Hi, I haven’t been diagnosed but I suspect I may have it. Im always tired and light headed. Im also very skinny, im a guy and im like 55kg for 5’9’’, im in decent shape tho. I only do walking as exercise, I walk 1 hour a day.
Anyway the worst is when I wake up, I feel like going to sleep again, there is some kind of peak happening in the morning.
I would like to test my glucose levels, I was told that the best way to go is a CGM, the glucometer is just not as accurate.
The problem is, the Libre sensor is out of order, you can’t buy it anymore, they only sell for existing clients. With just the sensor I would be able to monitor 15 days (I think it lasts 15 days) then just use my Samsung S9 phone as a reciever and get a nice log.
The Dexcom is too expensive for someone that just wants to rule out the posibility of diabetes.
Is there anything better than a glucometer that can monitor glucose levels all day?
I just would like to rule out diabates being a cause of my brain fog, slugginesh etc. I know my thyroid is not ideal already due TSH levels being higher than they should and im trying to fix that too, but maybe not ideal glucose levels are making it worse. Please help.
You don’t need to test “all day”. Test 2 hours after a large, carby meal. Test when you first get up in the morning. Do both of those things a few times; that’s all you need to do to show if you are diabetic or not Doctors don’t use CGM’S to show that have diabetes!!! They can run blood tests, fasting tests, and if needed, do a GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST. Stop worrying about getting a CGM!!
(Folks reading on the internet sure can come up with some faulty ideas–yours but just one of them)
Glucometers are more accurate than a cgm. In fact, we use our glucometers to calibrate the Dexcom cgm.
It would be a good idea to see a doctor if you’re concerned about this. However, if you’re trying to decide between a cgm or a glucometer, then the decision is very simple. A glucometer is a much, much better choice, and it also happens to be much cheaper.
But you would need to prick your finger a bunch of times to get a log as accurate as a sensor… it’s pretty obvious. The more samples you get the more accurate you get and with a glucometer you can’t be puncturing your finger every 10 minutes to draw a curve. I have never used a glucometer but I assume it takes a while for the finger to heal.
I guess for now I will get a glucometer to get 2 samples a day. Do you recommend a glucometer or any will do?
If you’re just concerned you might have blood sugar problems a cgm is totally overkill. … I’d recommend just asking your doctor to eval you for diabetes…
If you want to test yourself just get an inexpensive meter from Walmart like the region prime and some strips, write down the results and note if they were before eating or after meals, and discuss the results with a doctor.
You shouldn’t need a curve. If you just do a fasting test in the morning and a few tests before and after meals, then you should have a pretty good idea if your blood sugars are not in the normal range.
As far as I know nobody gets diagnosed with diabetes from CGM’s, if you are worried about your glucose levels then do as the other posters have said and get a glucometer and test your BG 2 hours after a meal and when you wake up. If you are over 140 mg/dl after a meal then go to the Dr. for more thorough testing. Also if your BG’s are far enough out of normal range to be diagnosed with diabetes then any meter will work.
I’m not so sure of this. Look at the data of glucometer accuracy. I trust my Dexcom at least as much as my meter. (Both are better when the reading is near normal). However, I agree it makes more sense to start with a glucometer; it is much cheaper, and doesn’t require a prescription. And without a diagnosis I don’t think any doctor would write that prescription.
Well then pick one that you like. Cgm is a crazy unrealistic concept for someone who doesn’t even have a diagnosis of diabetes…
I personally have been buying true-metrix strips on amazon for years (and their predecessor before true metrix)
If you were reading the consumer reviews of cgm they’d be even worse than what you see for meters, trust me.
Precision accuracy isn’t even particularly relevant unless you’re using it to dose insulin, and even then only marginally so. If you’re trying to determine if there’s a major malfunction in your body before you’re even being treated in any way for it; any meter would do… and no meter at all would do even better… a conversation with a primary care doctor is by far the best idea.
Are you drinking more, always thirsty, and peeing a lot ? These are critical symptoms of Type 1 diabetes, that need more immediate attention.
Using urine strips to test for glucose or high ketones would be of concern if very high. Possible trip to ER or medcheck if these are your symptoms.
I agree with everyone else. A CGM is a critical tool for those of us on insulin who have to make dozens of diabetes treatment decisions each day and need early warning of when our blood sugar goes high or low so that we can take action to correct it. It’s probably also useful as a temporary tool for people who are not on insulin so that they can work with their doctor to figure out the best diet and/or medication to control their blood sugar. For someone who doesn’t even have diabetes and may not actually have it, it’s complete overkill.
A CGM is not more accurate than glucose meters. I’m not sure where you read that. Glucose meters are more accurate, but even they are not accurate enough to provide a diagnosis of diabetes. To get a diagnosis, you have to go to a doctor and get blood tests. Since the symptoms you mention aren’t common symptoms of diabetes, it’s probably a good idea to go to your doctor regardless so that they can look into why you are light-headed and tired, as it mght be totally unrelated to blood sugar.
I hope you’re able to see your doctor soon so you can figure out what’s causing your symptoms and resolve them.
Which would be a big concern if, like us, you’re trying to calculate an insulin dose off the thing. But you’re not. We’re not talking about fine adjustments here–if you think you’ve got diabetes, the numbers will be big enough that any glucometer is sufficient to tell you whether you’re on the right track or not. You can buy a perfectly decent OneTouch for $25 at any pharmacy check-out counter. This is getting silly…
Like @DrBB, @Jen, and @Sam19 said, accuracy isn’t your primary concern right now. If you have abnormal results, they’re going to be pretty obvious and a few percent variability won’t matter. Most people here will tell you to consult a doctor if you don’t feel well because we’re not qualified to make a diagnosis, but I assume you’re looking for something to justify the appointment. I came here to suggest that you just look for whatever glucometer at your drug store comes with the most test strips in the starter package. If you test once before starting a glucose challenge, eat/drink something sugary on an empty stomach (no protein or fat to slow glucose absorption), test again thirty minutes after consumption, and test a third time two hours after consumption… You’ll be able to run three different challenges that way with the ten strips I think most come with. If you can score a meter that comes with 25 strips, even better!
But that got me thinking… Why not just pick up some urinalysis test strips? Urinalysis has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs in the modern digital era, but diabetics lived and died by them until recently. You don’t start spilling glucose into the urine until you’re already above normal blood glucose levels, but that’s good enough to show you an abnormal result. You only need to know that there is some present to validate your suspicioun, not the EXACT quantity. No fingersticks required, and they’re pretty informative while being dirt cheap. Prices vary a lot depending on brand and the number of tests they can do, but they seldom cost more than $15 US for a bottle of 50 or 100 strips. Speaking of number of tests, spring for the ones that are capable of testing ten fields or more. If you’re not feeling well, and it’s not diabetes, these strips can actually give you a lot more information than just glucose to guide you, like pH, ketones, albumin, billirubin, leukocytes, etc…
Just pee on a strip and wait a few seconds. If it starts turning Technicolor, make your way to a medical facility right quick.
I have been thinking this too especially for kids with T1. That is how I was diagnosed T1 as a kid. There have been some recent sad stories where kids were not diagnosed as T1 (misdiagnosed as an ear infection) and died from DKA. The poor parents were pushing for every kid to get a finger stick for blood glucose so diabetes is not missed in these cases. I was thinking - why not a good old fashion urine test. Cheap, no tech required, just dip and check for glucose and ketones.
For early T2 not so much.
Back to OP’s question. Buy a cheap BG meter and do a test before eating. Eat a high carb meal and then test every half hour for 2 hours. It will be much better than a CGM.
It takes a few seconds for your finger to heal unless you have the lancing device set too high. If you are type 1 you will know pretty quickly if you are diabetic, it took 1 test for me and the number was so high the meter couldn’t give me a reading. Type 2 or LADA might be another story though.
I use a ReliOn meter. I used it initially to track a trend and not for dosing insulin or other medications. It can be a good place to start if you have been advised that you are prediabetic by your physician and would like to track which foods can raise your blood glucose levels.
Armed with my data (experimenting for one month), my PCP gave me my diabetes diagnosis (after ordering additional tests). I still use my ReliOn to keep me on track. After four years, it is apparent that I am a Type 2 diabetic (thin), but must always monitor in case I develop into a TD1 (I already have celiac disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which are strongly linked to TD1).
After receiving a prediabetic diagnosis, I wish more people would track their blood glucose at home. There is nothing like seeing daily results to keep you on track and thus, delaying or preventing full blown TD2 diabetes.
My ReliOn is in invaluable tool in my toolbox. Perfect? No. But it is an inexpensive means of improving my health.
