I test throughout the day. Because its my morning blood sugars that are an issue, those get checked everyday. I tend to test randomly at other times in the day, or when I’m feeling particularly ill.
I’ve been diagnosed as Type II for about 2.5 yrs. Lately, my morning readings have been on the high side (135 - 150), while late afternoon numbers have been more in the range my MD suggested (below 120).
I also have slow digestion. (I forget the medical term for it, but they gave me a test one time where I ate radioactive food and while a normal person would have digested the food given in 90 min, my stomach took 300+ min to digest.) I’m wondering what kind of effect this slow digestion would have on BG numbers after eating. I always see people talking about readings 1-2 hours after you eat. Wouldn’t my numbers be different than most because of the digestion issues?
I’ve asked my MD about this, and never gotten a satisfactory answer. I’m going to a diabetes fair in early November and hope to ask about it then as well.
BTW, I’m on metformin for now. Started out at 500mg of the XR about 2 months ago, increased to 750mg about 3 weeks back. Still some uncertainty if that’s what I’ll stick with as I have some sort of bumps that they sent me to a skin doctor about and they took a biopsy, said it could be due to new meds. That’s the only new med I’ve added in the last 2 yrs.
My answers are going to differ in type from other peoples’ because I’ve been working with some specialists at the International Diabetes center.
- What number does your doctor say is a “good” number for your blood sugar?
Within 100 points of the last time I tested.
- What number causes you concern?
More than 100 points over where it was the last time I tested. Or below 90, because I’m going to be having an insulin reaction soon.
- What number causes you alarm?
HIGH. Or below 60, which means I’m freaking out and looking to eat a sackful of cookies.
The theory is, since i’m using Humalog before each meal and Lantus at night, the Humalog governs my blood sugars 2 hrs after eating, and the Lantus governs my blood sugars before the meal. I’m not looking to keep the numbers in lockstep range, 80-120, because they’re going to vary some throughout the day, which is normal, so if I happen to check when it’s higher, I shouldn’t freak out. I’m just looking to be below a certain number before I eat, and back to that general ballpark a couple hours later once the Humalog has done its thing; if it’s a little high, the Lantus will cause it to drop before the next meal.
This gets adjusted some if I’m more than 200; I take an extra unit of Humalog for every 50 points above 150, and adjust the number I’m looking to see accordingly the next time I test.
For example, if I’m at 200 when I eat lunch, normally I’d take 8 units of Humalog. Instead, I take 9 units, to cancel out the extra 50, and then I’m hoping my blood sugar is around 150 2 hours later. If it’s still 200, then I probably ate too much. By dinnertime, it should be down to 150.
Doug–I had good results with Actos, and I say HAD because BCBS of MA got their underware bound up by something. They put me on Advantia, then doubled the dosage, and it still does nothing. 12 hour fast numbers average 150, and that is makeing my eyebrows go up.
Methinks the MD and I will be talking tomorrow. He will not be happy or ammused.
Your insurer can make the calls on your meds? HOW CAN THAT BE??? That’s very scary!
If the drug isn’t on the insurance company’s formulary, tough shit. They won’t pay for it.
Is this a drug you cannot afford on your own? If so, that really blows.
Actos is quite pricey. That’s why I was heartbroken when I stopped taking it after my bypass.
Well, daft ol’ geezer that he is, my dad said that he had his cholesterol number mixed up with his blood glucose number. His glucose is 110. A far cry from the trauma numbers he gave me yesterday! Needs to work on that cholesterol, but he is bringing it down little by little.
Thanks all for your input. It was interesting and informative. I appreciate it!
The scary part is both Actos and the sugar pills they switched me to are within $20 of each other—that was they were, when I was on the lowest dose of the new, useless pill. The double dose I’m on now does nothing more than cost double what the pill that works costs.
Now if I get the medium dose of Actos and split the pill, it winds up being a quarter the cost of the useless drugs.
BCBS is staffed by living brain donors.