetic needs to test to be sure they are injecting the correct amount of insulin. "They" don't feel that those not on insulin need to test because there is nothing they can do about a high reading anyway, but it is a learning tool, learning what foods spike and which ones don't, as Ken said. |
I’ve put a glucose meter and strips and lancet in my amazon cart multiple times, but always back down. I get all caught up in the details of whether it’s the most reliable or whether the strips are too expensive to order online and such. But it’s something I’d like to do to determine how I react to certain foods. Maybe I’m just a big scaredy-cat. 😂
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FREETOBEME, if you are not diabetic, your body works to control your blood sugar, releasing more insulin when needed and less when not and clearing blood sugar out in minimal time. It's only in diabetes that the body does not do this properly.
If you were to start testing as a non diabetic, I would recommend you look up and study what the blood sugar ranges should be for a non diabetic in different situations. Your blood sugar DOES go up after you eat, and your body regulates it back to normal in a reasonable amount of time. You would have to know what the ranges for that should be so as not to panic when you see it rise. The increases will be minimal with low carb eating, but will still be there to some degree. It would be somewhat beneficial to test certain foods if you are eating them, such as fruit or starchy vegetables. By law, meters are allowed to be off by 20% and are the results are only to be a guide. If you went with Walmart's Relion, your initial outlay would be $10 for a meter and $9 for 50 strips, $18 for 100. You would probably be spending more on Amazon but not necessarily getting better results. And once you saw how your body is working, you really wouldn't need to continue testing. If you are doing this because you are concerned that you might be diabetic or prediabetic, you could ask your doctor to do an A1c blood test to find out, but that would probably lead to meds if it proves to be positive. |
In DANDR he goes into detail about the 5 levels , ending with full blown diabetes. Meaning there are steps along this pathway. I took him seriously and started to change my eating immediately as I had been a gestational diabetic.The was my wake up call.
I have a T1 friend, that wears a monior and a pump, and still finger pricks a few times a day. Mostly when a new pump is set up. We had a member here who would check her sugars to test the effect of a specific food. Eating the same foods for several days, only changing one item like to strawberries or other fruit. Interesting to see not all fruit is the same. |
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I have no idea what you’re talking about... 😂 🤣😅 Who would be so silly as to derive ALL their carbs for the day from silly lattes? 😝 I’ve never heard of free meter deals and a lot of places don’t want to ship to Japan. I’ve found some on eBay, but they’re sketchy. And Walmart doesn’t ship to Japan. Can you believe it? In addition to the machine and strips, you also need a lancet and the replacements, right? |
Thank you, carol. I would need to educate myself on all that. I do a lot of IF and wonder if I’m letting my blood glucose get too high during my eating window. Two years ago, when I was nearly 260 pounds, I had my A1C tested and it was 4.9 or 4.8. I’ve lost just over 50 pounds since then, so I don’t think I’m at risk for diabetes. I just want to know how my body responds to certain foods. My brother, mother, grandmother and various other immediate family members have diabetes or had gestational diabetes, so I know I need to stay vigilant. I discovered Atkins just before I started conceiving, so I never gained weight in my pregnancies and was often in ketosis during that time. Maybe I shouldn’t bother, but I love data and research and anything that will convince me to stay on track has to be a good thing, I would think. 👍
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Brandy, I am like you, and would like to get a better handle on my blood sugars. For some reason my A1c went up a lot, so figure the only way to better figure out how to manage blood sugar and insulin is a meter. Waiting for an A1c is too late to see if Im am making progress.
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Brandy, there is nothing wrong with wanting the information about your blood sugars. It is good to want to pay attention to that. You had wonderful A1c. I am in the process of bringing mine down. It was 7.3. The last time it went down to 6.7 and now I'm working toward getting it at 6 or below.
Ms Airelle, My best friend had a hard time accepting that she had diabetes. At a general check-up she was told her A1c was 7.1. She refused medication and would not test. She said her mother used to complain about how bad her fingers hurt from testing so she won't do it. She was just watching the sugars in her food. Eventually her A1c went up to 8. She still refused meds and testing, but I told her she has to cut carbs as well as sugars so she kept lowering her carbs until she received an A1c of 6. Still doesn't test. Now she told me she's starting to eat sweets again. I could not stop testing. I have to know I have my blood sugar under control. Things have changed so much with testing that my fingers don't get sore. If you test on the sides of your fingers instead of the pads, it is not as painful. |
If you don’t need a prescription for a meter in Japan, have you looked in the large chain drugstores for a meter kit. When I was deciding what to buy, read that there are two companies that make almost all the private labels in the US. Target, CVS, Walgreens brand meters come from the same factory making the True line.
There is an on-line diabetes supplier in Canada (TotalDiabetes) that ships international, more than the cost of the True Kit, but you know what reasonable international rates are. |
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