I was just diagnosed two days ago as Type 2 and was sent home with a meter and instructions to take only my fasting sugars for ten days then come back to the Dr. to get started on a treatment plan. I’m “old hat” at doing the testing thing- was gestational with both of my pregnancies and NEVER had good fasting numbers! I’ve ended up taking my sugars after every meal as curiousity has gotten the better of me and my fasting has consistently been the highest number. (Yesterday 281, today 389) My doc didn’t give me a certain number to call him if it was over (“Call me if your fasting is over 250.”) so should I call? I mean I only had a grilled turkey breast sandwich and celery for dinner last night instead of my usual high fat, high carb foods! This was a 13-hr. fasting, I’m so confused! Any advice?
I also took my fasting sugar on my brother’s meter to see if maybe my meter was off and my sugar on his was 387 and hour later so I’m thinking it’s fairly accurate…
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. 389 is pretty high. I have type 1, but I don’t see why it would be improper for you to give the doc a buzz. You may also want to check for ketones. Go to the pharmacy and ask for Ketostix. If there are ketones in your urine, you must call the doctor. How are you feeling? Are you breathing hard, have your heart pounding, feel nauseated, thirsty?
oh, also, any sandwich made w/2 pieces of bread would be a “high carb” meal for me because of the bread.
Thanks for the info about the bread, it was whole wheat instead of my usual white bread but I know that there are different steps I need to take in dieting obviously. I will be sent to a dietician in the next month or so. I am asymptomatic (spelling?) and when I was diagnosed my sugars had been almost 500 at the beginning of last week with absolutely no symtoms- I actually, and luckily from what I understand, have been feeling great lately! Can I get ketostix without a Rx? I’m new and haven’t learned much about the ketones in the urine thing yet, I vaguely remember doing this when I was pregnanat but that was 7 years ago…
From what I’ve heard from other T2s, most T2 diagnosis is incidental (diagnosed in the process of diagnosing or treating something else) rather than in response to classic “diabetes” symptoms. (Most of my T2 friends and I were asymptomatic at diagnosis.) I’m not sure why the doctor is waiting 10 days to start treatment, unless he’s waiting for the results of other tests (such as an A1c test, a c-peptide test, and/or a GADA test) to see if you’re T2 or adult-onset T1/LADA, and how much insulin you are producing. A standard metabolic panel should also give him an idea of how well your liver and kidneys are functioning. In combination, these results would give him an idea of whether to start you on pills (and if so, which pills), on insulin, or on both.
Ketostix are over-the-counter – no prescription needed – though you may need to ask the pharmacist for them.
From what I read, one needs to check for ketones if your blood glucose goes over 240 – that came from the Precision Xtra monitor’s instructions (it uses different strips in the same meter to do ketone testing). I’m not sure how reasonable that is in medical terms (I’m not a medical professional).
Unfortunately, I haven’t had any blood tests at the doctor yet. My diagnosis was, I’m not sure how else to put it, unscheduled. I was in the office for my husband while he was getting treatment for High Blood Pressure and mentioned to the nurse that I had tested my sugar on my brother’s meter earlier in the week and my sugar was super high, she finished treating my husband and brought me in a meter and told me to come back in ten days with my fasting sugars. I tested randomly using my brother’s meter last monday since I was gestational in 1999 and again with my second pregnancy in 2002 and he had his meter handy that day. Imagine my surprise to see it so high after almost seven years! My doc did do some blood work in '04 and my fasting on that visit was only 146 and he never mentioned it- I only know that because they pulled my file and his response was, “Surely we talked about this fasting number from 2004, right?” He simply told me Wednesday that since my brother is type 2 I most likely was, too. So, I guess, “officially” I am not even diagnosed yet, even though I’m sure its immenint.
Any fasting over 126 is considered diabetes…I’m not sure why he didn’t diagnose you way back in 04 with a fasting of 146!
And yes, fasting numbers can easily be and often are the highest of the day for diabetics, because our livers pump out glucose in the early morning hours (dawn phenomenon).
If you want to lower your BS IMMEDIATELY, go on a very low carb, almost no carb diet. I was diagnosed Type 2 on May 9, 2009. My fasting BS was at 267. I had a friend who has been diabetic longer than I have been alive. He helped my by putting me on Atkins diet, specifically that “Induction” part, which is a diet of no more than 15 grams of carbs per day. In less than 10 days, my BS went from 267 down to 90. Unless you have bad kidneys, or a thyroid problem, my suggestion would be to go LOW CARB.
Call him/her and report the numbers. That’s what they asked for, a call. If you want this person on your team, you have to do what they ask, and they will be more available to do what you are going to ask of them in the future. Even if your baby is only 6 months old right now, your body has changed, you have aged a little, and things are not the same, not at all. So report the numbers…and follow their plan for now. When you get a treatment plan, then start asking questions, go with them (the questions) the day you have your treatment plan visit…any and all. This is your life, and you have to be able to take care of yourself. You had gestational diabetes, nothing like type II…so ask everything, even things that you know the answer to…then ask for a referral to a dietician so you can get a complete education on eating, exercise, meds, etc. If they have an education group in your area, as for a referral or information on that.
Kori, this is a new ball game, and you can’t afford to “know” everything from before. Start a new, and get on board with taking care of you=== if for no one else, your kids.
AND come here often, we love new people and are here to be your best friends in this journey.