Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 31
  1. #11
    egoldber's Avatar
    egoldber is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Northern VA, USA.
    Posts
    31,123

    Default

    You can alternate finger prick test sites to help alleviate discomfort.

    If it gets to be a big issue, there are some blood glucose monitoring systems that allow you to get blood from other places besides your finger tip (like a forearm or thigh) which can be less painful for some people. This is an example:

    http://www.abbottdiabetescare.com/fr...ng-system.html

    There are also alternative lancing devices that are supposed to be less painful. Here is an example:

    http://www.onetouch.com/delica
    Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)

  2. #12
    ellies mom is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    WA, USA.
    Posts
    8,118

    Default

    This is definitely not the time to be "gentle". Prick your finger with feeling, otherwise it can kind of bounce off and you just have to do it again. The other thing that helps is to squeeze your finger with your thumb. It is kind of hard to explain but basically, you want to push on one side of your finger tip so that the rest of the fingertip is hard like a board. That helps the lancet go in better as well. Granted you are young and healthy so you should be a decent "bleeder" but you never know. I was trying to run a capillary lipid panel on a young guy this weekend and I couldn't get blood out of his finger to save my life. Warm hands also help.
    Veronica

    Miss Ellie 11/03
    Baby Audrey 4/08

  3. #13
    mommylamb's Avatar
    mommylamb is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    DC Metro Area
    Posts
    10,431

    Default

    I'm supposed to be under 90 at the fasting time and then under 120 when I test 2 hours after each meal. So far, I'm always under 120 after lunch and dinner (except when I mess up and eat a leisurely dinner like I did the first couple nights), I'm either just under or just over 120 after breakfast, but I have not been below 90 at fasting time, not even once.
    DS1 6/07

    DS2 2/12

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    central VA
    Posts
    6,299

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ellies mom View Post
    This is definitely not the time to be "gentle". Prick your finger with feeling, otherwise it can kind of bounce off and you just have to do it again. The other thing that helps is to squeeze your finger with your thumb. It is kind of hard to explain but basically, you want to push on one side of your finger tip so that the rest of the fingertip is hard like a board. That helps the lancet go in better as well. Granted you are young and healthy so you should be a decent "bleeder" but you never know. I was trying to run a capillary lipid panel on a young guy this weekend and I couldn't get blood out of his finger to save my life. Warm hands also help.
    Yeah - I just did it again and found that bracing my finger against the desk or table was better as it did not allow me to pull away. Thanks for the other tips!
    ---------
    A-M
    happy mother to DD1, 7/08 & DD2, 2/12
    charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society, 1/11

    I believe in the power of BBB Good Mojo.
    ---------

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    central VA
    Posts
    6,299

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by egoldber View Post
    You can alternate finger prick test sites to help alleviate discomfort.

    If it gets to be a big issue, there are some blood glucose monitoring systems that allow you to get blood from other places besides your finger tip (like a forearm or thigh) which can be less painful for some people. This is an example:

    http://www.abbottdiabetescare.com/fr...ng-system.html

    There are also alternative lancing devices that are supposed to be less painful. Here is an example:

    http://www.onetouch.com/delica

    Def. alternating fingers! I did the first three pokes in one finger at the Dr's office and I won't be doing THAT again!
    ---------
    A-M
    happy mother to DD1, 7/08 & DD2, 2/12
    charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society, 1/11

    I believe in the power of BBB Good Mojo.
    ---------

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    central VA
    Posts
    6,299

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mommylamb View Post
    I'm supposed to be under 90 at the fasting time and then under 120 when I test 2 hours after each meal. So far, I'm always under 120 after lunch and dinner (except when I mess up and eat a leisurely dinner like I did the first couple nights), I'm either just under or just over 120 after breakfast, but I have not been below 90 at fasting time, not even once.
    I was at 98 in the office today and had eaten 2 slices of toast and an egg white almost 4 hours earlier. I am now 159 after lunch testing. YIKES!
    ---------
    A-M
    happy mother to DD1, 7/08 & DD2, 2/12
    charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society, 1/11

    I believe in the power of BBB Good Mojo.
    ---------

  7. #17
    mommylamb's Avatar
    mommylamb is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    DC Metro Area
    Posts
    10,431

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by amldaley View Post
    I was at 98 in the office today and had eaten 2 slices of toast and an egg white almost 4 hours earlier. I am now 159 after lunch testing. YIKES!
    How long after your lunch did you test, and what did you eat? I swear-- and I hate to say this because I'm not an exercise fan-- activity makes a huge huge difference. After dinner, I walk up and down my stairs 6 or 7 times (it's a 3 floor town house, so it's 2 flights each time), and that helps me a lot. After lunch I go for a short walk. Today it was raining, so I went to the train station near my office and just did laps inside.
    DS1 6/07

    DS2 2/12

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    central VA
    Posts
    6,299

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mommylamb View Post
    How long after your lunch did you test, and what did you eat? I swear-- and I hate to say this because I'm not an exercise fan-- activity makes a huge huge difference. After dinner, I walk up and down my stairs 6 or 7 times (it's a 3 floor town house, so it's 2 flights each time), and that helps me a lot. After lunch I go for a short walk. Today it was raining, so I went to the train station near my office and just did laps inside.
    2 hours after lunch. They told me I really need to up the protein, so I ate a small Arbys sandwhich, no sauce. 3 onion rings. This is NOT fun as a vegetarian! I thought I was going to lose it eating the sandwhich. I had to stop somewhere between the Dr's and my office and Arby's, Bojangles & Wendy's were my choices.

    I have majorly swollen legs and DH is not here to help with DD so fast walking is not likely going to happen. I have really bad asthma so stairs are certainly not going to happen. I will see if I can try to adjust my work schedule to start walking at lunch, I just won't be able to do it every day. That is likely the only place I can squeeze it in.

    Last night, I had a plain baked potato with 1 TB margarine and 1 TB sour cream. Blood sugar was 178 2 hours later! Had cheese as the required "before bed snack" and tested 9.5 hours later...115. After 9.5 hours??!! I HAVE to get this figured out as I do NOT want to go on insulin shots!!!!!!!!!!!
    Last edited by amldaley; 12-07-2011 at 09:51 AM.
    ---------
    A-M
    happy mother to DD1, 7/08 & DD2, 2/12
    charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society, 1/11

    I believe in the power of BBB Good Mojo.
    ---------

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    4,780

    Default

    Personally, I really, really hated the finger stick, and got a meter that allowed me to test from my forearm. Much easier for me. FTR, I have no fear of needles and a high pain tolerance, but for whatever reason, the fingertip thing bothered the crap out of me.

    I found that if you do the stick not in the center, but off to the side of your fingertip, it doesn't hurt as much during or after. And alternate fingers/hands.
    mommy to DS who is 9
    DD who is 6
    and my girl in heaven

  10. #20
    mommylamb's Avatar
    mommylamb is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    DC Metro Area
    Posts
    10,431

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by amldaley View Post
    2 hours after lunch. They told me I really need to up the protein, so I ate a small Arbys sandwhich, no sauce. 3 onion rings. This is NOT fun as a vegetarian! I thought I was going to lose it eating the sandwhich. I had to stop somewhere between the Dr's and my office and Arby's, Bojangles & Wendy's were my choices.

    I have majorly swollen legs and DH is not here to help with DD so fast walking is not likely going to happen. I have really bad asthma so stairs are certainly not going to happen. I will see if I can try to adjust my work schedule to start walking at lunch, I just won't be able to do it every day. That is likely the only place I can squeeze it in.

    Last night, I had a plain baked potato with 1 TB margarine and 1 TB sour cream. Blood sugar was 178 2 hours later! Had cheese as the required "before bed snack" and tested 9.5 hours later...115. After 9.5 hours??!! I HAVE to get this figured out as I do NOT want to go on insulin shots!!!!!!!!!!!
    I've got this book to help me keep track of the carbs in things: http://www.amazon.com/CalorieKing-Ca...3267619&sr=8-1

    According to the book, a 7 oz baked potato is 42 carbs on its own. 7 oz, is not a very big baked potato. I'm borrowing a food scale and measuring everything. To give you an example, the apple I brought to work for a snack today about 7 oz (I weighed it this morning and I probably won't eat the whole thing), so your potato was likely bigger than that. My dinner carb allotment is 56-65 carbs, so you might have been in that range regardless, but you didn't have protein at the same time. The protein helps with the absorption of the glucose (or so I'm told). Also, that range is based on my pre-pregnancy weight and age, so who knows what it is for you.

    I will admit that I never get up as far as the range I've been given for dinner carbs though. I'm usually in the 40s. Last night I had some white meat roasted chicken, kale, 2/3 cup of quinoa, which is 36 carbs, and 1/2 cup of sugar-free chocolate pudding made with whole milk, which is 13 carbs, for a total of 49 carbs for my dinner. FTR, my dietician said not to even bother trying to count carbs in green leafy veggies, even though they do have a minimal amount, so I didn't even look up the kale. It was actually a lot of food and I felt really full, but my blood sugar was just 107 (though I did do the stairs after dinner).

    I have a much harder time in the mornings for the fasting level and the after breakfast test. I've never had a fasting level under 90 in the week I've been doing this. So, your 115 level is about where I am every day. I think if I go on meds, it will be because of that. The dietician told me that the main driver of the fasting level is just your hormones, and while eating the before bed snack helps, it doesn't necessarily help enough.

    I'm sure this must be much harder for you as a vegetarian than it is for me. Beans are good though. 1/2 a cup of canned pinto beans are just 19 carbs, and they've got a lot of fiber and protein in them. I can't seem to find tofu in that book, so I don't know how much that is without looking at a package. And, I totally get the difficulty of fitting in the exercise. My DH is here, and my DS is older than your DD anyway, so it's not as big of a deal for me to do the stairs in my house for a little while after dinner. And so far I haven't swelled up at all. I'm worried about getting the exercise in as I get closer to my due date. Just over 9 weeks to go.
    DS1 6/07

    DS2 2/12

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •