Diabetic Diet & Blood Gluecose

Had a blood glucose test a few days ago after fasting for 12 hours, but forgot to mention that I had some Pepsi Max before the blood was taken.
The result was 5.0, would drinking Pepsi Max have altered the test significantly?

Fay Knowles,
A general rule is “nil by mouth” from midnight with the blood test being taken early the next morning. This rule may also include no liquids at all until after the blood has been taken. Certain blood tests are sensitive to any type of food or drink. When these tests are performed, it is necessary for the patient to fast for several hours before blood is drawn. Some tests require a 12-hour fast and others only for eight hours. It’s important to know which is required before blood is drawn to assure the accuracy of the results. If a patient smokes, or is on a prescribed course of medicine, the doctor will advise the patient not to indulge in that until the blood test ends. Pepsi Max is a low-calorie, (calorific value is approximately 4 which may have caused the Blood Sugar elevation) sugar-free cola. It differs from Pepsi in that it contains aspartame which is an artificial sweetener, and artificial sweeteners are used in diet sodas as replacements for sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. Unlike corn syrup and sugar, these artificial replacements do not contain carbohydrates, which your body converts to glucose in your bloodstream. As a result, drinking sodas that contain these sweeteners WILL NOT directly AFFECT your blood sugar levels. Common examples of non-glucose-raising artificial sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame and acesulfame-K. Just for interest – The normal non-diabetic’s glucose ranges from 70mg/dl- 3.9mmol/l or 126mg/dl to 6.99mmol/l when fasting. After meals, glucose levels can go up to about 146mg/dl – 8.10291mmol/l before a person is considered in the pre diabetic range. A normal blood glucose range is in the low to mid 100s. A diagnosis of pre-diabetes is made if your blood glucose reading is 146mg/dl or 8.10mmol/l to 199mg/dl or 11.04mmol/l. A diagnosis of diabetes is made if your blood glucose reading is 200 mg/dl or 11.01mmol/l or higher and you have symptoms of disease such as fatigue, excessive urination, excessive thirst or unplanned weight loss.
(Edited for spelling mistakes – sorry!)

ALL ANSWERS SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED, IN ANY FORUM AND ESPECIALLY IN THIS ONE. – MANY ANSWERS ARE FLAWED.

It is extremely important to obtain an accurate diagnosis before trying to find a cure. Many diseases and conditions share common symptoms.

The information provided here should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Hope this helps
matador 89

I’m a little confused because I saw something where someone had hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) but they had a huge amount of water by their bed. I thought you drank alot of water when you had hyperglycemia. Thanks!

The amount of water has nothing to do with blood glucose levels except in that someone with high glucose levels may make you thirsty. Diabetics blood glucose levels vary during the day just like a healthy person if they are on insulin/tablets and then do not have enough food to counteract the effect then they will become Hypoglycemic. If on the other hand you have to much food or not enough insulin/medication then they will become hyperglycemic.

I’ve recently been diagnosed with PCOS, a hallmark of which is insulin resistance.
I’m not technically a diabetic YET (my last fasting glucose was actually 89, and I’ve been started on Metformin as a preventative)
but I’d like to take a very proactive approach and start monitoring my glucose at the same time every week.

Any recommendations for a blood glucose meter, one that’s not only consistent in it’s own readings but is accurate when calibrated against a physicians?

I’m also a big wuss when it comes to the finger-pricking thing, so are there any that can be used on the arm?

Thanks in advance! (=
Accuracy IS important, Frank. 125 vs. 123 isn’t a problem. 76 vs. 156 IS, and that’s how out of whack I’ve read some of the more poorly-made meters can be.
Thanks for the advice Jessica. I’m guessing the lancing device "pricks" your skin automatically, whereas without one you have to do it yourself? I hadn’t considered that. Excellent point.

There are plenty that can be used on the arm.

First, find out if your insurance will pay for a glucose meter. Many of them will. See if it will pay for the test strips, too.

Glucose meters are kind of like printers…that is, the main device is usually sold at or under cost, because they get you on the ink cartridges/test strips. Those suckers are EXPENSIVE.

I have a One Touch Ultra Mini, and it works pretty well, when I actually use it. I can take a sample from my arm or the back or heel of my hand. It came with a lancet device, and I urge you to use a lancet device, too, no matter what sort of glucose meter you end up getting. Lancet devices will allow you to load a lancet into them, and then just push a button, and the lancet will quickly pop in and out of your site, at the proper depth. It’s much easier to use than just a plain lancet. Most meters come with one.

Edit: a lancet device has a spring loaded mechanism that will quickly "pop" the lance in and out of your skin. You don’t have to try to judge how deep to go with the lancet, and it’s over much more quickly, which is a big plus in my book.

Also, I got the Walgreen’s meter one time, when my old one had died. I don’t recommend it. It seemed accurate enough, but I got a lot of "error" readings on it. I was having to take three or four blood samples for every testing session. Not fun.

Metformin/Glucophage can be a very effective oral antidiabetic. However, it can cause explosive liquid diarrhea in some patients. Some people will adjust to this. Others won’t. I couldn’t, and after a few months I told my doctor that I was NOT going to take it any more. He could either prescribe another medication, or I simply wouldn’t take what he prescribed. I found that side effect to be intolerable.

Ask your doctor about diabetes education classes in your area. My insurance paid for the classes, I had no co-pay. They’ll do this because a diabetic who is well-controlled is a diabetic who will cost them less money.

To carry out an investigation of hyperglycemia,one has to carry out a urine glucose test first,followed by a blood glucose test and finally a glucose tolerance test.what are the reasons for performing these tests in this sequence.

cost

I plan on returning to the Richard Simmons food mover diet and I need to find recipes that have diabetic exchanges available with them. Which sites offer these?
Thanks. I am able to find cookbooks, but would love to find even more recipes via a website. Any other suggestions?

Look up the book called "There is a cure for diabetes" by Dr. Gabriel Cousens. I did a light version of this with my grandmother and within 2 weeks she was off all her meds! I also did a similar diet and my cervical cancer went away in only 2 months. This guy is no joke and its all natural!

Aloha! Which is more dangerous, an episode of hypoglycemia or an episode of hyperglycemia? Justify please.
Thanks a lot^^

Both will kill you, but hypoglycemia is considered more dangerous. Hypoglycemia will kill you in minutes or hours, hyperglycemia will kill you in days or weeks.

(cont) diabetes?

doing a project on DM. Specifically interested in specific physiological implications of DM on a cellular level. Reference links are appreciated.

Diabetes mellitus (DM, like you said) comes in two types: type 1 and type 2, commonly called child onset and adult onset respectively, but not always correctly.

Type 1: The basis of this is uncertain. Everyone is born with a functioning pancreas, in which the alpha and beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans pump out insulin and glucagon just as they should. Some time between the age of 0 and about 25, some people lose the function of the beta cells, and their blood insulin levels drop to zero. As the function of insulin is the downregulate blood glucose, that then skyrockets. This has all sorts of bad effects on the body and its cells, but most of them are not immediately felt. Some scientists believe the damage is autoimmune or caused by a virus, but nobody really knows for sure. It doesn’t appear to be genetic.

Type 2: You produce enough insulin (sometimes too much!) but your body can’t recognise it. This is unfortunately genetic. Certain races are much more likely to develop it (South East Asians and Afro-Caribbeans), and there is a possibility that it is dietary as well. It is certainly documented that the risk increases with waist circumference and a bad diet (lots of fat, salt, etc.), as well as being male. However, DMT2 running in the family doesn’t mean you are phenotypically diabetic; it’s just a predisposition, like a predisposition to schizophrenia doesn’t mean you are mentally ill.

Cellular Level explanation: Essentially, in DMT1 there is no insulin and in DMT2 the cells can’t recognise the insulin (defective cell surface receptors, if you want to know). This means that all the actions that insulin usually delivers are lost. This includes:
- the cells absorbing more glucose from the blood
- the liver and muscles storing more glucose as glycogen
- fat cells turning it into fat
- reduced glycogen and fat breakdown
- and lots more!

This leaves your blood glucose really high, which is usually what they test for. What is a lot worse is HYPOglycaemia (low blood sugar). This can cause unconsciousness in minutes, coma then death, because of your brain.
Your body can respire with lots of things (known as respiratory substrates), including carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, your brain is much pickier: it will only use glucose and, at a pinch, ketones. Using ketones once glucose has run out buys you some time, but they don’t really work so well (hence the sluggishness associated with hypo) and they cause a state called ketoacidosis (you can actually smell this on someone’s breath – smells like pear drops). This is what can cause death if blood sugar isn’t restored.

I’m just curious if there’s a way to test your blood sugar without a meter and test strips. What did they do before meters were available? I have a friend who’s son has type 1, and we were just talking about if they ran out, is there a way.

If your blood sugar gets fairly high, it will spill into the urine, so it’s possible to check the urine to see if it has too much sugar in it. My grandmother used to do this before home blood glucose meters were available. However, this involved getting a good sample of urine, dipping the test strip in it, and then waiting to see what color the strip turned. This method was better than nothing, but it was not really accurate, and it was only good to see if your blood sugar was way too high. Oh, and while those test strips weren’t as expensive as today’s strips for glucose meters, they weren’t cheap, either.

It’s better to just keep a good supply of the glucose meter strips on hand. They are quicker and are far more accurate. They can also detect low blood sugar, which is also dangerous.