Hello all,I have found all the blogs and website really helpful. Thank you. I was recently diagnosed pre-diabetic. Fasting blood glucose (after 15 hrs) 6.6 according to GP, together with prehypertension and 6.4 cholesterol….so heading towards 3 of the deadly 4!. Have decided to stay off dairy for 3 months in relation to cholesterol but otherwise following BSD and now BMI 21-22. Would rather not have to lose more weight. Also trying to do 150 mins aerobic pw, good impact on blood pressure….so following all the rules as best I can. Think it would be helpful if I had blood glucose monitor as I have no idea about current levels, which foods might cause my personal levels to spike, or when to use it? So advice please…Also most crucially which should I buy,? I think I only need something quite simple with strips???? (Prompted to get monitor by friend with similar diagnosis who thought she had changed everything as required and sadly discovered on return to GP one year later blood glucose still the same….I would be devastated after what feels like massive effort!!) Cheers Tofa

Hi Tofa,
If you need to get blood sugar, pressure and cholesterol under control you need to go low carb but not count calories. It will solve all three problems!
I kept my carbs to 50g per day, ate full fat dairy, oils etc. and managed to maintain my weight whilst my BP and blood sugars went down to normal range. Have yet to get my cholesterol tested since finishing the BSD but I know others on here have lowered their cholesterol by going low carb and still eating full fat.
Bill1954’s advice is to check which test strips are cheapest and buy that monitor.
Do blood test first thing each morning before eating/ drinking, called the fasting blood sugar level. Then do some random tests through the week, just before a meal or two hours after, and bedtime ( not all on the same day).
If you are going to eat something you’re unsure about, test before the meal and then two hours later. The effect on your sugar levels will give you an idea about whether the food is suitable or not.
Keep posting, and one of us will help you through working it out. 🙂

Re BS monitors I found they only gave em away if type two so applied for that meter
They seem the same exactly but are they ???
Alan

Hi Cherrianne, thanks will definately be back with some glucose . readings as I will need help working it out! Would be really interested to hear how you get on with cholesterol test as I am still unclear on a science/biological level how low carb busts cholesterol levels….I guess its linked to the metabolic syndrome but I never found anywhere where it was spelt out in sufficient detail to make me feel entirely confident (and I did binge out on cheese, used to happily eat a most of a pack to myself between meals without noticing!) Cheers Tofa

Happy May to one and all ! Hope everyone has had a good day. Just tested my BS and it occurred to me that I’d read several queries from different folk asking which is the best blood sugar monitor so just thought I’d share which one I use as it’s excellent! I got the Code Free monitor and strips from Amazon. Very reasonable price and a really neat little kit.The strips and prick sticks are much cheaper than a lot of others too. Just thought it might be helpful to someone contemplating which to buy. Keep going on this fantastic eating plan..we owe Dr M and Prof Taylor a huge debt of gratitude!

Thank you HappyLass – this is just what I needed to know. I was going to purchase an Accu-Chek Aviva but discovered it has been discontinued so am worried that the strips will become (even more) expensive. And the Accu-Chek Mobile with the cartridge doesn’t really seem to last very long if you only want to do occasional checks. Like the OP I simply want to be able to monitor the changes as I switch to a low-carb diet.

But I can someone please confirm that I need the monitor, plus strips plus lancets? And each test uses one lancet and one strip? I’m sure it’s really obvious when you know what you’re doing so please excuse my ignorance. TIA, Jani

Hi Jani123
You’re very welcome! I know that I always like to consider a product that someone has at least tried,tested and liked rather than stick a pin in and hope!! The Code Free kit comes with 10 test strips and 10 lancets..handy to start you off but you will obviously need a lot more. I think you can get a “package” deal on Amazon that gives you the kit plus extra lancets and strips. When you reorder them without the kit it pays to buy the two packs of each..really good saving. Yes..you’re right ..each test needs a lancet and strip and you are NOT ignorant..none of us have a clue when starting out on these things. I know I didn’t! I was just lucky to find a good product to begin with. If you have any other queries and questions then there are loads of friendly,knowledgeable and helpful folk on this forum who are more than happy to share. I’ve learnt loads just reading through the threads before jumping in and joining in. Good luck with everything !

That’s disappointing about the accu check monitor being discontinued as that is the one I bought for myself and my husband! I find it very good and can only assume they are accurate but they do give slightly different readings. I bought kit from local chemist (same price as Amazon) with meter, lancets and strips. Is quite expensive getting more lancets and strips and yes you do need one lancet and one strip per reading. Hope you manage to get one, I think it is brilliant to be able to keep a check on blood sugars and if I had known about them would have had one years ago when I was first diagnosed as pre-diabetic.

Hi Jani123

Where did you hear the Accu-Chek Aviva is discontinued? I obtained one just before Christmas and when I just looked online there is no mention of it being discontinued. I’m in the UK.

Thanks everyone for your posts today. I’ve ordered the Code Free but in the end direct from the Amazon seller which was even cheaper than via Amazon. The test strips certainly seem a cheaper lot.

When I was planning on the Accu-Chek Aviva I was thinking of purchasing from Lloyds pharmacy who had it at a good price. But when I went to buy yesterday I discovered it was out of stock. Searching elsewhere suggested it wasn’t being restocked (cannot remember where that was) and then I tracked it down elsewhere but they had low stock and the site had a message about it being discontinued. https://www.weldricks.co.uk/product/3171261_accu-chek-aviva-blood-glucose-meter?source=pl

But if you already have this monitor, I haven’t seen anything about the test strips being discontinued. TBH I’d probably have bought the Aviva if it hadn’t been for HappyLass’s post about the Code Free one

Hi – I know this is an old thread but hoping someone can help me out and didn’t want to start a new thread if not needed.

I bought the code free monitor because it was the only one available for immediate delivery on Amazon, it had a lot of stars and had cheap replacement strips/lancets.

However, I’m not sure of the accuracy of the readings at all. I did a fasting blood test with my doc in Mid December – it came back 7.0 (1.5 years after my last blood test which also has the same reading) and so I was diagnosed diabetic.

On doctors advice, I decided to do the 800 BSD and I started it on Monday. I also have taken to testing myself every morning starting on Sat:

28/01 – 7.4
29/01 – 7.7
30/01 – 8.7 – day diet begins
31/01 – 8.9 and same every day after that until
2/2 – 9.1
3/2 – 9.1

So reading what has been said above about the liver sending a sugar boost may explain the odd readings above? Still seems a bit odd to me.

So this evening I took a test about two hours after my meal. I was so surprised by the results, I tested two more times (different strips/different finger/different lancet) within the space of ten minutes. Here are my readings
7.3
6.6
5.6

I should probably clarify that I’m not currently on any medication and I do wash my hands before I do a test. I have been following the 800 cals/less than 50g carbs and have lost 7lbs since Monday (in addition to the 4 lbs I lost in the precious week by lowering my carbs in anticipation of the diet).

Is this a monitor malfunction or is there an explanation for my reading? Any thoughts greatly received.

Hi Shanshu

I’ve not used that particular meter. At one time I looked at it, but decided against it because I saw some reviews commenting on its inaccurate results.

Morning tests – do you do the test first thing, before you do anything else? The Dawn Phenomenon could be operating here. You may also,need to reduce you carbohydrates even further. Many diabetics on here have gone to around 25g carbs a day to control their blood sugars.

The after food readings do seem strange. Did you have carbs with that meal or not?

Hopefully someone with experience of that meter will come along. Otherwise you may want to contact one of the meter manufacturers- they give the meters free of charge because they make their money on strips and lancets. When I was still testing I had to buy my own testing supplies and found out that diabetics don’t have to pay VAT on the testing supplies. Had some interesting conversations in chemists on that one! And it’s cheaper to get them from the manufacturer or off Amazon.

Hope this helps.

Congratulations on your weight loss so far.

Hi CaptainLynne,

I have been averaging 20-25g carbs a day. Today was 10g carbs but 6g of those were at dinner.

Just not sure how it could fluctuate so much within ten minutes when it was two hours after the meal.

As for the morning – yeah it’s pretty much first thing – certainly within ten minutes of getting up. Do you think I should wait half an hour or so and do it just before eating?

Hi Shanshu

When testing, even if you test from the same drop of blood on more than one strip, the results can vary. And, as you found, results from different fingers vary. It’s just the way it is.

Morning tests – I was told it’s the first thing that you do when you wake up. I’d go to the bathroom, wash my hands then test.

As I said, you may wish to change your meter. Whatever you decide, it may be an idea to test more frequently for a while and see what happens to your results. Again, I read (because my medics don’t believe in self testing) that tests should be: fasting (first thing in the morning), immediately before eating, two hours after eating, and last thing at night. This gives an indication of how different foods affect your blood sugar. Once you know what foods adversely affects your readings you can eliminate them. Then you can test less frequently – I eventually just tested first thing, then at bedtime. Now just random tests. But when first diagnosed, testing several times a day until, I found out what I could eat without raising my blood sugars. Then when I started the BSD I tested several times daily until my results dropped, then reduced testing as just mentioned. My test results are now all consistently in the normal range somthe ever present threat of medication has disappeared.

Hope this makes sense.

CaptainLynne – thanks for taking the time to respond again – what you said makes sense.

My high readings have been from first thing in the morning. The readings that were closer to the ones taken by the doctor (e.g. lower) were taken about 30 mins after getting up.

I’ve emailed the company I bought the monitor from just to get some thoughts on the results.

And I think maybe I just need to test more around before food after food etc to see how they are. I just tested myself now before going to bed and it was 6.0.