# SD Codefree arrived



## DougC (Dec 10, 2018)

Finally got round to getting one. Arrived this morning. Am reading up on what to do, it's a lot to take in when this is all so new. Will start testing in mornings before breakfast, I think this is right.
Then after lunch and evening meal, but wait for 2 hours after meal? I keep food diary and carb count so can see what is going on! I think you miss out first finger and thumb to prod. This might seem silly of me, but can blood be taken from else where?
Will read up on reading as well and videos to see how its all done


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## Madeline (Dec 10, 2018)

Mine arrived this morning too!

I test as soon as I wake up (you’re not supposed to get up as it raises your BG), then 2 hours after breakfast. Just before and 2 hours after lunch and dinner too.


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## CathyB (Dec 10, 2018)

Great start Doug, as @Madeline has said, you need to test just before your meal and then 2 hours after to see the difference, ideally you want it to show no more than a rise of 2, that’s where your food diary comes in, track your results with your meals to see where you might need to tweak and try again   Once you get the hang of which foods work best for you, you can cut back on the frequency of testing so it does get easier


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## DougC (Dec 11, 2018)

Thanks for this! So first test in morning is in bed?


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## Madeline (Dec 11, 2018)

Yep, as soon as you wake up. Roll over, stab n check.


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## Ralph-YK (Dec 11, 2018)

I don't know about missing out any fingers or thumbs.  Test both before and after eating, so you can see what the difference is.  Otherwise, sounds OK to me.

From waking to a half hour/an hour after waking you BG can go up, even if you don't eat.


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## DougC (Dec 11, 2018)

Hi,
Thanks for this. Done my first test!  Lunch at 12.30 and tested at 3.30pm, maybe bit late? Reading is 5.3, which seems good? Will this be the pre meal test reading too? I expect eve meal at 5-30pm.
Any other new ones on here, it was easier than I thought and the meter so far is fine. See how it goes. Thats one more item to add to my carb count food log.
cheers


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## Madeline (Dec 11, 2018)

I test just before eating, then the 2 hours after. Booklet says you can use your arm too, presumably well above wrist, and underside as it says to use a soft hairless area.


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## trophywench (Dec 11, 2018)

That lunch - the tests should have been at 12.29 (LOL, doesn't have to be that precise) and 14.30 - 2 hours after the first mouthful goes in.  As well as seeing whether your BG comes back down to your pre-meal level after eating, you are also trying to find out at what interval and how high, that food sends your BG.

In a perfect world we'd like the 'highest point' of our BG to be no more than 3.0 more than the pre-meal level.  If it's more - then how long thereafter does it stay too high?  If it's ages, then something needs to be adjusted - have you actually read 'Test, Review, Adjust' by Alan Shanley? - the best advice that ANYone with any type of diabetes, can take.  (Sorry I'm still unable to put up links on this machine - so perhaps another reader can do that for me, for you)


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## Ralph-YK (Dec 11, 2018)

DougC said:


> Reading is 5.3, which seems good?


That's a good, generally level.  It could be considered a great pre food reading.


DougC said:


> 3.30pm, maybe bit late?


You do need a reading closer to the food.  Some things could have you going high and returning to your pre food levels in that time.  Or it might not affected it much at all.


DougC said:


> 3.30pm... Will this be the pre meal test reading too?


Only if your about to eat at 3:40pm.  Your levels could change over the day, going up or down, and can be different in two hours.


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## Madeline (Dec 11, 2018)

trophywench said:


> That lunch - the tests should have been at 12.29 (LOL, doesn't have to be that precise) and 14.30 - 2 hours after the first mouthful goes in.  As well as seeing whether your BG comes back down to your pre-meal level after eating, you are also trying to find out at what interval and how high, that food sends your BG.
> 
> In a perfect world we'd like the 'highest point' of our BG to be no more than 3.0 more than the pre-meal level.  If it's more - then how long thereafter does it stay too high?  If it's ages, then something needs to be adjusted - have you actually read 'Test, Review, Adjust' by Alan Shanley? - the best advice that ANYone with any type of diabetes, can take.  (Sorry I'm still unable to put up links on this machine - so perhaps another reader can do that for me, for you)



http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html?m=1

Test, review, adjust link


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## DougC (Dec 11, 2018)

Hi,
Thanks again for the comments, it is very helpful and good of you to spend time replying. Checked the test and test, thanks for the link. Will do the times at meal pre and post at the right intervals. It is starting to make sense.
cheers all


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## Ralph-YK (Dec 11, 2018)

The ones you've already taken will help you build up an image of what's going on.  For example, if you get a few more between 5 and 6, that could be your normal.


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## travellor (Dec 11, 2018)

Some insane comments on here.

Test in bed?
Rise of two??

Are you playing a numbers game to fix your results?
Or do you actually want to use your meter to give you information?

This is the actual result you need to be aiming for
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/testing


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## Madeline (Dec 11, 2018)

travellor said:


> Some insane comments on here.
> 
> Test in bed?
> Rise of two??
> ...



Test in bed was one of the first things I was told here. To test as soon as I woke up, and that even sitting up affects the result.


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## travellor (Dec 11, 2018)

Madeline said:


> Test in bed was one of the first things I was told here. To test as soon as I woke up, and that even sitting up affects the result.



All that gives is a warm fuzzy feeling.
Your BG will still be what it is later.
I always sat up, cleaned my teeth, walked downstairs.....

We can always fiddle the readings.


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## Robin (Dec 11, 2018)

travellor said:


> Some insane comments on here.
> 
> Test in bed?


Why wouldn’t you? By the time I’ve got out of bed and gone to the loo, I can have risen at least 2. Ok, I’m Type 1, but I get the Dawn Phenomenon just as some Type 2s do. It’s no good me thinking my morning reading is always over 7 and trying to do something about my overnight readings, if it’s only 5 point something when I wake up.


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## travellor (Dec 11, 2018)

Robin said:


> Why wouldn’t you? By the time I’ve got out of bed and gone to the loo, I can have risen at least 2. Ok, I’m Type 1, but I get the Dawn Phenomenon just as some Type 2s do. It’s no good me thinking my morning reading is always over 7 and trying to do something about my overnight readings, if it’s only 5 point something when I wake up.



So, you are good if you read low?
But you know you rise after?
How does that work?

Read 7 and take 2 while brushing your teeth off is exactly the same if you need a low reading in bed?

This is exactly my point on BG readings being a false god.


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## Madeline (Dec 11, 2018)

But if you’re not getting up yet, it is a true reading. I wake at 7am because I have to take my lung function meds exactly every 12 hours, so I test then. I’m not getting up at 7am, it’s way too early for me. 

Would be lovely if someone brought me breakfast in bed


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## Robin (Dec 11, 2018)

travellor said:


> So, you are good if you read low?
> But you know you rise after?
> How does that work?
> 
> ...


I’m neither good nor bad if I read low. The reading is just a number. But I don’t always rise by the same amount after I get up. Some days I hardly rise at all. So the reading I take when I’ve just woken up is the most consistently accurate one for basing my action plan for the next night.
What I'm trying to say, is that consistency is the most important thing for me ( and for a lot of other people, I would imagine). It’s not me trying to get a false impression of how low I’ve got my waking number. If that’s what I wanted, I’d set an alarm for 3am when I know it’ll be at its lowest.
(Of course, when I’m using a Libre sensor I don’t need to time the testing, except to make sure it’s less than 8hours since the bedtime one, because I get a continuous trace, but that’s not something I can fund very often, and I know some people won’t be able to afford it at all.)
(Another point I ought to make, is that when I first started testing, it was when I was on Metformin and Gliclazide, as I was misdiagnosed as Type2.)


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## Madeline (Dec 11, 2018)

It’s convenient for me, because that’s when I take my meds it means I test at exactly the same time every day. I am never late withvmy meds, my lungs throw a hissy fit without their uniphyllin etc


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## travellor (Dec 11, 2018)

Robin said:


> I’m neither good nor bad if I read low. The reading is just a number. But I don’t always rise by the same amount after I get up. Some days I hardly rise at all. So the reading I take when I’ve just woken up is the most consistently accurate one for basing my action plan for the next night.
> What I'm trying to say, is that consistency is the most important thing for me ( and for a lot of other people, I would imagine). It’s not me trying to get a false impression of how low I’ve got my waking number. If that’s what I wanted, I’d set an alarm for 3am when I know it’ll be at its lowest.
> (Of course, when I’m using a Libre sensor I don’t need to time the testing, except to make sure it’s less than 8hours since the bedtime one, because I get a continuous trace, but that’s not something I can fund very often, and I know some people won’t be able to afford it at all.)
> (Another point I ought to make, is that when I first started testing, it was when I was on Metformin and Gliclazide, as I was misdiagnosed as Type2.)



Me, I can wake up, and eventually slide down the banister to breakfast.
That's still a valid reading


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## Ralph-YK (Dec 11, 2018)

@travellor  It could be me being dim.  I don't understand half your comments.  What exactly is your issue with the advice to test as soon as you wake?  Or any other advice here?


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## trophywench (Dec 11, 2018)

Fine traveller - your first test of the day is therefore a 'pre breakfast' test, because what the medical profession mean by a 'fasting' BG test is precisely what's been stated here.  It's done so a person (and their medical team) can see what happens between their last test at bedtime and the first one of the day.  On insulin one sometimes needs to change the pre bed dose depending on whether one takes some 'exercise' after the bedtime test, just as one for instance.  What's happening to your BG when or if, you do that?  Does your body need less help to keep your BG stable overnight at those times or more help at others?

It's quite illuminating usually when we test at odd times that we normally don't.

You might well not want to find out what your body does practically every hour of the day and night - on insulin we HAVE to find that out to educate ourselves to explain why this that or the other has happened to understand our body properly.  If anyone else wants to find that out about theirs, if they don't know, we need to tell them - and explain why of course.


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## mikeyB (Dec 12, 2018)

Shouldn’t bother responding Jenny. Travellor knows sod all about living with T1, yet feels qualified to comment on our testing regimes, and thinks BG levels are false Gods. I think he must have got out of bed on the wrong side, as my great gran would say, always before a clip round the ear.

Meanwhile, I’ll still carry on testing my BG when I wake up, cos it’s bloody hard work getting out of bed and upright, and my liver interprets this as time to do a glucose dump to help me along. “Insane” it might be, but I need to know I’m doing things right, because that glucose dump, as Robin says, is a distinctly movable feast. As is being chained by immobility, just as Madeline is.

We’re all different, none of us fit into the same mould. What fun would that be anyway?


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

And all this type 1 chipping into a response to a type 2 who was most likely tested after not only getting up, but going to the doctors for a fasting test in the first place?
What does a low fasting number show if you're type 2, taking it at the best time, knowing it's just about to rise?
I'll test when I can, if we rise it's not a normal response, as we'll be producing insulin to cover it not injecting for most of us.

Link to advise on testing here
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/testing


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

Ralph-YK said:


> @travellor  It could be me being dim.  I don't understand half your comments.  What exactly is your issue with the advice to test as soon as you wake?  Or any other advice here?



Why is a reading after getting up less valid for a type 2.
In fact it's the one I prefer.
I like to use the normal glucose when I wake. 
If I continue to rise, so know I'm insulin resistant still. 
I either need to move more, or some other strategy


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## Madeline (Dec 12, 2018)

Like I said, it means I test at exactly the same time every day. Plus Doug is newly diagnosed, like me. We are still getting used to medication levels etc, so for us it’s learning about how our bodies are responding. It’s not being a slave to numbers, it’s being sensible and responsible for our condition. Nobody wants to lose feet here. I really can’t see what your objection is to getting into good habits early on.


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## SB2015 (Dec 12, 2018)

Good morning @DougC 

Glad to hear that your meter has arrived and that you are now using it to help you make decisions.
As others have said, you need to make decisions about what you are using it to find out.

The tests before and 2 hours after your meals, alongside a record of what carbs you have eaten will help you 
make decisions about any changes that you can make to reduce the post meal rises. The records that I kept at the start were very detailed and helped me to learn the carb count on many foods quite quickly.  

Let us know how you get on.


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

Madeline said:


> Like I said, it means I test at exactly the same time every day. Plus Doug is newly diagnosed, like me. We are still getting used to medication levels etc, so for us it’s learning about how our bodies are responding. It’s not being a slave to numbers, it’s being sensible and responsible for our condition. Nobody wants to lose feet here. I really can’t see what your objection is to getting into good habits early on.



What does a fasting level tell you?


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## Eddy Edson (Dec 12, 2018)

travellor said:


> What does a fasting level tell you?



I was in the habit of testing just after getting up & then again after faffing around with shower etc etc before breakfast. I thought it was interesting to see what kind of DP was happening & I suppose how my insulin sensitivity was doing.


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

Eddy Edson said:


> I was in the habit of testing just after getting up & then again after faffing around with shower etc etc before breakfast. I thought it was interesting to see what kind of DP was happening & I suppose how my insulin sensitivity was doing.



Yes, used like that it is useful.
The same as before and after meals.


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## Madeline (Dec 12, 2018)

travellor said:


> What does a fasting level tell you?


What is your problem? So rude.


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## grovesy (Dec 12, 2018)

travellor said:


> What does a fasting level tell you?


I would think I a baseline for the day, whether you go up or down.


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

grovesy said:


> I would think I a baseline for the day, whether you go up or down.



For a type 2, it tells you how well you've reacted in your sleep, and what several hours of insulin release has done to your body.

You then will see a rise as you get up, eat , exercise, and that's where testing is more useful.
(Unless you had a nightmare, or even just slept badly, as your liver dumps in your sleep)

I actually tested for high numbers, after I knew how my body reacted.
So I tended to test after 1 hour aster eating, looking for primary insulin response, even though I knew I would be higher than after two.
I tested with hot and cold hands. (a hand tested after being under your duvet can be a couple of points different to one that has just been washed in cold water)
Running up and down stairs a couple of times can reduce your BG reading by more than 2.
Lots of factors come into play.

I used to test to control my BG, I was fortunate, I was prescribed 100 strips a month for testing, but if you are funding them yourself, it's quite expensive to test, so I would suggest fasting test tells you nothing by itself initially, and testing after meals is far more useful.


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## grovesy (Dec 12, 2018)

travellor said:


> For a type 2, it tells you how well you've reacted in your sleep, and what several hours of insulin release has done to your body.
> 
> You then will see a rise as you get up, eat , exercise, and that's where testing is more useful.
> (Unless you had a nightmare, or even just slept badly, as your liver dumps in your sleep)
> ...


Well in my case post breakfast I also most always have fallen.
I do not find my results are the same always the same eating the same things. Also going up and down stairs a couple of times would not cause mine to fall either.


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

grovesy said:


> Well in my case post breakfast I also most always have fallen.
> I do not find my results are the same always the same eating the same things. Also going up and down stairs a couple of times would not cause mine to fall either.



Post breakfast many tend to fall, after they have risen for the DP.
But if you test at 6 in bed, rise to 7 or 8, do you expect to fall to 5, or would 6 still be good, or from an 8 to a 7?

The stairs are very predictable for many people. 
The same as any exercise lowers BG for some.


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## grovesy (Dec 12, 2018)

I can fall between 1-3 points. Again it is not always the same. Like others some exercise type seems to go up before coming down some hours later. 
We are not all the same.


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

grovesy said:


> I can fall between 1-3 points. Again it is not always the same. Like others some exercise type seems to go up before coming down some hours later.
> We are not all the same.



I can fall from measuring after seeing my DP kick in, but not usually if I test before I catch it. Probably the extra food stimulates higher insulin release, coupled with less insulin resistance now I'm moving.
And as you say, dependent on duration normally, BG can rise then fall during exercise, or just fall.


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## mikeyB (Dec 12, 2018)

Fascinating, I’m sure, but this thread seems to have grown into a huge discussion inappropriate for Newbies.


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## travellor (Dec 12, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> Fascinating, I’m sure, but this thread seems to have grown into a huge discussion inappropriate for Newbies.



Back on testing the best way for a type 2 newbie then?
And the most cost effective way for self funding.


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## mikeyB (Dec 12, 2018)

That would be a start, for sure.


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## SB2015 (Dec 12, 2018)

DougC said:


> Finally got round to getting one. Arrived this morning. Am reading up on what to do, it's a lot to take in when this is all so new. Will start testing in mornings before breakfast, I think this is right.
> Then after lunch and evening meal, but wait for 2 hours after meal? I keep food diary and carb count so can see what is going on! I think you miss out first finger and thumb to prod. This might seem silly of me, but can blood be taken from else where?
> Will read up on reading as well and videos to see how its all done


Hi Doug

It feels as if your post got a bit hijacked, but I hope that you find some of the info useful.
Do ask if you have any other questions.


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## Bronco Billy (Dec 12, 2018)

I think now is a good time for a reminder about the user guidelines; be respectful, supportive and sensitive. Thanks.


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