22 replies to this topic

[1desperateladysaved]

Are you in the U.S .? ( it may be different else where ) I buy mine at either a drug store or walmart. As pricklypear1971 said the test strips are the expensive part.

Yes, US

[Lady Eowyn]

Hi there
Was pleased to find this thread and just wanted to say Me Too! Me Too!
I bought a test meter and strips several years ago (pre-gluten-free) because I thought my blood sugar was getting high then dropping low. Turns out it was low and dropping very low and I could not raise it even with eating loads of sugar/sweets.
I seem to be swinging again lately although I don't have much in the way of sweet things except some fruit and find protein helps.
Since going gluten free I can't eat potatoes or rice and think this may partly be due to carbohydrate levels, can't eat a big quantity of anything at one sitting.

[1desperateladysaved]

,
"I bought a test meter and strips several years ago (pre-gluten-free) because I thought my blood sugar was getting high then dropping low. Turns out it was low and dropping very low and I could not raise it even with eating loads of sugar/sweets." Ewyon

Yeah, Ewyon,

That is an expereince I had. 15 years ago, I checked my blood after breakfast, it was 59. Then I had some honey, no response, a little more honey, no response, more honey, no response. Then I tried some fruit, no response. At that point, I gave up and rested. Somewhat later it got up to 80.

I don't feel like my body is unresponsive now, but it might just be a good idea to check.

I have two ideas about why this is:

Maybe the body doesn't absorb the sugar
Or maybe the body over produces insulin like a prediabetic.

I believe i would have diabetes if I hadn't been very careful with sugar.
No sweets,
No fruit juice (even unsweetened)
Balanced protein to carbs.
Bites of fruits with meals rather than entire fruits.

[kareng]

,

That is an expereince I had. 15 years ago, I checked my blood after breakfast, it was 59. Then I had some honey, no response, a little more honey, no response, more honey, no response. Then I tried some fruit, no response. At that point, I gave up and rested. Somewhat later it got up to 80.

I don't feel like my body is unresponsive now, but it might just be a good idea to check.

I have two ideas about why this is:

Maybe the body doesn't absorb the sugar
Or maybe the body over produces insulin like a prediabetic.

I believe i would have diabetes if I hadn't been very careful with sugar.
.

Diabetes is a VERY SERIOUS medical condition. It is not something to "figure out on your own" or play around with home tests.

[pricklypear1971]

,
"I bought a test meter and strips several years ago (pre-gluten-free) because I thought my blood sugar was getting high then dropping low. Turns out it was low and dropping very low and I could not raise it even with eating loads of sugar/sweets." Ewyon

Yeah, Ewyon,

That is an expereince I had. 15 years ago, I checked my blood after breakfast, it was 59. Then I had some honey, no response, a little more honey, no response, more honey, no response. Then I tried some fruit, no response. At that point, I gave up and rested. Somewhat later it got up to 80.

I don't feel like my body is unresponsive now, but it might just be a good idea to check.

I have two ideas about why this is:

Maybe the body doesn't absorb the sugar
Or maybe the body over produces insulin like a prediabetic.

I believe i would have diabetes if I hadn't been very careful with sugar.
No sweets,
No fruit juice (even unsweetened)
Balanced protein to carbs.
Bites of fruits with meals rather than entire fruits.

There's plenty of info out there about hypoglycemia.

Sometimes it is indicative of prediabetic - if your glucose is spiking (which is where the meter comes in) and other blood work lines up.

I improved my control greatly by starting an exercise routine. Lean muscle mass helps maintain control. It is challenging starting a routine, because of balancing your food. The first few months will be difficult.

My doctor drew me a great chart with hormones/organs and my three AI diseases. In short - AI damages certain body systems - adrenals help control glucose levels (effects pancreatic function?), as well as hormones. Fasting places stress on adrenals, so eating before I'm hungry is a biggie. Eating the right thing is a biggie.

Are you ready for this one???? As we approach and hit menopause and our ovaries slow down and stop our adrenals take a bigger role in hormone control, too. So if your adrenals are hosed hitting menopause you're doubly screwed.

Anyone with a chronic condition has adrenal stress. AI is a chronic condition. You've got to support your adrenals while you fix everything else. It helps.

It irritates the heck out of me.

[1desperateladysaved]

Diabetes is a VERY SERIOUS medical condition. It is not something to "figure out on your own" or play around with home tests.

I agree. I have several doctors working with me on this. I do feel that I am in control, though. I am ultimatly accountable for taking care of my own health. I would not use drugs or herbs without being advised. My doctors would be supportive of testing at home. It is a good way to see what is happening with the blood sugar.

[a1956chill]

I agree. I have several doctors working with me on this. I do feel that I am in control, though. I am ultimatly accountable for taking care of my own health. I would not use drugs or herbs without being advised. My doctors would be supportive of testing at home. It is a good way to see what is happening with the blood sugar.

While I agree with kareng that diabetes is a very serious medical condition ,,, home testing ( with reporting the results to your doctor )is IMHO the best way to be aware of what is happening with your blood sugar levels .Many diabetics may have been able to ( at least ) delay diabetes IF they had been aware earlier that there may be an issue and they could have worked on improving their diet.


Taking control of your own health is something that each of us NEEDS to do. Contrary to what many doctors believe,, Doctors are not gods .They are human beings that are trained to save our lives ,, unfortunately most are not trained not improve the quality of life .

( for them ) I am not a priority because celiacs and its complications will not kill me immediately,,it will take a long time for the complications of celiacs to kill me .

I WILL be in control of my medical treatments and ( as you said) I alone am accountable for my health.

[pricklypear1971]

Also, doctors are terrible at dx'ing hypoglycemia. Really, they are.

Unless you bottom out on one of the diabetes fasting glucose tests where they take two/three draws they won't catch it.

They look at hba1c which an average, which doesn't show the swings that plague many hypos.

When you show up with bg charts, meals, symptoms, etc. showing when it happened and how you feel they usually listen.

I personally never dropped below 80. Got right at it... And I only swung into prediabetic range 1/2x...and by 1 point. But it was the swings. Oh man, the swings......

And at bg of 80 I was a mess.

I never had a doc tell me to track bg, but they usually listen when you show up with it.

Not many docs will tell you to test before the meal, 1 hour after, 2 hours after. I had "great" morning fasting levels and "good" before meal levels (but felt terrible). My 2 hour tests were not good.

On bloodwork from a lab all was fine. My hba1c was .2 high, then .1 high - decreasing. My other labs for glucose were normal. But I felt awful.

Sometimes you have to prove it yourself and home bg testing is the best way..

I haven't done home testing since I started working out. But I feel different. We'll see what the next hba1c says and I may test before my next appointment.