blood sugar

[piranha]

ok, so my fasting blood sugar is not hideously high this morning, in fact considerably lower than the lab test, at 6.7. last thing i had to eat 12 hours ago was a whole guava. this is higher than it should be (6.1 mmol/l is the upper end of the canadian guideline for normal fasting blood glucose levels), but not hugely so. it could also be slightly elevated already because this might actually be too long a time to go without food, and my liver might've already pumped out extra sugar.

*sigh of relief*. i know it's just one number, and one lower number does not a trend make, but it makes me a bit less worried, and more confident that the levels can be controlled with a bit more attention to eating well (notice how i am avoiding the 4-letter word "diet" :) and being more physically active. yesterday featured more walking around and a healthier bedtime snack than is usual (i often eat a sizeable meal before going to bed, just because i forgot to eat earlier and am ravenous).

fortunately the fingerpricking didn't hurt much, nor do the puncture sites hurt now, so pain isn't gonna be a major deterrent for testing at this point.

now i need to figure out how to delete individual test results from the spiffy meter i ended up with (lifescan's onetouch ultrasmart -- what a mouthful), so that the paramour can try this too. i chose this one because the cost for test strips locally was between $72-80 no matter what brand, and walmart spared me from giving them any money (however grudgingly) by not actually having the el-cheapo meter+strip deal available that i had read about. the cheapest strips were on sale for $70 at shoppers drugmart, for their own "life" brand, but a one-time sale does not a good investment make, and their meter was barebones. if it turns out i need to do this long-term i'll be spending more time looking for a cheap online source. (if you're in the US and are in need of cheap strips, try http://www.hocks.com, who have some amazingly low prices, but unfortunately don't ship internationally).

the ultrasmart will relieve me of keeping a written logbook by providing its own, and i can upload the data to my computer as well. it also allows for taking blood at alternate sites (palm or forearm) should the fingers get too pricked up. it can do averages and graphs, and i can record my BP and food intake as well. not bad for an experiment.

Comments

[blur01.livejournal.com]

Whats that number in "normal" units?

unit conversion

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

*snrk*. these _are_ the normal units. :)

1 mmol/l = 18 mg/dl; multiply by 18 to go from canadian to US.

6.7 is 120.6 mg/dl

i just did the 2 hour after a meal test which was 8.1 (145.8). that is also just outside the acceptable normal range. if these numbers continue like this, i have impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes) and might as well act as if i already had diabetes, to get those numbers down. it also means i hopefully won't need to take meds to do it.

conversion tool for both directions, should you ever need it: http://www.onlineconversion.com/blood_sugar.htm

[platonios.livejournal.com]

the pain of pricking.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

papercuts are worse, because they keep hurting for a while. this really only hurts at the moment of puncture, and it's a quick, sharp pain, and the it's gone.

my body doesn't like it though; i am noticing a bit more resistance to the pricking already. my body is a huge pain coward, which i find somewhat annoying.

too bad you can't find any guava. it's probably my favourite fruit now because it has such an interesting combination of tastes and textures.

[firecat]

Yay for decent fasting glucose readings.

glucose readings

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

it's very interesting to have this meter now -- i sorta wish i'd had it during the atkins experiment. it's really impressive to see how a big carb meal versus a small carb meal results directly in vastly different blood sugars, and how those levels affect my oomph.

not like i am going back on atkins (*gah*), but aside from getting the glucose levels down because of the damage the higher ones do, i would really like those levels of oomph back, so i'm gonna try and make myself eat low on the glycemic index. *gah*. so difficult to change my eating habits.

Re: glucose readings

[firecat]

For me prolonged high bgs cause carb cravings, so getting my bgs down for a few days helps me feel more inclined to eat lower on the glycemic index. Exercise also helps because it targets insulin resistance directly and immediately. (Really impressive to see.)

[lorres.livejournal.com]

Thanks for keeping us up to date.

It must be frustrating waiting for trends and understanding what is effective and what isn't. Or what is effective in a good way and what isn't.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i am not actually fustrated in this phase; i am frustrated when i know something is wrong and i have no way to find out what. i wasn't happy with the idea that most tachycardia and blood pressure issues remain unknown as to etiology. at least now i have a gadget and can test myself, and there is some suspicion the blood sugar elevation and high blood pressure are related.

nothing may come from it, and they may not be related (and then i'll be frustrated) but while i am doing an experiment i am usually quite happy with it.

[amagranz.livejournal.com]

ok, i know you already got the wifescan funtouch hypergenius fangulator, BUT ... did you know about glucoboy? [http://www.glucoboy.com/?page=home] oh, never mind, that wouldn't work -- you never game...

;-)

(btw, i'm really glad to hear your sugar levels are ok.)

glucoboy!

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

OMG, kate and kyle are there to help me! all is well now!

only if i am in australia, unfortunately. and yes, of course, *stern look*, i never game. i can see the conversation now:

me: i need to buy a nintendo game system.
paramour: say what?
me: yeah, i need it to monitor my glucose levels with this here glucoboy.
paramour: hits me over the head with my dreamcast system.