Re: New Blood Glucose Range

[Guest guest]

Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive. Test strips are not cheap

and some insurance companies will only fill for 4 tests a day. I test only

before meals and before bed, this helps me figure out how much insulin I

will need. Belive me, watching your numbers too much will drive you crazy.

Marla

[Guest guest]

I appreciate your concern, but I'm trying to get control over my

diabetes and I thought that I was suppose to test often. Even my doctor

wanted some fasting level readings and some readings two hours after

eating to get my peak.

I don't have insurance, so I won't worry about that right now. Right

now, it's more important for me to get my blood sugar under control

than to worry expense. My family history would indicate that I could

easily face an amputation or retinopothy and I don't want to lose my

legs or eye sight.

Kathleen

>

> Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive. Test strips are not

cheap

> and some insurance companies will only fill for 4 tests a day. I test

only

> before meals and before bed, this helps me figure out how much

insulin I

> will need. Belive me, watching your numbers too much will drive you

crazy.

> Marla

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Marla, I certainly agree with you in that after achieving a degree of

control I think we can let up on the testing somewhat unless we're

eating foods we're not sure of, or having to use more insulin than

usual. But I did not take that attitude until I achieved a consistent

6.0% A1c, and I don't think that newcomers should be quite so cavalier

about testing - we all need to take our baby steps first, and with this

disease that means quite a bit of testing. One can certainly obsess

about numbers and I think that's a common phenomenon among newbies. But

we get over it.

CarolR

marla wrote:

> Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive.

[Guest guest]

Yabut...how do you know if you got your insulin dose right if you don't

check an hour/2 hours after a meal?

As a type 1 on insulin , my BGs are consistently inconsistent. I do

keep good records; for at least breakfast and lunch I eat basically the

same foods but even using the same insulin dose the results can vary

widely. I use my Palm Pilot for a GENERAL guide only, but it works

pretty well. My A1Cs are under 6...I'd like them under 5.5 but I don't

think that's possible.

Maybe type 2s on insulin get more consistent results, I dunno.

Vicki

Re: New Blood Glucose Range

> Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive. Test strips are not

> cheap

> and some insurance companies will only fill for 4 tests a day. I test

> only

> before meals and before bed, this helps me figure out how much insulin

> I

> will need. Belive me, watching your numbers too much will drive you

> crazy.

> Marla

>

>

[Guest guest]

You've got the right idea, Kathleen. The only way you're going to learn

what foods to stay away from and which are okay is test a lot. Once you

learn this, you can let up on the testing.

I've heard some people - including doctors -- accuse patients who want

to test a lot of being neurotic. Tain't true. They just don't

understand the [above] reason for the frequent testing.

You just need to understand that a 10 or 20--point difference in test

results is within the generally-allowable 15-20% meter differential

tolerance.

Vicki

Re: New Blood Glucose Range

>I appreciate your concern, but I'm trying to get control over my

> diabetes and I thought that I was suppose to test often. Even my

> doctor

> wanted some fasting level readings and some readings two hours after

> eating to get my peak.

> I don't have insurance, so I won't worry about that right now. Right

> now, it's more important for me to get my blood sugar under control

> than to worry expense. My family history would indicate that I could

> easily face an amputation or retinopothy and I don't want to lose my

> legs or eye sight.

> Kathleen

>

>

>>

>> Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive. Test strips are not

> cheap

>> and some insurance companies will only fill for 4 tests a day. I test

> only

>> before meals and before bed, this helps me figure out how much

> insulin I

>> will need. Belive me, watching your numbers too much will drive you

> crazy.

>> Marla

>>

[Guest guest]

You've got the right idea, Kathleen. The only way you're going to learn

what foods to stay away from and which are okay is test a lot. Once you

learn this, you can let up on the testing.

I've heard some people - including doctors -- accuse patients who want

to test a lot of being neurotic. Tain't true. They just don't

understand the [above] reason for the frequent testing.

You just need to understand that a 10 or 20--point difference in test

results is within the generally-allowable 15-20% meter differential

tolerance.

Vicki

Re: New Blood Glucose Range

>I appreciate your concern, but I'm trying to get control over my

> diabetes and I thought that I was suppose to test often. Even my

> doctor

> wanted some fasting level readings and some readings two hours after

> eating to get my peak.

> I don't have insurance, so I won't worry about that right now. Right

> now, it's more important for me to get my blood sugar under control

> than to worry expense. My family history would indicate that I could

> easily face an amputation or retinopothy and I don't want to lose my

> legs or eye sight.

> Kathleen

>

>

>>

>> Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive. Test strips are not

> cheap

>> and some insurance companies will only fill for 4 tests a day. I test

> only

>> before meals and before bed, this helps me figure out how much

> insulin I

>> will need. Belive me, watching your numbers too much will drive you

> crazy.

>> Marla

>>

[Guest guest]

Kathleen, you may have a constant reduction, but you may plateau for a

while and then start another round of reduction. It may be tied to

weight loss, or it may not. The important thing is to stick with what

is working, and make improvements where you can. Just don't give up if

the results stop coming as fast as they do in the begining.

>

> I'm excited my blood glucose range has drop a little more. My

readings

> today were 181, 170, 156, 166, 168, and 186. I felt low at 156, but

166

> felt ok. I didn't even hit 190 today. How long do you think it will

be

> until I have normal readings?

> I have discovered that eating a nice portion of meat with my

vegetables

> helps me make it from one meal to another and I'm starting to drink

big

> glassfuls of water in between meals. I'm even starting to exercise a

> little, but this evening I noticed that my leg is starting to swell

> again (my left leg swells every so often and the doctor can't figure

> out why, we even did a sono to check for clots).

> I want to thank all of you for all the help you have been so far,

you

> are probably helping to save my life.

> Kathleen

>

[Guest guest]

Walgreens has two private label meters. I use the one that costs

$17.99. The strips are $49.99/100. I don't know, objectively, how

accurate the meter is, but I can usually predict my A1c based on three

months worth of numbers.

CarolR

Rotramel wrote:

> I don't know how good it is, but you can get a Walgreens meter for

> about 20 bucks, and the strips are about 25 cents each, if memory

> serves me well.

[Guest guest]

Vicki, that's an emal addy. CarolR

whimsy2 wrote:

> Kathleen and everyone else...diabetes writer Mendosa now has a

> blog in addition to his excellent website. I'm attaching the URl for his

> newsletter...I highly recommend it to every diabetic.

>

> update@... update@...>

[Guest guest]

Kathleen and everyone else...diabetes writer Mendosa now has a

blog in addition to his excellent website. I'm attaching the URl for his

newsletter...I highly recommend it to every diabetic.

update@... update@...>

Vicki

Re: New Blood Glucose Range

>I appreciate your concern, but I'm trying to get control over my

> diabetes and I thought that I was suppose to test often. Even my

> doctor

> wanted some fasting level readings and some readings two hours after

> eating to get my peak.

> I don't have insurance, so I won't worry about that right now. Right

> now, it's more important for me to get my blood sugar under control

> than to worry expense. My family history would indicate that I could

> easily face an amputation or retinopothy and I don't want to lose my

> legs or eye sight.

> Kathleen

>

>

>>

>> Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive. Test strips are not

> cheap

>> and some insurance companies will only fill for 4 tests a day. I test

> only

>> before meals and before bed, this helps me figure out how much

> insulin I

>> will need. Belive me, watching your numbers too much will drive you

> crazy.

>> Marla

>>

>>

[Guest guest]

I found it at http://blogs.healthcentral.com/diabetes/david-mendosa/ and it

looks most interesting!

Jo in MN

----- Original Message -----

> Vicki, that's an emal addy. CarolR

>

> whimsy2 wrote:

>> Kathleen and everyone else...diabetes writer Mendosa now has a

>> blog in addition to his excellent website. I'm attaching the URl for his

>> newsletter...I highly recommend it to every diabetic.

>>

>> update@... update@...>

[Guest guest]

Well, yes, but WalMart (hmmm, something going on about stores that start with

" Wal " here? :^} )

has a meter for $8.88 and the strips cost $42.something

Ted Quick

--- Carol croberts@...> wrote:

> Walgreens has two private label meters. I use the one that costs

> $17.99. The strips are $49.99/100. I don't know, objectively, how

> accurate the meter is, but I can usually predict my A1c based on three

> months worth of numbers.

>

> CarolR

>

> Rotramel wrote:

> > I don't know how good it is, but you can get a Walgreens meter for

> > about 20 bucks, and the strips are about 25 cents each, if memory

> > serves me well.

>

>

[Guest guest]

And I would have bought it if my local WalMart could stock it - they

couldn't get the meters, so I went to W-greens instead.

CarolR

Ted Quick wrote:

> Well, yes, but WalMart (hmmm, something going on about stores that start with

" Wal " here? :^} )

> has a meter for $8.88 and the strips cost $42.something

>

> Ted Quick

> --- Carol croberts@...> wrote:

>

>>Walgreens has two private label meters. I use the one that costs

>>$17.99. The strips are $49.99/100. I don't know, objectively, how

>>accurate the meter is, but I can usually predict my A1c based on three

>>months worth of numbers.

[Guest guest]

>

> marla wrote:

> > Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive.

my endo had a good suggestion for those who are limited in the amount

of test strips they can use

for the first week, test before each meal and after breakfast (only

one week to test after breakfast because it seldom changes)

for weeks 2 & 3, test before each meal and after lunch (lunch varies

more than breakfast, but still not a whole lot)

for weeks 4 thru 8, test before each meal and after dinner (because

we typically eat our biggest meal of the day at dinner with the most

fluctuations/changes to our meals here......... if YOUR biggest meal

is lunch, then switch these two testing protocols)

now you have a good idea how food affects you

so, you can move around what time you are testing with that 4th test

strip each day.......... rotate meals and before bed readings

(especially if you wake up high) and play around with that extra

strip........... you can even skip a premeal test if you are certain

that your bg is stable say from breakfast to lunch (either way, you

are going to catch the abberation within a few hours at the next meal)

hope this helps as an alternative for those who can't afford to test

as much as they would like

kate

[Guest guest]

At 03:01 PM 1/4/06, tiger_lily1ca wrote:

>my endo had a good suggestion for those who are limited in the amount

>of test strips they can use

>

>for the first week, test before each meal and after breakfast (only

>one week to test after breakfast because it seldom changes)

(snip)

I received advice like that, too. Why waste the strips you'd use testing

before each meal when you're not going to test after? It's just a waste of

time and strips. If I were to test for just one meal I'd test before and 1

and 2 hours after. Use three strips. Then when you figure out breakfast,

move to another meal. It's a long way to get any information at all,

however, especially for meals that are apt to be more varied than breakfast.

sky

[Guest guest]

>

> Wow, I will need to check. I would like to get a second meter just in

> case something happens to this one.

> Kathleen

most of the meter manufacturers will have a NEW METER delivered to you

FedEx the NEXT DAY where you work or at your home................. and

in ?March? i believe, it is diabetes awareness month and that's when

you get a free meter with the purchase of 100 test strips

wait for the freebie meters Kathleen

kate

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the idea, that might help at some point.

I'm having a hard time keeping up with checking my bg every time that

I should with being busy in the classroom, but I'm continuing to try

and my bg is gradually moving closer to normal.

Kathleen

> > > Testing 8 times a day is going to get expensive.

>

> my endo had a good suggestion for those who are limited in the

amount

> of test strips they can use

>

> for the first week, test before each meal and after breakfast (only

> one week to test after breakfast because it seldom changes)

>

> for weeks 2 & 3, test before each meal and after lunch (lunch

varies

> more than breakfast, but still not a whole lot)

>

> for weeks 4 thru 8, test before each meal and after dinner (because

> we typically eat our biggest meal of the day at dinner with the

most

> fluctuations/changes to our meals here......... if YOUR biggest

meal

> is lunch, then switch these two testing protocols)

>

> now you have a good idea how food affects you

>

> so, you can move around what time you are testing with that 4th

test

> strip each day.......... rotate meals and before bed readings

> (especially if you wake up high) and play around with that extra

> strip........... you can even skip a premeal test if you are

certain

> that your bg is stable say from breakfast to lunch (either way, you

> are going to catch the abberation within a few hours at the next

meal)

>

> hope this helps as an alternative for those who can't afford to

test

> as much as they would like

>

> kate

>